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  3. The cultural and religious crisis through which the Roman Empire was passing in the fourth century is one of the most significan

The cultural and religious crisis through which the Roman Empire was passing in the fourth century is one of the most significan

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问题     The cultural and religious crisis through which the Roman Empire was passing in the fourth century is one of the most significant events in the history of the world. The old pagan culture came into collision with Christianity, which received official recognition during the reign of Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century and was declared the dominant state religion by Theodosius the Great at the end of that same century. It might have seemed at first that these two clashing elements, representing two diametrically opposed points of view, would never find a basis for mutual agreement. But Christianity and pagan Hellenism did intermix gradually to form a Christian-Greco-Eastern culture subsequently known as Byzantine. Its center was the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople.
    The person who was chiefly responsible for the many changes in the empire was Constantine the Great. During his reign, Christianity stepped for the first time on the firm ground of official recognition. From this time forward, the old pagan empire gradually changed into a Christian empire.
    The conversion of nations or states to Christianity has usually taken place during the early stage of their historical existence when the past has created no firmly established traditions, but merely some crude and primitive customs and forms of government. In such cases the conversion has caused no great crisis in the life of the people. But this was not characteristic of the Roman Empire in the fourth century. It already possessed an old world culture and had developed forms of government perfect for that time. It had a great past and an extensive body of ideas which had been assimilated by the population. This empire, changing in the fourth century into a Christian state, entered upon an era during which its past was contradicted, at times completely denied; this was bound to lead to an extremely acute and difficult crisis.
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答案 罗马帝国在4世纪经历的文化和宗教危机是世界历史上最重要的事件之一。古代异教文化同基督教(它在4世纪初君士坦丁统治时期得到了官方承认，并在4世纪末由狄奥多西大帝宣布为国教)发生了冲突。看起来，上述两个处于冲突中的、代表着完全对立观念的因素，似乎永远不会有调和的基础。但是，基督教和异教希腊文化确实逐渐交融，形成了基督教一希腊一东方文化，后被称为拜占庭文化，它的中心就在罗马帝国的新都一一君士坦丁堡。 在帝国发生的诸多变化中起重要作用的人物是君士坦丁大帝。在他统治时期，基督教第一次取得官方认可而且为其此后的发展奠定了坚实基础。从此以后，古老的异教帝国逐渐变成基督教帝国。 一些在其历史发展早期皈依基督教的民族或国家，鉴于它们过去的历史还没有形成牢固的传统，仅有一些模糊的、原始的习俗和管理形式，宗教的改变在人民生活中因而不曾引起巨大危机。但在4世纪的罗马帝国则不是这种情况。它已具有一种古典的世界性的文化，发展了当时颇为完善的政府机构。它有伟大的历史和深邃的思想体系——这一思想已与人民结为一体。然而这个帝国在4世纪变成了基督教国家，进入了一个新的时期。在这一时期内，帝国的过去被否定了，有时是完全的否定，这势必会引起特别尖锐且难以渡过的危机。
解析     这句话的主干是The old pagan culture came into collision with Christianity，其后的定语从句修饰Christianity，因为基督教并不是此处的重点，因此将整个定语从句翻译为括号里的内容，句式更简洁，逻辑更清晰。
    通过might have可知，本句是对过去事情的推测，意为“可能已经……”，在翻译时添加表不确定推测的“似乎”一词。representing two diametrically opposed points of view解释了两种文化元素不相容的原因，正是因为两种文化元素代表截然对立的观点，所以才水火不容，翻译时按照这样的因果逻辑调整语序，更符合中文的表达习惯。
    conversion通常表示“转变”，同时也包含“改变信仰”之意，即通常所说的“皈依”。when在这里引导定语从句，修饰during the early stage of their historical existence，由于从句内容主要说宗教改变在人民生活中不曾引起巨大危机的原因，翻译此从句时用“鉴于”一词引出完整的主谓结构来说明本句话的时间背景，与下一句中的In such cases形成衔接。
    population意为“人口”，也可表示“全体居民”，结合语境可知，这里表示罗马帝国的人民。assimilate意为“同化”，结合思想体系和人民之间的关系，选用“结为一体”这样的表述，生动地描述了思想与人融为一体的内涵，同时也符合中文的行文习惯。
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