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5. Rome
5．古羅馬
Rome was considered by its citizens to be the center of the world. In a time when explorers hadn’t yet discovered the Americas, Australia or the Pacific Ocean, the view of the Earth was much smaller and a lot flatter. The “boot” that is the Italian peninsula, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, made the city of Rome look like it was right in the middle of everything.
在羅馬居民看來，他們所在的城市就是世界的中心。在探險家們到達美洲、澳洲和太平洋以前，世界在人們眼中確實要狹小且平坦得多。靴子形狀的意大利半島正好位于地中海中央，這也使得羅馬看起來更像世界的中心。
Starting off as a small town on the Tiber River, Rome gathered all the skills required to thrive from its neighbors. From the Greeks to the south it received a model of religion and architecture, while the Etruscans to the north offered the gift of trade. This small town steadily flourished into a magnificent metropolis, mostly through the exchange of goods, but the Italian peninsula was soon too small and these neighbors and benefactors had to go.
羅馬起源于臺伯河畔的小村莊，從臨邦學到了各種發家致富的方法。它從希臘等南部地區學會了宗教和建筑，從伊特魯里亞等北部地區汲取了貿易的精髓。就這樣，這個小城邦在貿易中逐漸成長為繁榮的大都市。小小的意大利半島就無法滿足羅馬人了，它曾經的鄰居和恩人也都變得無足輕重。
War was the next step into Rome’s evolution, and not long after both the Greeks and Etruscans were gone from the mainland. One after the other, neighboring states fell in the face of this new superpower. The Greeks, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Gauls, the Germanic tribes… all bent the knee to Rome, giving way to the saying “All roads lead to Rome.” But everything has to end eventually, and so did the glory of Rome. But even after 2000 years the lives of people around the world are influenced by this once mighty city.
戰爭成了羅馬發展進程中的下一步，沒多久，希臘和伊特魯里亞都在大陸中消失了。另一方面，附近的城邦在羅馬強大的攻勢面前紛紛淪陷。古希臘人、迦太基人、古埃及人、高盧人、日耳曼人紛紛向羅馬俯首稱臣，于是，“條條大路通羅馬”這句話也由此產生。但是，一切都會有盡頭，羅馬亦復如是。不過，即使是2000年后的今天，我們的生活中還是能看到羅馬的影子。
