“奉辞伐罪”:伊利里亚战争与罗马东扩

Punishing the Offenders:Illyrian Wars and the Eastward Expansion of Rome

从公元前3世纪晚期至前2世纪中期,地处亚得里亚海东岸的伊利里亚人与罗马多次交战。缕析波利比乌斯等古典史家的记述,交战历程依次为:伊利里亚人劫掠和扩张、罗马商人和伊萨向元老院控诉和求援、罗马遣使交涉、伊利里亚人蛮横回应、罗马出兵讨伐。着眼于史实层面,罗马遣使交涉,基本是其对外扩张中先礼后兵的惯常策略,也是其强化宣战理由的重要环节。而就历史叙事而论,波氏的伊利里亚战争文本,一方面将罗马对伊利里亚的征服呈现为奉辞伐罪、解救他邦的功业;另一方面是论证罗马优良政体及其在罗马统一地中海世界中所发挥的有力作用,在此叙事逻辑指引下,伊利里亚成为罗马需要匡谬正俗的对象。

From the late 3rd century BC to the middle of the 2nd century BC,there were several wars between Rome and Illyrians on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea.According to the records of classical historians such as Polybius and Appian,the stages of several wars can be summarized as follows:the plunder and expansion of the Illyrians,the accusation and request of Roman merchants and Issa to Senate,the dispatch of envoys and negotiations by Rome,the rude attitude of the Illyrians,and Rome s expedition.Focusing on the historical facts,Rome s negotiations are not only its usual strategy of being polite before resorting to the force,but also an important link to strengthen the reasons for declaring war.As far as the historical narrative is concerned,Polybius s version of the Illyrian wars,on the one hand,presents Roman conquering of Illyria as the exploits of punishing the offenders and rescuing other city-states,on the other hand,it is a powerful evidence for him to demonstrate the Roman fine regime and its role in Rome s conquering of the Mediterranean world.Under the guidance of this narrative logic,Illyria had to be attacked and its bad habits needed to be corrected by Rome.