(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
But there was further humiliation to come. The indomitable Candace sent ambassadors to negotiate the terms of a peace settlement. The case ended up before Augustus himself, who granted the ambassadors pretty much everything they asked for. He had secured the Pax Romana, but at a considerable price. It was the action of a shrewd, calculating political operator, who then used the official Roman propaganda machine to airbrush this setback out of the picture.
但这场羞辱仍未结束 。强硬的坎迪斯派使者去协商和平条款 。最后奥古斯都亲自处理此事,几乎答应了使者的所有要求 。他以极高的代价维护了罗马的和平 。作为精明的政治领导者,他随后让强大的帝国宣传机器把这段故事抹掉了 。
Augustus's career became the imperial blueprint of how to achieve and retain power. And a key part of retaining power was the management of his image. Here's Susan Walker again:
奥古斯都的一生成了统治者如何获取并保有权力的范本 。经营自身形象是巩固权力的关键 。苏珊沃尔克这样描述:
"He always looked exactly as he did on the day that he became 'Augustus', and he presented himself very modestly. He often showed himself wearing the Roman toga, and drew it over his head to show his piety. And sometimes he was shown as a general leading his troops into battle, even though he never actually personally did so. And this was a very enduring image; we have surviving even today over 250 images of Augustus, which come from all over the Roman Empire, and they are pretty much the same-the variations are really not very significant. So the portrait was very, very recognisable, and very enduring."
除了展示自己成为“奥古斯都”那日的形象之外,他其余的形象都颇为谦逊 。他经常以穿着罗马宽松外袍的形象示人,用袍子罩住头部以示虔诚 。有时他的形象是一个即将带领队伍投入战斗的将领,但事实上他从未亲征过 。我们拥有来自罗马帝国的超过250种奥古斯都雕像 。面部形象大致相同,辨识度极高,且历久弥新 。
重点讲解
1.end up 结束;告终
We will end up living in a society where life is cheap.
我们最终将生活在一个视人命为儿戏的社会 。
There are those, you know, who, by circumstance, end up homeless.
您知道,会有那么一些人,因为命运捉弄而落得无家可归 。
2.lead into 领入;引之使陷于
He took Dickon by the hand to lead him into the house.
他牵着迪康的手把他领进屋 。
One of the supreme quests of alchemy is to transmute lead into gold.
炼金术的终极目的之一是将铅转化为金 。