THE Roman Empire was an accident. No one planned it. It "happened." No famous general or statesman or cut-throat ever got up and said "Friends, Romans, Citizens, we must found an Empire. Follow me and together we shall conquer all the land from the Gates of Hercules to Mount Taurus."
Rome produced famous generals and equally distinguished1 statesmen and cut-throats, and Roman armies fought all over the world. But the Roman empire-making was done without a preconceived plan. The average Roman was a very matter-of-fact citizen. He disliked theories about government. When someone began to recite "eastward2 the course of Roman Empire, etc., etc.," he hastily left the forum3. He just continued to take more and more land because circumstances forced him to do so. He was not driven by ambition or by greed. Both by nature and inclination4 he was a farmer and wanted to stay at home. But when he was attacked he was obliged to defend himself and when the enemy happened to cross the sea to ask for aid in a distant country then the patient Roman marched many dreary5 miles to defeat this dangerous foe6 and when this had been accomplished7, he stayed behind to adminster{sic} his newly conquered provinces lest they fall into the hands of wandering Barbarians8 and become themselves a menace to Roman safety. It sounds rather complicated and yet to the contemporaries it was so very simple, as you shall see in a moment.
In the year 203 B.C. Scipio had crossed the African Sea and had carried the war into Africa. Carthage had called Hannibal back. Badly supported by his mercenaries, Hannibal had been defeated near Zama. The Romans had asked for his surrender and Hannibal had fled to get aid from the kings of Macedonia and Syria, as I told you in my last chapter.
The rulers of these two countries (remnants of the Empire of Alexander the Great) just then were contemplating9 an expedition against Egypt. They hoped to divide the rich Nile valley between themselves. The king of Egypt had heard of this and he had asked Rome to come to his support. The stage was set for a number of highly interesting plots and counter-plots. But the Romans, with their lack of imagination, rang the curtain down before the play had been fairly started. Their legions completely defeated the heavy Greek phalanx which was still used by the Macedonians as their battle formation. That happened in the year 197 B.C. at the battle in the plains of Cynoscephalae, or "Dogs' Heads," in central Thessaly.
The Romans then marched southward to Attica and informed the Greeks that they had come to "deliver the Hellenes from the Macedonian yoke10." The Greeks, having learned nothing in their years of semi-slavery, used their new freedom in a most unfortunate way. All the little city-states once more began to quarrel with each other as they had done in the good old days. The Romans, who had little understanding and less love for these silly bickerings of a race which they rather despised, showed great forebearance. But tiring of these endless dissensions they lost patience, invaded Greece, burned down Corinth (to "encourage the other Greeks") and sent a Roman governor to Athens to rule this turbulent province. In this way, Macedonia and Greece became buffer11 states which protected Rome's eastern frontier.
Meanwhile right across the Hellespont lay the Kingdom of Syria, and Antiochus III, who ruled that vast land, had shown great eagerness when his distinguished guest, General Hannibal, explained to him how easy it would be to invade Italy and sack the city of Rome.
Lucius Scipio, a brother of Scipio the African fighter who had defeated Hannibal and his Carthaginians at Zama, was sent to Asia Minor12. He destroyed the armies of the Syrian king near Magnesia (in the year 190 B.C.) Shortly afterwards, Antiochus was lynched by his own people. Asia Minor became a Roman protectorate and the small City-Republic of Rome was mistress of most of the lands which bordered upon the Mediterranean13.
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1
distinguished
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adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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2
eastward
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adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部 | |
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3
forum
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n.论坛,讨论会 | |
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4
inclination
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n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
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5
dreary
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adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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6
foe
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n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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7
accomplished
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adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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8
barbarians
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n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 );外国人;粗野的人;无教养的人 | |
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9
contemplating
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深思,细想,仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 ); 注视,凝视; 考虑接受(发生某事的可能性); 深思熟虑,沉思,苦思冥想 | |
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10
yoke
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n.轭;支配;v.给...上轭,连接,使成配偶 | |
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11
buffer
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n.起缓冲作用的人(或物),缓冲器;vt.缓冲 | |
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12
minor
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adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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13
Mediterranean
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adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
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