The Rise 罗马崛起 - 01

Over 1,000 years after Rome's fall, the armies of the French emperor Napoleon descend¹ on the city. Napoleon's forces have already battled their way through Europe, take Rome seems an afterthought. By this time it's a backwater, but for Napoleon, it has an almost religious significance. He claims he is the spiritual descendant of the Roman emperors. He has himself painted wearing the Roman crown of laurels² as if Rome still rules the world. His troops march unopposed into the city. It's like walking into a ghost town.

They find the frightened Romans huddling³ among the ruins of the ancient city. Crumbling⁴ palaces and arches still seem to echo the magnificent triumphs they were built to celebrate. Goats and cattle graze where thousands once thronged⁵ the streets. In 70 AD, when the emperor Vespasian started building the massive Colosseum. Rome was 10 times larger than the city Napoleon found. Vespasian wanted the great theater for the gory⁶ spectacles Romans so loved. The scale of the Roman games, like the scale of Rome itself, was staggering. The Colosseum had seating for 45,000 and standing⁷ room for 20,000 more. In one series of games, 5,000 people and 11,000 animals were slaughtered⁸. Nothing in Hollywood could compare with this gruesome splatterfest. The blood and brutality⁹ were all too real and Romans were addicted¹⁰ to it. "When he saw the blood, rather than turned away, he fixed¹¹ his eyes on the scene and took in all its frenzy¹². He reveled in the wickedness of the fighting and grew intoxicated¹³ with the bloodshed. When he left the arena¹⁴, he took with him a sick mind which left him no peace until he came back again." St. Augustine

They did get excited, watching gladiators kill one another. I'm not denying that. But you know what? So do we. I think for example of the brouhaha over Mike Tyson. (Right) What Mike Tyson did when he bit was Evander Holyfield's ear. That would have been applauded in the Roman arena. That's great. That's what you're supposed to do. In fact you're supposed to rip the ear off, and, and march around the arena with (it) in your mouth. That's what you're supposed to do.

1 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

3 huddling   

n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事

参考例句：

• Twenty or thirty monkeys are huddling along the thick branch. 三十只猴子挤在粗大的树枝上。
• The defenders are huddling down for cover. 捍卫者为了掩护缩成一团。

4 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

5 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 gory   

adj.流血的；残酷的

参考例句：

• I shuddered when I heard the gory details.我听到血淋淋的详情，战栗不已。
• The newspaper account of the accident gave all the gory details.报纸上报道了这次事故中所有骇人听闻的细节。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

10 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

13 intoxicated   

喝醉的，极其兴奋的

参考例句：

• She was intoxicated with success. 她为成功所陶醉。
• They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented. 他们酩酊大醉，东南西北全然不辨。

14 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。