英语听力：Byzantium-The Lost Empire 拜占庭：失落的帝国-6

 Once though, Constantinople held the palace of all palaces, the palace of the Christian¹ empire. Church, hippodrome and palace, Constantine had made a sacred engine that would power Byzantium for ever.

 

To protect the holy city of Constantinople, the emperors of Byzantium built the largest city walls in all the world. Armies that controlled the lives of millions rode from these gates, and through them passed the producer of an empire.

 

“The whole history of this city is in this gate, the great golden gate of Imperial² Byzantium. You see that great high span³ at the top. That was once open to the skies. For 600 years emperors and armies rode through that gate in triumph⁴, coming back from wars against the Persians, the Arabs, the Bulgarians, the Russians. Then there was an earthquake, the gate was blocked, and that final gate at the bottom, that even a cavalryman⁵ couldn’t come through on a horse, that gate was built in the final years of Byzantium. So this is a magic gate, it’s a gate of legends; they say its wooden doors were covered with sheets of gold to give the gate its name. They say that the very last emperor killed fighting on these walls is buried beneath these stones, waiting for a call to take the city once again. So it’s a gate of legend, but above all it speaks of imperial Byzantine power.

 

“Power has controlled innumerable⁶ lives. You know there are thousands of blocks in this gate, and each one of them, each tiny mark upon them, made by an individual human hand, endless lives absorbed in making millions of these blocks, enough to build the whole city of Constantinople. Now this snowy marble, strange grey lines running through, is found all over the Byzantium Empire, from Spain, to Syria and back to Constantinople. But it comes from one island only, one tiny island in the sea.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 imperial   

adj.帝王的，至尊的；n.特等品

参考例句：

• They made an objection to the imperial system with resolution.他们坚决反对帝制。
• The Prince Imperial passed away last night.皇太子昨晚去世了。

3 span   

n.跨度，跨距，范围；vt.持续，贯穿，跨越

参考例句：

• The time span of these documents from 1954 to 2009.这些文件的时间跨度为1954年至2009年。
• The measurement span is determined by the higher and lower range values.测量量程由上限值和下限值决定。

4 triumph   

n.胜利，成功；vi.获胜，成功；击败

参考例句：

• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。
• I could detect no triumph in his eye.我不能在他的眼里看出胜利的喜悦。

5 cavalryman   

骑兵

参考例句：

• He is a cavalryman. 他是一个骑兵。
• A cloud of dust on the horizon announced the arrival of the cavalryman. 天边扬起的尘土说明骑兵来了。

6 innumerable   

adj.无数的，不计其数的

参考例句：

• The innumerable stars in the sky are too far from us.天上无数的星星离我们太远了。
• Technological innovations have brought innumerable benefits.技术革新已经带来了无穷的好处。