Last Test

We took the test on the middle ages today in West civ. We only had a thirty min. class but it was pretty easy. It was 30 questions and most of it was easy. We all handed in our test and Mr. Schick graded them imminently. Our class average was 68.5 I think. That is quite terrible but o well. I got a 93 which is pretty good. Also tomorrow is our last class :(. We don' have class Monday and we are off Friday. Fortunately, for everyone, we don't have an early class so it won't be 9:11. We get to end the year in peace, sort of.  

Test on the Middle Ages

Today in West Civ we reviewed for our test tomorrow. Jevan and Matt taught the class today. They just reviewed the powerpoints and Mr. Schick would ring the bell whenever we needed to know a certain piece of information for the test. Our class tomorrow is going to be shorten because of the two-hour late bell for the senior awards. I think we have about a half hour of class. Mr. Schick said there is 30 questions so that shouldn’t be too hard. 

Review Day

Today we were supposed to have a free mod but since we have a shadow we had to actually try to look productive. We just reviewed the Powerpoint from yesterday and then we were done. Currently, Mr. Schick put on Jessica's hairband and then took a selfie. Anyway, Then Mr. Schick told us about his trip to the News Station and we finished the class getting work done.

Mr. Schick is Famous

Exact dates of the middle ages: 476- 1453 A.D.

New society has roots in:

• Classical heritage of Rome
• Beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• Customs of various Germanic tribes

The invasions resulted in: distribution of trade, downfall of cities, and population shifts

RUSSIAN IS NOT A ROMANTIC LANGUAGE

Theocracy- government based around a religion
That's all the Notes we took today but we spent the last part of class talking about how Mr. Schick is kind of famous. He met all these famous people. So to summarize that class: I have baically met Morgan Freeman indirectly

Charlemagne Part 2

European Empire Evolves

1. Franks control European kingdom

• Ruled by Clovis- the Merovingian Dynasty
• Formally known as Gaul

Major domo- mayor of the palace

Charles Martel- Charles the Hammer

1. Extended the Frank's reign to the north south and east
2. Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732- historic battle
3. If the battle would have gone the other way we would all be Muslims (Christians vs Muslims)

Charles the Hammer had a son: Pepin the short

1. Possibly named for his unusual short haircut (short temper, short stance)
2. Working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombards
3. Pope Stephen II named Pepin king by the grace of God- beginning the Carolingian Dynasty  (751-987 A.D.)
4. Pepin the short had two sons: Carolman and Charles
5. Carolman died so Charles( Charlemagne) takes over

Charlemagne (Charles the Great)

1. Six foot four
2. Built the greatest empire since Rome
3. Fought the Muslims in Spain
4. Fought Germanic tribes
5. Spread Christianity (full bore catholic)
6. Reunited western Europe
7. Became the most powerful king in western Europe
8. Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from a mob
9. This is the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne's government

1. He limited the authority of the nobles
2. He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
3. Kept close watch on his huge estates
4. Cultural revival

• Encouraged learning
• Ordered monasteries to open schools
• Opened a palace school

5. But his heirs were weenies………

• His son- Louis the Pious- was ineffective
• Louis' three sons- Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 A.D

Germanic kingdoms unite under Charlemagne

Main Idea: many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne

Why it matters now: Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout Northern Europe, which is where many of us came from

Setting the stage: middle Ages (medieval period), 500-1500 AD, medieval Europe is fragmented

Invasions trigger changes in western Europe

• Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
• Disruption of trade: Europe's cities are no longer economic centers and money is scarce

Downfall of cities: cities are no longer centers of administration

Population shifts: nobles retreat to the rural areas and cities don’t have strong leadership

Decline of learning : Germanic invaders are illiterate but they communicate through oral tradition

• Only priests and church officials could read and write
• Knowledge of Greek is lost

Loss of a common language: Latin was the common language

• The languages take different turns
• By the 800's languages such as French, Spanish are evolving from Latin

Germanic Kingdoms EMERGE

• Concept of gov. changes
• -------------roman society(loyal to public gov.)
• -------------Germanic Society (loyal to family and king of manor)
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace he provided food and shelter
• During war you fought for him
• "The king, who the heck are you"
• Franks lived in Gaul (France) had a leader named Clovis

Clovis

• Another battlefield conversion
• Becomes a full-fledged Christian
• Church and Clovis begin to work together
• Clovis' military expertise +++++++++++the church's support and MONEY============A strategic alliance

Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

• Pope Gregory I expands papal power
• Papacy: pope's office
• Secular power: worldly power
• SO…under Gregory the Great
• PAPAL POWER IS POLITICAL POWER PRESNETED FROM THE POPE'S PALACE
• The church uses money to: raise armies, repair roads, help the poor
• Gregory the Great acts like mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom)

Germanic people adopted Christianity

1. Clovis unites franks into one kingdom
2. Church + Frankish rulers convert many
3. Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to convert
4. Monasteries and convents

• 520 AD benedict gave rules for monks
• His sister scholastic  did the same for the nuns
• 731 AD the venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books 

Feudalism

Christendom- combination between Christianity and kingdom

Some churches expect (tithes)- giving 10% of what you make to the Church

Eastern empire was referred to as the Byzantine empire

People weren't writing or reading or progressing in this time

Civilization took a step backwards

Feudalism: a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances 

 In other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you

- Rich Dude (LORD): "I own land; i need people to help me work it and defend it."

- he needs VASSALS: toughest of the tough who end up becoming knights 

- people who have other qualities (farmers, craftsman) SURFS

Pyramid:

King- the most powerful vassals. The only people who answer to him are the nobles and bishops 

Knights- mounted warriors who receive FIEFS for defending their lord's land (land)

Peasants- mostly surfs. Landless, powerless, money less, rights-less and just working the land for "the man" (their lord)

Manor: the lord's estate 

- the lord's manor house

- a church

-some workshops

- 15-30 families

- all on a few square miles 

Good News: it's a self-sufficient community

Bad news: it's harsh if you're a peasant 

peasants are poor and pay high taxes:

- tax on grain

- tax on marriage

- church tax (tithe= 10% of their income)

They lived in crowded cottages

lived with animals and insects

eat very simply

The Church says this is your lot in life

God determines your place in society 

Free Mod

Today in West Civ we basically had a free mod because we are one class ahead of the other classes. We worked on homework while Mr. Schick did his work. We also got our test back and everyone did pretty well. Now we are staring to learn about the middle ages which I can tell is going to be a bore. I have never learned about the Middle Ages (thankfully), so all I know is what I’ve learned in movies. Which is basically, knights wear metal armor and always settle fights with duels. Sounds boring, I know.

Middle Ages

 "The upheaval of the early middle ages ended not in a collapse of civilization but in its renewal. and the first two early medieval centuries set the patterns for how this renewal would later take place in western and eastern Europe."

After the fall of Rome, there was a time of turmoil that lasted for 5 hundred years

Part of that time was known as the Middle Ages

In the western empire roman institutions stopped working, and warfare became more important than education

Christianity was still going strong

Kings ruled in partnership with warrior land owners and church leaders

The eastern empire was under attack by powerful neighbors

 The emperors lost power and only ruled over a little area

Chronology:

Fifth  century- Angles and Saxons invade Britain

486- Clovis leads Frankish confederacy against Romans and rival Germanic invaders in Gaul

527-565- Reign of Emperor Justinian in the Eastern empire

542- Plague hits Egypt, then spreads throughout the Mediterranean area and much of western Europe

568- Lombard's conquer most of northern Italy

570-632- Life of Muhammad

595- Missionaries sent by the people begin to convert the pagans of England

711- Muslim invasion of Spain

800- Slaves occupy almost all of eastern Europe

Rome Fades Away (finally)

Dioletian

• He ruled from 284-303
• Under his rule it was find to him to persecute Christians
• Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
• Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
• Solution: divided the roman empire in half (western roman empire, eastern empire)
• Western: harder to defend (had Rome)
• Eastern: richer, better protected

Constantine

• Rules from 306-337
• It's cool to be Christian
• Rome converts to Christianity
• Saw (PX) in sky in vision
• 313 AD he issues a proclamation (law)
• His edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship

• Diocletian divided the empire into two
• Greek-speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin-speaking West (Rome, tradition)
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• Moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium in the east, where Asia met Europe (now turkey)
• Names it Constantinople
• After his death, empire is divided again
• This time barbarian invaders (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks)
• They overrun the empire's frontiers
• That’s it for the Roman Empire, from Tarquin the proud to so and so Romulus  (AD 476)

Life in the fourth century

• Country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tax collection
• New farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
• Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
• Paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work (such a deal!)
• Landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
• Foreshadowing feudalism (the system where u have the manor/peasants/knights/such)
• Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
• Western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
• Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe to grab some land
• Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
• Other barbarian tribes: Franks, Angels and Saxons

End of an era

From the beginnings…..

     500 BC- the monarchy is abolished

        450 BC- twelve tables

Glory days…..

44 BC- end of the line for Julius Caesar

27 BC- 180 AD- the roman Peace (Pax Romana)

To the end……………

• Constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• The last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• Barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

The Decline of The Empire

• Jesus spent three years preaching then is killed by the roman leaders
• His followers believe he is the Messiah and Savior who has risen from the dead
• Saul becomes Paul (the evangelist), spreading Jesus' message
• Christianity evolves from being a cult status to established official structure
• Priest, bishops, pope (Bishop of Rome)
• Jews were also monotheistic------conflict------Romans were polytheistic and even sometimes emperors were gods
• Persecution for both religions were common and expected
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and it grew
• As it grew, even some Roman leaders embraced Christianity
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• Getting ready to go to battle and had a vision of a cross in the sky and hears a voice saying "in his name"
• Tells everyone to paint a cross on their shields and they pray to God before they battle
• He wins the battle and comes out contributing his success to God the Father
• He basically lifted the persecution, and made it the official religion of Rome
• He issues the Edict of Milan which said you can't persecute Christians anymore
• The leaders of the church are starting to be seen just as powerful as government officials

Decline:

• AD 180: Rome has problems
• ------------economic (trade became risky; taxes were too high; food supply was dropping)
• ------------military (frontiers were hard to patrol; Roman generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• Diocletian divided the empire into two
• Greek-speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin-speaking West (Rome, tradition)
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• Moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium, where Asia met Europe (now turkey)
• Names it Constantinople
• After his death, empire is divided again
• This time barbarian invaders (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks)
• They overrun the empire's frontiers
• That’s it for the Roman Empire, from Tarquin the proud to so and so Romulus  (AD 476)

Chapter 8 Notes

Here are the notes I took today in class. Most of them are right from the book but sometimes it's easier to understand it that way.

• The greatest single change that began among the peoples of the empire during the era of the Roman Peace was spread of a new form of monotheistic religion, Christianity
• The new religion began as a group within Judaism
• In 2 centuries, Christianity developed away from Judaism to establish its own scattered, empire-wide community, the Catholic Church
• The Germanic barbarians of northern Europe became wealthier, more highly organized, and militarily stronger as a result of living as Rome's neighbor in the era of Roman Peace
• The only way Rome could hold them off was by building up the army, replacing self-rule by centralized government, and openly ruling as absolute monarchs
• These changes failed to hold up the empire
• As things were going well the romans didn’t take note on the Christians, but in times of trouble the romans blamed their problems on Christians and persecuted them for being different
• They took Christianity into partnership as the official and majority religion
• It became too heavy to bear and the barbarians attacks grew to fierce to be resisted, and the empire collapsed

Rome Test

Today we took a test today in West Civ. I thought it was pretty simple as long as you studied and knew the stuff. It had tons of questions from the last test we took on it so that made it easier. At the end it had a bunch of questions about the leaders of Rome. Like Julius, Augustus, Caligula, and Claudius. Sometimes I get confused between Caligula and Claudius, but I think I did really well on that part. I think it would be a fair guess to say that I got a 91.1 % on that test. Anyway, I don’t think we are done learning about Ancient Rome. Mr. Schick said the last thing we will learn about, before school is out, is the fall of Rome. That’s going to be a bummer. Rome was a great city, so I’m guessing its fall wasn’t pretty. Wow that rhymed. 

Roman Test Review

Augustus was the first emperor

Caligula- adopted son of Tiberius in line for the throne

• Does a lot of things Caesar would have done
• He started off well" granting military bonuses
• He begins a fight with the Senate
• He claimed to be a god, had statues of himself displayed all over the place
• Even in the Jewish Temple, where they only believed in ONE god
• Often sleep with other men's wivesa
• Spent money on these crazy drunken orgies
• Assassinated by his own aides, AD 41 (aged 28)

Next in line: Claudius

• He had either cerebral palsy or polio (speech impediment, limp, trouble hearing)
• His family made fun of him
• He turned out to be a pretty brilliant leader
• Expanded the empire, built roads, canals, and aqueducts, he renovated the Circus Maximus
• His wife Messalina: cheated on him even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius
• Claudius found out about it and had them both killed

Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic….went against the roman belief in many gods (including the emperor)

• You can't be a good roman and a Jew/Christian 
• Eventually the Zealots tried to rebel  (bad idea)
• The Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for one wall which is still there)
• The Western Wall- holiest wall of the Jewish shrines
• Half a million Jews died in the rebellion (poor Jews, they have been through a lot)

Christians were fair game in Rome

• It was okay to torture them and persecute them
• You wouldn’t get in trouble for messing with them
• Despite or maybe because of this oppression, Christianity spread
• 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were  Christians

The Roman Peace

Pg. 101  "Assassination and Another Caesar"

• He was voted to be dictator for life
• He never ruled with terror but was a Greek style tyrant
• Senators struck him down with daggers in 44 B.C
• Caesar’s death led to more warlords
• His adopted son Octavian formed a triumvirate with 2 other war lords and together they defeated Caesar’s murders and declared Caesar as a divine being
• Octavian was based in Rome and pushed the other warlord out of power
• The remaining warlord and he went to war in 31 B.C.
• Octavian won was the supreme warlord of Rome

Pg. 103-107  LO1 The Rule of the Emperors

• The era of the Roman Peace was one of massive social, religious, and cultural changes that would form a new pattern of western civilization
• Augustus's new system kept many features of the Republic, allowed subject people some self-rule, and brought Rome's expansion to a halt.  
• Roman achievements in literature, art, philosophy and law, architecture and engineering were inspired by Greek models, but surpassed those of Greeks.
• Rome became a model to other civilizations as Greece was to it.
• Octavian soon took the name Augustus "revered one"
• "Augustan settlement" emerged by 27 B.C.------the end of the Republic and the beginning of the rule of the Roman empire
• Augustus proclaimed to be restoring the republic
• He refused the offer of a long-term dictatorship and referred to himself as princeps (first citizen)
• The only office he held continently was a tribune of the people
• In 27 B.C. he was confirmed by the senate as commander and chief of the army
• He let the Senate supervise Italy and Rome but he controlled the military and army
• He put to death many of the opposing senators and replaced them with friends do he could consult them and give the senate power
• The people's assembly lost all power but that's okay
• People trusted Augustus to rule in their interest as they trusted Caesar
• Augustus allowed himself to be the center of a religious worship
• People worshiped him and the divine city of Rome
• Shrines of Rome and Augustus were set up throughout the empire
• When he died the Senate declared him a Divine Being, like Caesar
• Livia, his wife, was also declared deified
• Augustus was the founder of the new system of monarchy
• -----------------------------He keep control over the affairs of Rome itself but let providences deal with day to day stuff
• -----------------------------There was still corrupt government but not nearly as much as the Republic had
• --------------------------------He had 600,000 men in the army so he cut half of them and paid them off
• By the end of his rule, all his soldiers were volunteers, serving 25 years in permanent units.
• It was stable because all men served by own choice and knew when he would be discharged and paid
• Auxiliary soldiers were not offered money at the end but sometimes offered Roman citizenship.
• Every solider swore obedience to the princeps
• Augustus had created the first ever standing pro army
• Part of his army was in Rome for protection but most on the frontiers of the empire
• At his death he turned against further expansion
• He wanted to settle on someone to replace him
• He wanted him to come from his own family to continue the line from Caesar
• He settled on Tiberius, Livia's son from another marriage, and adopted him as his own
• He was already trusted by the army
• Augustus died in A.D. 41 and Tiberius took over
• Caesar's last descendant, Nero was overthrown and the line of adopted kids stopped
• After a civil war for power, Vespasian won and founded a new dynasty----the Flavian dynasty
• It ended when his blood son was killed
• Then Nerva was appointed (member of the Senate)
• He adopted the general Trajan to avoid another war
• Adopted son who was to become emperor- Caesar
• When he had become emperor- Augustus
• Adoption and designation was the pattern and it was good :Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius, and Marcus Aurelius
• Then Marcus had a blood son who took over and was murdered from a terrible ruling
• The Setimius Severus took over and his male descendants took over well into the 3rd century
• Augustus's governing structure ended until the 3rd century
• He brought 200 years of stability and prosperity that is known as the Pax Romana, Then Roman Peace

The Emperor Nero Part 2

Today in Western Civilization we continued watching the scary video about Nero. In this part of the video Nero basically lost it. He kicked his wife, who just so happened to be caring his unborn baby, to death. Come on now Nero, pull yourself together. Then, instead of burying her, he stuffed her body with species and sat her on her throne. There were literally flies flying around her decaying body, like…..gross. Then he had this weird break down in front of the senate and walked out. We ended at the part when the senate made Nero an official enemy. Hopefully they try to kill him because he is just a mess. In one scene he met a slave boy who reminded him of his wife so he turned him into a girl and forced him to act as his dead wife. Honestly, I would be quite terrified to live in this era of ancient Rome. Literally every couple of seconds someone ends up getting stabbed.

The Emperor Nero

Today in West Civ we basically had an “off” class. All we did was watch a video on Neo, who was an emperor of Rome and just so happened to be absolutely insane. Mr. Schick said we didn’t really need to take notes on it so I guess it won’t be on the test. The video was actually kind of creepy. Neo was like bankrupting Rome, trying to find money to build a statue of himself. The Senate was against him so they planned to assassinate him I guess. He ended up finding out and he tortured the truth out of them. The one guy forced a hand full of salt into one man’s eye. I bet that didn’t feel so good. Anyway, that’s where we ended off. It was pretty gory because the last thing I remember seeing was a guy getting stabbed in the neck. Maybe we will continue watching it tomorrow. 

Octavian Caesar

Here are the notes we took today in class:
Grandnephew : Octavian Caesar

Et tu, Brute? (even you Brutus)

Switches from being a republic to an EMPIRE

AKA Caesar Augustus "honorific"

"August"- to be honored

Took over at the age of 18

The first emperor- LARGE AND IN CHARGE

Begins the Pax Romana- a period of peace and prosperity (not for everyone)

Built roads, aqueducts

Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service

Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D 14 and passes power to……….TIBERIUS

Jesus was a roman citizen…also a Jew

At 30, he began his ministry and preached to the poor

Romans got scared and planned his execution

The governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus to death

Saul used to be a tax collector who persecuted Christians

Saul/Paul wrote letters to the people he spoke to---part of the NT

If it wasn't for Paul, It is likely that Jesus would have never became such a central figure of the world's largest religion

The Rise and Fall of an Empire

Today we watched a video about Ancient Rome and the rise and fall of its leader, Julius Caesar. We had some trouble in the beginning of class trying to get the video to work but then we just all individual watched it on our laptops. Some of the people in the video included: Titus Labienus (general, Caesar’s army), Gaius Crastinus (veteran Centurion), and Mark Antony (general, Caesar’s army). Obviously Caesar was also in the video. The video was mostly about the war fought between Gaul and Rome. Caesar fought in battle against them to protect his home and his people were loyal to him. It’s not normal for a leader of any kind (king, dictator, consul, etc.) to fight in war with his people, but instead just watch from afar. In the end Caesar and his army had won but that was just the beginning of Caesar’s success in Ancient Rome. 

Review

Today we learned more about Ancient Rome. We were supposed to be taking notes and underlining whatever Mr. Schick said was important but I had already underlined everything when I read it last night. Also I took all my notes from the text book and put it in my yesterday’s blog so I’m not going to repost all of those facts. I did learn something new today though. When Julius Caesar was coming back to Rome he had to make the decision on whether or not to enter silently or very noticeably with his army. He had to make the decision at the Rubicon River and as soon as he crossed he knew there was no turning back. So now when someone is making a decision when you can’t go back you call it “Crossing the Rubicon.” Anyway, the rest of Mr. Schick’s rap, corresponds with what we are learning now so we just took notes on that during class. 

Happy Birthday to me....and here is some notes on Rome

Soldiers, Warlords, and Civil War

-        Instead of famers being drafted into the army Rome began drafting landless poor people to fill the ranks

-        These poor people fought in hope of acquiring land when discharged, even though the Senate was too greedy to give in

-        Government by supreme warlord was bound to be brief and unstable unless turned into legitimate power

-        Between 88 and 82 B.C. Marius (backed by the commoners) and Sulla (backed by the Senate) were fighting for warlord power

-        Sulla won and abolished the limits on the Senate but also gave land to veterans

-        After 2 years of ruling with terror he stepped down feeling accomplished and safe

-        Julius Caesar sided with the poor people

-        He collaborated with Pompey, and Crassus (both henchman of Sulla) and formed a triumvirate

-        Caesar won proconsul of Gaul and conquered it

-        By 50 B.C Caesar had built a powerful army all loyal to him

-        Meanwhile Pompey stayed in Rome and got jealous of Caesar

-        He supported the Senate and ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome

-        Caesar went against Pompey’s order and chased him out of Italy where he was later murdered

-        Caesar subdued all of Pompey’s supporters and returned to Rome in triumph in 46 B.C

-        The Senate hailed him-------Father of the Fatherland

-        Had himself appointed: tribune, consul, dictator for 10 years

-        The assembly had basically no power

-        Caesar gave land to veterans to prevent civil wars and to keep them loyal

-        Appointed senators from Gaul and other newly civilizations

-        He was voted to be dictator for life

-        He never ruled with terror but was a Greek style tyrant

-        Senators struck him down with daggers in 44 B.C

-        Caesar’s death led to more warlords

-        His adopted son Octavian formed a triumvirate with 2 other war lords and together they defeated Caesar’s murders and declared Caesar as a divine being

-        Octavian was based in Rome and pushed the other warlord out of power

-        The remaining warlord and he went to war in 31 B.C.

-        Octavian won was the supreme warlord of Rome 

Ancient Roman Foods

Today in West Civ we presented the projects for the Ancient Rome section. Only two groups went today because we were the only groups who chose to make food for their projects. My group was first (my luck) and I think we did pretty well. People didn’t throw up, so that’s a plus. We had a pretty good presentation too. Then Jevan, Zack, and Matt went and they also did pretty well. They made some kind of honey cake I think which wasn’t half bad. I’m pretty sure everyone is going to do well on this project because we had all that time and its worth so much. I would never want to eat that kind of food every day though. I guess you just have to acquire a taste for it. Anyway all I know is that if I lived in Ancient Rome I would probably die of food poisoning.