(单词翻译:单击)
视听文本
With time Carthage gained control over much of the North African coastline,
一段时间后,迦太基就控制了北非洲海岸的绝大部分地区
along with Corsica and Sardinia, and began to
还有科西嘉岛和撒丁岛
fight with Greek cities for influence in Sicily.
与希腊城市争夺对西西里岛的控制
By three ten BC all of Sicily, just about, was part of the Carthaginian empire.
在公元前310年,整个西西里岛都成为迦太基帝国的一部分
As mentioned earlier,
我之前提到过
Rome's victories in the Pyrrhic wars had
罗马赢得皮洛士战争
given her control over the Italian peninsula by two seventy two BC.
也就使她有了对意大利半岛的控制权那是在公元前272年
This fact made Rome a Mediterranean power by default, equal to the quote, unquote,
这也就使罗马成为地中海强国也就相当于
successor states of Alexander the Great to the east,
东部亚历山大帝国之后的大国
and to the west, the Carthaginian Empire. In fact,
而在西部的另一强国是迦太基帝国
Rome and Carthage are surprisingly close together for two such famous enemies.
实事上,罗马与迦太基距离很近但他们却相互憎恶
They are on different continents but they are separated
他们属于不同大洲
only by two narrow straights and the island of Sicily.
但他们仅被两个窄窄的海峡和西西里岛隔开
Remember that the United States has always been fixated on the Island of Cuba, and not without reason.
请记住,美国曾经对古巴岛念念不忘,不是没有原因
Cuba is only ninety miles away from
古巴距美国大陆
the mainland United States and
仅有九十公里
any power with a base on Cuba would present a clear and present danger.
任何在古巴有基地的强国都会带来迫切的危险
Sicily had long since ben settled by Greek
西西里岛早就有希腊人居住
and Phoenician colonists and was packed with city states of its own, many of which were older and more established than Rome.
还有腓尼基人殖民,那里还有大量它自己的城邦绝大多数城邦都比罗马更加古老
Carthage already controlled the western half of Sicily
迦太基已经控制了西西里岛西部
and thought of the rest of the as being in their sphere of influence.
也认为其余地区也都受其影响很深
When the Mamertines, a group of Italian mercenaries
当一队意大利雇用士兵
living in Messina on the northern tip of Sicily,
生活在西西里岛南端的墨西拿时
revolted against Carthage in two sixty four BC.
他们在公元前264年反抗迦太基人
Carthage struck back hard.
迦太基人全面受挫
At this point the Mamertine mercenaries appealed to Rome for help.
这时,这些雇用士兵请求罗马的帮助
The Romans were not obligated to comply.
罗马本无需答应
After all, Rome and Carthage had always been friends.
无论如何,罗马曾一直与迦太基为善
The Romans didn't care about a bunch of Italian mercenaries
罗马人才不担心那些意大利士兵呢
who were happy to take Carthaginian money
他们喜滋滋地在迦太基赚了钱
and then got mad at Carthage.
又对迦太基生气
But the idea of a Carthaginian naval base
一些到迦太基在意大利南端的海军基地
just off the tip of Italy scared them to death.
他们就吓得要死
Therefore, the senate recommended that
因此,元老院建议
Rome support the Mamertines against the Carthaginians.
罗马应该支持那些士兵反抗迦太基
This met the dictates 'of the Ius Fetiales,
这就符合了和平条约的内容
that is to say it meant that
也就是说
the Carthaginians started it
是迦太基人开启了战争
and it touched off what we call the first Punic War.
这也就触发了第一次布匿战役
The technology itself, of the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage,
而技术本身罗马与迦太基之间的第一次布匿战争本身
which lasted from two sixty four to two forty one BC, is pretty interesting.
是非常有趣的这场战役从公元前264持续到公元前241年
Since the Sicilian mountains are no place to fight
但西西里岛的山区不适合陆地战
a land war most of the war took place at sea.
大部分战役都在海上进行
There was one problem for the Romans
但罗马人有一个问题
because they were complete and total landlubbers.
因为他们完全适应陆地的生活
The odds would seem stacked in favour of the sea
适应水中作战的迦太基人更有胜算
fairing Carthaginians. But typically Roman is the fact
但事实上,罗马人
that they figured out a strategy for
他们找到了一条策略
taking the land war onto the sea.
把陆地搬进海洋
Instead of ramming the Carthaginian ships, which was standard practice at the time,
他们没有捣毁迦太基船只那时捣毁船只才是惯用做法
the Romans developed a gangplank with a big hook
罗马人发明了一种带着大钩跳板
in the end which they called a corvus or crow.
后来他们把它叫做"乌鸦"
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: