The city of walls: Constantinople - Lars Brownworth

巨牆之城：君士坦丁堡 - Lars Brownworth

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Geoff Chen

The most important walls in western history aren't even in the West.

西方歷史裡最重要的一面牆 並不是在西方世界。

They surround the modern city of Istanbul, Constantinople as the Romans called it.

這面牆圍繞著現在的伊斯坦堡， 羅馬人稱呼它為君士坦丁堡。

And for a thousand years, the fate of Europe depended on them.

將近有一千年的歷史， 歐州的命運與它有關。

Constantinople was designed to be the center of the world.

君士坦丁堡被設計成世界的中心。

When the frontiers of the Roman Empire began to crumble in the 4th Century,

當四世紀 羅馬帝國開始擴張它的國土時，

the capital was moved to the cultured, wealthy, and still stable East.

它的首都就移到 文明、富裕、在當時算穩定的東方。

There, at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, the hub of the major trade routes of the ancient world,

那裡是歐亞交界 也是許多古代貿易路線的交會處，

the Emperor Constantine built his city.

君士坦丁大帝在那裡建了他的城市。

This was the city of libraries and universities,

這是充滿圖書館與大學的城市，

20 times the size of London or Paris at the time.

它有當時倫敦或是巴黎的二十倍大。

It contained the priceless knowledge of the classical world which was fading in the West.

裡頭充滿了無價的先人智慧， 但它們正逐漸被西方世界遺忘。

To protect this masterpiece from its many enemies,

為了要保護這些智慧結晶 免於敵人破壞，

Constantine's successors built the finest defensive fortifications ever made.

君士坦丁大帝的後繼者建了一座 有史以來最精良的防禦工事。

The first line of protection was a moat 60 feet wide and 22 feet deep,

這一道防禦是一座 60 英尺寬 22 英尺深的護城河，

stretching all four miles from coast to coast.

從東岸到西岸 延伸了四英里長。

Pipes from inside the city could fill it at the first sight of the enemy,

連接到城內的管線 使得第一眼看到敵人時就可以填滿它。

and a short wall protected archers who could fire at the soaked soldiers trying to swim across.

還有一座矮牆掩護弓箭手， 他們可以攻擊嘗試渡河因而一身濕的敵人。

Those who were lucky enough to clear the moat had to contend with an unceasing barrage from the 27 foot outer wall above.

那些可以幸運突破護城河的人， 還要面臨 27 英尺高的外牆射下來的槍林彈雨。

Arrows, spears, or far worse, Greek fire -- an ancient form of napalm that would ignite on contact

箭如雨下：有弓箭、長矛、或是更可怕的希臘火 ──那是古代版本的汽油彈，

and couldn't be extinguished by water -- would rain down on them.

它一觸即發，而且水沒辦法撲滅它。

Squads of Roman defenders would carry portable flame throwers,

羅馬的防禦者會帶著 攜帶式火焰投擲器，

spraying anyone trying to climb out of the moat.

噴向所有試著要爬出護城河的人。

The terrified victims would leap back, only to find that they still burned underwater.

被嚇著的敵人可能會跳回河裡， 卻只發現在水裡火依舊在燃燒。

At times, the Romans would also mount siphons onto the ramparts,

有時，羅馬人還會在城牆上架設虹吸管 對敵人噴火，

and launch clay pots full of Greek fire from catapults at an invading army.

或是用投石機對進犯的敵軍 投出裝滿希臘火的陶罐。

The front lines would turn into an inferno,

前線就會變成人間煉獄，

making it appear as if the earth itself was on fire.

讓它看起來就像地球真的燒了起來一樣。

If, by some miracle, the outer wall was compromised,

如果奇蹟般地 外牆被攻破了，

attackers would be faced with the final defense: the great inner wall.

進攻方就要面臨最後一層防禦 ──高大的內牆。

These walls were wide enough to have four men ride side by side,

這牆寬到可以讓 四個人肩併肩騎馬通過，

allowing troops to be rushed wherever they were needed.

這使得部隊可以 迅速移動到任何緊急的地方。

Attilla the Hun, destroyer of civilizations, who named himself the Scourge of God,

匈人阿提拉自號「上帝之鞭」， 並且是文明的破壞者，

took one look at them and turned around.

他看著這面牆一會兒 然後就掉頭走了。

The Avars battled the walls uselessly til their catapults ran out of rocks.

阿瓦爾人使用投石機打到石頭沒了， 卻沒有成功。

The Turks tried to tunnel under them, but found the foundations too solid.

土耳其人想要鑽地道進去， 卻發現地基太結實了。

The Arabs tried to starve the city into submission,

阿拉伯人試著要把城內餓到投降，

but ran out of food themselves and had to resort to cannibalism.

但自己卻先糧食不足， 最終變成人吃人的囧境。

It took the guns of the modern world to finally bring them down.

最後打倒這面牆的 是現代槍砲。

In 1453, the Turks brought their super weapon:

在 1453 年， 土耳其人帶來了他們的超級武器：

a monster cannon that could fire a 15 hundred pound stone ball over a mile.

一座巨型大砲， 它可以將 1,500 磅的石砲打到一英里外。

Together with more than a hundred smaller guns,

配上上百座小型砲，

they kept up a steady bombardment day and night.

他們沒日沒夜地轟炸。

A section of the old walls collapsed, but even in their death throes they proved formidable.

這座古牆的一小塊塌了， 但在這牆的毀滅中，它依舊證實了它的可畏。

The rubble absorbed the shock of the cannonballs better than the solid wall.

這些碎石堆比起堅固的牆 更能吸收大砲的衝擊。

It took a month and a half of continuous blasting to finally open a breach.

共花了一個半月的持續轟炸 最終於打出一個缺口。

The last Roman Emperor, Constantine the 11th, drew his sword

最後一任羅馬皇帝君士坦丁十一世， 舉起他的劍，

and jumped into the gap to stop the onrushing horde,

跳進缺口中要抵擋 來勢洶洶的敵軍，

disappearing into legend.

最後消失在傳說之中。

The city was taken, and the Roman Empire finally disappeared.

這城市被攻破， 羅馬皇帝最終消失了。

But those broken walls had one last gift.

但那些破碎的城牆 留下了最後一項禮物。

As the survivors fled the doomed city, they brought with them their precious books and their ancient traditions.

當倖存者逃離這即將滅亡的城市時， 他們也帶著他們珍貴的圖書以及古老的傳統。

They traveled west to Italy, reintroduced the Greek language and learning to western Europe, and ignited the Renaissance.

他們往西移動到義大利，再次將希臘的語言和智慧 帶到西歐，並點燃了文藝復興。

Thanks to Constantinople's walls, that pile of brick and marble that guarded them for so long,

多虧了君士坦丁的城牆， 那些守護他們許久的磚頭石塊，

we still have our classical past.

也讓我們仍舊擁有古代人的智慧。