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There are no windows at all in the Pantheon, but there is a large hole in the top of the saucer called an “eye” which looks toward heaven, and through this eye the sun shines and the rain falls. It is so high above the floor, however, that the rain scarcely wets the floor beneath, but evaporates before reaching it.

Most of the buildings in Rome that were built about the time of Christ are in ruins, but the Pantheon is still almost the same as it was when first built. Around and about the very old buildings the dust and dirt and rubbish of the city had collected for two thousand years and had gradually piled higher and higher until the ruins were twenty feet or more lower than the present city, so that it has been necessary to dig them out.

In those days long ago there was a great market-place in Rome called the Forum. Around the Forum were beautiful palaces, court-houses, temples, and arches. The arches were built so that generals, when they returned from the wars they had fought and won, might ride in triumph through them. One of these arches is called the Arch of Titus. Titus was a Roman Emperor who destroyed the capital city of the Jews called Jerusalem and this arch was built to celebrate the event. Another arch is the Arch of Constantine. Constantine was the first Emperor of Rome to believe in Christ. That was not until three hundred years after Christ had died.

The old Romans had a peculiar idea of fun. They liked to watch fights between men and wild animals such as lions and tigers, and they liked to see the men and animals kill each other. Sometimes the men were prisoners who had been captured in battle, sometimes they were just Christians whom the Roman Emperors wanted to put to death. So a great stadium was built where the Romans could sit in safety and watch these fights as we watch football or baseball games. This stadium is called the Colosseum and, though it is partly in ruins, most of it is still standing and you can still see the dens where the wild animals were kept before they were let loose into the arena.

As the Christians were afraid to worship above ground where the Romans would see them, they hid in secret cellar-like places where they could worship as they pleased. Just outside of Rome, underneath the ground, are miles upon miles of these cellar-like rooms where they worshiped and where they were buried when they died. They are called Catacombs. Millions of the Christians were buried in the Catacombs.

参考译文

万神庙里没有一扇窗户，但是在“茶碟”的顶部有一个巨大的孔，这个孔朝向天，被称之为“眼睛”。阳光可以穿过这个孔照射进来，雨水也可以通过这个孔滴进来。然而，由于它高耸于地面之上，雨水几乎不能打湿下面的地面，因为雨滴还没有落到地面就已经蒸发了。

修建于基督时期的罗马建筑物，现在多数都成废墟了，但是，万神庙却依然如刚刚修建时一样。在古老建筑物的四周，积聚了两千年的城市尘土和垃圾越堆越高，直到废墟比现在的城市至少低20英尺，所以现在有必要把它们挖出来。

在很久以前的罗马，有一个超级大的市场，叫“广场”。在广场四周，是美丽的皇宫、宫廷建筑群、庙宇和拱门。修建这些拱门，是为了让那些打仗得胜归来的将军们可以骑着马耀武扬威地穿过拱门。其中有一扇拱门叫“提图斯凯旋门”。提图斯是一位罗马皇帝，他摧毁了犹太人的首都耶路撒冷，于是就修建了这座拱门来庆祝这件事。还有一个拱门叫“君士坦丁大帝凯旋门”。君士坦丁是第一位信仰基督的罗马皇帝，那是基督死后三百年的事了。

古罗马人有一种特别的取乐方式。他们喜欢观看人与诸如狮子、老虎之类的野兽进行搏斗，观看人与动物互相残杀。有时候这些人是从战场上俘获的俘虏，有时候是罗马皇帝想要处死的基督徒。于是就修建了一座巨大的“体育场”，罗马人可以很安全地坐在里面观看人兽搏斗，就像我们观看足球或棒球比赛一样。这个“体育场”叫做“竞技场”。尽管有些部分已成为废墟，但是大部分还矗立在那儿，你依然可以看见当年野兽被放进竞技场之前关押它们的兽穴。

由于基督徒们不敢在地面上敬拜神，担心被罗马人看见，于是他们就偷偷躲在像地窖一样的房间里按自己的愿望敬拜神。所以，就在罗马城外，在地面以下，这种像地窖一样的房子排起来有几十英里长，基督徒们在这儿敬拜神，他们死了也埋在这里。这儿被称作“地下墓窟”，成百上千万的基督徒埋葬在这里。