They would give their all for him. Not just on foreign soil but at home as well.
他們愿意為他竭盡全力,不但在敵國,而且在家鄉(xiāng)。
For, in their eyes, a great hero of the battlefield was just what was needed to keep order at home, where there was often trouble brewing1.
因為他們認(rèn)為,誰是一位如此出色的戰(zhàn)斗英雄,誰就一定善于維持好家鄉(xiāng)的秩序。這往往是必要的,因為在羅馬的情況并非總是很好。
For Rome had become a huge city with large numbers of destitute2 people who had no work and no money.
它成了一座巨大的城市,有許多貧窮的人,他們生活沒有著落,
If the provinces failed to send grain it meant famine in Rome.
一旦各行省不送來糧食,羅馬城里便會發(fā)生饑荒。
Two brothers, living in about 130 BC, that is, 16 years after the destruction of Carthage,
一對兄弟有一一次,在公元前130年左右,迦太基被毀后的16年,
thought up a plan to encourage this multitude3 of poor and starving people to move to Africa and settle there as farmers.
試圖關(guān)心這些貧窮的、忍饑挨餓的人并將他們遷至隔海相望的非洲務(wù)農(nóng)。
These brothers were the Gracchi. But they were both killed in the course of political struggles.
這就是格拉古兩兄弟,但是在政治斗爭的過程中他們倆背打死了。
The same blind devotion that the soldiers gave their general went to any man who gave grain to the multitudes4 and put on splendid festivals.
跟士兵一樣,這些窮人也總是死心塌地愿意為每一個給他們提供糧食和精彩的競技會的人竭盡全力,因為羅馬人非常喜歡競技會。
For Romans loved festivals.
因為羅馬人非常喜歡競技會。