但是一个罗马公民始终跟一个当地人有很大的区别。他按罗马法行事，

　　Wherever he happened to be in that vast empire, he could turn to a Roman official and say: "I am a citizen of Rome!' These words had the effect of a magic formula.

　　不管他在大罗马帝国的什么地方，他都能求助于罗马官员。“我是罗马公民！”——这在当时是一句有神奇魔力的惯用语。

　　If until then no one had paid him much attention, everyone would instantly become polite and obliging.

　　如果说一个人先前几乎不被人理睬的话，那么，假如这个人如今能说这句话了，所有的人就会立刻对他彬彬有礼、殷勤周到。

　　In those days, however, the true rulers of the world were the Roman soldiers.

　　但是当时世界的真正的主人其实却是罗马士兵。

　　It was they who held the gigantic empire together, suppressing revolts where necessary and ferociously punishing all who dared oppose them.

　　他们使这个强大的帝国凝固在一起，他们镇压不愿服从的当地人并严厉惩罚所有进行反抗的人。

　　Courageous, experienced and ambitious, they conquered a new land – to the north, to the south or to the east – almost every decade.

　　他们生性勇敢，能征善战并爱好虚荣，他们每隔十年便占领北方、南方和东方的一个新国家。

　　People who saw the tight columns of well-drilled soldiers, marching slowly in their metal-plated tunics, with their shields and javelins,

　　如果人们看到士兵迈着整齐的步伐走来、身穿镀金属的皮盔甲，手握盾牌和标枪，

　　their slings and swords and their catapults for hurling rocks and arrows, knew that it was useless to resist.

　　带着射箭和投石机器，雄赳赳气昂昂，那么就会望风披靡。