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It seemed that no matter what the circumstances,
似乎是无论什么情况
the laws somehow always went against the plebeians.
法律总是和平民对立
After decades of agitation,
在数十年的社会不适应之后
a code of laws was drafted and adopted.
起草并采用了一部分法律
Granted the resulting Code of 12 Tables was not a systematic set of laws.
但是十二铜表法不是系统的法律条文
It still favored the patricians.
依然偏向于贵族
For one thing, it specified for just about any offense,
首先，它指定说，同样的过错
a stricter penalty for a guilty plebeian
平民受到的惩罚更加严重
and a less strict penalty for a guilty patrician.
贵族受到的惩罚要轻一些
Yet, the Code of 12 Tables fundamentally stabilized Roman society by establishing what we call the rule of law.
但是，十二铜表法实现了法治最终稳定了罗马社会
Over a period of time,
经过一段时间
through a process called the conflict of the orders,
通过秩序的冲突
the plebeian class built upon the rule of law to win further concessions,
平民阶层建立了法治以获得更进一步的让步
such as the right to elect tribunes,
例如选举护民官的权利
to marry into patrician families,
和贵族家庭通婚的权利
and even to hold the consulship.
甚至是担任执政官的权利
The system of quote/unquote Latin rights
所谓的拉丁权力系统
made it possible for Italians blessed with such rights to transition smoothly into Roman citizenship.
允许意大利人享受这样的权力顺利地过渡成罗马人
Adding not only numerical weight,
这不仅仅是数字上的变化
but needed fresh blood to the Roman citizen body.
而且需要为罗马加入新鲜血液
Segment 7c: The Roman State Religion.
7c 罗马的国教
Like most ancient societies, the Romans started out worshipping animistic deities.
和很多古代社会一样罗马一开始信奉万物有灵论的神灵
That is gods and goddesses with
也就是没有
no particular human personality
人类形态的神
and no particular human appearance.
没有特定的人类外表
These animistic deities or numina were generally connected with agriculture and the home.
这些numina神灵通常和农业与家庭有关
For example, Sterculinus or Sterculius,
例如Sterculinus斯忒耳枯利乌斯
the name means poop god, was the god of manure.
也就是粪神他是粪肥之神
Bizarre as the concept of a poop god sounds
对我们这些21世纪的城市人来说
to us 21st century city slickers,
粪神这个概念听上去很奇怪
the Romans may not have understood why poop made such an effective fertilizer.
罗马人可能不理解为什么粪便能作为肥料
They knew only that it worked.
他们只知道粪便能当肥料用
And the Romans intended to keep the poop doing its job, of course, by offering thanks and praise to Sterculius, the poop god.
罗马人要让粪便发挥作用当然，方法是感谢并赞美粪神斯忒耳枯利乌斯
Even when Rome became more urbanized after it became the largest city in the world,
尽管罗马在成为世界上最大的城市后城市化加深
this sort of animistic deity remained popular.
但是这种崇拜依然流行
The Cloaca Maxima,
马克西姆下水道
built under the Etruscans to drain the swamps between the hills of Rome into the Tiber River
伊特鲁利亚人建造的把七丘之间的污水排到台伯河中
was overseen by a goddess known as Cloacina, or sewer goddess.
它是在女神克罗阿西娜的监督下完成的她是下水道女神
Since the sewer kept the Roman forum dry,
因为下水道让古罗马城市广场保持干燥
obviously Cloacina had to be kept happy.
因此，一定要让克罗阿西娜保持开心状态
Later on, Cloacina was associated with the Roman goddess of beauty and love.
之后，克罗阿西娜和罗马的美与爱神联系起来
Venus was her name. You got it?
她的名字是维纳斯，知道吗?
Early in their history,
在罗马人的历史早期
the Romans acquired from the Etruscans a state religion based upon anthropomorphic ancient Greek deities.
罗马人从伊特鲁利亚人那里学到了一种国教其中有拟人的古希腊神灵
But the Romans never forgot or ignored
但是罗马人从未忘记或者忽略
the humble religious practices of their illustrious ancestors.
他们辉煌的祖先举行的谦卑的宗教活动
The household gods called the Lares and Penates were especially beloved,
家神被称作拉瑞斯和珀那忒斯深受爱戴
as was the personal genius or guardian spirit.
因为他们守卫心灵
In imperial times, the emperor's genius would itself be worshipped as a god.
帝国时期，皇帝的天赋被当做神来崇拜
But that's several chapters later.
我们之后会讲到
The mos maiorum especially applied to Roman religion.
祖先的道路适用于罗马宗教。
