TPO 19-1 The Roman Army’s Impact on Britain（社会科学--历史）

字数：730

建议做题时间20分钟

In the wake of the Roman Empire's conquest of Britain in the first century A.D., a large number of troops stayed in the new province, and these troops had a considerable impact on Britain with their camps, fortifications, and participation in the local economy. Assessing the impact of the army on the civilian population starts from the realization that the soldiers were always unevenly distributed across the country. Areas rapidly incorporated into the empire were not long affected by the military. Where the army remained stationed, its presence was much more influential. The imposition of a military base involved the requisition of native lands for both the fort and the territory needed to feed and exercise the soldiers' animals. The imposition of military rule also robbed local leaders of opportunities to participate in local government, so social development was stunted and the seeds of disaffection sown. This then meant that the military had to remain to suppress rebellion and organize government.

Economic exchange was clearly very important as the Roman army brought with it very substantial spending power. Locally  a fort had two kinds of impact. Its large population needed food and other supplies. Some of these were certainly brought from long distances, but demands were inevitably placed on the local area. Although goods could be requisitioned, they were usually paid for, and this probably stimulated changes in the local economy. When not campaigning, soldiers needed to be occupied; otherwise they represented a potentially dangerous source of friction and disloyalty. Hence a writing tablet dated 25 April tells of 343 men at one fort engaged on tasks like shoemaking, building a bathhouse, operating kilns, digging clay, and working lead. Such activities had a major effect on the local area, in particular with the construction of infrastructure such as roads, which improved access to remote areas.

Each soldier received his pay, but in regions without a developed economy there was initially little on which it could be spent. The pool of excess cash rapidly stimulated a thriving economy outside fort gates. Some of the demand for the services and goods was no doubt fulfilled by people drawn from far afield, but some local people certainly became entwined in this new economy. There was informal marriage with soldiers, who until AD 197 were not legally entitled to wed, and whole new communities grew up near the forts. These settlements acted like small towns, becoming centers for the artisan and trading populations.

The army also provided a mean of personal advancement for auxiliary soldiers recruited from the native peoples, as a man obtained hereditary Roman citizenship on retirement after service in an auxiliary regiment. Such units recruited on an ad hoc (as needed) basis from the area in which they were stationed, and there was evidently large-scale recruitment within Britain. The total numbers were at least 12,500 men up to the reign of the emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), with a peak around A.D. 80. Although a small proportion of the total population, this perhaps had a massive local impact when a large proportion of the young men were removed from an area. Newly raised regiments were normally transferred to another province from whence it was unlikely that individual recruits would ever return. Most units raised in Britain went elsewhere on the European continent, although one is recorded in Morocco. The reverse process brought young men to Britain, where many continued to live after their 20 to 25 years of service, and this added to the cosmopolitan Roman character of the frontier population. By the later Roman period,   frontier garrisons (groups of soldiers) were only rarely transferred, service in units became effectively hereditary, and forts were no longer populated or maintained at full strength.

This process of settling in as a community over several generations, combined with local recruitment, presumably accounts for the apparent stability of the British northern frontier in the later Roman period. It also explains why some of the forts continued in occupation long after Rome ceased to have any formal authority in Britain, at the beginning of the fifth century A.D. The circumstances that had allowed natives to become Romanized also led the self-sustaining military community of the frontier area to become effectively British.

题目

雷哥托福在线测试☞☞☞

答案解析

1. 句子简化题

解析：原句结构为大量军队呆在新省，他们对英国有很大影响。A对。B将枝干部分awake当成主干，C将枝干fortification当成主干，D中economic strength原文没说。

2. 事实信息题

解析：根据most influence, areas定位到第4句(Where the army...)，说军队仍然驻扎的地方受到更多影响，选C

3. 事实信息题

解析：根据local population (对应local leaders)定位到倒数第2句，说军事规定的无理要求剥夺了当地领导人员参与政府的机会，阻碍了发展，种下不满。最后一句说这使得军队继续镇压反叛、组织政府，选B。AC没说，D相反。

4. 词汇题（动宾搭配）

解析：suppress镇压，选D

5. 词汇题（并列）

解析：friction摩擦、冲突，选B。

6. 修辞目的题

解析：原句是一个具体的例子。前面说没有作战时，士兵需要有事做，否则他们会很危险。高亮句就说他们在不打仗时在做些什么，选B

7. 词汇题（上下文）

解析：entitle to 有权...，选A。原句说与军人的婚姻是不正式的，这些军人直到AD197才能entitled to结婚，猜测有允许的意思，A最接近。

8. 事实信息题

解析：根据goods, services定位到第3句，说战场外来的人满足了士兵对服务和商品的需求，选D。

9. 事实信息题

解析：根据Britain’s auxiliary regiments定位到倒数第2句，说很多年轻人到英国，很多人服役20-25年后继续留在这里，选C。A中Hadrian没说，B中most与原文相反，D中neighboring province没说。

10. 事实信息否定题

解析：A根据from father to son定位到最后一句（与hereditary对应），对。B根据fort定位到最后一句，对。C根据transfer to different location定位到最后一句，对。D没说，选D。

11. 修辞目的题

解析：高亮部分是一个具体的事例，前句说这个经过几代人而作为一个社区定居解释了英国北部边境的稳定，选D。ABC没说

12. 词汇题

解析：circumstances环境，选C

13. 句子插入题

解析：插入句提到one solution，说明前面出现了一个问题。D前正好说没有作战时，士兵会是潜在危险的这个问题，插入句提到解决方式是让他们忙起来，选D

14. 段落小结题

解析：A对应第2段最后一句，正确
B中unemployed men没说，不选
C中drive up price没说，不选
D对应第2段，正确
E没说，不选
F对应第5段第1句，正确

出国深造本是好事，切不可本末倒置，忘记了留学的真正价值。

雷哥托福：www.toeflonline.cn；雷哥托福试听课程详情请咨询：400-6021-727

你不知道的，小托君都知道，更多备考秘籍 ，尽！情！找！他！要！