古罗马的十大创新发明(1)
日期:2015-07-23 14:30

(单词翻译:单击)

The Western Roman Empire may have fallen more than 1,500 years ago, but its rich legacy of innovation and invention can still be seen today. The Romans were prodigious builders and expert civil engineers, and their thriving civilization produced advances in technology, culture and architecture that remained unequaled for centuries. From aqueducts to newspapers, find out more about 10 innovations that built ancient Rome.
西罗马帝国的没落已过去近1500年,但其在创造发明方面所留下的富饶文化遗产依然鲜活如新。罗马人是令世人惊讶的建设者,更是土木工程界的资深专家,其蓬勃发展的社会文明使古罗马帝国数个世纪以来在科技、文化、建筑等方面都保持着无可比拟的优越性。从修建大型输水道到创立报刊,接下来,让我们深入了解一下古罗马的十大创新之举。

10.Battlefield Surgery
10.战地外科

战地外科

The Romans invented many surgical tools and pioneered the use of the cesarean section, but their most valuable contributions to medicine came on the battlefield. Under the leadership of Augustus, they established a military medical corps that was one of the first dedicated field surgery units. These specially trained medics saved countless lives through the use of Roman medical innovations like hemostatic tourniquets and arterial surgical clamps to curb blood loss. Roman field doctors also performed physicals on new recruits and helped stem the spread of disease by overseeing sanitation in military camps. They were even known to disinfect instruments in hot water before use, pioneering a form of antiseptic surgery that was not fully embraced until the 19th century. Roman military medicine proved so advanced at treating wounds and promoting wellness that soldiers tended to live longer than the average citizen despite constantly facing the hazards of combat.
罗马人发明了许多外科手术工具,并率先进行了剖腹产手术,但值得一提的是,他们在医学上最有价值的贡献都是在战场上。在奥古斯塔斯的统领下,他们组建了一个军队医疗队,这是最早致力于专业领域的一支医疗队伍。这些经过特殊训练的医务人员使用止血带止血,使用动脉手术钳抑制术中出血等,通过这些医疗创新手段在战乱中拯救了无数条濒临死亡的生命。罗马的战地医生还为新入伍的军人进行体检,并监管军营的卫生条件以遏制疾病的传播。他们甚至知道在使用医疗用具之前需要在热水中对其进行消毒,开创了抗菌手术的先例,尽管这种手术形式直到19世纪都没有完全被世人接受。罗马军事医学鲜明的证实了其在愈伤及保健方面技术的先进性,以至于士兵尽管饱受战争之苦,却依然比平民百姓的寿命要长。

9.The Twelve Tables and the Corpus Juris Civilis
9.十二铜表法及罗马民法大全

十二铜表法及罗马民法大全

Subpoena, habeas corpus, pro bono, affidavit—all these terms derive from the Roman legal system, which dominated Western law and government for centuries. The basis for early Roman law came from the Twelve Tables, a code that formed an essential part of the constitution during the Republican era. First adopted around 450 B.C., the Twelve Tables detailed laws regarding property, religion and divorce and listed punishments for everything from theft to black magic. Even more influential than the Twelve Tables was the Corpus Juris Civilis, an ambitious attempt to synthesize Rome’s history of law into one document. Established by the Byzantine emperor Justinian between 529 and 535 A.D., the Corpus Juris included modern legal concepts such as the notion that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. After the fall of the Roman empire, it became the basis for many of the world’s legal systems. Along with English common law and sharia law, Roman law remains hugely influential and is still reflected in the civil laws of several European nations as well as the U.S. state of Louisiana.
传票,人身保护权益,义务法律,证词,所有这些条款都出自罗马的法律制度,几个世纪以来,该制度在西方法律和政府管理中都占有重要的统治地位。最初的古罗马法律起源于《十二铜表法》,该法则为共和党时期制定的宪法中的一个重要部分。《十二铜表法》于公元前450年首次通过,详述了财产、宗教和离婚方面的相关条例,并列出了从盗窃到巫术等所有罪行的刑罚措施。然而,同《十二铜表法》相比,《罗马民法大全》更具影响力,这是一部雄心勃勃试图融合整个罗马史法律的百科全书。民法大全由拜占庭国王查士丁尼(公元529-535)起草,涵盖了很多近代法律原理,比如“除非被告被证明有罪,否则就无罪释放”这样的概念。罗马帝国灭亡之后,其成为世界众多法律体系的基石。之后,英国普通法和伊斯兰教教法相继颁布,但古罗马法典仍发挥着其不容小觑的影响力,在一些欧洲国家以及美国路易斯安那州等地的民事法案上依然奏效。

8.The Julian Calendar
8.罗马儒略历(公历)

罗马儒略历(公历)

The modern Gregorian calendar is modeled very closely on a Roman version that dates back more than 2,000 years. Early Roman calendars were likely cribbed from Greek models that operated around the lunar cycle. But because the Romans considered even numbers unlucky, they eventually altered their calendar to ensure that each month had an odd number of days. This practice continued until 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar and the astronomer Sosigenes instituted the Julian system to align the calendar with the solar year. Caesar lengthened the number of days in a year from 355 to the now-familiar 365 and eventually included the 12 months as we know them today. The Julian calendar was almost perfect, but it miscalculated the solar year by 11 minutes. These few minutes ultimately threw the calendar off by several days. This led to the adoption of the nearly identical Gregorian calendar in 1582, which fixed the discrepancy by altering the schedule of leap years.
现代的公历与2000多年前的罗马儒略历极为相似。而罗马早期的日历又极有可能是抄袭自古希腊月亮运行周期的模型。由于罗马人认为偶数是极不吉利的,于是他们改写日历,使每个月都变为奇数天。这一做法在儒略历出现前一直被延用,直到公元前46年,罗马统帅尤利乌斯•凯撒(Julius Caesar)与天文学家索西琴尼(Sosigenes)一起,创立了同阳历相符的儒略历。凯撒将当时的一年355天改为现在我们所熟知的一年365天,并最终将一年划分为12个月。儒略历几乎可以说是完美的日历了,但美中不足的是,我们实际一年的时长同365天相比存在11分钟的误差。于是人们最终采用了1582年设立的公历日历,该年历考虑到了由于闰年改变所存在的误差,使得日历更为精确。

审校:省略珺 编辑:橘子

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