評論
打印
7. Persepolis
7. 波斯波利斯（Persepolis）
Built some 2500 years ago by King Darius the Great, Persepolis was known as “the richest city under the sun” and the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Founded by a nomadic branch of the Indo-European family who settled the Iranian plateau, no empire before it had ever been as large. It stretched all the way from the borders of present day India to Greece, Egypt and Russia. Regarded as “the King of Kings,” Darius the Great ruled over 28 other kingdoms within his realm, and together with his successors were quite tolerant and accepting of different cultures and religions.
波斯波利斯，約2500年前由國王大流士(King Darius the Great)大帝建造，是阿契美尼德王朝的都城，被世人稱為“天底下最富有的城市”。波斯波利斯是當時最大的王國,起源于定居伊朗高原的印歐語系的游牧民族分支，它從現今的印度一路延伸到希臘，埃及和俄羅斯的邊界。大流士大帝，被稱為“王中之王”，統治了28個王國，連同他的繼任者也都是相當寬容，接受不同的文化和宗教。
The city of Persepolis currently lies in ruins, pillaged and burnt down by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, but back in its heyday this metropolis was like no other. The Apadana, the centerpiece of the entire palace complex, was the chamber in which the emperor received envoys and ambassadors from all corners of his realm. This structure alone had over 72 columns 82 feet high, which held together the beautifully adorned rooftop. Before entering this forest-like chamber, foreigners first had to pass the “Gate of All Nations” which was guarded on both sides by huge stone bull-bodied bearded men representing the might of the Empire.
波斯波利斯這座城市如今已成了一片廢墟，公元前330年被亞歷山大大帝掠奪并燒毀，但在其鼎盛時期這個大都市遠比其他城市繁榮富足。阿婆陀那大殿（Apadana），是波斯波利斯的正殿，也是整個宮殿建筑群的核心，它是帝王用來接見朝貢團的地方。單這一座大殿里，82英尺高的石柱就不止72根，碩大的石柱撐起了華麗的屋頂。在進入這片森林般的宮殿之前，外國使者首先必須通過“萬國之門”，此門由身壯如牛，胡子濃郁的侍衛把守兩邊，象征著帝國的巨大威力。
The majority of buildings we can still see at Persepolis are the work of Emperor Xerxes, the son of Darius, and his son Artaxerxes I. Some still argue that the defeat of the Persians in 490-480BC by the city-states of Greece wasn’t a good thing, since the Persians had a much more open society. They offered freedom of religion for all cultures within their domain, while their own religion, Zoroastrianism, forbid the practice of slavery. Not to mention the fact that women had many more rights and liberties than most world cultures at the time, especially compared to the Greeks.
我們今天能看到的波斯波利斯的多數殘垣斷壁，都是大流士大帝的兒子薛西斯國王（Emperor Xerxes）和薛西斯的兒子亞達薛西一世（Artaxerxes I.）建造的。有些人仍然認為，公元前490-480年波斯人在希臘城邦的失利不是一件好事，因為波斯人有一個更加開放的社會。他們在領域范圍內提倡宗教自由，而且他們自己的宗教——瑣羅亞斯德教（Zoroastrianism）一直禁止奴隸制。與此同時，當時的波斯婦女相較于其他大多數文明（尤其是希臘文明）來說，有更多的權利和自由。
