These 1)skyscrapers are built of mud there in the Yemen. They're over 400 years old. The reason they're so tightly packed together is not because of the cost of 2)real estate, it's a protection against the fierce heat. The 3)Yemeni have been building high rises like this for over a thousand years.

   But the Romans got there first.  Nobody can be quite sure how high the department lots went up; but a letter found in one ancient Roman city gives directions to an apartment on the 8th floor. The Roman architect, Vetruvious wrote “in view of Rome's unlimited number of citizens, necessity has driven us to build high. By the use of stone, brick andconcrete, buildings are raised with several stories; producing very convenient apartments.”

   Well there it was. As soon as you start building high, the city becomes a more dangerous place to live in. As the great Roman historian, Livy, recorded, “I sincerely regret that I have to report that an ox fell from the 4th story of an apartment block on the forum floorarium.” Look out below!

    Who invented cooking? Well we don't know, but God bless him anyway. Although another thing that makes city life more 4)convivial is being able to eat good food without necessarily havingto cook it yourself. And in ancient times this was often vital for city 5)dwellers. In Rome, for example, none of those people 6)crammed together in high-rise apartment lots had chimneys and very few had pot fires to cook on. So they relied on being able to eat out or else another great invention of ancient times -- take away. 

   There were dozens of 7)snack bars like this in Roman cities serving anything from cheesecake and 8)custard to 9)sterile 10)sow's 11)wombs and stuffed door mice.

   The Roman writer, Armeanus Masolines, has left us with a description of what these Roman snack bars were actually like. “Even concoction,” he tells us, “People led by the odor of cooking but want to stand on 12)tiptoe beside the pots 13)gnawing the ends of their fingers as they wait for the dishes to cool. Others hang over the 14)nauseous mass of half raw meat while it is cooking watching intently.”

Here's an ancient Roman recipe from the first century A.D. It's from a very early cook book by a 15)chap named Pigleus. The dish is called Pesicia Arman Tarta. You take some ground beef and a little salt and some pine 16)kernels and a little croak -- I don'tknow how you pronounce it -- it's a sort of sticky white wine, and you mix it all together. It's even better if you're doing this in a bowl. Then you put it all together and make it into a sort of pate. I know it's a bit crude using your hands but it's actually the best way of doing it. You make it into a little pate like that and then put it in the pan. Here's one I cooked up earlier, 2000 years earlier. To serve it you put it in between two pieces of bread. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the ancient Romans apparently invented the hamburger.

古罗马的故事

在也门，用泥建起的高楼至今已有400多年的历史。高楼建筑密集的原因不是因为地价昂贵，而是为了抵御酷热。早在一千多年以前，也门人就懂得建高楼了。

不过罗马人比他们还要早。没人能够确切地知道罗马人能把楼房起得多高；可从罗马古城里发现的一封信上描述了一座八楼的公寓。罗马建筑师维特鲁威西斯曾经写过：”因为罗马居民众多，我们有必要建立高楼。用石头、砖和混凝土可以建立起几层高的建筑物；建成方便大众的住宅。”

楼是建起来了。当高楼落成，城市也变成了一个危险的居住地。据伟大的罗马历史学家李伟记载：”我万分遗憾地告知大家，有一头牛从四楼坠落在集会广场上。”底下的人要小心啊！

是谁发明了烹调？虽然我们不得而知，但愿上帝保佑他。不过，能令城市生活变得更多姿多彩的另一件事就是不必自己动手也能吃到美食。这对于古代的城市居民尤其重要。譬如在罗马，高楼的住户鲜有烟囱，很少人有炉火来煮食。所以他们要外出进餐，或者依靠于另一个伟大的古代发明--外卖。

 罗马的城市里有许多小吃店，供应的食物从芝士蛋糕、乳蛋糕、不育的母猪子宫、到填棒睡鼠都有。

罗马作家亚米纳斯·马索来斯曾经向我们这样描述过罗马的小吃店。”东西混合在一起煮，”他说，”人们被香味吸引而来，在锅旁踮起脚站着，一边咬着手指，一边等着他们的饭菜凉下来。其他人则伸头专心地看着那堆难看的煮得半熟的肉。”

这儿有一份公元一世纪的古罗马食谱。摘自早年一个叫皮格柳斯的家伙所写的一本烹调书。菜名叫”帕斯西亚阿曼塔塔”。取来一些牛肉末，一点盐，一些松仁，还有一点可罗克--我不知道怎么念--它是一种稠的白酒，把这些东西混合在一起。如果用碗来混合会更好些。然后把它们一道压成肉饼。我知道用手来压有些粗鲁，不过其实这是最好的压肉饼方法。你做好了一张小饼之后把它放到平底锅里。我事先做好了一张，早在两千年以前。吃的时候要把它放在两片面包中间。啊，我还忘了说，汉堡包也是古罗马人发明出来的。

1) skyscraper  n. 摩天大楼   

2) real estate 房地产，不动产    

3) Yemeni  n. 也门人

4) convivial  a. 欢乐的

5) dweller  n. 居民      

6) cram  v. 填塞，勉强            7) snack bar 小吃店

8) custard n. 乳蛋糕   

9) sterile  a. 不育的，贫瘠的    

10) sow n. 母猪

11) womb n. 子宫        

12)tiptoe n. 脚 尖             13) gnaw v. 咬，啃

14) nauseous  a. 令人厌恶的        15) chap  n. 家伙       

16) kernel  n. 仁，核