Chapter 1: Hello, Rome! / 第一章：你好，罗马！— Introduction to the Roman Empire

你好，罗马！

欢迎来到时光之旅

Imagine putting on a magical backpack and pressing a bright red button. Suddenly, the world around you starts to spin like a giant marble. The school hallway melts away, your bedroom disappears, and before you can say "What's happening?"—you're standing on a dusty road under a warm Mediterranean sun. The air smells different here—something between fresh bread, olive oil, and the faint scent of wild herbs. In the distance, you hear the clatter of horse hooves on stone and the cheerful chatter of people speaking an ancient language.

把你想象成背上了一个神奇的背包，按下一个闪闪发光的红色按钮。瞬间，世界开始像一颗巨大的弹珠一样旋转。学校的走廊消失了，你的卧室不见了——还没等你喊出"发生什么事了？"你就已经站在一条尘土飞扬的道路上，头顶是温暖的地中海阳光。空气中有一种特别的味道——新鲜面包、橄榄油，还有淡淡的野草香气。远处传来马蹄踏在石头上的嗒嗒声，还有人们用古老语言愉快聊天的声音。

"Salve!" a voice calls out to you. A friendly merchant in a white tunic smiles and waves. "Welcome to Rome!"

"Salve！"一个声音向你喊道。一位穿着白色短袍的友好商人微笑着向你挥手。"欢迎来到罗马！"

That's right—you've just traveled back in time more than two thousand years! You've arrived in Ancient Rome, one of the greatest empires that ever existed on Earth. And guess what? This isn't just any ordinary visit. You're about to become a Little Roman yourself!

没错——你刚刚穿越到了两千多年前的时空！你到达了古罗马，地球上存在过的最伟大的帝国之一。猜猜接下来会发生什么？你即将成为一个小罗马人！

Over the next fifteen chapters, we're going to explore every corner of this amazing civilization together. We'll walk through bustling marketplaces, watch gladiators fight in massive arenas, soak in actual Roman baths, and learn the secrets of aqueducts that still make engineers scratch their heads in amazement. But first, we need to understand where it all began—right here, in the city of Rome itself.

在接下来的十五章中，我们将一起探索这个神奇文明的每个角落。我们会走过熙熙攘攘的露天市场，观看角斗士在巨大的竞技场中战斗，在真正的罗马浴场中泡澡，了解那些至今仍让工程师们惊叹不已的水渠的秘密。但首先，我们需要了解这一切是从哪里开始的——就在这里，罗马城。

So buckle up, young explorers! Our time-traveling adventure is just beginning, and trust me—Ancient Rome is about to become your new favorite place in all of history!

所以系好安全带吧，小探险家们！我们的时光之旅才刚刚开始，相信我——古罗马即将成为你们历史上最喜欢的地方！

罗马的诞生：狼孩的传说

The story of Rome begins with a twins and a mother wolf. Sound like the beginning of a fairy tale? That's because it sort of is—but the Romans believed it was absolutely true!

罗马的故事要从一对双胞胎和一只母狼说起。听起来像童话故事的开头？那是因为它确实有点像——但罗马人相信这绝对是真的！

Long, long ago—way back in the year 753 BC, long before cars, electricity, or even printed books—the city of Rome didn't exist yet. Instead, there was a small village on a hill near the Tiber River. The people who lived there were called Latins, and they were farmers and shepherds who raised sheep, goats, and cattle. Life was simple, but it was about to get very interesting.

很久很久以前——追溯到公元前753年，在汽车、电力，甚至印刷书籍出现之前的遥远时代——罗马城还不存在。在那里，只有一个位于台伯河畔小山上的小村庄。住在那里的民族叫拉丁人，他们是农民和牧羊人，饲养着绵羊、山羊和牛。生活很简单，但即将变得非常有趣。

According to Roman legend, there was once a king named Numitor in a nearby city called Alba Longa. Numitor had a beautiful daughter named Rhea Silvia. Now, Numitor had a greedy brother named Amulius who wanted to be king himself. So Amulius overthrew Numitor and took the throne for himself. But Amulius was worried—Rhea Silvia might have children who would grow up to challenge his rule.

根据罗马传说，附近有一座叫阿尔巴·隆加的城市，城中有一位叫努米托尔的国王。努米托尔有一个美丽的女儿叫瑞亚·西尔维亚。努米托尔有一个贪婪的弟弟叫阿穆利乌斯，他自己想当国王。于是阿穆利乌斯推翻了努米托尔，自己夺取了王位。但阿穆利乌斯很担心——瑞亚·西尔维亚可能会生下孩子，这些孩子长大后会威胁到他的统治。

To prevent this, Amulius made Rhea Silvia become a Vestal Virgin—a priestess who had to promise never to marry. But the god of war, Mars, fell in love with her anyway! And soon, Rhea Silvia gave birth to twin baby boys. She named them Romulus and Remus.

为了防止这种情况发生，阿穆利乌斯强迫瑞亚·西尔维亚成为维斯塔贞女——一位必须承诺永不结婚的祭司。但战争之神马尔斯还是爱上了她！不久，瑞亚·西尔维亚生下了一对双胞胎男孩。她给他们取名叫罗慕路斯和雷穆斯。

Amulius was furious! He threw the twins into the Tiber River, hoping they would drown. But here's where the story gets truly magical. The basket carrying the babies floated downstream and got caught in the roots of a fig tree. A she-wolf (that's the mother wolf in our story!) found the crying babies and nursed them with her own milk. A woodpecker, a sacred bird of Mars, also brought them food. Eventually, a kind shepherd named Faustulus found the boys and raised them as his own.

阿穆利乌斯大发雷霆！他把双胞胎扔进台伯河，希望他们会淹死。但故事的神奇之处就在这里。装着婴儿的篮子顺流而下，被一棵无花果树根部挡住了。一只母狼（就是我们故事中的那只母狼妈妈！）发现了正在哭泣的婴儿，用自己的奶喂养他们。一只啄木鸟——马尔斯的圣鸟——也给他们带来食物。最后，一位名叫浮士德勒斯的善良牧羊人发现了这对兄弟，把他们当作自己的孩子抚养长大。

When Romulus and Remus grew up, they learned the truth about their heritage. They were furious! They returned to Alba Longa, overthrew the wicked Amulius, and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne. But Romulus and Remus wanted something more—they wanted to build their own city!

当罗慕路斯和雷穆斯长大后，他们知道了自己的身世真相。他们怒不可遏！他们回到阿尔巴·隆加，推翻了邪恶的阿穆利乌斯，让祖父努米托尔重新登上王位。但罗慕路斯和雷穆斯想要更多——他们想建立自己的城市！

The twins returned to the place where they had been saved—the banks of the Tiber River. They looked at a group of seven green hills rising gently from the river plain and decided: this would be their new home! But there was just one problem—Romulus and Remus couldn't agree on which hill to build on.

双胞胎回到了他们获救的地方——台伯河畔。他们看着河岸平原上缓缓升起的七座绿色小山，做出了决定：这里将是他们的新家！但问题来了——罗慕路斯和雷穆斯无法就选择哪座小山来建造城市达成一致。

Romulus wanted to build on the Palatine Hill. Remus wanted to build on the Aventine Hill. They argued and argued, and finally decided to let the gods decide. They stood on their respective hills, watching the sky for omens—special signs from the gods. Remus saw six vultures flying by. But Romulus saw twelve! More birds meant the gods preferred Romulus's choice.

罗慕路斯想在帕拉蒂尼山上建城。雷穆斯想在阿文蒂尼山上建城。他们争论不休，最后决定让神明来决定。他们站在各自的小山上，仰望天空等待预兆——来自神明的特别信号。雷穆斯看到六只秃鹰飞过。但罗慕路斯看到了十二只！更多的鸟意味着神明更青睐罗慕路斯的选择。

But Remus wasn't happy about this. When the walls were being built, he jumped over them to show he didn't respect his brother's choice. In anger, Romulus struck Remus down, and that's how Rome lost its second founder. Some stories say Romulus felt terrible and named the month of March (Martius in Latin) after their divine father Mars. Others say the brothers reconciled, but either way, Rome had only one king now—and Romulus was it.

但雷穆斯对此并不高兴。当城墙建造时，他跳了过去，表示他不尊重哥哥的选择。愤怒中，罗慕路斯打倒了雷穆斯，这就是罗马失去第二位创始人的经过。有些故事说罗慕路斯非常难过，以神圣父亲马尔斯之名命名了三月（拉丁语中为Martius）。另一些故事说兄弟俩和解了，但无论如何，罗马现在只有一位国王——罗慕路斯就是那位国王。

Romulus became Rome's first king in 753 BC. He built his city on the Palatine Hill and named it "Roma" after himself. And that's how Rome was born!

罗慕路斯于公元前753年成为罗马的第一位国王。他在帕拉蒂尼山上建造了自己的城市，并以自己的名字命名为"罗玛"（Roma）。这就是罗马诞生的故事！

> 🏛️ Fun Fact Box / 有趣的知识小盒子 > > Did you know? The legend of Romulus and Remus was so important to the Romans that they placed statues of the she-wolf nursing the twins in the most important places in Rome. The most famous bronze statue, called the Capitoline Wolf, still stands in Rome today! You can see it in the Capitoline Museums on Capitoline Hill. > > 你知道吗？罗慕路斯和雷穆斯的传说对罗马人如此重要，以至于他们把母狼喂养双胞胎的雕像放在了罗马最重要的地方。最著名的青铜雕像叫做卡皮托利诺母狼，至今仍矗立在罗马！你可以在卡皮托利尼山上的卡皮托利尼博物馆看到它。

七丘之城：罗马的七座小山

Imagine you're looking at Rome from high above, like a bird soaring through the sky. What would you see? If you visited ancient Rome around the year 100 AD when the empire was at its peak, you would see something absolutely breathtaking: a massive city spreading across not just one or two hills, but SEVEN magnificent hills!

想象你从很高的地方俯瞰罗马，就像一只在天空中翱翔的鸟。你会看到什么？如果你在公元100年左右（帝国鼎盛时期）参观古罗马，你会看到令人叹为观止的景象：一座巨大的城市不仅仅分布在一两座小山上，而是分布在一片壮丽的七座小山上！

The ancient Romans called their city "Roma Quadrata" which means "Square Rome"—but that's a bit confusing because Rome definitely wasn't shaped like a square! The name probably came from the fact that the earliest part of the city on the Palatine Hill was roughly square-shaped. More importantly, the Romans loved the number seven. They had seven hills, seven letters in the word "ROMA," seven gates in their oldest city wall, and seven days in their week. The number seven was considered magical and lucky!

古罗马人把他们的城市叫做"Roma Quadrata"，意思是"方形的罗马"——但这有点令人困惑，因为罗马肯定不是正方形的！这个名称可能来自于最早建在帕拉蒂尼山上的城市核心区域大致呈方形。更重要的是，罗马人热爱数字七。他们有七座小山，"ROMA"这个词有七个字母，他们最古老的城墙有七座城门，他们的一周有七天。数字七被认为是神奇和