If you weren't a Christian, a Jew or a close relative of the emperor, life in the Roman empire could be peaceful and pleasant.

谁不是基督徒，不是犹太人或不是皇帝的近亲，谁就能在当时的罗马帝国过上很安逸很舒适的生活。

You could travel from Spain to the Euphrates, from the Danube to the Nile on wonderful Roman roads.

人们在修得极好的罗马道路上从西班牙到幼发拉底河，从多瑙河到尼罗河旅行。

The Roman postal service made regular visits to settlements at the empire's frontiers, carrying news back and forth.

罗马的国家邮车定期驶往帝国边疆各个固定的地点，送达并取走信息。

In all the great cities like Alexandria or Rome you could find everything you needed for a comfortable life.

在各大城市里，在亚历山大或罗马有种种舒适的生活设备。

Of course, in Rome there were whole districts of barrack-like buildings, crudely built and many storeys high, where poor people lived.

在罗马城里有大的城区，穷人们居住在那里的高的、多层的简易出租房里。

The private houses and villas of the well-to-do, in contrast, were luxuriously furnished with beautiful Greek works of art,

而罗马的私人房屋和别墅则配备有最美的希腊艺术品和豪华家具,

and had delightful small gardens with cooling fountains.

并且拥有迷人的花园，园中有清凉的喷水池。

In winter months, rooms were warmed by a form of central heating in which hot air circulated through hollow bricks under the floor.

在冬天人们能用一种集中供暖法给各房间供暖：人们让变得强大的空气流从地板下面的空心砖吹拂过去。