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(lǐng)的各個國家建成一個讓所有的人享有同樣權(quán)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(tuán)占領(lǐng)的這些國家——這個帝國擴(kuò)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(dāng)?shù)厝烁哔F得多,即使這些當(dāng)?shù)厝耸请枘峄嘶颡q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(yùn)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。