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The Legacy of Rome is enormous;
罗马的遗产十分丰富；
the Roman influence on Western language and culture can be traced along with the influence on Western Political Institutions.
罗马文化对西方语言和文化的影响和它对政治体制的影响一样深远。
But the influence of Rome the idea is more elusive and that is what we have to try to trace now.
但是罗马的影响这个说法很晦涩，也是我们要试着去探寻的。
The first question to ask in assessing is which Rome,
我们要问的第一个问题是，哪个才是真正的罗马？
the plucky peasants who dropped their ploughs, picked up their swords and conquered Italy, and returned home just in time for the harvest?
是那个有一群勇猛的丢下锄头，佩起宝剑征服意大利，随后又在秋收时回家的农民的罗马？
The aspiring superpower of the first Punic War which built its first navy to defeat the Mediterranean's greatest sea power?
还是那个在第一次布匿战争中崛起的超级大国，那个建立了第一支海军并击败了地中海海上霸权的罗马？
The near loser of the second Punic War which obligingly matched 2 enormous armies into Hannibal's trap but somehow won the war anyway?
还是那个在第二次布匿战争中险些失败，两支庞大的军队陷入汉尼拔陷阱，但最终却打了胜仗的罗马？
The fright resettle nation which wasted most of the 1st century BC fighting civil wars
还是那个浪费了公元前一世纪打内战，
but followed that by giving the entire Mediterranean world the Pox Romana two and a half centuries of peace and prosperity?
继而为整个地中海地区赢得两个半世纪和平及繁荣的罗马？
The liberty loving Republic with its multiple assemblies and bitterly contested annual elections?
是哪个自由博爱的、有许多人民大会在一年一度的选举中激烈辩论的罗马？
The carefully disguised military despotism of Augustus's principate?
是奥古斯都君主精心伪装的军事独裁政权？
Or the totalitarianism of Diocletian's dominion or for that matter the Greek speaking empire of the so called Romaioi?
还是戴克里先的集权主义，还是那个因此被称作Romaioi的讲希腊语的帝国？
