视听文本

Fortunately they did not live up to their glorious name
幸运的是，他们没像其光辉的名字那样，
and the Western Empire was allowed to limp on but not for much longer.
他们允许西罗马继续苟延残喘，但是这也没有持续多长时间。
The Eastern Roman Empire remained strong;
东罗马帝国依然很强大，
Constantinople was built on a site controlling the strategically important Bosphorus separating Europe from Asia.
君士坦丁堡所在地控制着具有战略意义的博斯普鲁斯海峡把欧洲和亚洲相分离。
The Eastern Emperors were often able to steer migrating Barbarians such as the Goths and the Vandals, past their own land and straight into the Western Empire.
东罗马皇帝往往能够引导迁徙中的蛮族，例如哥特人，汪达尔人等经过东罗马的领土，直入西方帝国。
The Eastern Empire share of the limes (boundary space) was mostly Egyptian and Syrian Desert as opposed to the miles and miles of heavily populated Danube and Rhine valleys defended by the Western Empire.
东罗马帝国的领土，即边界空间，主要是埃及和叙利亚的沙漠，而西罗马则控制着人口密集，地域辽阔的多瑙河和莱茵河河谷地区。

The Eastern part of the Empire was also more urbanized and more heavily populated with a much stronger economic base. Ancient Egypt provided mountains of grain and the East free peasant farmers were far more numerous than their semi-enslaved Western counterparts.
东罗马城市化水平更高，人口更为稠密，拥有更强大的经济基础。古埃及为其提供了堆积如山的粮食，享有自由之身的农民数量远远超过西罗马半奴隶状态下的农民。
What manufacturing occurred in the Empire took place in the East
制造业首先出现在东罗马，
and the East was also the place where the profitable trade from Arabia, India and China was controlled.
东罗马同时还掌控着阿拉伯，印度和中国的贸易通道，利润丰厚。
The patriarchs of the Christian church in the Eastern Empire basically accepted political
东罗马基督教会的主教基本上接受君士坦丁堡皇帝的政治权威
and spiritual authority of the Emperor in Constantinople.
和精神统治。
This was far less complicated than the Western Emperor's tendency to obey the Bishop of Rome or Pope on major issues.
和西罗马皇帝必须服从罗马主教在重大问题上的决议相比，这要简单得多。
Indeed this division between Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox Christianity) would parallel the physical division between the Western and Eastern Empires.
事实上，这样的划分方法，即西方天主教和东方东正教，和东西帝国按照地理位置来划分是一致的。

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：