英語聽力材料《凱撒·奧古斯都》

對於凱撒·奧古斯都，大家都比較陌生。但是他被認為是羅馬最偉大的皇帝。下面，我們走進這則聽力，瞭解這位羅馬皇帝的生平吧。

Many consider Augustus to be Rome's greatest emperor; his policies certainly extended the Empire's life span and initiated the celebrated Pax Romana or Pax Augusta. He was intelligent,decisive，and ashrewd politician, but he was not perhaps as charismatic as Julius Caesar, Nevertheless, his legacy proved more enduring.

許多人認為奧古斯都是羅馬最偉大的皇帝。其政策無疑大大延長了羅馬的壽命，並開啟了羅馬的盛世，即“羅馬和平”或“奧古斯都的和平”。奧古斯都悟性很高，能斷大事，是極狡猾的.一名政治天才。他並不像尤利鳥斯·凱撒般光彩照人，但其留給後人的遺產卻更持久。

The longevity of Augustus' reign and its legacy to the Roman world should not be overlooked as a key factor in its success. As Tacitus wrote, the younger generations alive in AD 14 had never known any form of government other than the Principate. Had Augustus died earlier (in 23 BC,for instance), matters might have turned out differently. The attrition of the civil wars on the old Republican oligarchy and the longevity of Augustus, therefore, must be seen as major contributing factors in the transformation of the Roman state into a monarchy in these years.

奧古斯都的長久統治和他留給羅馬的遺產是他成功的關鍵因素之一。正如Tacitus所寫的那樣，生活在公元14年的人，除了元首制外，不知道還有其他制度。要是他死得更早一些(比如公元前23年)，事情可能就大不一樣了。羅馬共和國寡頭政治時期的連年內戰和奧古斯都的長壽，是羅馬由共和制轉為帝制的決定性因素。

Augustus' own experience, his patience, his tact, and his political acumen also played their parts. He directed the future of the Empire down many lasting paths, from the existence of a standing professional army stationed at or near the frontiers, to the dynastic principle so often employed in the imperial succession, to the embellishment of the capital at the emperor's expense. Augustus' ultimate legacy was the peace and prosperity the Empire enjoyed for the next two centuries under the system he initiated.

奧古斯都個人的城府、忍耐、手腕和他如日中天的政治聲望也起了一定作用。其制定了在很多方面影響了以後的帝國政策:維持常備軍並屯軍於邊，皇位的繼承原則與方式，使用皇帝的經費建設首都。其最重要的遺產是建立了能讓帝國在未來二百年維持和平與繁榮的制度。

His memory was enshrined in the political ethos of the Imperial age as a paradigm of the good emperor. Every emperor of Rome adopted his name, Caesar Augustus, which gradually lost its character as a name and eventually became a title.

在帝國時代，他的行為被奉為明君典範。雖然後世羅馬皇帝都襲用“凱撒·奧古斯都”的稱號，但只有少數人真正配得上。