世界小史 第143期:烧杀抢掠

 　　Ignoring his advice, they attacked Hannibal at a place called Cannae.

　　他们不听他的建议，在一个叫坎尼的地方攻打汉尼拔。

　　There they were decisively¹ beaten: 40,000 dead on the Roman side.

　　罗马人遭到了毁灭性的打击：死了4万罗马人。

　　This battle, which took place in 217 BC, was their bloodiest² defeat.

　　这场发生在公元 前217年的战役是他们最可怕的失败。

　　Yet despite his victory Hannibal did not march on Rome.

　　尽管如此，汉尼拔当时还是没有向罗马进军。

　　Favoring caution³, he stayed put and waited for reinforcements from home.

　　他谨慎从事，他想等候国内给他派来援军，

　　And this was his undoing⁴.

　　而这却是他失败的原因。

　　For Carthage sent no fresh troops and his men began to run wild, robbing and plundering⁵ the Italian cities.

　　因为迦太基人没有派来援军，他自己的军队在意大利各城市里烧杀抢掠，渐渐变得难以管束。

　　Though the Romans no longer dared attack him directly, they called up all their men to fight.

　　而这却是他失败的原因 。因为迦太基人没有派来援军，他自己的军队在意大利各城市里烧杀抢掠，渐渐变得难以管束。

　　Every one of them – even young boys and slaves.

　　他们中的每一个人——甚至是年轻少年们和奴隶们。

　　Every man in Italy became a soldier, and these weren't hired soldiers like Hannibal's.

　　意大利的每个人都成了士兵，他们可不像汉尼拔的士兵那样只是雇佣兵。

　　They were Romans, and you know what that means.

　　他们是罗马人，你知道，这意味着什么。

　　They fought the Carthaginians both in Sicily and in Spain.

　　他们和西西里岛和西班牙的迦太基人作战，

　　And everywhere they fought, as long as it wasn't Hannibal they were fighting, they always won.

　　只要汉尼拔不是他们的对手，他们便总是取胜。

1 decisively   

决然地，果断地

参考例句：

• The proposed bill was decisively defeated in Parliament. 提案在议会中遭断然否决。
• "I know nothing whatever about mechanics," he said decisively. “我对机械一窍不通。”他肯定地说。

2 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

3 caution   

n.小心，谨慎，警告；vt.告诫，警告

参考例句：

• You should exercise extreme caution when driving in fog.在雾中开车要极为小心。
• There is no need for such caution.不必如此小心谨慎。

4 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

5 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。