视听文本

Segment eight A, introduction.

第八讲，简介

The turning point in the history of the roman republic was their second war against the Carthaginian Empire.

罗马共和国的历史出现了转折点那就是罗马人与迦太基帝国的第二次大战

This so-called second Punic War, or even Hannibalic War, lasted from two eighteen to two zero one BC.

也被称为第二次布匿战役这场战争从公元前218年持续至公元前201年

Rome entered this war as one of several Mediterranean powers

罗马加入这场战争作为几大地中海大国之一

but emerged from this war as the superpower in the Mediterranean.

但在这些战役之中它却成为地中海强国

There was a great deal of suffering, bloodshed

但却代价惨重，这里有流血牺牲

and excruciating uncertainty in between, which can be summed up in the phrase,

左右为难的不确定也可以用以下短语来概括

Hannibal ad portas, which means Hannibal ad portas

它的意思是

Hannibal is at the door, as indeed he was.

汉尼拔打上门来，事实确实如此

For centuries Roman parents would say this to scare the togas off of their little children.

几百年来，罗马的家长们都会这样吓唬孩子们

But there was a time when all Rome shook at the mention of Hannibal.

但却有一段时间罗马人一听到汉尼拔就胆颤心惊

Rome spent years on the ropes.

罗马人小心翼翼地过了很多年

In outlasting Hannibal and then by defeating Hannibal,

他们比汉尼拔更有耐心，也因此打败他

Rome was able to embark on, apparently,

显然，罗马可以开始

its true destiny. I must warn you that

它真正的命运，我必须提醒大家

this lecture has oodles of historical content.

今天的讲座中有很多历史内容

In segment eight B; Evil Empires, we learn

在第八讲的第二部分，罪恶的帝国

why Carthage became the Roman's greatest example of an evil empire. Every superpower has an especially hated enemy that it can use

要了解迦太基为何成为罪恶帝国最好的例子每一个强国都有其极厌恶的敌人

to rile its people up to superhuman efforts.

借以激怒人民，使他们做出超人的努力

For years and years and years we had the Soviet Union.

很多年来，我们的敌对就是苏联

For years before that we had the evil Nazi Germans

那之前，还有罪恶的德国纳粹

and evil Japanese, and so on. For the Romans, the Carthaginians certainly earned their evil empire status.

还有邪恶的日本等等，但对于罗马迦太基罪恶之国的大名实至名归

Even so, the Romans and Carthaginians had actually,

即便如此，罗马人和迦太基人

prior to their wars, experienced two and a half centuries of peaceful and profitable relations.

在战争之前的250年间也是和平相处，互惠共赢

The Romans won their first go-around over the island of Sicily in a war

罗马人在他们的首战胜利中赢得了西西里岛

that took from two sixty four BC to two forty one BC.

那场战争从公元前264年持续到公元前240年

But to do so they had to create their very first navy,

但首先，他们必须建立自己的海军队伍

and they had to invent, by chance, a brilliant new naval technology.

他们还必须发明全新的精明的海军作战技术

Even so, the Carthaginians just got knocked down.

即便这样，迦太基人被击退了

They would get up again. Segment eight C;

他们还会再次崛起，在第三部分

Hannibal Ad Portas, describes the great gut-check of Roman history called The Second Punic War.

汉尼拔打上门来，描述了罗马历史中的第二次布匿战役

But the Romans and the Carthaginians knew there would be a second round.

但罗马人和迦太基人都知道还会有第二轮战争

After years of tense waiting

在紧张等待多年后

Hannibal utterly shocked the Romans by coming in over the Alps to invade Italy

汉尼拔全面击败罗马人他们翻越阿尔卑斯山，掠夺意大利

in two eighteen BC.

那是在公元前218年

At the Battle of Cannae in two sixteen BC,

在公元前216年的坎尼会战中

two Roman consular armies were ripped to shreds

两支罗马领带军队完全被摧毁

and Rome discovered that

罗马人发现

there was only one safe thing to do when Hannibal was in the country, run.

当汉尼拔人攻入城市时唯一安全的做法就是逃跑

Yet Hannibal could not muster the men and resources necessary to beat the Romans either.

但汉尼拔不能召集人民汇聚资源而只有这样才能打败罗马

A bold Roman invasion of Carthage forced Hannibal to go back to Africa.

罗马人勇敢地进攻迦太基把迦太基人逼退回非洲

As close as Rome had come to total defeat,

就在罗马即将全面溃败之际

her victory to, was nearly total.

它仍有可能大获全胜

We will see in segment eight D that Rome becomes a superpower

我们会在第四部分中看到罗马成为一个强国

and how Rome coped with both the positive and

再看看罗马如何处理

negative consequences of victory over Carthage.

战胜迦太基后的有利和无利后果

Because Rome was now the old alpha dog

因为罗马现在是一个疲惫而衰老的国家

in the Mediterranean, she was also the number one target of the other powers.

在地中海地区，她也是其他国家的首要攻击目标

And again, to quote Wilt Chamberlain

再一次，引用威尔特张伯伦的话

'nobody roots for Goliath.'

"没有人支持哥利亚"

She especially worried the large empires of the east, which had once been part of Alexander's empire.

她尤其担忧东部的大国它们曾是亚历山大统治的帝国的一部分

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：