英语听力：Byzantium-The Lost Empire 拜占庭：失落的帝国-2

 Istanbul, one of the very greatest of Islamic cities, the monuments of the conquering Turkish Sultans who’d ruled here since 1453, dominating its skyline. Underneath¹ there are much older ghosts, brushed each day by people of the living city, the ruins of Constantinople, the capital city of the empire of Byzantium. Istanbul, Constantinople, two names, new and old, for the same grand city.

 

Sixteen centuries ago, in the year of 330, the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian² Roman Emperor chose the city, then a small Greek town, to be his capital. No one quite knows why. One thing sure though, the great warrior³ emperors had left Rome and cities of the west for ever.

 

This mosque⁴, the mosque of the Turkish Sultan who conquered the city, is built straight on the foundations in the most ancient burial church of the mysterious emperors of old Byzantium. What then was this most ancient half-forgotten empire—— the Empire of Byzantium?

 

Byzantium! That magic, spicy⁵ word! Now, imagine that the empires of Greece and Rome had never died, but had been fused together in a single empire set between East and West. And imagine that the emperors of this kingdom, the sacred emperors could be torn into pieces by the mobs in the street, emperors who could mutilate their courtiers and children, could kill their priests and blind whole armies of invaders⁶, yet emperors whose artists made some of the most finest, the most exquisite⁷ images the world has ever seen——visions of heaven and earth, sublime⁸ architectures, copied by everybody from the caliphs of Bagdad to the Popes of Rome, the Kings of Germany and the tribes of Nubia, visions of heaven’s order and earthly power, that still lie deep within the modern world. Just as this mosque, the conquerors’ mosque, stands on the ruins of Byzantium, so do you!

1 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

2 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。

3 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。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

6 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

7 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

8 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。