People talk about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age,
人们谈论青铜时代和铁器时代
but in many ways, ever since the Romans,
但从多方面来看 自从有了罗马人的发明
we've been living in the Concrete Age.
我们进入了混凝土时代
The key ingredient of Roman concrete is volcanic ash.
罗马混凝土的关键成分是火山灰
And Rome is surrounded by 50 volcanoes.
罗马周围有五十座火山
Today, two thirds of mankind live in buildings Made of concrete.
如今 世界人口的三分之二住在混凝土造的房子里
The aqueduct cost the equivalent Of eight and three quarter billion dollars,
引水渠的成本相当于八十七亿五千万美元
Ten times more than the Hoover Dam.
是胡佛水坝建设开支的十倍
You have to imagine people coming into Rome
可以想象当人们来到罗马时
getting some of their first impressions about this centre of Empire
看到这宏伟的工程 会对这个帝国的中心城市
from this massive engineering project.
留下怎样的印象
It was advertising Rome's power.
这向世界宣告了罗马帝国的实力
So everyone knows who built this wondrous monument,
为了让后世知道这鸿图华构为谁所建
The emperor names it after himself:
罗马皇帝决定以自己的名字为之命名作:
Aqua Claudia, the waters of Claudius.
水绿色的克劳迪娅 意为克劳狄乌斯之水
It takes 14 years to build,400,000 blocks of stone,
整个工程耗时十四年 由四十万块石砖
6 million cubic feet of concrete.
以及六百万立方英尺的混凝土筑成