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It would never have occurred to the Romans to do what Alexander the Great had done.
羅馬人從未有過類似于亞歷山大大帝那樣的想法。
They had no wish to turn the lands they conquered into a single, vast empire in which everyone was treated equally. Certainly not.
他們不想把被占領的各個國家建成一個讓所有的人享有同樣權利的惟一的龐大帝國。不，所有這些國家，
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.
羅馬軍團占領的這些國家——這個帝國擴張得越來越快——所有這些國家都成為羅馬的行省。
These occupiers looked down on the native inhabitants, even when they were Phoenicians, Jews and Greeks – all peoples of very ancient culture.
這些人覺得自己比當地人高貴得多，即使這些當地人是腓尼基人或猶太人或希臘人，是這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.
在羅馬人眼里，他們只是為了支付才活在這世上，
They were subject to crushing taxes and had to keep sending grain to Rome – as much and as often as possible.
他們必須支付巨額稅款并頻頻把糧食運往羅馬。
Provided they did so, they were left more or less in peace.
如果他們這樣做了，人們便讓他們稍許得到一些安寧。
