The long process by which Roman Britannia morphed into the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was gradual not sudden,
罗马不列颠尼亚被盎格鲁撒克逊王国取代 历经了鲸吞蚕食的漫长过程而绝非一瞬
an adaptation, not an annihilation.
是平稳的演变 而非骤变
For a long time the Saxons were a tiny minority,
很长时间 撒克逊族只是一支少数民族
numbered in hundreds rather than thousands,and lived in an overwhelmingly Romano-British population.
人口数百 不及上千 在罗马不列颠压倒性的人口夹缝求存
As different as these cultures were, they were still neighbours.
即使文化迥异 却仍能和平共处
The vast majority tried and succeeded to live some sort of Roman life.
庞大的民族仍旧维持着原有的罗马式生活
Here at Wroxeter, Shropshire,the Roman Veraconium,
在希罗普郡的沃克斯特 罗马时期的威尔克尼亚
there's wonderful evidence of this make-do, hybrid, improvised world
保留了两种文明交融的完美证据
poised between Roman ruins and Anglo-Saxon beginnings.
泰然于罗马废墟与盎格鲁撒克逊朝阳之间
When the bath house stopped functioning,the citizens here just took the tiles and used them for paving.
当大浴池不再运作 市民挖来浴池的瓷砖用来铺路
When the roof of the great basilica threatened to fall in,
当他们的屋顶与大教堂摇摇欲坠
the citizens simply went and demolished the building themselves.
市民们便顺势拆掉 并动工新建
Inside the shell they put up a new timber structure spacious and elegant enough to give them the sense they were still living some sort of Roman lifestyle,
他们运用木质结构作为骨架 宽敞而考究 让他们认为自己仍保持着罗马生活方式
although in an increasingly phantom Britannia.
即使 此时的不列颠尼亚已名存实亡
Eventually though, the adaptations became ever more makeshift,
然而 演变终会进入其最终章
the fabric of Roman life increasingly threadbare,until it did indeed fall apart altogether.
罗马式生活宛若一件破衣 已褴褛不堪 直到最终残片也消失殆尽