life in ancient rome

　　the ancient romans are probably best remembered as fighters. fighting was certainly one of their favourite activities. according to the legend, the city of rome was founded by the twin sons of mars — the god of war. 1 the romans were such successful fighters that no one could resist them. at its height2, the roman empire stretched from britain in the west to persia in the east, and from germany in the north down to africa. the most famous roman leaders were soldiers —agrippa , hadrian, mark antony and julius caesar3 and the greatest works of roman literature described many battles these leaders fought.

　　even in peacetime the most popular form of sport in rome was a battle between two professional fighters called gladiators. these men fought each other with swords and spears. usually one gladiator killed the other. gladiators also fought wild animals for the amusement of the roman crowds. such entertainments were called circuses, and it was often said that“bread and circuses”4 were the only two things the romans needed to be happy.

　　but the romans did not spend all their time fighting. they were great builders. they built wonderful temples and public squares, heated baths and leisure centers, huge arches5 to celebrate the victories of their generals, and fine private houses, decorated with statues, fountains and mosaics. their ideas of town planning were very advanced. the roads they built were stright and strong. in many parts of europe, roman roads are still in use. 6

　　閱讀自測(cè)

　　Ⅰ. according to the p as sage , fill in the blanks with proper words:

　　1. one of the favourite activities in ancient rome was_____________ .

　　2. the entertainments that gladiators fought wild animals for amusement were called circuses, so there was a saying that_____________ and_____________ were the only two things the romans needed to be happy.

　　3. romans were great builders. they built wonderful_____________ and public squares, heated houses and_____________ and huge arches.

　　4. the roman empire was a wide state and it stretched from_____________ in the west to persia in the_____________ , and from germany in the north down to _______

　?、? question :

　　list two proverbs which are in relation to rome.

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. fighting 2. bread / circuses 3 . temples / leisure centers 4. britain / east / africa Ⅱ. the die is cast. all roads lead to rome.

　　參考譯文

　　古羅馬人

　　古 羅馬人最為出名的可能要算斗士。搏斗理所當(dāng)然地成為他們深愛的運(yùn)動(dòng)項(xiàng)目之一。 據(jù)傳說記載, 羅馬城是由戰(zhàn)神馬耳斯的雙胞胎兒子所建。羅馬人都是戰(zhàn)功赫赫的斗士, 所 向無 敵。羅馬帝國鼎盛時(shí)期, 其疆域向西擴(kuò)展至不列顛, 東到波斯, 自北面的德國向南直達(dá) 非洲。羅馬最的——— 阿格里帕、哈德良、馬克· 安東尼、尤利烏斯· 愷撒都是斗 士, 而且羅馬文學(xué)中最偉大的著作對(duì)這些指揮的戰(zhàn)斗都有所描述。

　　即使是和平年代, 羅馬最流行的運(yùn)動(dòng)形式也是在被稱為角斗士的兩名專業(yè)斗士之間進(jìn) 行的搏斗。過去這些人用劍和矛對(duì)打, 經(jīng)常是兩者必有一死。為了讓羅馬群眾娛樂, 角斗 士還與野生動(dòng)物打斗。這類娛樂方式被稱為競(jìng)技。人們常說, 只要有了“ 面包和競(jìng)技”這兩 樣?xùn)|西, 羅馬人就可以過得快活了。

　　但是, 羅馬人并沒把所有時(shí)間都花在搏斗上。他們也是偉大的建設(shè)者。他們建造了奇 特的廟宇、公共廣場(chǎng)、溫泉浴場(chǎng)、休閑中心、慶祝將軍們凱旋而歸的巨大拱門, 以及裝飾有雕 像、噴泉和鑲嵌圖案的漂亮的私人會(huì)所。羅馬人的城市規(guī)劃思想非常先進(jìn)。他們修造的道 路筆直而且堅(jiān)固。在現(xiàn)代歐洲的許多地方, 羅馬人修筑的道路仍在使用。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)評(píng)

　　競(jìng)技場(chǎng)上, 角斗士與角斗士, 角斗士與野獸之間進(jìn)行著殊死搏斗?？磁_(tái)上, 古羅馬皇帝 及貴族們聞著血腥味無動(dòng)于衷地觀看著搏斗。這是最慘無人道的表演。就是這種表演, 竟 然可以持續(xù)一百天! 最終, 古羅馬帝國滅亡了。那些驕奢淫逸的貴族們永遠(yuǎn)地被釘在歷史 的恥辱柱上, 那些勇敢的斗士被永遠(yuǎn)地載入史冊(cè), 那些偉大的建筑則成了今天的名勝。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)釋

　　1. 傳說戰(zhàn)神馬耳斯與一位國王的女兒生了對(duì)雙胞胎羅穆盧斯( romulus) 和瑞摩斯( remus) 。然而, 邪惡的舅舅把他們丟棄在臺(tái)伯河( tiber river ) 上, 任其自生自滅。幸運(yùn) 的雙胞胎并沒有被淹死。他們由一只母狼哺養(yǎng)長大, 后來被獵人救出。兩人成年后, 決定建立城市。在修筑城墻時(shí)兩人發(fā)生爭吵, 羅穆盧斯殺死瑞摩斯成為羅馬城創(chuàng)建者及 “ 王政時(shí)代”的國王。今天羅馬城市的中心仍有一尊母狼哺乳嬰兒的青銅像。至 今, 羅馬城徽的圖案就是一只母狼哺乳兩個(gè)嬰兒。

　　2. 這個(gè)詞是形容詞high 的名詞形式, 意思是“頂峰, 頂點(diǎn), 極度”, 如: reach the height of the mountain ( 到達(dá)山頂) ; the storm was at its height. ( 風(fēng)暴正猛。)

　　3. agrippa ( 阿格里帕, 63? —12bc) , 羅馬帝國皇帝奧古斯都的密友、副手和得力將領(lǐng), 歷 任執(zhí)政官、護(hù)民官和帝國宰相。hadrian ( 哈德良, 76—138) , 奧古斯都( 117—138 ) 對(duì)外 采取謹(jǐn)守邊境政策, 對(duì)內(nèi)加強(qiáng)極權(quán)統(tǒng)治, 數(shù)次巡行帝國各地, 在不列顛境內(nèi)筑“ 哈德良長 城”, 鎮(zhèn)壓猶太人暴動(dòng)( 132—135) , 編纂羅馬法典, 獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)文藝。mark antony ( 馬克·安東 尼, 82? —30bc) , 古羅馬統(tǒng)帥和政治, 與李必達(dá)( lepidus, ? —77? bc) 、屋大維 ( octavian, 63bc—14ad) 結(jié)成“ 后三頭”政治聯(lián)盟。julius caesar ( 尤利烏斯·愷撒, 100—44bc) , 羅馬統(tǒng)帥和政治家, 與龐培( pompey, 106—48bc) 、克拉蘇( crassus, 115— 53bc) 結(jié)成“前三頭同盟”后擊敗龐培, 成為羅馬獨(dú)裁者( 49—44bc) , 后來被共和派貴 族刺殺。他曾編訂定儒略歷, 著有《高盧戰(zhàn)記》。諺語“the die is cast. ( 木已成舟。) ”即 出自愷撒。

　　4. 這個(gè)詞組已經(jīng)從它的本意“ 面包和馬戲表演”引申為“政府或其他統(tǒng)治集團(tuán)出于安撫目 的款待公眾的面包和馬戲欣賞、食物和娛樂”, 也可指“ 福利”, 意思同welfare, 如: on the direct orders of the new leaders, it was bread and circuses time this week. ( 由于新領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人 直接下令, 這個(gè)星期是老百姓享受吃喝玩樂的日子。)

　　5. 這個(gè)詞的意思是“ 拱門, 拱型建筑”, 如: the arch of triumph( 凱旋門) 。

　　6. 文章最后兩句話也許是英語諺語“all roads lead to rome. ”的最初含義。但是, 不管是不 是這樣, 大家對(duì)“ 條條大道通羅馬”應(yīng)該有更深的理解吧。