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They'd already experienced a very interesting life.
他们之前的人生很有趣
Twin sons of a local princess and the great god Mars,
他们是一位公主和战神的双胞胎儿子
they'd been exposed at birth
刚出生时，他们就被
by their evil grand-uncle and left to die.
邪恶的叔祖父抛弃，等待他们的是死亡
Luckily, a roaming she-wolf found the bawling babies
幸运的是，一只母狼发现了啼哭的婴儿
and instead of eating them, she suckled them.
母狼没有吃掉孩子，而是喂他们奶
This saved them until a friendly local shepherd
兄弟俩就这样活了下来，之后
and his wife discovered them
当地的牧羊人和妻子发现了这对兄弟
and brought them up as their own.
把他们当做自己的孩子抚养成人
After a troubled adolescence,
在经过麻烦重重的青春期
young Romulus and Remus decided on a new start.
罗慕路斯和雷穆斯决定创造一个新起点
That's how the twins found themselves
因此，这兄弟两个
on top of a hill in Latium,
来到Latium的一座小山上
founding a new city on the site of
创立了一个城市
what would eventually be Rome.
这座城市就是后来的罗马
Problem is, only one of them could become king.
问题是，只有一个人能成为国王
One of them had to have been the older twin,
兄弟两个中，肯定有一个是哥哥
but they were mere babies at the time they were born,
但是他们出生的时候都还是婴儿
and they really couldn't be expected
可能不可能知道
to notice who was first.
谁先出生的
Instead, like the future Romans they were,
他们和以后的罗马人一样
they resorted to augury,
选择用占卜决定
the art of bird signs to decide
用鸟类预兆来决定
who was the proper king.
谁应该担任国王
Remus was the first
雷穆斯首先
to spot a flock of vultures, 6 of them.
认出一群秃鹰，有六只
But then Romulus saw 12 vultures, so he won.
但是罗慕路斯看见了12只，因此他获胜了
Another version of this story says that
这个故事的另一个版本是
Remus jumped over a wall
雷穆斯跳过了
that Romulus had just finished building.
罗慕路斯刚建好的墙
Both versions end with Remus dead,
两个版本的结局都是雷穆斯死了
and Romulus sole ruler of the city
罗慕路斯成了刚建成的
they had just founded.
城市的统治者
Romulus recruited new settlers for his city,
罗慕路斯招收了一批新成员
which was known as Rome and not Reme,
这座城市名字是罗马，不是里马
unless you're Russian,
除非你是俄罗斯人
the Russians do call the city Reme,
俄罗斯人称这座城市为里马
by opening an asylum in the forest,
罗马在森林中开设了收容所
where fugitives, freed men and slaves
逃亡者，自由的人和奴隶
could join this new Roman people.
可以成为新的罗马人
Since Rome was still experiencing
因为罗马缺少
a shortage of marriage aged females,
婚龄的妇女
Romulus invited the neighboring Sabine tribe
罗慕路斯邀请林静的萨宾人部落
over for a little picnic.
共同举行小型野餐
While the Sabine men were busy
当萨宾人中的男性忙着
enjoying the food and the drink,
享受食物和饮料时
the Romans ran off with the Sabine women.
罗马人带着萨宾妇女逃跑了
The Sabine army went back for their weapons,
萨宾人军队回去拿自己的武器
they marched on Rome to bring their women back,
到罗马抢回他们的女人
but the women, so the story goes,
但是女人们，根据故事所说
were just as happy to be Romans.
很乐意成为罗马人
They said, guys, go home, it's all good.
她们说，男人们，回家吧，这里很好
At any rate, that's how the ancient Romans
无论如何，这就是古罗马人
liked to think their city was founded.
认为自己的城市是如何建立的
The name Romulus means young Roman in Latin.
罗慕路斯在拉丁语中的意思是年轻的罗马人
And his character was almost
他的性格
certainly a legendary invention.
具有传奇性
The murder of Remus, murdering your own brother,
他谋杀了雷穆斯，亲兄弟
is a tough one to explain positively.
很难对此作出正面的解释
The Latin word for she-wolf is Lupa,
拉丁语中，母狼是Lupa
and it is also a word meaning prostitute.
同时，这个词还表示妓女
No doubt, a struggling young city-state
毫无疑问，一个奋斗的年轻的城市
was always looking to pad its population
通常通过收留逃亡者和偷抢妻子
by welcoming fugitives and stealing wives.
来扩张自己的人口
This account of Rome's foundation
这种对罗马成立的解释
became even less satisfactory,
相比来说不太受人欢迎
as Rome became stronger and
以为罗马变得更加强大
came into contact with Greek colonies,
和希腊殖民地进行接触
which were scattered
希腊殖民地
all along the southern Italian coast.
分布在意大利南岸
Almost every one of these Greek colonies
几乎每个希腊殖民地
could brag about being founded
都吹嘘自己是英雄建立
by a hero, or founded by the son of the gods,
或者是由神的儿子创立的
or at least founded by a big time hero
至少是由特洛伊战争中伟大的英雄
from the Trojan War.
创立的
Suddenly, the murderous foster-son
突然之间，母狼或者妓女的养子
of a canine or a prostitute, whichever you pick,
无论养母是谁
wasn't much to brag about.
这一点都不值得吹嘘
