纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 035奥古斯都头像(4)

It was a cult¹ sustained by constant propaganda. All across Europe, towns were named after him. The modern Zaragoza is the city of Caesar Augustus, while Augsburg, Autun and Aosta all derive² from Augustus. His head was on coins, and everywhere there were statues. But the British Museum's head is a head from no ordinary statue, it takes us into another story-one that shows a darker side of the Imperial narrative³, for it tells us not only of Rome's might, but of the problems that threatened and occasionally overwhelmed it.

持续不断的宣传让百姓保持着宗教般的狂热。整个欧洲都有以他的名字命名的城镇。现代的萨拉戈萨曾被叫做凯撒奥古斯都之城。奥格斯堡，欧坦和奥斯塔都是他名字的变体。他的头像被印在硬币上，雕像也随处可见。但大英博物馆所藏的这具头像并非来自某座普通雕像，它涉及另一个故事，而这个故事向我们展现了帝国的阴暗面:在展现罗马威仪的同时，它也揭开了笼罩在帝国头上的阴影。

This head was once part of a complete statue that stood on Rome's most southerly frontier, on the border between modern Egypt and Sudan, probably in the town of Syene near Aswan. It's a region that has always been a geo-political fault line, where the Mediterranean⁴ world clashes with Africa. In 25 BC, so the writer Strabo tells us, an invading army from the Sudanese kingdom of Meroe, led by the fierce one-eyed queen Candace, captured a series of Roman forts and towns in southern Egypt. Candace and her army took our statue back to the city of Meroe and buried the severed⁵ head of the glorious Augustus beneath the steps of a temple dedicated⁶ to victory. It was a superbly calculated insult. From now on, everybody walking up the steps and into the temple would literally⁷ be crushing the Roman Emperor under their feet. And if you look closely again at the head, you can see tiny grains of sand from the African desert still embedded⁸ in the surface of the bronze - a badge of shame still visible on the glory of Rome.

这尊头像来自曾伫立在罗马国境最南端的一座全身像，位于今埃及与苏丹之间，很可能就在阿斯旺附近的沙伊尼镇。这里向来是国际地缘政治的断层线，地中海文化与非洲文化在此短兵相接。根据作家斯特拉的描述，公元前25年，苏丹麦罗埃王国的军队在强悍的独眼女王坎迪斯的带领下，攻占了埃及南部的数个罗马城市。他们把雕像蕴含麦罗埃城，修建神庙庆祝胜利，并将伟大的奥古斯都的神圣头颅埋在了神庙的台阶之下。这是一次极有预谋的侮辱。自此以后，每个踏上台阶，进入神庙的人，都将罗马皇帝踩在自己的脚下。今天，如果你近距离观察，还能看到青铜表明镶嵌着来自非洲沙漠的细小沙粒。这是罗马帝国荣耀之上的耻辱标记。

1 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

2 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

3 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

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。

5 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。