A History of Britain 英国史

From its earliest days, Britain was an object of desire. Tacitus declared it "pretium victoriae"-- worth a conquest, the best compliment that could occur to a Roman. He'd never visited the shores but was nonetheless convinced the Britannia was rich in gold. Silver was abundant there too, apparently¹, so were pearls, although Tacitus had heard that they were grey, like the overcast² rain heavy skies and that the natives only bothered to collect them when they were cast up on the shore.

As far as the Roman historians were concerned, Britannia might well be off the edge of the world. But it was off the edge of their world, not in some howling barbarian³ wilderness⁴. And if the same writers have been able to travel in time as well as space to the northernmost of our islands to the Orcades, our modern Orkney, they would have seen something much more astonishing than heaps of pearls, the unmistakable signs of a civilization thousands of years older than Rome.

Words and Phrases:

pretium victoriae: (Latin) the price of victory
overcast: (a.) Clouded over. (天空) 多云的，阴的
howling : (a.) Desolate; dreary 荒僻的；凄凉的

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。

3 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

4 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。