He wants to be King! EW!

Today we continued to watch the videos on youtube. It's British television. I really like this show thing and its acting is really well done. It's not disgustingly educational, but it is educational! So I'm glad that I am learning but also not being bored to death. The Senate kind of disgusts me. They were creating rumors and making up lies to get their way. I think Tiberius had good intentions. Maybe he did have a bit of the power get to his head, but he was never an air head. I think we all can appreciate some power and some respect from the people, but it shouldn't dominate our intentions. I think Tiberius maybe had had a little confidence and ego in him, but not in a way that he wanted absolute power and he would have ended up marring the government of Rome. Rome's government pretty much con-caved and tried to fight something that had to eventually come.

Forgettful

So basically I missed the whole Western Civ class yesterday (this blog is late) all apologies! I had the best intentions on getting this done and everything but that obviously didn't seem to happen. In the beginning of western civ we watched part of ben hur. there was this camera man in this one part but we think it was an editing prank. So basically i left for an appointment with the doctor! But i hear we are having a quix today! Boo

Review of Rome (Punic Wars)

Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome. Carthage wanted control of the island of Cicily because it would be a good port and such. They thought they could take them! But unfortunately....Carthage lost the first Punic War to Rome.

Hannibal Barca is 28 years old general from Carthage. He comes up with a really brilliant idea to win the war, but it didn't quite win. They needed to launch a full assault on Rome and defeat them! Owning control of multiple islands, there was an expected route Rome thought they would take. He attacks Rome but not in the way they thought they would.

He assembled troops and marches them through the Pyrenees and the Alps. They came in the through the back door, coming from behind them! They didn't see it coming and they didn't have a defense ready. They also used elephants to help them try and win. It would be super hard to defeat an armored soldier and an elephant against yourself, just being a regular man on foot. They marched on the peninsula and just attacked! But they had lost so many people going through the mountains that they were able to just show up like POW. So Carthage lost again because they didn't have enough men to get to Rome itself.

Before Carthage can regroup they just attack them! The Romans just swamped the city of Carthage and just BAM! Killed every adult man they could find, or sold them into slavery. They just dominated. "They sowed their land with salt" Not only did they burn their land and capture people, but they completely destroyed them and salted their farmland so they can never even grow crops again. This is a myth, but a popular saying. And now they had Carthage's land. The point of the saying is that Rome didn't just win, they CRUSHED them. This is Rome at their most powerful.

Now back to Rome inside of itself. The rich are getting richer, those who own land and such are just getting better and improving. Rich people tend to find a way to get better they have 1/3 of the government. The aristocracy can really protect itself and it's own interests. 1/3 of the population in Rome is slaves! This is a massive amount of slavery. It never even got that bad (slavery) in the U.S. when we had slaves. Lots of the plebeians didn't live a comfortable life. Lots of people went off to fight in the Punic wars. That was what you did, your duty. If your country needs you, it was normal to do it, and you just did it! While they were gone, the women are left to take care of everything.

What happened a lot of the time, the women weren't able to keep up with the family farm all by themselves. It was a lot of responsibility. It got tougher. So the women couldn't keep up with the bills and such. So then the rich would swoop in and be like wow you're in trouble ma'm. I will buy this from you and you can get a good price and you can get some money and we'll fix the land up for you. And the rich people ended up buying a lot of land and combining these little estates. This is a latifundia. (= a massive estate type of farm)

So then the rich would have acres upon acres of land! But when the rich people kept buying they had a ton of land and would hire people to take care of it. So basically they just keep getting money without having to do any work. So now when the people come home they just have options to work on other people's farms. And then a lot of people moved to Rome itself to try and find opportunities for jobs and such. A lot of people did this. So now there's a lot of people trying to get jobs and you're trying to get a job and a lot of slaves do that job already. Lots of desperate homeless people. Way too many people competing for the sparse amount of jobs.

The government looks at this situation and is like well they're getting really poor I don't want them to revolt. We need to throw them a bone so they can just stay content for a while. So they start something like well-fare  Giving people some bread and some food. They also entertained them with, gladiators, chariot racers, collesuem, circus maximus (big circle for entertainment, not real circus). The people would get free tickets and just go and be super entertained. People who had to fight, they were people like criminals, wild animals (angry), Christians were sometimes thrown in and people didn't like them and didn't have a lot of power or social position, and then if you were in the stand you just saw people murdering each other, or being murdered. YUCK!

Brothers Gracchus, were people who tried to reform the government. They came in and were like look things aren't going well, tons of people are desperate. We have an idea! Look, rich people and fortunate souls, you have more stuff than you need! Why don't you give some of it back to the lesser people, to the people who fought for us and made a huge sacrifice for us. Keep stuff for you, but give it back to the veterans  Basically the rich laughed in their faces and were like NO. Give my stuff away?! NO. Basically, they beat one of them to death and threw them in the Tiber river. So obviously, that went downhill quickly..

Started a civil war cause people were like they were trying to help us. Not cool. The last straw!!

Rome, Rome, Rome is now a No, No, No

So today in class our wicked awesome project was......CANCELLED! It was a lot of tedious work but it was a fun project and I'm sad to see it go! I really thought Tona, Ali and I's project would kick butt and be super awesome. I just don't think that I have time to do it just as an extra credit assignment so I guess this is goodbye. But I still will be learning the song, because its super helpful and super awesome - OF COURSE! What brilliance Mr. Schick has making up a catchy AND educational song. It's a WIN - WIN! Woo!

Rome Rap

Today in western civilization we worked on a new project. I am in a group with Ali and Tona. It's so fun so far and we've gotten a kick out of doing this project. The project is to make a video with pictures and the audio to Mr. Schick's song "Rome"! So this is going to be fun! We got this epic video editor as well. So the video will be top-notch quality. I wonder if we're showing the class our videos? Or if we just turn them in! Anyway, we didn't get that far into our project though. We didn't have internet for a good portion of class. So we just chatted until the internet got it's stuff together again. It was a good first mod for a Monday.

Fridayyy

So basically in class we worked on a pixton comic which was oodles of fun! It was so much fun creating it and Tona and I got tons of laughs out of it! It was hilarious! I hope our comic is a good depiction on what happened and how Rome was founded...here are our links. (Ps. this post is late because my internet was acting all out of wack)

1. http://Pixton.com/ic:myy0fw02
2. http://Pixton.com/ic:kgnhk1m5

M.Schick Lamar and Shickago!

Today Mr. Schick gave us the pleasure of performing his beautiful song to us. He had his daughter assist him in the choruses and such. It was absolutely mind blowing  Some people even got this recorded and i be they will post them places. It was so hilarious. I would never have the guts to do that. We're also getting another project. We're going to be using a website called www.pixton.com . Then we have LO - 2 to go over and to take notes on that. Hopefully Mr. Schick's clever song will help us with remembering the history of Rome. It was pretty cool of him to have made a song for it.

Now I will take notes

AFTER 509 BC

• You can be rich and not be a patrician
• If you're a plebeian you're sort of "out of the loop"
• Senate had 300 people in it
• Among the 300 there were 2 men called consuls
• They had more power than the rest
• They had the most power
• Why two consuls?
• So they could veto
• They could reach a consensus a lot faster than a Senate of 300 people
• Another good thing is that you can only be a consul for a year
• They also would sometimes name a man a dictator in crisis mode. They'd only have power for 6 months and if they needed to.
• Plebeians don't have enough power :(
• Patricians used to sort of push Plebeians around
• NOW
• The Twelve Tables = set of laws created for Rome
• This helped people
• Then people were like "hey we should have a voice in the government"
• So then they got a branch in the government so they could also contribute to the government
• One of the new bodies wont the right to elect consuls
• they had their own consuls now
• Farmers were now able to elect magistrates like a tribute
• they were now getting more involved with democracy
• 
  

Important Chapter Info - Lo-1

Today in Western Civilization we got our tests back! I got a whopping one-hundred! What an exciting thing to discover! We're also going over the important information from our new Roman chapter. :)

• Romans imitated Greek civilization
• Though they improved on it
• They loved the way the Greeks did things
• They had so many admirable things
• democracy
• Pericles
• wonderful war techniques
• They improved the Greeks government and warfare and added onto what the Greeks had

• Italy and it's people
• A Mediterranean land
• Has farming horses
• Much similarity to Greece
• Same line of latitude as Greece
• Same farming resources
• Were not as mountainous as Greece
• Were able to give more food to people and provide more food

• First people that settled on the peninsula
• The Latins
• Settled at the mouth of the Tiger river
• First learned their alphabet 
• Gained knowledge of the Greeks
• Etruscans
• They then settled on this land
• Greece also set up on Italy
• Rome
• Thought that their empire's placement of the earth was destined to be by the gods
• They were in the middle of Italy's peninsula
• Got their alphabet from the Greeks
• Had the same types of gods
• Roman government
• Patricians got their money, were naturally wealthy and were highly held in society. Belong to noble Roman families. Inherited your position, money, etc. Own massive amounts of land and had people work for you.
• Plebeians basically middle class, they had money but still considered slightly inferior compared to the patricians. Such as farmers, and quaint peoples.
• Senate
• A group of people who helped make and pass laws. Kind of like the Council of Elders. They help advise the leaders. Chosen by and were patricians. They would even decide who was next in line to power. 
• 
  
• 500 BC monarchy was gone. 
• Tarquin the Proud = Last king of Rome. 
• They overthrew monarchy + him because he acted like an evil tyrant
• They got Tarquin thrown out of power
• Tarquin's son randomly raped and attacked some women who was a patrician. 
• Tarquin should've punished his son, BUT he didn't
• The women killed herself, very shamed
• Larquisha^ her name
• People sort of ignored her rape
• People decided WE HAVE TO FIX THIS
• So they ran Tarquin out of town
• Removed him office
• Expelled him from Rome

• More Government
• Referred to their religion as the people's republic - res republic - where the word Republica came from
• Replaced monarch with a democracy type of thing

The Rise of Rome

As Greece expanded, Italy took it's example during the eighth century BC. The Roman people imitated much of Greek culture. Things such as government, and warfare. Though Greek was a lot more successful than Greece ever was, especially with warfare. In just five centuries Rome became the vocal point of a vast empire. This empire stretched to Mesopotamia to the Atlantic Ocean. Though, with much land, comes hardships and difficulty. Soon enough, a new man of history rose to power - Augustus Caesar. He was an army commander. He totally helped Rome do a 360!

Lots of aspects of Rome imitated farming skills and tricks from the Greeks or Palestinians. Many of the Indo-European settlers created tribes. They settled on a few hills by the Tiber River. It was called "Seven Hills". From the previous land owners - the Etruscans - they passed down some ideas from them. The Romans also borrowed lots of Greece. With many different cultures and ideas mingling, Roman thrived morphing them into one.

Heavily influenced by the Etruscans and the Greeks, the Romans had gotten skills they couldn't have even dreamed of! The king was also assisted by a "council of elders" sort of like the President is nowadays with Congress. A new term came into play also "patricians". This terms is upper class mean who belonged to the noblest Roman families.

More Terms

Republic - System of government in which decisions and power was shared between the Senate and the groups of male citizens.

Plebeians - Roman common people, normal people, usually wealthy. Were not patricians.

Senate - A government group that the king picked. Under their Republic government, all of the members were made patricians, but after some time plebeians (wealthy ones) were also aloud to be a part of this.

Consuls - In the Roman Republic, two senators who were the leaders of government and the military for one terms and they were also able to chose their successors.

Dictator - A person in the Roman Republic who ruler over everything and had total control over decision making. They had a maximum of six months for their term.

Tribunes - Magistrates that were chosen by plebeians, they even eventually got power to approve and veto laws.

Around 500 BC, Romans overthrew their monarchy. They were now a Republic! It was a mixture of the Greek democracy, and the oligarchy. This hadn't been known until this point in time. Now to discuss patricians and plebeians  The patricians were the original people who were aloud to be part of the senate. Though, over time plebeians were also aloud to join these. Among the group of senators, there was the consul . (refer to definition). These two men were aloud to chose their successors, so they made sure to be persnickety and pick good candidates for the future Senate. The Romans also had a strong desire to never revert back to monarchy. The consul was supposed to help keep this mantra alive. Soon every public office was given a consul.

In crisis  the Senate and the consul were aloud to pick a dictator to rule for a bit. (Usually they ruled for about a 6 month term). The plebeians originally did not like this idea. But as Rome grew and the plebeians ultimately got wealthier, they started to get upset that they were treated second class. They put a lot of pressure of the patricians, and even though they wouldn't admit it, they depended on the Senate. So then over the next two hundred years, plebeians became eligible for the Senate! They also got protective laws to help keep them protected and more secure. The laws were passed down and many of the patricians who were judges misinterpreted these laws, angering the plebeians slightly. So now the laws were written on slabs, so they could be properly understood by the latter generations of Romans. They were called the "Twelve Tables". They also served as a large basis and foundation of what was to be the Roman law in the next few centuries. What an influential thing!

As more time passed, the plebeians became even more respected and high in society. Also now, common people such as farmers were aloud to elect magistrates to office this was called tribunes. These tribunes eventually gained the power to add their own laws to society. Inkling by inkling, the plebeians were given more respectable place in society. Around 250 BC, people didn't even seem to bother between distinguishing these two groups. It didn't matter in government and politics if you were a patrician or a plebeian.

Now we move onto the Roman's "Mixed" Government. Their government was a mixture consisting of many features from both oligarchy and democracy. This was quite the advancement and widely admired in ancient times. It is still used as a model for governments in modern day societies. Though, it was still a struggle picking who the ultimate leader of their city-state to be. This decision rested on the shoulders of the Senate. Ultimately though, only the very wealthy were able to join the Senate. The Senate didn't even give out a salary. Though it had its downs, it was for the greater good. The Senate proved quite helpful and effective in society. They helped to veto the bad and to initiate laws for the greater good. They had vast power, but not total power. On another note, the pontiffs (see definition below) were Rome's leading magistrates in the Republic.

Rome was also very in touch with their mythology. Their empire had three deities representing them. They put these deities on display at the Capitol. Their citadel was what the acropolis of Greece would be - very popular and visited often.  The three deities were Jupiter, god of the sky (the equivalent of Zeus for the Greeks); the goddess of fertility, Juno (equivalent to Hera); and Minerva (equivalent to Athena) who was the goddess of skill and wisdom.

Client - Person who gives services in exchange for money and the patron's protection.

Patron - A very wealthy person who helps to support others (less fortunate) with money and security. They do this in exchange for personal services.

Pontiff - One of the Republic's highest of priests.

A lot of Roman values were very in sync with some Greek values as well. Such as men fighting in wars, community solidarity, the poor bare burden of war. Since Greek women didn't have rights in politics and such, neither did the women of Rome. They had to get the women guardians for all of the legal "transactions" because of their, in lack of nicer wording, their lack of logic. This was even declared on the Twelve Tables.

Paterfamilias - The "family father". They had unlimited power in their household.

Matron - An honorable title given to married woman in ancient Rome.

Unlike Sparta, dedicating your entire's lives to the military, the Roman's first and ultimate responsibility was their clan (family). The fathers kept their family in order. The idea of paterfamilias was absolutely sacred! Fatherly figures were a common theme in Rome - Senators referring to each other as "conscript fathers". Another highly held goddess was Vesta - goddess of hearth and home! Every house's fire (hearth) was dedicated and in honor of Vesta. There was even a group - "Vestal Virgins" - a group of six women that devote thirty years of their lives to keeping the fire of Vesta alive in her temple. Motherhood was also very honored in Rome. Women were even expected to contribute to the family - we're talking several clan "bread winners" now. The thing matrons were supposed to demand was hard work, courage, and devotion to duty - all summed up as general "manliness".

Test Day

Today in Western Civilization we took a test. It was a very brief test, it was filling in the blanks. We were aloud to use our blogs, but I only used mine once or twice. I think I did pretty well, but I got mixed up towards the end when I had to name three continents. I'm glad its over with though! It was not as bad as I had initially expected. Though my stomach hurts a lot, so that's no good. I'm glad it wasn't super tricky! I guess I know a lot about Alexander, and hopefully I did Great!

Notes

Son of Zeus. Actual father was Phillip the 2nd. But, alas, his father left him alone for awhile. Olympias had their other son killed so Alexander could rule over Macedonia. He was tutored by Aristotle. He tamed a horse named Bucephalus, that was giant and black with a white mark on him. He was afraid of his shadow, and he was also known to be in some circumstances better than Pegasus. Then his father was assassinated  some say by Phillip's body guard. When Alexander came into power, he had his doubters executed. Then he continued on with his military career. Major battles - Battle of Granicus, Helacarnasis, the battle with the Persians (one of the greatest battles within that war - Battle with Darius the 3rd's men. They thought it was Darius and his men who killed Phillip the 2nd. The battle where he split them - IDK. India - Bucephalus died!! There were elephants. His people rebelled they were all upset. Then Alexander suddenly. Theories - poison  alcohol poisoning...yup. Nobody really knows the real cause of death. He didn't have time to rule this massive land piece of everything he'd conquered. Tried to combine Greek and Persian into Hellenistic. Xersis was the father of Darius the 3rd. Hydapsus is where Bucephalus died. Battle of Gaza, Hellencarnasis... He was 32 when he died. He was 20 when he started ruling.

Knowledge

So Alexander the Great was born into a broken home. His dad left him a lot and his mom was his rock. She was pretty supportive even when her husband and her broke it off. Alexander tamed this cool horse named Bucephalus because the horse was afraid of it's shadow and Alexander consoled him. Then Alexander sort of drifted from his father, and him and his mom were super close. Then his dad died at a party because he was assassinated  Heaps of people thought Alexander was behind this tragedy. Alexander then took the throne. Tons of people were like "what" and then he proved them wrong by killing them. He then went on - with Bucephalus and started to conquered more places. Eventually he got to India and his men rebelled and were like "Alexander.. there's no more world left. Can we go home already?" And Alexander gave up and was all "FINE". Unfortunately Alexander then tragically died. Many people have theories on his death. Liver disease, poison, malaria, fever, or some flu thing. His body was soaked in honey and he had a golden casket. But we don't really know where his body went. Sadly, Alexander never left anybody else to take his throne so many years (20?) of fighting occurred and then they split up the kingdom. These were now called Hellenistic Kingdoms.