世界小史 第113期:菲利普王

 　　This was the famous orator¹ Demosthenes, whose fulminating speeches at the Assembly,这就是著名的雄辩家德摩斯梯尼，他在公民大会上发表呵斥的演说，in which he repeatedly warned people against King Philip's schemes, are known as "Philippics".

　　他在公民大会上发表呵斥的演说，一再痛斥菲利普王的图谋，这些演说被称为“痛斥国王菲利普的演说”。

　　But Greece was too divided to put up any real defense².

　　但是希腊各城邦太不团结一致，未能全力进行抵抗。

　　At Chaeronea, in 338 BC, the Greeks, who hardly 100 years before had held their own against the gigantic Persian host, were defeated by King Philip and tiny Macedonia.

　　公元前338年在喀罗尼亚，菲利普王率领小小的马其顿战胜了100多年前能够抗击波斯大军的希腊人。

　　So ended the freedom of the Greeks – not that it could be said that they had made good use of it lately.

　　希腊的自由一去不复返了——希腊人最后十分糟糕地使用了这一自由。

　　But it wasn't Philip's intention to enslave or plunder³ Greece.

　　不过菲利普却根本不想奴役或掠夺希腊。

　　He had other ideas: he planned to create a great army made up of Greeks and Macedonians with which to invade and conquer Persia.

　　他完全另有打算：他要建立一支庞大的希腊和马其顿的联军并率领这支联军向波斯挺进，占领波斯。

　　At the time of the Persian wars such a task would have proved impossible, but things had changed.

　　这样的目标在波斯战争时期是不可能实现的，但情况变了。

　　The great kings of Persia were no longer able and ambitious like Darius or mighty⁴ like Xerxes.

　　这时的波斯国王们早就不再像大流士那样精明能干或者像薛西斯那样强大。

　　They had long given up ruling the country themselves and contented⁵ themselves with the money their satraps sent back from the provinces.

　　他们早已不再自己监管他们的整个国家，而是只要他们的地方总督从各地向他们交来尽可能多的金钱，他们就心满意足。

 

1 orator   

n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• The orator gestured vigorously while speaking.这位演讲者讲话时用力地做手势。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

4 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

5 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。