视听文本

Whether this consistency
无论这种一致性是否
was always a positive thing,
一直是积极的事物
well, that was something completely different.
那就是另外一件事了
Segment 6e: Conclusions. 6e
结论
One, Rome is still important.
罗马至今依然重要
The people are still fascinating.
人们依然为此着迷

The history is still instructive.
罗马的历史依然有指导意义
The legacy is still all around you
这些遗产依然在我们身边
and all around everyone else in the western world.
在西方世界的每个人身边
Like it or not, the United States of America
无论是否喜欢，美国
has assumed Rome's old roles
继承了罗马的位置
as the world's tough guy and the world's policemen.
成为世界的硬汉和世界警察
In the words of the great scholar Wilt Chamberlain,
知名学者威尔特·张伯伦说
"nobody roots for Goliath."
没人支持歌利亚
Like the United States,
就像美国一样
Rome rose from very humble beginnings
罗马出身卑微
to rule, to become the one super power of their day.
之后开始统治，成为当时的超级大国
Because the Romans learned
因为罗马人学习
how to rule their empire well,
如何很好地治理帝国
and did so for centuries,
他们这样持续了数百年
they were genuinely appreciated
大家都赞赏罗马
for their contributions to world peace.
为世界和平作出的贡献
But once times began to get rough internally,
但是一旦罗马内部出现了纷争
and once the barbarians started crashing the gates,
一旦野蛮人不请自来
the Pax Romana disintegrated.
罗马帝国统治下的和平分崩离析
Then Rome became a lot less popular.
罗马的势力下降
Then Goliath started to stagger.
歌利亚开始蹒跚
Then Rome found herself all alone.
之后，罗马发现自己孤身一人
Then the Roman, Western Roman Empire fell apart.
接着，西罗马帝国灭亡
The same thing happened to the Eastern Roman Empire.
东罗马也灭亡了
Does this sound familiar?
这听上去耳熟吗?
I hope we never have to learn.
希望我们永远也不要学习这一点
Number two, who knew?
第二点，谁知道?
Looking at Rome's beginnings, even in hindsight,
看看罗马的开始，即使只回想一下
it would be hard to recognize a nation
很难承认一个国家
destined to dominate the world.
注定要统治世界
As one of just 40 or 50 podunk towns
罗马一开始是Latium地区中
in the region of Latium,
四五十个无名小镇中的一个
Rome would have been lucky
罗马能最终通知拉丁联盟
to wind up ruling the Latin league.
应该是很幸运的
As Camillus, the famous general observed,
卡美卢斯，这位著名的将军认为
Rome's location was perhaps a little bit better
罗马的地理位置很好
in that Rome was built on hills,
因为罗马建立在山上
overlooking a ford of the Tiber.
俯瞰台伯河的浅滩
But Rome's great advantage
但是罗马最大的优势
was really the Roman people.
在于罗马人
Tough, focused, willing to put the collective,
坚韧，专注，愿意把集体，也就是
that is the Roman city-state,
罗马城邦国的利益
ahead of their individual preferences.
放在个人利益之前
The Romans seemed to enjoy rising to challenges.
罗马人喜欢应对各种挑战
They got knocked down, but they got up again.
他们被打败，但是会再次站起来
They also appeared as best we can tell
从文字记录中
from the written records to take pride
我们可以看出来
in their national achievements.
他们为自己国家的成就而骄傲
Whatever internal struggles were going on,
无论内部发生了什么纷争
the Romans always got their act together
在纷乱时期
when times, in time of trouble.
罗马人总是一起行动
Or maybe the Romans were right all along,
或许罗马人一直是对的
and maybe they were predestined by Jupiter
朱庇特可能赐予他们
to rule the entire Mediterranean world.
统治整个地中海区域的权利
Three, those funky Etruscans.
第三，伊特鲁利亚人
It would be hard to say that the Romans were ashamed
很难说罗马人为伊特鲁利亚人
of the Etruscan part of their heritage.
的介入而感到羞耻
It would be hard to say that they consciously
很难说，罗马人有意地
tried to block it out or rewrite it.
忽略或者改写这一段历史
But the Romans didn't do an awful lot
但是罗马人不想做过多记录
to help later generations appreciate
帮助后代人鉴别或者
or understand the Etruscans.
理解伊特鲁利亚人
And that is quite a shame.
这一点很可惜
What little we can find out about the ancient
我们发现的和伊特鲁利亚人有关的
Etruscans to this day is very fascinating.
少量史实是很有趣的
On the other hand,
另一方面
the Romans assimilated Etruscan culture
罗马人吸收伊特鲁利亚人文化
so thoroughly and so respectfully
非常彻底而带有敬意
that it anticipated how the Romans would react
因此，可以推测出罗马人
to the Greek Hellenic culture
会在几个世纪后，如何应对
or Hellenistic culture in a couple of centuries.
希腊文化

视频及简介

课程介绍:
本课程对罗马帝国和前苏联的兴衰进行回顾，探讨它们历史变迁的内在规律，并将现代的超级大国——美国与它们进行比较，从而作出对未来可能的一些预测。

原声视频：