羅馬

1.Rome

It's impossible to stroll through modern Rome and not bump into reminders of its ancient past. The Forum, the Colosseum and the Pantheon, just to name a few, are lasting testaments to the capital of an empire once made up of 2.5 million square miles, three continents and about 100 million people. The empire reached its zenith in 117 AD, when the emperor Trajan ruled from Rome and months-long gladiator games were held to celebrate the city's glory.

古羅馬

即便徜徉在現(xiàn)代的羅馬城里，你也無法不被它的歷史遺跡所震撼。古羅馬廣場、圓形大劇場和萬神殿都是古羅馬曾經(jīng)風(fēng)光無限的有力證據(jù)。這座曾經(jīng)占地 250萬平方英里的都城由3塊陸地組成，人口達到1億。公元117年羅馬帝國盛極一時，羅馬皇帝圖拉真曾舉行長達數(shù)月的格斗表演以慶祝帝國的輝煌。

雅典

2.Athens

Democracy, math, philosophy, the Olympics…what didn't come out of Athens, the ethereal capital of ancient Greece?? Athens fought long and hard, in conflicts on the sea and on land, to become leader of all Aegean city-states by the early 5th century BC. It celebrated its victories by building great temples like the Parthenon, theiconic symbol of art and architecture in ancient Greece. A plague—likely typhoid fever—contributed to the empire's fall.

雅典

民主政治、數(shù)學(xué)、哲學(xué)、奧林匹克……還有什么輝煌成就不是出自古希臘首都雅典的呢？公元前5世紀(jì)，雅典經(jīng)過海洋和陸地長期艱苦的征戰(zhàn)成為愛琴海霸主。為慶祝勝利，雅典修建了帕臺農(nóng)等偉大的神廟，是祭祀女神雅典娜的主要神廟。

君士坦丁堡

3.Constantinople

Today it's shared by two continents as the Turkish city of Istanbul， but ancient Constantinople never once had to share the spotlight after Rome fell from grace in the 4th century AD. From that date through the Middle Ages， Constantinople was the world's largest and richest city， becoming the center of the new Roman Empire， the Byzantine Empire and finally the Ottoman Empire. Art and learning flourished in its universities and cathedrals， including the spectacular Hagia Sophia.

君士坦丁堡

君士坦丁堡就是現(xiàn)在的土耳其城市伊斯坦布爾。它曾是世界上最大最富裕的城市，曾是拜占庭帝國和后來土耳其帝國的中心。君士坦丁堡的藝術(shù)和文化教育在當(dāng)時的學(xué)校和教堂相當(dāng)興盛。

古巴比倫

4. Babylon

Famous for its "wondrous" hanging gardens， the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon had as turbulent a history as its location in present-day Iraq suggests. Everyone from the ancient Assyrians to Alexander the Great wanted to get their hands on this strategic location, and it would become the capital for many ruling groups over a period of several thousand years. King Nebuchadnezzar II, creator of the gardens, led the city during its splendid architectural heyday around 600 BC.

巴比倫

古巴比倫位于今伊拉克共和國境內(nèi)。這座美索不達米亞平原孕育出來的城市因其令人驚嘆的空中花園而世界聞名。從古亞述人到亞歷山大大帝都試圖染指這一重要的戰(zhàn)略要地。數(shù)千年來，它也一直被眾多統(tǒng)治者定為首都。大約公元前600年，古巴比倫國王尼布甲尼撒二世占領(lǐng)耶路撒冷，建空中花園，創(chuàng)造了巴比倫在建筑學(xué)上的輝煌歷史。

庫斯科

5.Cuzco

All roads in the Incan empire once lead to Cuzco, bustling capital in the Andes Mountains from the early 1400s until its discovery by European explorers in 1532. To retreat from the big city, Incan kings would head to their summer home of Machu Picchu further up in the mountains.

庫斯科

庫斯科位于秘魯安第斯山脈。在印加帝國時期，所有的道路都可以通向這里，它曾是印加帝國的君主在夏季的避暑勝地。1532年，歐洲探險者發(fā)現(xiàn)了它。

特諾奇蒂特蘭

6.Tenochtitlan

Legend—and bits and pieces of historical fact—indicates that Tenochtitlan was once the world’s biggest and most beautiful city. The capital of the great Aztec empire, which eventually morphed into today's Mexico City, had about 300,000 inhabitants when Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1521. Despite being built atop a lake according to the wishes of an important Aztec deity, ancient engineers made Tenochtitlan as efficient as any city in Europe with a complex system of causeways and canals.

特諾奇蒂特蘭

各種傳說和歷史資料都表明特諾奇蒂特蘭曾是世界上最大、最美麗的城市。特諾奇蒂特蘭在歷史上曾是偉大的阿茲特克帝國（即現(xiàn)在的墨西哥城）的首都。1521年西班牙征服者到達該地時，這里曾有大約30萬人口。盡管傳說特諾奇蒂特蘭建于一座湖泊之上是因為一位重要的阿茲特克神靈的祝福，古代建筑師為該城建造的復(fù)雜的堤道和排水系統(tǒng)讓它和歐洲任何一座先進的城市媲美。

底比斯

7.Thebes

Most people think of Cairo and the Great Pyramids when they think of ancient Egypt, but the heartbeat of the magical pharaonic dynasties actually beat much further up the Nile at Thebes. Thebes was the ruling capital of ancient Egypt during its most dominant eras, beginning with the Old Kingdom 4500 years ago, and is home to two of its most revered temples at Karnak and Luxor. Most of Egypt's holy rulers are also buried nearby in the famous Valley of the Kings.

底比斯

大部分人提到古埃及時就會想起開羅和金字塔，但在古埃及更為有名的還數(shù)都城底比斯。從4500年前的埃及古王國開始時，底比斯就被古埃及大多數(shù)重要的朝代定為首都。這里有令人敬畏的卡爾奈克和盧克斯特神殿，附近的國王谷是古埃及大多數(shù)統(tǒng)治者的安葬地。

大津巴布韋

8.Great Zimbabwe

At 1,800 acres in breadth and the only one of its kind in Africa, the complex of Great Zimbabwe confounded early European colonialists,? who couldn't believe that sub-Saharan peoples were capable of its creation. They were, in fact, and built the complicated structures sometime after 1200 AD, when a wide-reaching empire of about 20,000 Shona cattlemen ruled the area.

大津巴布韋

占地1800英畝的大津巴布韋曾是非洲獨一無二的都城。早期歐洲殖民主義者見到它后大吃一驚，他們不相信撒哈拉沙漠以南的人民有能力建成如此先進的城市，但這是事實。在公元1200年后，有2萬人口的修納人王國占領(lǐng)該地后建造了這種都城。

西安

9.Xi'an

The Chinese city of Xi'an was the central stronghold for all of the country’s most important ancient dynasties going back 3,000 years. Tourists flocking to see the city’s Terra Cotta Army, 6,000 unique and life-size statues buried to protect the tomb of the great Zhou emperor Qin Shi Huang, has made Xi'an famous in modern times. That will only multiply when the emperor's sprawling mausoleum,? rumored to hold invaluable treasures and rivers of mercury, is finally opened by archaeologists.

西安

3000年前，長安是中國最重要的古代王朝的核心要塞。秦始皇陵中埋藏著多達6000種世界上獨一無二的與真人一般大小的兵馬俑讓如今的西安蜚聲世界。據(jù)猜測，秦始皇的墓中除了埋藏著無價之寶外，還有用水銀做成的江河。

卡霍基亞

10.Cahokia

With upwards of 30,000 inhabitants at its peak in about 1100 AD， Cahokia, Illinois remained North America’s first and biggest real city until the Northeast's population exploded in the late 18th century. This urban center of the Mississippi culture had organized leadership, commerce and a penchant for mound-building. Monk's Mound, the largest at 100 feet tall, dominates the site and was probably a mighty foundation for the home of the resident spiritual leader.

卡霍基亞

在公元1100年左右，美國伊利諾斯州的卡霍基亞都城居民一度達到了3萬人。在18世紀(jì)末北美東北部人口大爆炸前，卡霍基亞一直是北美地區(qū)第一座、最大的真正意義上的城市。這座密西西比河流域的文化中心曾經(jīng)出現(xiàn)過井然有序的社會、繁榮的商業(yè)并修建堤壩。其中的僧侶堤壩高100英尺，在城中居高臨下，它很可能曾被掌權(quán)者用來作為建造居所的地基。