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Rome began as a thousand American cities have done, by being a convenient place for barter and horse-trading. It lay in the heart of the plains of central Italy The Tiber provided direct access to the sea. The land-road from north to south found here a convenient ford which could be used all the year around. And seven little hills along the banks of the river offered the inhabitants a safe shelter against their enemies who lived in the mountains and those who lived beyond the horizon of the nearby sea.
羅馬的起源就像1000座美國城市的起源，其發(fā)跡首先是由于地處要津，交 通便利，四鄉(xiāng)八野的人們紛紛來此交 易貨物、買賣馬匹。羅馬位于意大利中部平原的中心，臺伯河為它提供了直接的出海口。一條貫通半島南北的大道經(jīng)過這里，一年四季都能使用，勞頓的旅人正好于此駐足稍憩。沿臺伯河岸有7座小山，可為居民們用作抵御外敵的避難所。這些兇險的敵人有些來自周圍的山地，有些來自地平線外的濱海地區(qū)。
The mountaineers were called the Sabines. They were a rough crowd with an unholy desire for easy plunder. But they were very backward. They used stone axes and wooden shields and were no match for the Romans with their steel swords. The sea-people on the other hand were dangerous foes. They were called the Etruscans and they were (and still are) one of the great mysteries of history. Nobody knew (or knows) whence they came; who they were; what had driven them away from their original homes. We have found the remains of their cities and their cemeteries and their waterworks all along the Italian coast. We are familiar with their inscriptions. But as no one has ever been able to decipher the Etruscan alphabet, these written messages are, so far, merely annoying and not at all useful.
住在山地的敵人叫作薩賓人，他們行為粗野，心懷惡意，總希望通過劫掠來維持生活。不過他們很落后，所使用的武器仍然是石斧和木制盾牌，難以匹敵羅馬人手中的鋼劍。比較而言，濱海地區(qū)的人們才是真正危險的敵人。他們被稱為伊特拉斯坎人，其來歷至今依舊是歷史學上的一個不解之謎，無人知曉他們何時定居于意大利西部濱海地區(qū)，屬于哪個種族，以及是什么原因迫使他們離開了原來的家園？我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了他們城市的遺跡，他們的墳墓遺跡在意大利海岸上他們的水上建筑。他們留下的碑文隨處可見，可由于無人通曉伊特拉斯坎文字，這些書寫信息至今不過是些令人大傷腦筋的神秘圖形。
