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Whatever else might befall the Roman Empire, Rome herself in the Italian homeland were safe behind mountains and sea.
罗马帝国无论发生了什么，偏安于山海背后的意大利的罗马城都会安然无事。
The United States first sprang up between the Appalachians Mountains and the Great Lakes to the West.
美国最初兴起于阿巴拉契亚山脉和西边的大湖区之间。
And the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
东部有大西洋
But the Russ and after them the Russians could always be attacked overland from any direction.
但是俄罗斯人总能受到来自陆地上各个方向的袭击。
Invaders from the north and the south had the added advantage of using the Russia river system as if it were a freeway.
来自北部和南部的侵略者具备更多的优势，可以使用水路系统，这水路系统好像就是一条高速公路。
From the earliest times, on Russian leaders realized that adding territory was the most effective means of defense.
在最早的时候，俄国的领导者就意识到扩张领土是防御的最有效的方式。
Moscow escaped the worst of the Mongol domination, because it was too far in north and west to be controlled effectively.
莫斯科躲开了蒙古的占领就是因为它在西北部很远的地方以至于不能有效地控制。
Novgorod escaped it almost completely before they were insulated by territory.
诺夫哥罗德完全避免了这一点，在还没被入侵到领土的时候。
Two, autocracy and centralization.
第二，独裁与集权。
The Russian people have never known anything but autocracy.
俄罗斯人民只知道独裁统治。
As the mythical tale of Rurik's invitation in 862 AD, indicates autocracy was an improvement over what the Slavs had previously, anarchy.
862年，留里克受邀担任首领的传说表明了独裁改善了之前斯拉夫人的生活。
Certainly nothing in the Slavs experience steered them towards democracy.
当然斯拉夫人经历的事情没有将他们带领到民主。
Nor did the Mongols make any strong case for representative government.
蒙古也没有给代表政府做出表率。
