After the Roman Empire's conquest of Britain in the first century A.D., the presence of administrators, merchants, and troops on British soil, along with the natural flow of ideas and goods from the rest of the empire, had an enormous influence on life in the British Isles.
- merchants 商人
Cultural influences were of three types: the bringing of objects, the transfer of craft workers, and the introduction of massive civil architecture.
- the bringing of objects 物品的引入
- the transfer of craft workers 手工艺人的迁入
- the introduction of massive civil architecture 大型民用建筑的引进
Many objects were not art in even the broadest sense and comprised utilitarian items of clothing, utensils, and equipment.
- in even the broadest sense 即使从广义上来看
- comprise 包括
- utilitarian 实用的
- utensil 器皿
We should not underestimate the social status associated with such mundane possessions which had not previously been available.
- status 地位
-
mundane平凡的 - possessions 财物;财产;拥有的物品
The flooding of Britain with red-gloss pottery from Gaul(modern-day France), decorated with scenes from Classical mythology, probably brought many into contact with the styles and artistic concepts of the Greco-Roman world for the first time, whether or not the symbolism was understood.
来自高卢的装饰着古典神话场景的亮红色陶器在英国非常普及(The flooding of ××××)
- red-gloss pottery 亮红色陶器
- Classical mythology 古典神话
- Greco-Roman 古希腊-古罗马
- styles and artistic 风尚和艺术
- symbolism 象征意义
Mass-produced goods were accompanied by fewer more aesthetically impressive objects such as statuettes.
- Mass-produced 大规模生产的
- aesthetically 美学地
- statuettes 小雕像
Such pieces perhaps first came with officials for their own religious worship;others were then acquired by native leaders as diplomatic gifts or by purchase. Once seen by the natives, such objects created a fashion which rapidly spread through the province.
- pieces 件，指代前面的aesthetically impressive objects
- worship 朝拜
- native 本地人;本地的
- natives 当地人ve
- province : the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
In the most extreme instances, natives literally brought the whole package of Roman culture. The Fishbourne villa, built in the third quarter of the first century A.D., probably for the native client king Cogidubnus, amply illustrates his Roman pretensions.
- in the most extreme instances 在极端情况下
- literally 确实地;真正地;简直
- brought the whole package of Roman culture 对古罗马文化打包全收
- client king 藩属王
- pretension 虚荣
It was constructed in the latest Italian style with imported marbles and stylish mosaics. It was lavishly furnished with imported sculptures and other Classical objects.
- stylish mosaics 时髦的马赛克
- in the latest Italian style with imported marbles and stylish mosaics
-
lavishly奢侈地
A visitor from Rome would have recognized its owner as a participant in the contemporary culture of the empire, not at all provincial in taste.
- contemporary 同时代的;当代的
- provincial 乡下的
- provincial in taste 乡下的俗气
- a participant in the culture 文化参与者-->完全融入文化
Even if those from the traditional families looked down on him, they would have been unable to dismiss him as uncultured. Although exceptional, this demonstrates how new cultural symbols bound provincials to the identity of the Roman world.
- dismiss 蔑视;
- although exceptional 虽然是个特例
- symbol 标志
- bound 将...联系在一起
- provincials 当地人
- identity 认同
Such examples established a standard to be copied. One result was an influx of craft workers, particularly those skilled in artistic media like stone-carving which had not existed before the conquest.
这些例子树立起了一个可供复制的标杆
- influx 流入;注入
- media 媒介
- stone-carving 石雕
Civilian workers came mostly from Gaul and Germany. The magnificent temple built beside the sacred spring at Bath was constructed only about twenty years after the conquest.
- civilian 民间的;平民
- magnificent 宏伟的
- sacred 神圣的
- spring 泉水
Its detail shows that it was carved by artists from northeast Gaul. In the absence of a tradition of Classical stone-carving and building, the desire to develop Roman amenities would have been difficult to fulfill. Administrators thus used their personal contacts to put the Britons in touch with architects and masons.
- detail 细节
- in the absence of something 在缺少...的情况下
- amenity 舒适感
- mason 石匠
- Britons 英国人
As many of the officials in Britain had strong links with Gaul, it is not surprising that early Roman Britain owes much to craft workers from that area. Local workshops did develop and stylistically similar groups of sculpture show how skills in this new medium became widespread.
当地的工厂发展起来，创造出与高卢风格很相近的雕塑，这表明这种新的艺术媒介技艺在当时的英国是多么的流行
- owe 感激
- workshop 工厂
- stylistically 风格上地
- medium 媒介
- widespread 普及
Likewise, skills in the use of mosaic, wall painting, ceramic decoration, and metal-working developed throughout the province with the eventual emergence of characteristically Romano-British styles
- Likewise 同样
- ceramic 陶瓷的
- metal-working 金属加工
- province 当地
- characteristically 典型地;有代表性地
This art had a major impact on the native peoples, and one of the most important factors was a change in the scale of buildings. Pre-Roman Britain was highly localized, with people rarely traveling beyond their own region.
- Pre-Roman 在罗马占领英国之前
On occasion large groups amassed for war or religious festivals, but society remained centered on small communities. Architecture of this era reflected this with even the largest of the fortified towns and hill forts containing no more than clusters of medium-sized structures.
- amass 大量聚集
- fortified 设防的
- fort 堡垒
- clusters of medium-sized structures 中型建筑群
The spaces inside even the largest roundhouses were modest, and the use of rounded shapes and organic building materials gave buildings a human scale.
- roundhouse 圆屋剧场
- modest 适中的
- rounded shape 圆形
- organic building material 有机建筑材料
- human scale 人性化
But the effect of Roman civil architecture was significant. The sheer size of space enclosed within buildings like the basilica of London must have been astonishing.
- civil architecture 公共建筑
- sheer 完全的;彻底的
- enclosed 封闭的;围住的
This was an architecture of dominance in which subject peoples were literally made to feel small by buildings that epitomized imperial power.
- epitomize 集中体现
- dominance 权威
- imperial 帝国的
Supremacy was accentuated by the unyielding straight lines of both individual buildings and planned settlements since these too provided a marked contrast with the natural curvilinear shapes dominant in the native realm.
- supremacy 至高无上;霸权
- accentuate 强调
- unyielding 坚硬的;不弯曲的
- realm 领域
- curvilinear 曲线
- dominant 主导的
- individual buildings 个体建筑
- planned settlements 规划建筑群
- marked contrast 鲜明的对比
- natural 自然的
- the natural curvilinear shapes dominant in the native realm 自然的曲线形主导在(英国)本地的