It would never have occurred to the Romans to do what Alexander the Great had done.

罗马人从未有过类似于亚历山大大帝那样的想法。

They had no wish to turn the lands they conquered into a single, vast empire in which everyone was treated equally. Certainly not.

他们不想把被占领的各个国家建成一个让所有的人享有同样权利的惟一的庞大帝国。不，所有这些国家，

All the lands the Roman legions conquered – and their conquests came thick and fast – became Roman provinces, their towns occupied by Roman troops and Roman officials.

罗马军团占领的这些国家——这个帝国扩张得越来越快——所有这些国家都成为罗马的行省。

These occupiers looked down on the native inhabitants, even when they were Phoenicians, Jews and Greeks – all peoples of very ancient culture.

这些人觉得自己比当地人高贵得多，即使这些当地人是腓尼基人或犹太人或希腊人，是这些具有很古老文化的名族。

In the eyes of the Romans they were good for just one thing: paying up.

在罗马人眼里，他们只是为了支付才活在这世上，

They were subject to crushing taxes and had to keep sending grain to Rome – as much and as often as possible.

他们必须支付巨额税款并频频把粮食运往罗马。

Provided they did so, they were left more or less in peace.

如果他们这样做了，人们便让他们稍许得到一些安宁。