世界小史 第131期:亞歷山大
Alexander only went east. Although 'only' may not be quite the right word!
亞歷山大只向東方進軍。“只”當然并非是個正確的詞！
But the lands that lay to the west of Greece did not tempt1 him – just a couple of Phoenician and Greek colonies and a handful of densely2 wooded peninsulas inhabited by tribes of stubborn and unruly peasants.
但是希臘以西的地方，并沒有吸引他——那里是幾個腓尼基和希臘的殖民地以及幾個覆蓋著茂密森林的半島，居住著剛強、貧窮、尚武的農村部族。
One of these peninsulas was Italy, and one of the peasant tribes, the Romans.
意大利便是一個這樣的半島，而羅馬人則是一個這樣的農村部族。
At the time of Alexander the Great, the Roman empire was no more than a little patch of land in the heart of Italy,
在亞歷山大大帝時代，羅馬帝國尚還是意大利中部的一小塊地盤，
and Rome a tiny city of twisting streets within strong walls.
羅馬是一座偏僻的小城市，有堅固的城墻。
But Rome's inhabitants were a proud people.
但是羅馬的居民是一個驕傲的民族。
They loved recounting stories of the greatness of their past and were convinced of a great future.
他們津津樂道他們偉大的歷史并相信他們偉大的未來。
Their history, as they told it, went back to ancient Troy.
他們的歷史，像他們說得那樣，可追溯到古代特洛伊時期。
A Trojan named Aeneas fled to Italy.
一個名叫埃涅阿斯的特洛伊人逃到意大利。
His descendants were the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars, the god of war, who were suckled and raised in the forest by a wild she-wolf.
他的后代是一對孿生子羅慕洛和瑞穆，戰(zhàn)神瑪爾斯是這一對孿生子的父親，他們由一匹母野狼在森林里哺育和喂養(yǎng)長大。
