Chapter 29: Rome's War With Carthage / 第二十九章：罗马与迦太基的战争

Rome罗马 - 古代意大利的强大城邦/roʊm/ took over all of Italy意大利 - 欧洲南部的半岛国家/ˈɪtəli/. But the Romans罗马人 - 古代罗马的居民/ˈroʊmənz/ still weren't happy高兴的，满意的/ˈhæpi/. They wanted想要，渴望/ˈwɑːntɪd/ more!

Unfortunately, another city城市/ˈsɪti/, Carthage迦太基 - 古代北非的强大城邦/ˈkɑːrθɪdʒ/, also wanted more. Do you remember记得，回忆/rɪˈmembər/ reading about Carthage? The Phoenicians腓尼基人 - 古代地中海商业民族/fɪˈnɪʃənz/ built the city of Carthage on the northern北方的/ˈnɔːrðərn/ coast海岸/koʊst/ of Africa非洲/ˈæfrɪkə/. They sailed their trading贸易的，商业的/ˈtreɪdɪŋ/ ships in and out of Carthage for hundreds of years.

Carthage made a lot of money金钱/ˈmʌni/ trading with cities城市（复数）/ˈsɪtiz/ all around the Mediterranean Sea地中海/ˌmedɪtəˈreɪniən siː/. They wanted to keep on trading with these cities, and they didn't want Rome to get in the way! But the Romans also wanted to trade贸易，交易/treɪd/ with these cities without Carthage interfering干涉，妨碍/ˌɪntərˈfɪrɪŋ/. So Rome and Carthage began to fight战斗，打仗/faɪt/. They fought for years and years and years. These wars战争（复数）/wɔːrz/ were called the Punic Wars布匿战争/ˈpjuːnɪk wɔːrz/. They began in 264 BC/BCE. And they didn't finally end until 146 BC/BCE, over a hundred years later.

At first, Carthage had the advantage优势/ədˈvæntɪdʒ/ because it had a navy海军/ˈneɪvi/—soldiers士兵（复数）/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ who knew how to sail航行/seɪl/ ships. Rome didn't have a navy. But when a Carthaginian迦太基的/ˌkɑːrθəˈdʒɪniən/ ship wrecked失事，沉没/rekt/ on the coast of Italy, the Romans took it apart and figured out弄明白/ˈfɪɡjərd aʊt/ how to copy复制/ˈkɑːpi/ it. They built ships of their own and learned how to sail them. Soon the Romans could match匹敌，相等/mætʃ/ the Carthaginians in a sea battle海战/siː ˈbætl/.

But Carthage was a tough坚强的，难对付的/tʌf/ enemy敌人/ˈenəmi/. The Romans had to work hard to beat打败/biːt/ them. They made lots of sacrifices祭品，牺牲/ˈsækrɪfaɪsɪz/ to their gods神（复数）/ɡɑːdz/, asking for victory胜利/ˈvɪktəri/. One Roman general将军/ˈdʒenərəl/ named Claudius Pulcher克劳狄乌斯·普尔彻 - 罗马将军/ˈklɔːdiəs ˈpʌltʃər/ actually took sacred神圣的/ˈseɪkrɪd/ chickens鸡（复数）/ˈtʃɪkɪnz/ with him on his ship! He hoped that the sacred chickens would give him good fortune运气/ˈfɔːrtʃən/ in battle. And he also thought that he could foretell预言/fɔːrˈtel/ the future未来/ˈfjuːtʃər/ by watching the way the chickens ate.

Unfortunately, the chickens got seasick晕船的/ˈsiːsɪk/ and wouldn't eat吃/iːt/ at all. This was a very bad sign征兆/saɪn/. The Roman soldiers on Claudius Pulcher's boat got more and more nervous紧张的/ˈnɜːrvəs/. "The gods are against us!" they whispered低声说/ˈwɪspərd/. "We can tell, because the chickens aren't eating! We are doomed注定失败的/duːmd/ to fail!"

Claudius Pulcher got more and more irritated恼怒的/ˈɪrɪteɪtɪd/. Nothing he could do would make those chickens eat. So finally he ordered命令/ˈɔːrdərd/, "Throw the chickens overboard从船上扔到水里/ˈoʊvərbɔːrd/!"

Sure enough, he got badly beaten被打败/ˈbiːtən/ in the next battle. And all of his soldiers thought that they were defeated被击败/dɪˈfiːtɪd/ because they had thrown the sacred chickens into the sea海/siː/.

The Carthaginians and Romans fought back and forth for a long time. Neither side could win. And then, one of the Carthaginian generals got a wonderful奇妙的/ˈwʌndərfəl/ idea想法/aɪˈdiːə/. Instead of attacking the Romans with ships, he would attack攻击/əˈtæk/ them with elephants大象（复数）/ˈeləfənts/.

Roman soldiers were camping宿营/ˈkæmpɪŋ/ near the Alps阿尔卑斯山/ælps/, up in the north of Italy, when they heard strange奇怪的/streɪndʒ/ noises. They peered凝视/pɪrd/ out of their tents帐篷（复数）/tents/ into the swirling snow and mist薄雾/mɪst/. Suddenly, huge dark shapes loomed up in the snow.

The ground shook摇晃/ʃʊk/. A herd兽群/hɜːrd/ of wild elephants was charging冲锋/ˈtʃɑːrdʒɪŋ/ through the camp. The Roman soldiers fled逃跑/fled/ in terror恐惧/ˈterər/. Many of them had never seen an elephant before. And these were no ordinary普通的/ˈɔːrdəneri/ elephants. They were specially trained训练过的/treɪnd/ for battle. When they were told to attack, they spread their ears wide out to make their heads even larger. Their heads and ears were painted涂漆的/ˈpeɪntɪd/ red, white and yellow, to make them look even more terrifying可怕的/ˈterəfaɪɪŋ/. Some of them were pulling carts马车（复数）/kɑːrts/ full of armed Carthaginian soldiers, shooting arrows箭（复数）/ˈæroʊz/ at the Roman troops. Others were carrying wooden boxes箱子（复数）/bɑːksɪz/ that contained even more attacking soldiers.

Some of the Romans did try to fight back. They ran for their horses马（复数）/ˈhɔːrsɪz/ and mounted骑上/ˈmaʊntɪd/, ready to attack the thundering beasts head on. But the horses were stricken被打击的/ˈstrɪkən/ with terror. They bolted狂奔/ˈboʊltɪd/, carrying the Roman soldiers off into the dark.

The Carthaginian general who planned this attack was named Hannibal汉尼拔 - 著名的迦太基将军/ˈhænɪbəl/. Hannibal saw that the battle between Carthage and Rome at sea was a stalemate僵局/ˈsteɪlmeɪt/—no one was winning. So while the two navies fought with each other, Hannibal took his army军队/ˈɑːrmi/ and forty elephants around the Mediterranean Sea by land. He surprised使惊讶/sərˈpraɪzd/ the Romans by coming down over the mountains山（复数）/ˈmaʊntənz/ into Italy. His invasion入侵/ɪnˈveɪʒən/ took place in 218 BC/BCE.

Once Hannibal had gotten into Italy with his elephants, he roamed漫游/roʊmd/ up and down Italy, burning燃烧/ˈbɜːrnɪŋ/ villages村庄（复数）/ˈvɪlɪdʒɪz/ and leaving Roman soldiers dead all through the countryside乡村/ˈkʌntrisaɪd/. The Romans were terrified. And they were afraid that Hannibal would come all the way to the city of Rome and burn烧毁/bɜːrn/ it too.

Then a Roman general named Scipio西庇阿 - 罗马将军/ˈsɪpioʊ/ thought of a plan计划/plæn/ to defeat Hannibal and his men. He gathered聚集/ˈɡæðərd/ together the best Roman soldiers, sailed down to Carthage, and attacked the city itself. The city of Carthage wasn't expecting期待/ɪkˈspektɪŋ/ to be attacked! And all the best Carthaginian soldiers were over in Italy. So the people of Carthage sent a message消息/ˈmesɪdʒ/ to Hannibal: "Come back to Carthage and help us!"

Hannibal left Italy and sailed across the African Sea to defend保卫/dɪˈfend/ his home town. But his soldiers were so worn out疲惫不堪/wɔːrn aʊt/ from burning and sacking洗劫/ˈsækɪŋ/ towns in Italy that they were defeated! Hannibal himself ran away and hid, in Asia Minor小亚细亚/ˈeɪʒə ˈmaɪnər/.

Finally, the city of Carthage was forced to surrender投降/səˈrendər/ to Rome. When Hannibal heard this news, over in Asia Minor, he drank poison毒药/ˈpɔɪzən/. He could not bear忍受/ber/ to think that his great city, Carthage, had been beaten by the Romans who were afraid of his elephants.