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Then they would have remembered stories that Rome told about the grisly brutality of the Druids.
而随后 他们也许会忆起 罗马人口中的德鲁伊教是何等暴虐残忍
Perhaps they would have even taken note of the stories told by the northern savages themselves,
或许他们甚至会注意到 北方蛮族亲口讲述的故事
of decapitated heads who were said to speak mournfully to those who had parted them from the rest of their body,warning of vengeance to come.
被砍下的头颅悲戚地向 让他们身首异处的刽子手哀号着 警示着复仇即将到来
Then they would have thought, Perhaps not.Perhaps we don't want to have much to do with an island of talking heads.
而后他们大概会想 应该不算艺术品 我们可不想 与遍布着会说话头颅的岛有任何瓜葛
So why did the Romans come here, to the edge of the world,
那么 究竟是什么驱使罗马人以身犯险
and run the gauntlet of all these ominous totems?
来到这满布不详图腾的世界之端的呢
There was the lure of treasure, of course,
当然少不了对宝藏的渴望
all the pearls that Tacitus believed lay around Britain in heaps.
塔西佗所坚信的 那盈千累万的财富
Even more seductive was what Roman generals craved the most,
但更具魅力 同时罗马将军最渴望的
the prestige given to those who pacified the barbarian frontier.
是平定蛮夷 开疆扩土带来的无限荣耀
And so, in the written annals of Western history,
因此 在西方编年史中
the islands now had not only a name,Britannia, but a date.
不列颠尼亚已不仅是岛屿的名字 还标刻着一个年代
In 55 BC Julius Caesar launched his galleys across the Channel.
公元前55年 凯撒大帝带兵横穿英吉利海峡
Julius Caesar must have supposed that all he had to do was land his legions in force
凯撒大帝定是认为 他只需带领大批罗马军团登陆
and the Britons, just cowed by the spectacle of the glittering helmets and eagle standards,would simply queue up to surrender.
耀眼的铠甲与威武的鹰旗 自会让不列颠人闻风丧胆 不费吹灰之力便能让他们列队投降
