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6. Carthage
6．迦太基（Carthage）
Legend has it that Carthage was founded by Queen Dido of the Phoenicians. She fled the city of Tyre located in present-day Lebanon in order to escape the wrath of her brother Pygmalion, who was her contestant to the throne. Along with a group of settlers, she traveled a great distance by sea and landed in North Africa, where she met King Iarbas. He offered to give them land in order to build a settlement, but no bigger than the surface covered by the hide of an ox. They cleverly cut the hide into thin strips and were able to enclose a fairly large area of land. On this land, the mighty city of Carthage was built.
相传，腓尼基的黛朵（Dido）女王建立了迦太基城。为了躲避一同竞争皇位的哥哥——庇格玛里翁（Pygmalion）的迫害，她逃离了现在位于黎巴嫩的腓尼基城邦泰尔。经过长途跋涉，她们一行人登陆北非，在那里，他们遇到了柏柏人部落首领马西塔尼求（King Larbas）。然而，他仅同意给他们一块儿牛皮大小的土地。但是聪明的腓尼基人把牛皮切成了许多细条，然后把它们连在一起，圈出了一块儿不小的地皮。后来，他们就这儿在建起了迦太基城。
These stories are most likely just that, but the fact that the Phoenicians built the city around 760 BC is true. Located in such a good position — in the middle of the Mediterranean, close to Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and a pretty good distance from Egypt — helped make Carthage a leading trade center and military power. The population soon reached half a million citizens and, in order to house them all, buildings were all built five or six stories tall. Carthage was the first city in Antiquity to have a centralized sewage system, linking all buildings within the city walls. The most notable of structures among the ruins was the “Thophet,” which is believed to be an altar for child sacrifice.
相传的故事大致就是这样，但是腓尼基人在公元前706年建造了迦太基城这件事儿的确是事实。迦太基城位于地中海中部，紧邻西西里岛、撒丁岛和科西嘉岛，毗邻古埃及，区位优势造就了其在贸易和军事上的强势地位。城市建立后不久，其人口数量就激增至50万。为了满足住房需求，人们建起了五六层的高楼。迦太基是古代世界第一个拥有统一下水道系统的城市，这些管道把城市里所有建筑连接在一起。在遗址中，最引人注目的是一个名为Thophet的建筑，该建筑很可能是一个生祭儿童的祭坛。
The Carthaginians inevitably encountered the Romans, and soon after that a series of battles known as the Punic Wars took place. Following the loss of Sicily and other territories, Cartage itself came under attack and was ultimately destroyed in 146 BC. Even though the Romans vowed to never rebuild it, Julius Caesar founded the “Colonia Junonia” in 44 BC on the grounds of the old city. In only five years it was named the capital of the African province. Today this city is known as Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, and is home to over two million people.
迦太基人不可避免的受到了罗马人的进攻。很快，他们之间爆发了一系列的战争，历史上称之为布匿战争（the Punic Wars）。在失去西西里岛和其他领土后，迦太基背腹受敌，最终在公元前146年走向灭亡。尽管罗马人通过公投决定不再重建迦太基城，但是尤利乌斯·恺撒还是于公元前44年在这座城的原址上建立了一块凯撒王朝的殖民地。仅仅五年，它就成了非洲城邦的首都。它就是今天的突尼斯首都突尼斯市，一座有着超过两百万居民的城市。
