美国学生人类历史 第90期:罗马帝国的兴起(3)

 　　All the little citystates once more began to quarrel with each other as they had done in the good old days.

　　所有的希腊城邦再度陷人无休止的相互争吵中，一如它们在光荣的旧时代的所为。

　　The Romans, who had little understanding and less love for these silly bickerings of a race which they rather despised, showed great forebearance.

　　显然，罗马人的政治理解力还达不到这般精妙的程度，他们不喜欢这个民族内的愚蠢争论。

　　But tiring of these endless dissensions they lost patience, invaded Greece, burned down Corinth (to "encourage the other Greeks") and sent a Roman governor to Athens to rule this turbulent province.

　　起初他们极力容忍，可漫天飞舞的谣言与攻讦终于使务实的罗马人失去了耐性。他们攻人希腊，焚毁柯林斯城以警告其他城邦，并派遣一名总督去统治雅典这个骚动不安的省份。

　　In this way, Macedonia and Greece became buffer¹ states which protected Rome's eastern frontier.

　　这样，马其顿和希腊变成了保卫罗马东部边疆的缓冲区。

　　Meanwhile right across the Hellespont lay the Kingdom of Syria, and Antiochus III, who ruled that vast land, had shown great eagerness

　　此时，越过赫勒斯蓬特海峡就是叙利亚王国安蒂阿卡斯三世统治着的广袤土地。

　　when his distinguished² guest, General Hannibal, explained to him how easy it would be to invade Italy and sack the city of Rome.

　　当其尊贵的客人，汉尼拔将军向他解释人侵意大利、掠夺整个罗马城将是一件轻而易举的事情时，安蒂阿卡斯三世不禁跃跃欲试。

　　Lucius Scipio, a brother of Scipio the African fighter who had defeated Hannibal and his Carthaginians at Zama, was sent to Asia Minor³.

　　卢修斯·西皮奥，即人侵非洲并在扎马大败汉尼拔及其速太基军队的西皮奥将军的弟弟，被派往小亚细亚。

　　He destroyed the armies of the Syrian king near Magnesia (in the year 190 B.C.)

　　公元前190年，他在玛格尼西亚附近摧毁了叙利亚军队。

　　Shortly afterwards, Antiochus was lynched by his own people.

　　不久后，安蒂阿卡斯被自己的人民私刑处死，

　　Asia Minor became a Roman protectorate and the small City-Republic of Rome was mistress of most of the lands which bordered upon the Mediterranean⁴.

　　小亚细亚随之成为罗马的保护地。这个小小的城市共和国最终成为了地中海周围大片土地的主人。

1 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

2 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。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。