11　印歐人

印歐波斯人征服了閃族和埃及世界

埃及、巴比倫、亞述和腓尼基的世界存在了近3000年。富饒谷地的這些高貴民族在逐漸衰老。當一個更加朝氣蓬勃的新民族誕生時，這些古老民族的厄運就開始了。我們管這個新民族叫印歐民族，因為他們不僅征服了歐洲，也讓自己成為英屬印度地區的統治階級。

這些印歐人像閃族人一樣，也是白種人，但他們說的是另一種不同的語言。除了匈牙利語、芬蘭語和西班牙北部的巴斯克方言之外，這種語言被認為是歐洲所有其他語種的共同祖先。

當我們剛聽說印歐人時，他們就已在里海岸邊生活了幾百年。后來，他們收起帳篷，去尋找新的家園。他們中的一些人來到中亞山區，在伊朗高原周圍的山峰上一住就是幾百年。我們稱他們雅利安人。還有一些人追逐著落日，占據了歐洲平原。后面講希臘和羅馬故事的時候，我再介紹他們。

在這里，我們先跟隨雅利安人前進。在他們偉大導師查拉圖斯特拉（或瑣羅亞

follow the swiftly flowing Indus river on its way to the sea.

Others had preferred to stay among the hills of western Asia and there they had founded the half-independent communities of the Medes and the Persians, two peoples whose names we have copied from the old Greek history-books. In the seventh century before the birth of Christ, the Medes had established a kingdom of their own called Media, but this perished when Cyrus, the chief of a clan known as the Anshan, made himself king of all the Persian tribes and started upon a career of conquest which soon made him and his children the undisputed masters of the whole of western Asia and of Egypt.

Indeed, with such energy did these Indo-European Persians push their triumphant campaigns in the west that they soon found themselves in serious difficulties with certain other Indo-European tribes which centuries before had moved into Europe and had taken possession of the Greek peninsula and the islands of the ?gean Sea.

These difficulties led to the three famous wars between Greece and Persia during which King Darius and King Xerxes of Persia invaded the northern part of the peninsula. They ravaged the lands of the Greeks and tried very hard to get a foothold upon the European continent.

But in this they did not succeed. The navy of Athens proved unconquerable. By cutting off the lines of supplies of the Persian armies, the Greek sailors invariably forced the Asiatic rulers to return to their base.

It was the first encounter between Asia, the ancient teacher, and Europe, the young and eager pupil. A great many of the other chapters of this book will tell you how the struggle between east and west has continued until this very day.

斯德）的領導下，他們中大多數人離開了山區的家，沿著奔流入海的印度河前進。

另一些人則寧愿守在西亞山區，他們建立了半獨立的米底人社會和波斯人社會。對于這兩個民族的名字，我們沿用了古希臘史書中的記載。公元前7世紀，米底人建立了自己的米底王國。但由于居魯士的出現，它滅亡了。居魯士是安善地區的首領，統治了所有的波斯部落，并不斷開疆拓土，很快他和子孫就成為整個西亞和埃及理所當然的主人。

憑著旺盛的精力，這些印歐波斯人繼續乘勝西征，不久與另一支印歐部落發生了激烈沖突。另一支印歐部落是在幾百年前移居到歐洲的，他們占領了希臘半島和愛琴海諸島。

這些沖突引發了希臘和波斯之間的三次著名戰役。當時，波斯國王大流士和薛西斯入侵希臘半島北部。他們洗劫了希臘，費盡心力要在歐洲大陸得到立足之地。

但是他們都失敗了。雅典海軍所向無敵。希臘水手多次切斷波斯軍隊的供給線，每次都把那位亞洲統帥趕回老巢。

亞洲被尊為古代的老師，歐洲則是年輕奮發的學生。這是它們的第一次相遇。本書的后面章節會告訴你們，東西方之間的戰爭是怎樣持續至今的。