美国2游客罗马斗兽场刻字被抓

Tourists are once again getting into trouble in Italy, with two American women caught carving their names into Rome's Colosseum.

游客们在意大利又惹事了。2名美国女性游客日前在意大利的罗马斗兽场上刻字，被抓现行。

The Californians, aged 21 and 25, snuck away from their tour group on Saturday and began scratching their initials into the amphitheatre with a coin. They managed a “J” and an “N” around 8cm high, before taking a selfie with their handiwork.

这两人来自加州，分别为21岁和25岁。3月7日随团参观斗兽场的时候，她们脱离团队，用硬币在斗兽场的墙体上刻下各自名字的首位字母，高约8厘米，分别是“J”和“N”。接着，两人饶有兴致地玩起了自拍，还不忘把自己的“作品”照进去。

Police were quick to catch the two Americans and report them for damaging the ancient site. The women may now go in front of a judge and face a penalty.

这两名美国人在意大利破坏古代遗迹，很快就被当地警方抓了现行，即将受到法官的审判和相应的惩罚。

Defacing the walls is strictly forbidden, as pointed out on signs in both English and Italian. But some visitors think little of breaking the rules as they view the crumbling monument differently from other top sites such as the Vatican, said a spokesman for the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome.

景点所在地用英语和意大利语明确警示，严厉禁止污损墙体。但是一些游客对此并不在意，罗马考古遗产特别监管局发言人表示，游客对待这些破败墙体的态度与对待其他梵蒂冈等知名景点的态度截然不同。

“There's a difference in perception. Museums are treated like churches, sacred places where there are things of great value. Whereas the Colosseum is an incomplete building which has already been robbed,” the spokesman said.

发言人说：“大家的态度不一样，觉得博物馆就像教堂，里面的东西很值钱；不过斗兽场好像是个破损的建筑，被人洗劫过一样。”

The Colosseum fell into disrepair after its heyday of hosting 73,000 spectators, watching gladiator fights to the death, and was at one point quarried for its stone. While the amphitheatre was completed in AD80, the section defaced on Saturday dates to the 1800s when the pope initiated restoration work.

斗兽场于公元80年完工，全盛时期能容纳7.3万名观众。角斗士在场内厮杀，供人取乐。斗兽场破败之后，有关方面曾进行修复。这次两位美国游客刻字的墙体就是19世纪修补上去的。

“It’s not an original wall but it’s nevertheless antique,” the spokesman said.

发言人说：“它不是最原始的那堵墙，但它还是文物啊。”

But the two unruly tourists are an incredibly small minority of around six million people who visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum each year. The sheer number of visitors to the Colosseum, coupled with staffing cuts, makes it increasingly challenging to catch tourists behaving badly. Security was upped at the Colosseum and other sites last month, following threats against Rome by Islamic State, but the focus is on stopping terrorists not rule-breaking tourists.

斗兽场每年接待600万名游客，这两位美国女士可谓沧海一粟。庞大的游客人数，再加上管理部门裁员，保护工作难度很大，游客不文明行为防不胜防。恐怖集团伊斯兰国（IS）2月还扬言要袭击罗马，当局因此加强人力进行保护。当然，防范对象不是游客，而是恐怖分子。

“The security is not inadequate from the point of view of terrorism, but the shortage of personnel and the great mass of tourists is a problem, also for other sites,” the Superintendency said.

发言人说：“从反恐角度来看，这些安保措施并不过分，但和其他地方一样，人手短缺和游客过量倒是个问题。”

The Californians’ lawbreaking comes little over three months after a Russian tourist was caught carving a 25cm letter into the Colosseum. The 42-year-old was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 fine, although owing to a lack of funds he has not paid the penalty.

约3个月前，一名42岁的俄罗斯游客曾在斗兽场的墙上刻字，长达25厘米，被罚2万欧元，并处4个月的有期徒刑，缓期执行，同时因为他没钱，也未曾上缴罚金。

The Russian was the fifth person to be stopped for defacing the ancient monument last year, with others hailing from Australia, Brazil and Canada.

另外，斗兽场管理人员2017年还发现另外4名游客损毁墙体，他们分别来自澳大利亚、巴西和加拿大。

Vocabulary:

initial:首字母

deface:污损

crumbling:破败的

heyday:全盛时期

antique:古董