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.  

Roman Test

Today in West Civ. we took a test on Rome. So basically we all failed and the average grade was 68.8%. How unfortunate is that. I got one question wrong and it was the one about where is Carthage located. I put Europe which turned out to be wrong. It was actually Africa. Which, if I actually thought about it, makes since. Hannibal had to go through the Alps instead of just sailing across the Mediterranean Sea. Anyway, I guess everyone is going to try to get their grade back up on the project that is worth 200 points. See with my luck, I’m going to fail the project and it’s just going to bring my grade down. It’s almost 9:11 so I’m sure someone is going to point that out to me soon. Like, Did I ask what time it was? I’m going to say that and sound really sassy. J

Rome Test Review

The roman legion- the army/police force

A legion (5000) people in one

• In it because they were proud to be romans and wanted to defend it
• Eventually when Rome started to fall apart they did it for the pay
• Not very loyal and weren't very good

A century (80) people in one

• Took the Greek idea and improved on it
• Infantry is the ground troops (men walking on foot)
• Horse back (cavalry)

Hannibal riding on elephant back- had to cross the Alps to surprise attack from the North

Women have to run the farms when husbands are at war (lyn and phil)

Aristocrats buy the land off to own the farm and control it

Latifundia (great estate) from buying up all this land from people who were in a pickle

To cope with the loss of their lively hood they ALL moved to Rome

Now there is a huge section of poor people in Rome begging for work

Two brothers : Gracchus

Saw that the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer

Came up with a solution- went to the Senate

• You should not be punished for going to war
• Their solution was to give some of the land back to the people

The assembly passed a law to give back the land

• The Senate attacked Tiburis(brother) and beat him w/ a chair then threw him into a river
• The law got over turned 

Roman Chief

 Today in West civ. we spent the first part of class discussing more about our projects and going into more depth about what it should be like. Mr. Schick typed up a sort of rubric to go off of and it was pretty good. He basically put the fact that if we come in with just food and no presentation we will fail, in the rubric like a million times. Anyway we spent the rest of class getting in our groups and trying to do some more work so we don’t have to do as much on spring break. Let’s hope I don’t burn down my house trying to be a roman chief. That is something I would do, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens. I should probably be expecting it. I hope someone wears a toga for part of their project. I would, but ya know….that’s really not my thing.

The Punic Wars

Here are all my notes on the Roman settlers:

The Etruscans are known for setting up their cities with a grid system

Romans were master road builders

The Etruscans introduced gladiator shows to the Romans.

Bread and circuses- feed people and distract them with big shows (making them not want to rebill)

The Etruscans also introduced the arch and the Roman ran with it

 - the aqua ducks moved water from place to place

• The Colosseum: series of arches

The assembly was like the senate but for the plebeians

If you were elected on the assembly you were a tribune

Aristocracy- senate

Democracy- assembly

Monarchy- consuls(1 year, ran again after 10 years)

If some crisis occurred they gave one person all the power- a dictator

The dictator only ruled for six months and was large and in charge

Punic Wars

• Due to Rome success and power they became rivals with the city-state, Carthage.
• Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians
• The city-state of Sicily had much interest in the eyes of the Carthaginians and is what started the Punic Wars
• The Punic Wars comes from the Latin word Poeni, meaning Phoenicians.
• These wars took place on land and sea in 3 different fights between 264-146 B.C.
• In the first war, Rome forced Carthage out of Sicily, leaving them angry and restless
• In the second war, The general Hannibal invaded Italy and put up a fight
• Rome ended up winning, due to their allies, manpower, and perseverance.
• The third war, was started by the Romans in 146 Ba.C and ended by them when they finally captured Carthage.
• The Romans leveled the city-state, and sold its people into slavery  

Disney at Night

Today in West Civ we worked on our projects the entire class. It was a pretty productive class actually. Now I’m running out of things to say because that first sentence basically describes that class. I did find something pretty interesting out though. Apparently, Disney world (aka Satan’s playground) lets 100 cats out during the night to get rid of mice. This information is according to Hailey so It probably isn’t true, but good creativity.  My group is making food from ancient Rome for our project, as is like almost everyone, and it’s kind of exciting. Basically, we are going to spend 2 days eating food and doing nothing. Sounds pretty fun to me. Actually I’m pretty picking when it comes to food so I will probably hate all the food, even the stuff I make.  O and Mr. Schick made a pretty sick catch when my keyboard fell off my computer and almost hit the ground. 

Text Book Notes

Here are the notes we took from the text book today in class

-        The Romans not only imitated Greek civilization but also improved on it at least so far as government and warfare were concerned and architecture

-         they arrived in Mediterranean land farming resources that are basically similar to those of Greek or Palestinian but able to support a larger population

-        in addition Italy was situated aside the Mediterranean

-         The Indo European settlers formed various tribal groups among them

-         the Latin people of central Italy some of the Latins settled near the mouth of the Tiber river

-        The Etruscans where non-Indo-European immigrants who arrived in Italy from somewhere to the east about the 9th-century BC

-         Greek city states had begun to plant colonies in southern Italy as early as the 8th century it was from these neighbors that the Latins first learn the alphabet and gain knowledge of the life of Greek city states

-        The king was advised by counsel the elders called the Senate Latin for "old man" usually he choose from among the patricians or "men with fathers"

-        Around 500 BC Rome overthrew its Etruscan rulers and the monarchy was also abolished The government of the Roman city state became officially the “people’s business”

-        The result however was a system of government that was neither a Greek style that democracy nor an oligarchy but a mix of both

-        Plebeian’s means the common people included workers small farmers and even quite wealthy citizens

-        The Senate was an assembly of about 300 heads of Patricians and families

-        The Senate appointing a dictator with full power to give orders and make laws for a maximum period of Six months

-        Among the chief complaints of the plebeians that they lacked legal protection

-        Around 450 BC in response to the Plebian Demands the laws of Rome were set  down in writing

-        The 12 tables were placed in the public square , The forum

-        Farmers from outside the city had larger say begin electing their own magistrates called tribunes

-        The separation of powers in the US Constitution derives ultimately from the checks and balances between different branches of government in the roman city State

-         The senators sent Longridge policies and made immediate decisions on pressing matters appointed and instructed the military leaders of the Republic received for ambassadors, and concluded treaties.

-        They super rise finances and investigated high crimes.

-         By the time of the Republican Rome had a special relationship with 3 gods Jupiter (Zeus) , Juno(Hera), and Minerva ( Athena)

-        The Romans shared other value specifically with Greek city states. These values included the belief that it was the right and duty of the men of the community to fight in wars, and hence also to Share it's government.

-        The women of Rome had no right or duty they needed guardians for all legal transactions because of their light mindedness

-         instead of devoting his life directly to his city State A Roman man belonged first of all to a family and clan He had control over everyone in his house

-         A married woman had the title of Matron

-        The myth of the Republic itself told how Rome's uprising against its king begin with a girl who was raped by the kings son

-         In this way, women were expected to help make sure that the man had the qualities they needed to keep the Republic strong

Rome, Rome,Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rommmmmeeee

We took notes on Rome today in class. Mr. Schick used the rap he created to teach us the history of Rome. Here are my notes:

-        The Latins were the first settlers followed by the Greeks and the Etruscans

-        Rome and the River Tiber are located right in the middle of the peninsula

-        The people believed that they were blessed by the gods with their geographical location

-        The Mediterranean was pretty much their world

-        The myth about how Rome was founded: Remus and Romulus raised by a she-wolf

-        Romulus won the sibling battle for power and thus the name Rome

-        The Romans drained a swamp so they could build

-        Similar to Washington D.C. (coincidence? I think not)

-        Tarquin the Proud was ostracized for being a harsh tyrant

-        He was the very last king in Rome

-        The Romans rolled 3 governments into 1: Democracy, Aristocracy, and Monarchy

-        Patricians: rich people Plebeians: middle class

-        Consuel- most power in charge of military

-        Split it up between 2 different people with the power of veto

-        “respublica”: means the people’s affairs

-        Republic- the gov. of Rome also of the U.S.A. 

Chi-CAGO

Today was a pretty interesting, more then usual. Mr. Schick (aka Chi-cago) came into class looking like a gangster…..Sort of. He had on some sunglasses and a backwards hate and sang us a rap. Everyone recorded it so it’s probably going to be seen by everyone in the freshman class. He did for all the classes I think though. He told us he made the rap himself a while ago which is pretty talented if you ask me. I don’t even know why he is teacher when he should be making millions as a rapper. Anyway, the rap was about ancient Rome which is what we are starting to learn. Then he told us what our plans are for the next couples of week. We will have a test the day before spring break on Rome and then the days we get back we will present our projects on Rome. My group is Lynda (aka Ellie), and Hailey. Probably not the best group to get things done with but o well.