A day in the life of a Roman soldier

罗马士兵生活中的一天

来源视频

The year is 15 CE and the Roman Empire is prospering.

Most of the credit will go to the emperor,

but this success wouldn’t  have been possible

without loyal soldiers like Servius Felix.

15世纪，罗马帝国繁荣发展着。

这主要归功于帝国皇帝，

但是如果没有像Servius Felix一样忠诚的士兵们，

这种成功不可能发生。

Servius enlisted as a legionary  eight years ago at age ,

the son of a poor farmer with few prospects.

Unlike the majority of legionaries, he doesn’t gamble,

so he’s been able to save  most of his wages.

He’s even kept his viaticum,

the three gold coins he received  when he enlisted.

enlist    v. 参军；争取

legionary   adj. 军队的    n. 军团士兵

viaticum   n. 旅费

八年前，十八岁的Servius 成为罗马军团的一名士兵，

作为一个贫穷农夫的孩子， 他并没有什么前程。

不想很多其他的士兵， 他不赌博，

所以他存下了他的薪水。

他甚至存下了他的入伍费，

那是在他入伍时收到的三个金币。

If he survives until retirement,  he’ll receive several acres of land.

And he’s grown rather fond  of a girl back home

whom he intends to marry.

But he’ll have to wait until he completes  his  years of service

before that can happen.

如果他能活到他退伍， 他将能收到一些土地。

他会喜欢上一个家乡的女孩，

一个他想娶回家的人。

但是他必须等到他 完成年的服役之后

这些才有可能。

And the life of a legionary  is dangerous and grueling.

Today, Servius’s legion,  along with three others,

has undertaken a “great march”  of  30, 000 Roman paces,

the equivalent of nearly  kilometers.

Servius’s armor and weapons,

including his gladius,

scutum,

and two pila,

weigh over 36 kilograms.

And that’s not counting his backpack,  or sarcina,

which contains food and all the tools he needs to help build the camp –

spade,

saw,

pickaxe,

and basket.

grueling   adj. 使人精疲力尽的

军队的生活是危险且疲惫的。

今天， Servius的军团 和其他三个团，

进行了3万罗马步（古罗马 长度单位）的宏大行军仪式，

相当于近36千米。

Servius的盔甲和武器，

包括他的短剑，

长形盾，

两个短矛，

重20多千克。

这还不包括他的 背包或行军包裹，

里面装满了食物 和他需要的扎营工具——

铲子，

锯子，

十字镐，

和篮子。

Although Servius is exhausted,  he won’t sleep much tonight.

He’s been assigned the first watch,

which means looking after  the baggage animals

and keeping alert against a possible ambush.

After he’s done, he lies awake,  dreading the day ahead,

which will force him  to recall his worst nightmare.

At dawn, Servius eats breakfast  with his seven tent companions.

They’re like a family, all bearing scars  from the battles they’ve fought together.

ambush   n. 埋伏    v. 伏击

虽然 Servius很累， 今晚他还是无法睡得很好。

他负责第一轮望风，

他要注意随行的动物，

警觉潜在的埋伏。

之后，他躺着但无法入眠， 思索着明天，

不得不回忆起他最坏的噩梦。

黎明时，Servius和他的七个 同帐篷的士兵一起吃过早饭。

他们就像是一家人， 身上有着一起战斗的疤痕。

Servius is from Italia,

but his fellow soldiers hail  from all over the empire,

which stretches from Syria to Spain.

So they’re all far from home  in the northern land of Germania.

Servius’s legion  and three others with him today

are under the command of emperor Tiberius’s nephew Germanicus,

named for his father’s military successes against the Germanic tribes.

Servius来自意大利，

但是他其他的同伴们 来自帝国的其他各个地方，

从叙利亚到西班牙，

他们都远离家乡 在北日耳曼服役。

Servius的军团 和其他三个军团

服从于皇帝台比留的外甥 格马尼库斯的命令，

他肩负着父亲的英名 对抗日耳曼部落。

Each legion has close to 5,000 men,

divided into cohorts of about 500,

further subdivided into centuries  of around 80-100 men.

Each century is commanded by a centurion.

An aquilifer, or eagle-bearer, marches at the head of each legion

carrying its eagle standard.

The centurions march beside  the legionaries belting out orders,

“Dex, sin, dex, sin,"

“Right, left, right, left,"

starting with the right foot as the left  is considered unlucky or sinister.

subdivid   v. 细分

centurion  n. 百夫长

aquilifer   n. 鹰旗长

（aquilifer 是罗马军团鹰级标准的高级标志，aquila的意思是"鹰"，-fer的后缀与拉丁语中携带或携带的单词有关。aquilifer排名仅次于百夫长，获得的薪水是普通军团士兵的两倍。

——引自 Military Wiki）

每个军团有近5000人，

被分成500人的队列，

又被分成80-100人的百人团。

每个百人团有 一个百夫长，

每个鹰旗长带领一个军团，

手持鹰旗，

百夫长在军团旁游行。

“dex，sin，dex，sin，”

“左，右，左，右，”

先迈左脚因为右脚被 认为是不吉利的。

Despite the strict discipline,  there’s tension in the air.

Last year, some legions  in the area revolted,

demanding better pay  and a cut in the length of service.

Only their general’s charisma and negotiating skills

prevented wholesale mutiny.

Today is a “just march,”  only 30 kilometers.

As the marshes and forests of Germania  lie beyond the empire’s road system

the men must build causeways and bridges to make headway—

something they’ve recently spent  more time doing than fighting.

charisman    n. 个人魅力

wholesale   n. 批发    adj. 批发的；大规模的   adv. 批发地；完全地

mutiny   n. 叛乱    vi. 反叛

尽管有严格的纪律， 气氛还是很紧张。

去年，区域内的一些军团起义，

要求更好的待遇 和减少服役时长。

将军用他的人格 魅力和谈判技巧

阻止了大规模暴动。

今天是“只有行军”， 仅仅30千米。

因为日耳曼沼泽和森林 穿过帝国的道路系统，

士兵们必须建筑 堤道和桥梁来通过。

有时候他们会花费比战斗 更多的时间来做这些。

Finally, they arrive at their destination, a place Servius knows too well.

It’s a clearing on the outskirts  of the Teutoburg Forest,

where six years ago, during the reign of the emperor Augustus,

Germanic tribes under  their chieftain Arminius

ambushed and destroyed three legions.

Proceeding along a narrow path,

the legions were attacked from  forest cover under torrential rain

with their escape blocked.

It was one of the worst defeats  the Romans ever suffered

and Augustus never lived it down.

Servius was one of the few survivors.

Servius still has nightmares of  his comrades lying where they fell.

最后他们到了目的地， Servius对这里了如指掌。

这里是顿堡森林郊区，

六年前，奥古斯都皇帝 统治着这里。

日耳曼部落在酋长 阿米纽斯的带领下，

在这里埋伏并摧毁了 三个罗马军团。

沿着狭窄的道路前进，

军团受到在暴雨中受到袭击，

退路被截断。

这是罗马人经历过的 最惨的失败之一，

也是奥古斯都皇帝 一生的耻辱。

Servius是少数的幸存者之一，

Servius至今还会梦到 他死去的同伴们躺在那里。

But now the army is back to bury  the dead with full military honors.

As he helps in the task,

he can’t help wondering whether the bones he handles belonged to someone he knew.

Several times he wants to weep aloud,  but he pushes on with the task.

The glory of the Empire  can go to the crows.

All he craves is to retire  on a small farm with his wife-to-be,

if the gods should spare his life  for  more years.

但是现在军队回到了这里 埋葬这些献身的战士。

当他埋葬他们时，

他忍不住想这些骨头 是否属于他认识的人。

多少次他想要落泪， 但他忍住了继续完成任务。

让帝国的荣耀去见鬼吧！

他所想要的不过是和 他未来的妻子退休到一个小农场，

如果上帝可以让他活过这年。