美国学生人类历史 第88期:罗马帝国的兴起(1)

 　　Chapter 23

　　第23章

　　The rise of

　　罗马帝国的兴起

　　Rome How Rome happened

　　罗马帝国是如何形成的

　　The Roman Empire was an accident. No one planned it.

　　罗马帝国的产生纯属偶然。没有人策划它，

　　It "happened."No famous general or statesman or cut-throat ever got up and said "Friends, Romans, Citizens, we must found an Empire.

　　它是自己"形成"的。从未有过一个著名的将军、政客或刺客站出来说，"朋友们，罗马公民们，我们必须建立一个帝国！

　　Follow me and together we shall conquer all the land from the Gates of Hercules to Mount Taurus."

　　大家跟着我，我们将一道征服从赫尔克里斯之门到托罗斯山的所有土地！"

　　Rome produced famous generals and equally distinguished¹ statesmen and cut-throats, and Roman armies fought all over the world.

　　诚然，罗马造就过众多战功卓著的将军和许多杰出的政客及刺客，罗马军队在世界各地所向披靡。

　　But the Roman empire-making was done without a preconceived plan.

　　但罗马帝国的产生并非出于一个精心策划的构思。

　　The average Roman was a very matter-of-fact citizen. He disliked theories about government.

　　普通罗马人都是些非常务实的人们，他们不喜欢探讨关于政府的理论。

　　When someone began to recite "eastward² the course of Roman Empire, etc., etc.," he hastily left the forum³.

　　当某人慷慨激昂地陈辞："我以为，罗马帝国应该向东扩展……等等"，听众们便会立即离开会场，

　　He just continued to take more and more land because circumstances forced him to do so.

　　回到自己的实际事务中去。事实上，罗马攫取越来越多的土地，仅仅是因为环境迫使它必须攫取土地。

　　He was not driven by ambition or by greed.

　　它的扩张并不是出于野心或贪婪的驱使。

　　Both by nature and inclination⁴ he was a farmer and wanted to stay at home.

　　罗马人天生愿意作安分守纪的农民，宁愿一辈子呆在家里。

　　But when he was attacked he was obliged to defend himself

　　不过一旦受到攻击，他们就会奋起自卫。

　　and when the enemy happened to cross the sea to ask for aid in a distant country then the patient Roman marched many dreary⁵ miles to defeat this dangerous foe⁶

　　如果敌人正巧来自海外，需要去遥远的国度对他们展开反击。此时，任劳任怨的罗马人便会跨越数千英里艰苦乏味的路程，去打垮这些危险的敌人。

　　and when this had been accomplished⁷, he stayed behind to administer his newly conquered provinces lest they fall into the hands of wandering Barbarians⁸ and become themselves a menace to Roman safety.

　　当任务完成之后，他们又留下来管理新征服的土地，以免它落人四处游荡的野蛮部族之手，构成对罗马安全的新威胁。

　　It soundsrather complicated and yet to the contemporaries it was so very simple, as you shall see in a moment.

　　这听起来有些复杂，可对现代人来说却是非常简单的道理。今天，你有时也会看到这样的例子。

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

5 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

6 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

7 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

8 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史