英语听力：Byzantium-The Lost Empire 拜占庭：失落的帝国-4

 This was the extent of Constantine’s ambition, the late Roman Empire, with Constantinople, not Rome, as its capital, and in the far north, in Germany, the city of Trier, a great imperial garrison¹. It still shows something of what ancient Constantinople used to look like.

 

The city gate, still guarding the main road into town, a great grim gate. Like the rest of the northern frontier, Trier was continuously threatened by Huns and Goths and Vandals and a dozen other warrior² nations. Constantine the Great, the emperor himself would have walked down the same passage 1,600 years ago. These vaults³ and arches are the architecture of his time.

 

Once you’re through the gate, most Roman towns are almost the same, they were if you like, a sort of an abstract idea of a city, and they were stamped on every landscape from Yorkshire to Syria.

 

You can still sense their design in a thousand old world cities, and in the new world too. From Washington to San Francisco, planners still use parts of the same old patterns. All Roman towns had roads like this one, wide thoroughfares that took you from the country to the heart of the city. This one is at Palmyra, in the Syrian Desert. In Constantinople it was called, quite simply, the Main Road.

 

"Now what you gotta see, is that behind all these columns, there were little rows of shops running down the sides of the street, butchers, bakers⁴, candle-maker(s), all sorts of people. In Constantinople, it would have the goods of the known world, Africa, China, the boutique, everything was for sale. Just imagine, the emperor, is coming in in triumph, he’s won a war, he’s coming through the gate. The shopkeepers have been told to dust down the street, flowers have been strewed⁵ all over the pavement, roses are raining down upon him, there are rugs and silks flattering in the breezes all around him, the whole town has been sucked out to come and see him.

 

Behind the course, behind the main street, full of town houses, servants, soldiers, all the people, there were taverns⁶, brothels, everything in the city, in among stoas, started in among stoas with those huge buildings that Constantine had to build, before his city could really be called a Roman metropolis⁷.

1 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

2 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

3 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bakers   

n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三

参考例句：

• The Bakers have invited us out for a meal tonight. 贝克一家今晚请我们到外面去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bakers specialize in catering for large parties. 那些面包师专门负责为大型宴会提供食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 strewed   

v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满

参考例句：

• Papers strewed the floor. 文件扔了一地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Autumn leaves strewed the lawn. 草地上撒满了秋叶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 taverns   

n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 这儿只有两家客栈，会弄明白的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也许所有的禁酒客栈都有个闹鬼的房间，喂，哈克，你说是不是？” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

7 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。