The Rise 罗马崛起 - 06
【collation】
Rome took everything from the Etruscans. Etruscan engineers showed them how to drain the marshes 1 where Rome now stands and channel the water into underground sewers 2. Etruscan architects and builders laid out the Roman forum 3 as a public square in the 7th century BC. The Romans owed everything to the Etruscans they would one day turn on them, crush their beautiful cities and defame their memory. It would be the first step on Rome’s path to empire.
Most of what we know about the birth of Rome comes from the work of one man, one of Rome’s greatest historians, Livy. He lived in the reign 4 of the Emperor Augustus over 700 years after the city was founded. The glory of Rome was at its height. But Romans were already haunted by the specter of decline. The empire was emerging from decades of civil war. Bitterness and political intrigue 5 were rampant 6. Decadence 7, greed and profiteering were the order of the day. To men like Livy, raised on the Roman Stoic 8 virtues 9 of valor 10, loyalty 11 and self-sacrifice, it seemed the spirit of Rome was rotting.
I feel that indulgence has brought us, through every form of sensual excess, to be morbidly 12 attracted to death in all its forms. Rome is at the dark dawning of an age in which we can neither endure our vices 13 nor face the remedies needed to cure them. ----Livy.
A cure was what Emperor Augustus was looking for. He cracked down on dissent 14 and passed laws to punish immorality 15. He was determined 16 to reform the empire and force a return to Roman family values. Bawdy 17 poets like Ovid who wrote The Art of Love were banished 18 to the Asian steppes. When his own daughter Julia was rumored 19 to have slept with half the Senate, Augustus banished her as well.
Livy saw in Augustus or in Octavian a chance for the world to finally settle down and get back to business. What made Rome great to begin with? You gotta go back and look. Who were the heroes of the past that made Rome the city she was?
I hope that history may be the best cure for a sick mind. At least, it can remind us of what we once were and show us the depth to which we are now sinking.
- Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
- We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
- 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。
- The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
- The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。
- Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
- The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。
- Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
- You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。
- The decadence of morals is bad for a nation.道德的堕落对国家是不利的。
- His article has the power to turn decadence into legend.他的文章具有化破朽为神奇的力量。
- A stoic person responds to hardship with imperturbation.坚忍克己之人经受苦难仍能泰然自若。
- On Rajiv's death a stoic journey began for Mrs Gandhi,supported by her husband's friends.拉吉夫死后，索尼亚在丈夫友人的支持下开始了一段坚忍的历程。
- Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
- She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。
- Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
- Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。
- She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
- His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。
- As a result, the mice became morbidly obese and diabetic. 结果，老鼠呈现为病态肥胖和糖尿病。 来自互联网
- He was morbidly fascinated by dead bodies. 他对尸体着魔到近乎病态的程度。 来自互联网
- In spite of his vices, he was loved by all. 尽管他有缺点，还是受到大家的爱戴。
- He vituperated from the pulpit the vices of the court. 他在教堂的讲坛上责骂宫廷的罪恶。
- It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
- He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。
- All the churchmen have preached against immorality. 所有牧师都讲道反对不道德的行为。
- Where the European sees immorality and lawlessness, strict law rules in reality. 在欧洲人视为不道德和无规则的地方，事实上都盛行着一种严格的规则。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
- I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
- He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
- After a few drinks,they were all singing bawdy songs at the top of their voices.喝了几杯酒之后，他们就扯着嗓门唱一些下流歌曲。
- His eyes were shrewd and bawdy.他的一双眼睛机灵而轻佻。
- He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
- He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》