Today's class 6/3/11

Today in western civ we reviwed the answers to the latest test so we can use it to study for exams, which are coming up next week. Then we watched a video about Asian Carps and how they jump. They can literally jump 10 ft in the air! It's crazy!

today's class 6/2/11

Today in western civ we took our test today. then for the rest of class we just talked about random ideas and watched monty python, which was really weird. I didn't reallly understand it that much. Im starting to question sanity.....haha.

Today's class 6/1/11

Today is the first day of June! yay!! anyway today in western civ we reviewed for our test tomorrow on Ancient Rome's demise. I'm pretty sure i will do well on it. And we also discussed some about our finals and reviewed the workesheet we were assigned over the weekend.

today's class 5/27/11

Today in western civ we reviewed the last part of the packet we recieved the other day. Mr. Schick also gave us a worksheet to work on over the weekend.

Today's class 5/26/11

Today in western civ class Mr. Schick decided to  take us outside! It was really fun, although it go really hot. W reviewed our packet on Rome and discussed some of the questions. And of cource, the occasional bee and ant problem.....But over all it was a good class

Today's class and homework 5/25/11

Define: Inflation - an increase in the supply of currency or credit relative to the availability of goods and services, resulting in higher prices and lowering of the amount any money is worth

Identify....
Diocletian - was a Roman emperor, who tried to rebuild the once succesfull empire but failed
Constantine - a yound Roman commander who inspired christianity to become a religion in Rome
eastern empire - what Diocletian named the Latin-speaking part of Rome, wealthier than the western empire
Western empire - what Diocletian named the Greek - peaking portion of Rome, was also far less weathly than the eastern empire
Edict of Milan - a speech given by Constantine in Milan, " both to the Christians and to all men freedom to follow the religion that they choose."
Constantinople - the capitol of the western Roman empire, during Constantine's rule
Huns - and extremly aggressive group of bararians, feared by even the Germanic people
Attila - the cheif of the Huns. He was violent and feared by many, and he sacked 70 cities in the east. A bishop names Leo I was the only person to have ever stopped him
Leo I - a Christian bishop who stopped Attila the Hun from destroying Rome completely

Questions and Answers:

1. Trade was disrupted by barbarian raid and by bands of pirates. Cold and silver was drained away to buy luxuries from different countries. Their expenses were rapidly getting higher, and Rome started producing coins that contains almost no silver anymore. their prices reached and iunflation, growing of prices. Harvests also grew to be less and less.
2. Tribes of barbarians called Goths repeatedly overran the legions in Rome. The Persians at one point even defeated Rome in 260 A.D. Roime now fought for money rather than patriotism. Also to keep prices down, they hired barbarian, who worked for far less. Their trust, however, could hardly be trusted.
3. Constantine accpeted the Christian religion and encouraged others in Rome to do the same. A key fact is that he ordered artisans to paint Christian symbols on soldier's shields. He became the emperor of the western half of the empire. He attributed his victory against his long time rival to the power of the Christian God. Constantine also moved the capitol from to Byzantium in Turkey. The shift in the capitol was a great advantage to the empire. Thus it shifted from west to east. The city's name was changed to Constantinople, and now both empires were Christian.
4. When Rome was still strong, the Germanic people respected their boundaries. The Germanic people feared the Huns greatly, so when they started to move west, the Germanic people destroyed the western half of the Roman empire. The western empire was so disorganized now, that it could not even muster up a medium sized army to defend themselves.
5. Three reason why Diocletian was a good emperor:
1. To beat inflation, he used a price and wage system
2. To secure boundaires, he enlarged the armies
3. To improve administration, he divided Rome into the eastern Greek-speaking half and the Latin-speaking western half.
6. Three reasons why Diocletian was a failure:
1. Wages for the new troops added to the already high taxes on people.
2. Price controls failed.
3. A civil war brok out after he retired.

Today's class 5/23/11

Today in western civ we continued work on our papers. We did peer editing today. Brad's paper was so long!! It was crazy! But other than that it was nicely written. I can't wait till all the papers are done. I'm excited to see all the well written papers!

Today's class 5/19/11

today in western civ we took a test on the Roman empire. it was pretty easy, and i'm pretty sure i did good on it. Mr. Schick gave us an assignment to do over the next few day, due Monday. We are to write a 500 word paper, on The Roman Empire versus the Roman Republic. It seems pretty easy.

Today's class 5/18/11

Today in western civ we reviewed a great deal for our test tomorrow. We recieved a powerpoint on most of the information we will need to study. For half the class period Mr. Schick let us break into groups and study. I think I'll get an A on this test. It seems easy.

Today's class 5/13/11 and notes about Caligula

Caligula

• the third emperor of Rome
• His real name was Gaius
• Caligula's father, Germanicus, was the nephew and adopted son of Tiberus
• After his father died, his brothers were sentenced to death, one was starved to death and the other committed suicide and was then dragged through the streets. His body parts were so scattered that is was impossible to find them all
• The first two years of his reign, he was a moderate and noble ruler
• Later he became an "insane tyrant" according to sources
• During his reign, he tried to strengthen the authority of the emperor
• He created notoriously luxorius buildings for himself
• In his reign, he annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania and made it into a province
• In early 41, Caligula was assasinated by a conspiracy of the Praetorian Gaurd

today in class we finished the movie and got into group to compare notes and write about the three emperors of Rome.

today's class 5/11/11

Today in western civ class we got back into Rome, studying the Roman empire. We are watching a video about it, and taking notes. I'm guessing tomorrow we will be watching more of it. It seems pretty interesting to me. If only there wasn't so much information!

today's class 5/9/11

Today in western civ class we reviewed the greece and rome tests that we took a few weeks back. Igot an A on greece and a 100 on rome. they were so easy. Exams are coming up so Mr Schick let us keep the test paper and write the answers in to study from.

Today in west civ we took a test, it was really easy, pretty sure i got a hundred. If not then deffinietly and A. :)

Today's class 5/5/11

Today in western civ class we presented our projects on the Ancient Rome rap. (and I capitalized Rome this time!) here are my notes on all the presentations:

Para. 1

The Etruscans had a written language, which the Romans later used in their technique form

Greek gods and goddesses

Latin's were the first to live in the area

Tiber river located on the shore of the Tiber rive, middle of the peninsula

Tarquin the Proud - he was a control freak and people got angry and overthrew him, last king they ever had

Republic government was formed

Draining the swamp, created Rome

Para. 3

Latifunda is a huge estate or villa, farmers could not work their land so it was sold to the wealthy

Farmers then produced wine and oil for exportation

The rich then used slaves to tend to the land, they were much cheaper

Gracchus Brothers: Tiberius and Gaius

Plebian nobles, served as tribunes elected officials

Attempted to pass a land reform that would redistribute huge pieces of patrician land among the plebeians

Considered founding fathers of socialism and populism

Both were assassinated for their attempts

Para. 4

Julius Caesar was bon on July 12 100 BC

Played a critical role in the change of Rome from a republic to an empire

Led roman victory against Gaul

Became a dictator for ten years

Sulla tried to kill Caesar, and Caesar bribed him to spare his life

First Triumvirate

Crassus and Pompey led a political alliance with Caesar, and they dominated Roman politics for several years

They had no official status

Rubicon

Shallow river in northeastern Italy

When Caesar crossed the river, it was considered war

Gallic Wars

Series of military campaigns lead by Julius Caesar

Fought against Gaul and won

"Dictator in perpetuity" - dictator for life

Marcus Junius Brutus assassinated Caesar

Para. 5

Murder of Julius Caesar

He was dictator of Rome

Killed by a group of senators, including Marcus Brutus

Killed on the Ides of March, in the theater of Pompey

The Senate was afraid he was getting too powerful

Para. 6

Second Triumvirate

Octavius was born into and equestrian family

Father was first one to become a Senator in the family, but died when Octavius was 4

He died at Nola right before his 76th birthday

Lepidus

Roman patrician who became a member of the Second Triumvirate

Cleopatra

Last pharaoh of Egypt

Represented herself as an ancient goddesses

Committed suicide

Mark Antony and her got together

Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus formed a three man government, called the Second Triumvirate

Cleopatra tried to take over Octavius's power, but he remained in power and changed his name to Augustus and lived on

Para. 7

Pax Romana

Latin for roman peace, period of peace and small expansion

Roman roads

Allowed romans to move armies and goods, and to communicate

The Roman road system was more than 400,000 km or roads

Roman Gladiators

Ancient people thought they were sacrificial games while they're actually a fight ot the death

Circus Maximus

Largest roam gladiator coliseum in Rome

Today's class 5/4/11

Today in west civ Mr Schick was not there so we got the whole class period to work on our Powerpoint Projects. Olivia and I had finished ours already so we basicaly got a free, although I still did some homework. I wonder why he was not here.

Today's class 5/2/11

Today in western civ class we recieved a new project. We were assigned a paragraph of Chi Cago's rap and were told to write about it in a powerpoint. It is due wednesday and we could be in pairs. My group has paragraph 2. I think it is a fairly easy project. We also talked about the death of Osama Bin Ladden and somehow the movie Princess Bride. I have to see that movie!!!

today's class 4/29/11

Today in western civ class we took a retake on the second pop quiz we took yesterday. Thank you again Mr. Schick! and we also heard a rap made by Mr Schick. it was really cool, and for homework we have to find 10 pics relating to the song, Here they are:

Agustus

Circus Maximus

Crassus

Gladiators

Julius Caeser's death

Julius Caeaser

Pompey

Roman legion

Tiber rive wall depiction

Toga

Today's werid class 4/28/11

Today in western civ we took another pop quiz on the second set of readings we got. I think i failed. I mean it hard to retain alot of info like that especially since its a lot of paragraphs and pages. Hopefully if we have anymore pop quizzes I will do better on them. We also had a couple tornado warnings today and had to sit out in the hallways for a while. It was kinda weird.

Today's class 4/27/11

Define

A.    Consul: A consul is like a king in that he commanded armies and directed the government.  Rome had two and they could only rule for one year and not be elected again for ten years.

B.     Veto: Means “I forbid” and is a way to overrule another consuls decisions.

C.     Senate: Was the aristocratic branch of Rome’s government.

D.    Assembly: Was the democratic side of Rome’s government.  It consisted of all the citizen-soldiers of Rome.

E.     Dictator: Only used in times of crisis, a dictator had absolute power to make laws and command the army.  Their power only lasted six months.  They were chosen by the consuls and elected by the senate.

F.      Mercenary: Soldiers who fight for a country for pay.

Answer

1.      (a)Why were many plebeians dissatisfied with Rome’s government in the early years of the republic?

They were dissatisfied because they were barred from holding most important positions in government, like; commanding armies, high priests, and high offices.

(b)How did they win reforms?

They won reforms by refusing to fight in the Roman army unless there were reforms.

(c)What changes did they bring about in Roman government?

They gained access to government positions, more favorable laws, enslavement for debt was ended, marriage between plebeians and patricians was allowed, and the creation of a written law, called the twelve tablets, was established.

           

2.      Why did Romans consider that they had a balanced government?

They thought they had a balanced government because it was a part monarchy, part aristocracy, and part democracy, which they thought gave them the best mixture of governments.

3.      Once Rome had conquered most of Italy, how did the roman government win the support of the conquered people?

They won support because they willing to extend citizenship to those outside of Rome.  The new citizens became partners in the growth of Rome.

4.      (a)At the start of the Punic Wars, why might Carthage have appeared the stronger power?

Carthage was three time the size of Rome, they had a large navy of 500 ships, they were very wealthy, and were able to hire mercenaries.

(b)Why was Rome, in fact, the victor?

Rome had the advantage of drawing on a 500,000 soldier reserve, their citizens were more loyal, and war was Rome’s specialty, since they spent so many years pursuing it.

           

5.      Why was the battle of Zama a major turning point in history?

Because Rome was victorious.  If Carthage had won the war then they would have become the greatest empire in history and Rome would not have passed down its laws, government, and culture to western civilization.

6.      (a)Why did the Greeks at first welcome Roman Armies?

They first welcomed them because they thought the Roman’s were protectors.  The Roman’s had freed the Greeks from Philip V of Macedon.

(b)Why did the Greek attitude change?

Their attitude changed because the Roman’s interfered in Greek politics and they became increasingly ruthless.

Today in western civ we took a pop quiz and then reviewed the answers and the readings from last night. Tonight we got more readings to do.

Today's class and homework 4/26/11

Words and their Definitions :)

• Patrician - specially privaleged families; they dominated Roman cities
• Plebian - free citizans with a number of rights, including voting
• Legion - a massive miliatry unit of 4,000-6,000 foot soldiers
• Century - 100 years
• Republic - political unit, not ruled by a monarchy, where citizans have the right to vote
• Gravitas - weightiness or seriousness
• Pater Familias - father of the family
• Toga - an uncomfortable garment of clothing. Usually a large wool blanket, women wore more dressy garments called stolas.

Questions and their Answers :)

1. How did georgraphy help Rome?
1. Rome is located midway between the Alps and Italy's southern tip. Thus the city is a central point within a central penninsula. Occupies an ideal position to send out armies and ships in all directions. Has many key trade routes
2. Why was each of the following groups important to Romes development (A) Latins, (B) Greeks, (C) Etruscans?
1. Latins: Rome began as a settlement of Latin shepards. Romulus built his wall around this hill of shepards.
2. Greeks: established about 50 colonies on the coast of southern Italy and Sicily. The numerous reeks were called the Greater Greeks (Magnus Graecia)
3. Etruscans: May have come from Asia Minor, and were more civilized than the Latin's. Had a writing system. Roamn buildings show influence of Etruscan architecture. Also helped develop Roman trade.
3. What were the values of early Roman society?
1. Romans valued family ties. The heart of Roman society was family. The household belonged exclusively to one person - the eldest man or father of the house. (pater familias). Women ran the household, father acted as the chief priest.
4. (A) How was the Roman household organized? (B)What freedoms did women have in family and in society?
1. The father acted as the protector and priest of the house. Women ran the household.
2. Women ate with their husbands, and she often advised him on buisness and politics. Oficcially the Roman woman was expected to remain in the background and they could not vote.
5. How was the army linked to the Roman society?
1. All men were required to serve in the army. You had to join the army before you could do anything else in society. Rifhting Roman-style meant being a part of the legion.

Today in class Mr. Schick came back from being sick. He didn't seem like himself today though. Very out of it, and....crazy if you will. Very entertaining though. After today's class....I think we all need help.