Будьте котиками, переведите) egypt's ancient civilization has continued to interest and fascinate. geographically isolated by deserts and sea, it devel- oped a unique and self-contained culture that lasted three thousand years. because of the country's dry climate a lot of its ancient monuments have been preserved: ancient cities pyramids, temples and various artefacts that are a source of wonder today as they were in antiquity ancient egypt consisted of the nile valley a long and narrow stripe of land the nile united the country and was its main source of life. in egypt rainfall is very small but every year between july and october the nile's water covered most of the land in the valley and in the delta making the soil very rich with silt. the egyptians made a compli- cated system of basins and channels. the main crops were cereals, vegetables and fruit. they used the cotton plant to make clothing, sails and ropes and the papyrus plant to pro duce a type of paper. the egyptians also kept cows, pigs, goats and sheep. hunting and fishing allowed them to make their diet more varied in ancient greece the typical unit of political and social organization was the "polis" or independent city-state. city states appeared in many parts of the greek-speaking world during the 8th century bc at the beginning of the so-called archaic period (c. 800-500 bc). the archaic period was fol lowed by the classical period, during which the greeks made radical experiments with political, artistic and philosophical ideas, all of which have had a lasting influence on western civilization. one of the most fascinating things that the greeks have left us is their legends. we remember them as they have become part of our culture too. for example, if a person has some way in which he can be hurt, he is said to have an achilles heel. this expression goes back to the story of achilles, one of the greatest heroes of greek legends. the legend says that when he was born, the fates, the goddesses that controlled man's life and future, told hi mother that he would die young. so achilles' mother, thetis wanted to protect her baby and dipped him in the water of the river styx. this was supposed to protect him from deadly wounds. every part of achilles' body was thus made safe against injury, except one part the heel by which his mother held him. later, during the trojan war achilles, a handsome young man, became famous as the greatest of the greek warriors but was killed by a poisonous arrow that entered his heel, the one part of his body that had not been dipped in the styx. ancient romans were great lawmakers and keen politi- cians. initially the power was in the hands of two annually elected "consuls", who ruled the city and commanded the army. they were advised by a council of elders (the senate) only when there was a danger threatening, ngle "dictator" was appointed, for a maximum of six months. gradually romans expanded their power and conquered a number of neighbouring peoples and took part in overseas wars. the wars were successful and increased the power and wealth of the upper classes. the gulf between the rich and the poor gave rise to social conflicts and political crisis. the roman empire shaken by civil wars got into the hands of julius caesar. he took the title of "dictator for life and allowed himself to behave like a monarch or a kind of god. that went against the political tradition and led to his murder by a group of senators. the empire was divided between antony, one of the senators, and octavian, the future augustus. augustus became a powerful ruler, he made the senate an effective branch of administration and took the army out of politics. victories abroad and peace at home character- ized augustus' long reign which is often called rome's "golden age"

gora1511v    2   02.07.2019 07:00    1