世界小史 第129期:亞歷山大
Alexander never realized his great ambition of mingling1 the two peoples,
亞歷山大的融合兩個(gè)民族的偉大事業(yè)怎么也成功不了，亞歷山大的融合兩個(gè)民族的偉大事業(yè)怎么也成功不了，
even though he handed out rich dowries to 10,000 Macedonian and Greek soldiers so that they could marry Persian women,
雖然他贈(zèng)給一萬(wàn)名馬其頓和希臘的士兵們豐厚的結(jié)婚禮物以讓他們可以娶波斯女子為妻，
and laid on a great wedding feast2 for all.
他還為他們舉辦了隆重的慶典。
He had great plans. He wanted to found many more cities like Alexandria.
他有宏偉的計(jì)劃。他想建造更多像埃及的亞歷山大這樣的城市。
He wanted to build roads, and change the face of the world with his military campaigns, whether the Greeks liked it or not.
他想修路，用他的軍隊(duì)改變世界的面貌，無(wú)論希臘人喜不喜歡。
Just imagine, in those days, to have a regular postal3 service running from India to Athens!
想象一下，假如當(dāng)時(shí)從印度直至雅典就有經(jīng)常性的郵政業(yè)務(wù)！
But in the midst4 of all his plans he died, in Nebuchadnezzar's summer palace, in 323 BC.
但是正在實(shí)施這樣的計(jì)劃過(guò)程中，公元前323年在尼布甲尼撒的夏宮里他死了。
He was 32 years old – an age when most people's lives have barely5 begun.
他死時(shí)32歲——一個(gè)大多數(shù)人正當(dāng)風(fēng)華正茂的年齡。
To the question of who should succeed him, he answered, in his fever: "He who is most worthy6".
對(duì)于誰(shuí)該當(dāng)他的繼承人這個(gè)問(wèn)題，他在高燒的折磨中回答說(shuō)：“最配得上的人。”
But there was no one.
但是這樣的人沒(méi)有。
The generals and princes in his entourage were greedy, dissolute and dishonest. They fought over the empire until it fell apart.
他身邊的所有的統(tǒng)帥和王公都是有貪婪的、放蕩的、不講誠(chéng)信的人。他們爭(zhēng)奪這個(gè)帝國(guó)直至它崩潰。
