Rome Was Not Built in a Day (Ⅱ) 罗马不是一天建成的（下）

V. M. Hillyer

——V. M. 希利尔（仲秋 译）

Nero was one of the worst rulers Rome ever had and one of the worst builders. He built himself an enormous palace surrounded by parks and lakes. It was called the Golden House. Later rulers destroyed it. He built a colossal statue of himself which some writers say was 120 feet high. Only its base still exists.

Near where the colossal statue of Nero was， a huge amphitheater was built later and it was called the Colosseum. An amphitheater was something like a football stadium， but instead of games， there were fights held between men and men， or between men and wild animals. The Colosseum had stone seats arranged in an oval shape. The outside walls were four stories high; the lower three stories were rows of arches. Between the arches on the first or ground floor there were engaged Doric columns. Between the arches of the second story were engaged Ionic columns. Between those of the third floor were engaged Corinthian， and on the fourth-story wall were Composite pilasters.

尼禄是古罗马帝国历史上公认的暴君之一，还是最糟糕的建筑师之一。他曾经为自己修建了一座四周有公园和湖泊的大宫殿，被称为“黄金宫殿”，不过被后来的罗马帝国统治者摧毁了。尼禄还为自己建过一座高达120英尺（差不多36米高）的巨型雕像，如今只剩下一个底座了。

距离当时尼禄雕像不远的地方，后来又修建了一个大型露天竞技场，名叫“古罗马圆形竞技场”。这个圆形竞技场看上去和足球场差不多大，但却不是用来进行体育比赛的。这个竞技场进行的是人与人之间，或者是人与野兽之间的搏斗。圆形竞技场里面，石板座位的排列呈椭圆形的阶梯状；从外面看，墙壁共有四层，下面的三层都设计有拱门。第一层的拱门之间使用了多立克柱式，第二层的拱门之间运用的是伊奥尼亚柱式，第三层运用的是科林斯柱式，第四层运用了混合柱式的半露柱。

The Colosseum is now a ruin， but a great part of it is still standing. The amphitheater held as many people as a large stadium does today， but there was a still larger one called the Circus Maximus which held as many people as the largest stadium today holds. Most of the huge Circus Maximus has completely disappeared but some of its foundations still remain.

The Romans built public bath houses， for the common people had no baths at all in their homes. These baths were huge buildings with arched or vaulted rooms in which a thousand or more people could bathe at one time. There were not only hot and cold and warm baths， but gymnasiums， game rooms， and lounging rooms， and so on. They were public places for amusement and recreation.

古羅马圆形竞技场已经废弃，但是建筑中的大部分还完好地保存着，跟今天的大型足球场一样，可以容纳大量的观众。不过，当时还有一个比古罗马圆形竞技场还要大的竞技场，叫“马克西穆斯圆形竞技场”，观众容纳量几乎可以和今天最大的体育竞技场相媲美。如今，这个竞技场的大部分遗址早已不在了，只剩下一小部分地基。

古罗马人还修建了不少公共浴场，这是因为古罗马的普通居民家里并不设浴室。古罗马人修建的公共浴场是有拱门和圆顶大厅的巨型建筑，可以同时供一千多人洗澡。公共浴场里不仅有热水浴室、冷水浴室、温水浴室，还有健身房、游戏室、休息室等功能区域。所以公共浴场也是古罗马人休闲娱乐的地方。

The Romans built large arches， separate from buildings， just for their rulers who had won great battles to march through with their soldiers. Such arches were called Triumphal Arches. One， called the Arch of Titus， was built to celebrate his conquest of the city of Jerusalem. The Arch of Titus has one large single arch.

Another arch， the Arch of Constantine， was built in honor of that ruler who was the first emperor of Rome to become a Christian. The Arch of Constantine has one large and two smaller arches， one at each side. You can see the Colosseum in the background of both pictures.

The bridges the Romans built were among the strongest and most substantial structures they made. Some of these bridges were built， not for people to walk across， but for water to run through. On the top of such a bridge was a trough through which water flowed from its source to the city. It was like a river held up by a bridge. Such a bridge carrying water was called an aqueduct which means water pipe or water carrier.

古羅马人修建的大型拱门，有的并不是用于房屋，而是专门用来迎接战场上凯旋的君王和他的部队，因此这些拱门被称作“凯旋门”。其中一座凯旋门的名称是“提图斯凯旋门”， 它是为了庆祝提图斯国王占领耶路撒冷城而专门修建的，提图斯凯旋门是一座单独的大拱门。

还有另一座凯旋门叫作“君士坦丁凯旋门”，这座凯旋门由中间一个大拱门和两旁各一个小拱门组成。它是用来纪念罗马首位基督徒帝王君士坦丁大帝。在这两幅图片的背景中，你都可以看到古罗马圆形竞技场。

古罗马人建的桥梁是他们建造得最牢固、用料最足的建筑。有些桥梁并不是用来供人通行，而是让水流淌的水路。这类桥梁的桥顶设有一个水槽，水可以经由桥顶的水槽从水源地流入城内，看起来就像是被桥梁架起来的河流。这种引水用的桥梁称为“高架引水渠”，它的功能就相当于水管或者水渠。

Nowadays， water is brought to a city  through large pipes which may run underground and up and down the hill. But the Romans built aqueducts instead of pipes to carry water to a city， and these aqueducts—some of them over fifty miles long—sloped just enough so that the water was always running down hill.

The Romans made another kind of building from which later Christian churches were copied. These buildings were courthouses or public halls and were called basilicas. Basilicas were long buildings with rows of columns on the inside which held up the roof. There was a center aisle and two side aisles and the roof over the center aisle was higher than the roof over the side aisles， as in the case in most of our churches today.

今天，我们一般用埋在地下或者铺在山间的水管来向城区供水。古罗马人修建的高架引水渠替代了水管，有些高架引水渠超过50英里（约80千米长）。高架引水渠都设计有一定的坡度，可以让水持续不断地沿着渠道从山上流下来。

基督教教堂的建筑设计师常常借鉴另一种著名的古罗马建筑，这种古罗马建筑就是巴西利卡会堂。巴西利卡会堂通常被古罗马人用来做法院或者公共大厅。巴西利卡会堂很长，里面有支撑屋顶的几排石柱，另外还有一条中央长廊和两条侧廊。中央长廊上的天花板设计比侧廊上方的天花板要高出不少。直到今天，许多教堂也采用这种建筑方式。

Word Study

statue /'stætʃuː/ n. 雕塑，雕像

arch /ɑːtʃ/ n. 拱；拱门

foundation /faʊn'deɪʃn/ n. 地基；房基

march /mɑːtʃ/ v. 齐步走；行进

Soldiers were marching up and down outside the government buildings.

flow /fləʊ/ v. 流；流动

It’s here that the river flows down into the ocean.

aisle /aɪl/ n. 走道，过道