介绍： Salvete, Nat Geo. You’ve probably heard of Pompeii, the city frozen in ash. But just up the coast, was another slightly lesser-known town. Herculaneum. Now, Herculaneum met the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but a slightly different fate.
各位《国家地理》的观众，大家好。想必你们都听说过庞贝，这座被火山灰封...

介绍： Salvete, Nat Geo. You’ve probably heard of Pompeii, the city frozen in ash. But just up the coast, was another slightly lesser-known town. Herculaneum. Now, Herculaneum met the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but a slightly different fate.
各位《国家地理》的观众，大家好。想必你们都听说过庞贝，这座被火山灰封存的古城。但沿着海岸向北，还有一座名气稍小的城镇—— 赫库兰尼姆。当年维苏威火山喷发时，赫库兰尼姆同样遭遇了这场灾难，却有着截然不同的结局。
I’m Professor Tom. Not technically a professor. That would be lying. But in proper academic fashion and rigor, here are ten things to know about Herculaneum.
我是汤姆，大家称我汤姆教授。严格来说我并非教授，这么称呼其实并不属实。不过接下来我会以严谨规范的学术视角，为大家梳理十个关于赫库兰尼姆的冷知识。
Number one. Herculaneum lay just four miles from Mount Vesuvius. Much closer than Pompeii. The eruption came faster. It burned hotter. But it left the city astonishingly well-preserved.
第一个，赫库兰尼姆距离维苏威火山仅有四英里，比庞贝近得多。火山爆发来得更迅猛，灼烧温度也更高，但也正因如此，整座城市得以完好保存，完整程度令人惊叹。
Number two. Herculaneum was smaller, wealthier, and frankly, just that bit nicer than Pompeii. It was a place that rich noblemen and senators would frequent and use the seaside town as a luxurious retreat.
第二个，赫库兰尼姆规模更小、更为富庶，坦白来讲，整体环境也比庞贝雅致许多。罗马富裕贵族与元老院议员常来此地，将这座海滨小城当作奢华的度假别院。
Number three. While Pompeii was buried in ash, Herculaneum was flash-frozen in hot mud and other volcanic debris. The heat reached around five hundred degrees Celsius. Enough to suffocate life, but preserve the world it left behind.
第三个，庞贝被火山灰掩埋，而赫库兰尼姆则被滚烫火山泥与火山碎屑瞬间封存。当时环境温度高达五百摄氏度左右，高温夺走了所有生命，却完整留存下彼时生活的一切痕迹。
Number four. Sixty feet of rock pressed down and locked everything in place. Wood. Food. Fabric. All the details of a life, interrupted in a second.
第四个，六十英尺厚的岩层重压而下，将所有物品牢牢封存原位。木器、食物、织物尽数留存，普通人生活的所有细节，在一瞬间戛然而止。
Number five. In one villa, an entire library was found. The Villa of the Papyri. The scrolls were burned, yes. But we have discovered many of the words endure thanks to new forensic and AI technology. And this library gives us an incredible insight into Rome’s devotion to ideas. That knowledge, itself, was a luxury worth preserving.
第五个，考古人员在一处别墅遗址中发掘出一整座藏书馆—— 纸莎草别墅。那些纸卷确实被高温灼烧碳化了，但依托全新物证分析技术与人工智能，我们成功还原出纸卷上大量文字内容。这座藏书馆让我们得以深刻窥见古罗马人对思想与学识的热忱，在那个时代，知识本身就是值得用心珍藏的珍贵财富。
Number six. Skeletons survived. For centuries, we thought that Herculaneum’s residents escaped. They escaped by boat. By sea. Across the Bay of Naples. And then, along the shoreline, over three hundred families were found. Sailors. Citizens. Mothers and sons. Their final moments remind us that history isn’t ruins. It’s people. With a social fabric displaying courage and closeness.
第六个，大量人类骸骨完整留存至今。数百年来，我们一直认为赫库兰尼姆的居民全部乘船从海上逃离，横渡那不勒斯湾避难。可后来考古队在海岸沿线发掘出三百多具遗骸，包含水手、普通市民、母子等各类人群。他们生命最后的瞬间提醒着我们：历史从来不是冰冷的遗迹，而是活生生的人，骸骨背后承载着那个时代人与人之间的羁绊、勇气与温情。
Number seven. Even wood survived. Two thousand years later, we have beds, doors, even wine racks, which are still intact. Details of ordinary life that, even in a catastrophe, they’re what make us all human. Oh, and uh... trust the Romans to make sure you’ve got the storage for the wine.
第七个，就连木制品都完好保存了下来。时隔两千年，我们依旧能见到完好无损的床榻、房门，甚至酒架。这些平凡生活的物件，即便历经灭顶之灾，也让我们看见共通的人性。对了，不得不说，古罗马人在储酒器具的设计上考虑得十分周全。
Number eight. At least a quarter... just a quarter of Herculanuem has been unearthed. Much of it still sleeps beneath the modern town of Ercolano, with untold stories just waiting for technology to dig a little deeper.
第八个，目前仅发掘出赫库兰尼姆全城的四分之一。城市大部分区域仍埋藏在现代城镇埃尔科拉诺之下，无数不为人知的故事，正等待更先进的考古技术去深入发掘。
Number nine. Modern science is constantly rewriting our understanding of Herculaneum’s citizens. CT scans, DNA, and artificial intelligence are revealing new details about who they were as a people - even what they ate and read.
第九个，现代科学不断刷新我们对赫库兰尼姆居民的认知。CT 扫描、DNA 检测与人工智能技术，不断揭开他们的生活细节，甚至还原出他们当年的饮食与读物。
And finally, number ten. Herculaneum remains one of the most complete archaeologically-intact Roman towns on Earth. Walls still stand. Frescoes still glow. There’s so much to discover.
最后第十个，赫库兰尼姆是全球保存最完整、遗迹完好度最高的古罗马城镇之一。古城墙体屹立不倒，壁画色彩依旧鲜亮，这里还有无穷无尽的秘密等待探索。
I do speak a bit of Latin. Which, it turns out, is enough for National Geographic to have handed me a microphone. So, scientia potentia est. Knowledge is power. And sometimes, it’s how the past speaks again.
我略懂一些拉丁语，没想到仅凭这点学识，《国家地理》就邀请我来录制节目。拉丁语有一句名言：scientia potentia est，意思是知识就是力量。而有时，知识也是让尘封历史重新发声的途径。
If this small lecture has left you wanting more, and I do hope it has, you’ll find the full story in my new series, now streaming on Disney+. I hope it’s rather more dynamic, but the Latin holds up.
如果这场简短讲解让你意犹未尽—— 我由衷希望如此，完整的故事收录在我的全新系列片中，该影片现已在迪士尼流媒体上线。成片的内容会更加生动精彩，片中的拉丁语典故也经得起推敲。