Episode 1 - An Introduction
发布时间 2012-05-01 16:00:00 来源
Hello everyone, welcome to the history of Byzantium. My name is Robin Pearson and I'm recording this introduction in early 2015. The first introduction I recorded was back in May 2012 and if you want to enjoy my rather stiff and formal sounding original effort then I will leave it at the end of this episode.
大家好，欢迎来到拜占庭历史。我的名字是罗宾·皮尔森，我在2015年初录制了这个介绍。我最初的介绍是在2012年5月录制的，如果你想欣赏我的相当僵硬和正式的原始作品，那么我会在这一集的最后留下它。
The reason I'm updating the introduction is to offer you some advice so that you can get the most from the podcast. This series is designed to be a continuation of Mike Duncan's podcast, The History of Rome. So if you're a big fan of that series and know it well you could pretty much just skip to episode 2 now where I pick up the story in Constantinople in the 450s AD. Please give me a few episodes grace to find my feet. Long time fans of the podcast will tell you I get better as it goes on.
我更新这个介绍的原因是要给你一些建议，让你能够从这个播客中获得最大的收获。这个系列是设计成迈克·邓肯的播客《罗马历史》的延续。所以，如果你是那个系列的忠实粉丝，并且已经很了解了，你可以直接跳到第二集，在公元450年代的君士坦丁堡继续我所讲述的故事。请给我几集时间来找到我的方向。这个播客的长期粉丝会告诉你，随着时间的推移，我会变得越来越好。
If you've listened to the history of Rome though but it's been a while or you feel you need a little refresher in all things Constantinople before you dive back into the narrative then can I suggest you skip ahead to episode 10 and listen to that first. In episode 10 I take a tour of Constantinople and describe what life was like there. It might be a nice bit of orientation before you start getting into all the politics.
如果你听过罗马的历史，但时间有点久了，或者你觉得你需要对君士坦丁堡的一切进行一些复习，然后再深入了解叙述的话，我建议你跳到第10集，先听一遍。在第10集中，我将带你参观君士坦丁堡，并描述那里的生活。在你开始涉足所有政治问题之前，这可能是一个不错的方向感。
And I should say if you have your doubts about the podcast then why not skip ahead to episode 27 The Walking Dead. It's a connect as a standalone episode about an outbreak of bubonic plague in the empire and hopefully will encourage you to give the whole series a try.
如果你对这个播客有疑问的话，为什么不直接跳到第27集《行尸走肉》呢？它作为一个独立的剧集讲述了帝国爆发黑死病的故事，希望能够鼓励你试试看整个系列。
Okay so if you've not listened to the history of Rome podcast and just want to hear about Byzantine history then I have recorded a special podcast for you. I've called it episode 1a so it should be on the feed straight after this one. It's a kind of catch-up session aimed at someone who knows only the outline of Rome and history.
好的，如果你还没有听过罗马历史播客，只是想听听拜占庭历史，那么我为你录制了一期特别的播客。我把它称之为第1a期，所以应该会在这期之后直接播出。它是一个赶上进度的会议，旨在针对只知道罗马历史大概轮廓的人。
Because this podcast was designed to continue the work of the history of Rome I don't want to leave anyone behind who doesn't want to listen to all 179 episodes of that podcast. Obviously I recommend that you do because it's so good but in case you want to just get straight into the Byzantine stuff then give episode 1a a try. I hope it will be helpful and will make episode 2 easier to get into.
因为这个播客是为了继续罗马历史的工作而设计的，我不想让任何不想听完179集的人落后。显然我推荐你听完整个播客，因为它太好了，但是如果你只是想直接听拜占庭的内容，那就试试第1a集吧。我希望它能有所帮助，并让第2集更容易进入。
I should also say that if you go to the history of Byzantium.com and look in the top right can corner there is a maps page so anytime I mention a map that's on the blog it will accompany that episode but it might be quicker to just go straight to the maps page and all the maps are there and you can just scroll to the bottom for the oldest with the newest at the top.
我还应该说，如果你访问Byzantium.com的历史页面，右上角有一个地图页面，因此，每当我提到博客上的地图时，它将附带该事件。但直接转到地图页面可能更快，并且所有地图都在那里，你可以向下滚动以获取最古老的地图，最新的在顶部。
Okay that's it from me. Things will go silent for a few seconds and then you can enjoy my original introduction from 2012 where I give a little more information about me and my aims for the show and I also speak very slowly and correctly because I was very concerned not to make a mistake. Anyway thanks for listening. I really hope you enjoy the fascinating story of the later Roman Empire.
好的，这就是我的全部了。一会儿会有几秒钟的静默，然后你可以享受我2012年的原始介绍，我会在那里给出更多关于我的信息和节目目标，并且我会非常缓慢和正确地说话，因为我非常担心犯错。无论如何，谢谢你们的收听。我真的希望你们喜欢晚期罗马帝国的精彩故事。
Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 1 and introduction. My name is Robin Pearson, I live in London in the UK and I currently have two jobs. I work full time for my father who's an actor and for the past four years I've been working part time as a TV critic.
大家好，欢迎收听《拜占庭历史》第一集，我们先来个介绍。我叫罗宾·皮尔森，目前居住在英国伦敦，同时有两份工作。其中一份是我父亲的演员事业，我在那里全职工作。另一份工作是四年前开始的，是作为电视评论员的兼职。
I set up my own website thetvcritic.org so I could share my passion for American TV shows. I grew up with very strong opinions about what makes good or bad television and began writing an episode guide for the show Friends in the mid 2000s. It was the sheer number of podcasts dedicated to the show Lost, though which convinced me in 2007 to write about TV full time and begin to record my own podcasts.
我建立了自己的网站thetvcritic.org，以便分享我的美剧热情。我从小就对电视节目的好坏有着非常强烈的看法，并开始在21世纪中期为《老友记》编写剧集指南。然而，2007年，专门致力于《迷失》的播客数量之多，促使我全职撰写有关电视节目的文章和录制自己的播客节目。
Since then I've produced a number of podcasts both alone and with cohosts and you can find those at thetvcritic.org including shows dedicated to Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Spartacus and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I've also become a huge fan of podcasts themselves and regularly listened to over a dozen a week.
从那时起，我制作了许多播客，有些是独立制作的，有些与其他主持人一起制作，你可以在thetvcritic.org找到它们，包括专门针对《权力的游戏》、《绝命毒师》、《斯巴达克斯》和《恶魔猎人巴菲》的节目。我也成为播客的忠实粉丝，每周定期听超过十几个节目。
One of my favorites as you've probably guessed is Mike Duncan's The History of Rome, though I also thoroughly recommend Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. I've always had an interest in ancient history and studied classics at school. I've read Roman history books on and off since university but my passion for the subject was only really ignited in the last few years partly through a trip to Italy and partly through The History of Rome podcast.
我最喜欢的之一，你可能已经猜到了，是麦克·邓肯的《罗马历史》，但我也强烈推荐丹·卡林的《铁杆历史》。我一直对古代历史感兴趣，学校时期就学习了经典文学。大学以来，我断断续续地读了一些罗马历史书，但我对这个领域的热情真正被激发是在过去几年里，部分原因是我去了意大利旅行，部分原因是听了《罗马历史》播客。
I liked pretty much everything about The History of Rome. I liked the simplification and explanation of the Roman story. I liked the half hour length. I liked Mike's sense of humour and timing. I liked his neutral tone which never felt like it was providing an overbearing opinion on the narrative.
我很喜欢《罗马历史》的方方面面。我喜欢对罗马故事的简化和解释。我喜欢每集半小时的时长。我喜欢麦克幽默感和节奏感。我喜欢他中立的语调，它从来没有给故事提供过于强烈的观点。
When Mike announced he would be stopping with the fall of the west in 476 I considered whether I could possibly take on the task of continuing the story.
当迈克宣布他将在西部倒退的476年停下时，我考虑是否可能接手继续讲述故事。
I really want to learn more about what happened to the Romans next and as I have the podcasting equipment and experience at my fingertips I've decided I will.
我真想了解罗马人接下来发生了什么，因为我手边有播客设备和经验，所以我决定会去做这件事情。
My aim is to continue in the same vein as The History of Rome.
我的目标是继续以《罗马史》相同的方式继续前行。
I want to present the narrative story of what happened to the Roman Empire from 476 onwards in half hourly installments.
我想以每半小时的节目，呈现罗马帝国自476年以后发生的故事线。
I'm no expert on the subject but I have studied it before and aim to communicate in as clear and entertaining a fashion as possible.
我不是这个主题的专家，但之前我有研究过，并且希望以尽可能清晰有趣的方式进行沟通。
Initially at least I hope to emulate Mike's style.
起初，我希望至少能够效仿麦克的风格。
I want to keep the rough structure and neutral tone established on The History of Rome because I think so highly of it.
我想要保持《罗马史》上建立的粗犷结构和中立语气，因为我非常钦佩它。有必要的话，我会进行改写。
I hope you won't see it as simply an imitation and doubtless over time my own style will emerge.
我希望你不要把它看作是简单的模仿，毫无疑问随着时间的推移，我自己的风格会显现出来。
There are a couple of things I should add before our story can resume.
在我们继续故事之前，有几件事情我应该补充一下。
The first is that my podcast will be called The History of Byzantium.
第一件事是我的播客将被称为《拜占廷帝国的历史》。
I feel this is the right name for the podcast because The History of Rome rather follow the city of Rome through its rise and fall whereas my story will follow Constantin Opal from its position of dominance to its fall a millennium later.
我感觉这个播客的名字很合适，因为《罗马史》跟随着罗马城的崛起和衰落，而我的故事将会跟随着君士坦丁堡从其一开始的统治地位到其在千年后的灭亡。
Why not call the podcast The History of Constantin Opal you might ask?
你可能会问，为什么不把这个播客叫做《康斯坦丁·奥帕尔的历史》？
Here I go with historical convention.
我要按历史传统所做的去了。
As you probably know Byzantium was the original Greek settlement which Constantine built over when he founded his city.
你可能知道拜占庭是Constantine建立城市时建造在原始的希腊定居点上。
The residents of Constantin Opal continued to call themselves Romans, albeit in Greek, up until the 15th century.
直到15世纪，康斯坦丁·奥帕尔的居民仍然称自己为罗马人，虽然用的是希腊语。
However historians rightly wanted to distinguish between the classical empire of Rome and the medieval empire of Constantin Opal.
然而，历史学家正确地想要区分古典罗马帝国和拜占庭的中世纪帝国。
So I will be falling in line and referring to the empire of the Romans as the Byzantine empire during the podcasts.
那么，在播客中，我会顺应潮流，将罗马帝国称为拜占庭帝国。
Or at least I'll try to.
或者至少我会试着这么说。
Inevitably at times I will refer to them as Romans because that's what they call themselves but I will try to keep that to a minimum.
不可避免地，有时我会称呼他们为罗马人，因为他们自己是这样称呼自己的，但我会尽量减少使用这种名称。
It will get confusing after all when we come to talk about those people who actually live in Rome when they come face to face with Byzantine forces.
说到那些实际上生活在罗马的人面对拜占庭军队时，情况会变得混乱起来。
The second point I need to make is about the podcast schedule.
我需要提出的第二个观点是关于播客的日程安排。
For the foreseeable future I don't want to commit to a particular one.
在可预见的未来，我不想承诺选定一个特定的。
At the end of each podcast I will let you know when the next one will be available.
在每个播客的结尾，我会告诉你下一个播客何时可用。
I aim to keep these gaps to three weeks at a maximum and one day perhaps go weekly.
我打算尽量把这些间隔控制在三周以内，并且有可能会每周发布一次。
However given the amount of reading involved and my two other jobs it would be foolish to make promises I can't keep.
然而，考虑到需要阅读的数量和我的另外两份工作，承诺我无法兑现是愚蠢的。
The final point I should add is that I will need your support to keep the podcast going.
我要补充的最后一点是，我需要您的支持来继续制作这个播客节目。
For now, I can guarantee that I will take the story forward another hundred years to the end of the reign of Justinian.
目前，我可以保证我会将这个故事推进一百年，直到朱斯提尼安的统治结束。
I will then reassess how things are going.
那么我将重新评估事情的进展情况。
In the meantime please get in touch to let me know what you think of the podcast.
同时请联系我，让我知道您对这个播客的看法。如果需要的话，请改述。
You can leave a comment at thehistoryofBizantium.wordpress.com.
你可以在thehistoryofBizantium.wordpress.com上留下评论。
You can give the podcast a like or other comments at the Facebook page.
你可以在Facebook页面为这个播客点赞或留下其他评论。
Just type the history of Byzantium into Facebook or you can leave me some iTunes feedback.
只需要在Facebook上输入拜占庭历史，或者您可以留下一些iTunes反馈。
That's it for now.
现在就到这里了。
I'm off to learn how to pronounce Zeno's real name and continue my reading.
我要去学习如何发音泽诺的真名，并继续阅读。
Please join me in three weeks time when our story will resume.
请在三周后与我一同继续我们的故事。
I will actually be taking a brief step back in time to the 450s and 460s to introduce the Emperor Leo and give you a fuller picture of what was going on in Constantinople as the West was falling apart.
其实，我将会回到公元450年代和460年代的时光，介绍一下拜占廷皇帝Leo，让您更全面地了解当西方正处于瓦解状态时，君士坦丁堡正在发生着怎样的变化。
By the end of that episode we should be back in 476 and watch as the Emperor Zeno works out what to do with the purple cloak and diadem that just arrived gift-wrapped from Ravenna.
到那个情节的结尾，我们应该回到476年，看皇帝泽诺如何处理送礼的紫色斗篷和王冠，这些是从拉文纳包装好送来的。