反思罗马混合政体的兴衰--波里比阿与马基雅维利的对照

Reflection on the rise and fall of Roman Mixed Constitution:A comparative analysis of Polybius and Machiavelli

思考古罗马共和国的混合政体是西方政治思想史中的重要课题,波里比阿和马基雅维利是这一研究传统的代表人物。两人均认为混合政体中的权力制衡使得罗马政治体系保持稳健并富于活力,但在分析混合政体的运作机制及覆灭原因时,两者却表现出很大差异。波里比阿看重混合政体中贵族的角色和功能,马基雅维利则更关注平民和贵族的对抗性互动,并表现出更多的平民主义色彩。波里比阿依循希腊政治理论及其背后的自然哲学,指出罗马混合政体依旧无法摆脱自然的兴衰法则;马基雅维利通过关注混合政体内蕴的持续改进的可能,揭示了有关永久共和国的构想。深入考察波里比阿与马基雅维利分析的同异,既能呈现古典时期的理论概念进入现代政治理论的曲折途径,也能细致展现西方古今政治理论的若干重大差异。

Reflecting on the Mixed Constitution of Roman Republic is one of the most important issues in the history of western political thoughts,and Polybius and Machiavelli are representative figures of this intellectual tradition.Both of them argued that the checks and balances made the Roman political system robust and dynamic.But,when analyzing the operating mechanism of the Mixed Constitution and some reasons for its fall,they manifested huge differences.Polybius placed a high value on the role and function of the aristocracy,while Machiavelli was more concerned with the antagonistic interaction between the plebeians and the aristocrats,and thus took on a populism standpoint.Polybius followed Greek political theory and judged that the Roman mixed constitution could not get rid of the natural law of rise and fall,while Machiavelli focused on the possibility of continuous improvement embedded in the constitution and revealed a conviction of a permanent republic.A deep exploration into the diversities between Polybius's and Machiavelli not only shows the zigzag in which classical concepts were translated into modern political theory,but also reveals subtly many important differences between ancient and modern political theories.