POP quiz

Today in Western Civ we had to take a pop quiz on Christianity in the Pax Romana. When we went over all the questions I got them right praise I was so scared I would fail it but aye. Then we finished the powerpoint that talks about the conversion of Constantine and how he turned to Christianity and won a battle (they had literally gone into battle under the sign of the cross because they painted the cross on their shields). We also talked about how Christianity went from an outlawed religion to a known and accepted religion, and then the decline of the Roman Empire.

Diocletian- came up with the idea of the division of the empire 

Then we moved onto the other two PowerPoints we looked at yesterday, and we talked about them but I already wrote notes on them so lets not do that twice.

When we talk about romance languages, we mean things that refer to the languages of the Roman empire (Latin, Greek, etc. Latin for other things, Greek for scholarly stuff).


Also, we talked about the theory how America is going down the same road as the Roman Empire is declining wise. *THIS MIGHT ME A TEST QUESTION UPDATE*

i brought grapes to class but i was scared to eat them

Today in Western Civ we had to take notes on a lot of stuff, here are the rest of the notes on Christianity:

Conversion of Constantine (AD 312)

• Roman emperor Constantine has a vision before a key battle 
• sees an image in the sky of a cross and words meaning "in this sign, conquer" 
• orders troops to put a cross on shields and they win 

Edict of Milan in AD 313 

• christianity becomes a religion which is recognized/approved by the emperor 
• continues to gain strength and by 380 becomes the empire's official religion

Decline of the Roman Empire 

• while Christianity strengthens, Rome weakens
• military too weak to defend huge area 
• economy: taxes too high, widening gap between rich and poor, trade disrouted 
• social: disloyalty, population decreases 
• political: division of the empire 
• the last Roman emperor was in 476 (14 year old boy named Romulus Augustulus)
  

Now the rest of the notes:

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne 

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

Why it matters now: Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe which many of us our from 

Setting the Stage 

• middle ages = medieval period 
• AD 476-AD 1453 
• from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks 
• medieval Europe is fragmented
• new society 
• has roots in: 
• classical heritage of Rome
• beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church 
• customs of various Germanic tribes
• 5th century Germanic invaders overrun the western half of the Roman Empire 
• causing: 
• disruption of trade 
• downfall of cities 
• population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion 

•  decline of learning 
• tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin 
• Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian) 
• few besides priests were literate 
• Germanic Kingdoms emerge: AD 400-600 
• Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor 
• he provides them with food, weapons, treasure 
• result: 
• no orderly government for large areas 
• small communities rule

Clovis and the Franks 

• Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks
• in 496 he has a battlefield conversion, he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians 
• the church in Rome likes this 
• by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners 

Spread of Christianity 

• Church and Frankish rulers=rise in Christianity 
• in 520, Benedict writes rules for monks: 
• vows of poverty (live in monasteries simply) 
• chastity (no marital relations) 
• obedience (listen to church superiors) 
• his sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns 
• they operate schools, maintain libraries, and copy books 

Pope Gregory and Papal Power Play 

• Pope Gregory 1 (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldy power) 
• church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies 
• this is a theocracy 
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany 

Running Europe 

• Clovis rules the Franks in Gaul until his death in 511 
• most of the rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms (seven in England alone) 
• Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer 
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732 
• if he hadn't won western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire
• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short 
• he works with the Church and is named "king by the grace of God" by the Pope 
• Pepin the Short dies in 768 leaving two sons 
• first son Carolman dies in 771 
• second son Charles or Charlemagne aka Charles the Great 

The Crusades 

background information: 

• its the Age of Faith 
• The Holy Roman Empire is the strongest kingdom in Europe 
• the Church has considerable spiritual and political power 
• over 500 massive Gothic cathedrals are built throughout Europe between 1170 and 1270 

Jerusalem 

• in the late eleventh century, Jerusalem was controlled by the Muslims 
• it was Islam's 3rd holiest city (after Mecca and Medina) 
• Holy City to the Jews and Christians 

The Holy War 

• Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim Turks 
• began 200 years of religiously sanctioned military campaigns from 1095 to 1291
• crusade means "taking of the cross" (crux) 
• Crusades (almost) entirely supported throughout the Holy Roman Empire 
• these "soldiers of the Church" took vows to take back the Holy Land 
• Pope promised those who died in the endeavor would receive immediate remission for their sins 
• How it Went 
• 1st Crusade (1095-1099) Christians take Jerusalem, Muslims take it back in 1144
• 2nd Crusade (1147-1149) Muslims keep Jerusalem, but Christians take Lisbon Portugal 
• 3rd Crusade (1187-1192) Richard the Lionheart and Saladin work a deal: Muslims couldn't control Jerusalem but Christians can worship there
• 4th Crusade (1202-1204) Crusaders get distracted and sack Constantionople creating a huge rift between the eastern (Byzantine) Church and the western Catholic Church, and then there's the Children's Crusade 
• 5th Crusade (1217-1221) Muslims beat Christians in Egypt 
• 6th Crusade (1228-1229 ) Christians take Jerusalem, let Muslims have Dome of the Rock, Muslims take it back in 1244 
• 7th Crusade (1248-1254) Muslims fight off Christians 
• 8th Crusade (1270) no resolution 
• 9th Crusade (1271-1272) any remaining Franks in the Middle East are either massacred or enslaved 

Effects of the Crusades then and now 

Then 

• Byzantine Empire is weakened
• Pope's power declines 
• Power of feudal nobles weakens 
• Religious intolerance grows 
• Italian cities expand trade 
• Muslims increasingly distrust Christians 
• Trade grows between Europe and the Middle East 
• European technology improves as Crusaders learn from Muslims  

Now 

• far reaching political, economic, and social impacts lasting into the present day 
• "nothing more than a long act of intolerance in the name of God" Sir Steven Runciman 
• "it would be a sin for muslims not to try to possess the weapons that would prevent the infidels from inflicting harm on Muslims" Osama bin Laden
• "an eye for an eye for an eye for an eye ends in making everybody blind" Gandhi

Christianity and JEsus

Today in Western Civ we began talking about Jesus Jesus and more Jesus:

Christianity in the Pax Romana 
a new religion in the empire

Roots of Christianity

• Jesus and our knowledge about him comes from the gospels 
• gospel means "good news" 

Jesus 

• was a jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from other Messiahs 
• taught God's personal relationship to each human being 
• message of love 

More Roots 

• his followers believed he was the "Messiah" who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the kingdom of God 
• Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God, human and divine 
• he was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, although his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven teachings were apostles 

Start Spreading the News 

• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus 
• Paul talked of "predestination" which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned 
• Paul was well traveled and helped found churches in many places, and he kept in touch with the new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus, Phillipi, etc) 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth"

• BOTH JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WERE MONOTHEISTIC 
• THEY REFused to worship Roman gods (sorry I didn't realize caps was on oh) 
• early in the Pax Romana it was evil to travel around, you weren't in danger of getting robbed or beaten (Paul wasn't the only one) 
• poor Romans were a receptive audience

The "problem" With Monotheism 

• contradicted Roman Law, so both Jews and Christians were sometimes persecuted by Roman authorities 
• could be exiled, imprisoned, executed, crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals 
• this would happen as things began to go wrong for the Roman Empire and scapegoats were needed 
• scapegoat- Aaron confessed Israelites' sins over a goat then sent the goat to carry the sins away symbolically 

The Appeal of Christianity 

• Christianity grew because: 
• embraced all people 
• men
• women 
• slaves
• poor 
• gave home to the powerless 
• appealed to those who were disgusted by imperial Rome's decadence
• offered a personal relationship with God 
• promised eternal life after death 

Notes on Charlemagne and Feudalism

Charlemagne Unites Germanic Kingdoms 
gradual decline of roman empire ushered in the Middle Ages- the medieval period, from years 500-1500
new society emerged & had roots in:

• classical heritage of Rome 
• beliefs of Roman Catholic Church 
• customs of various Germanic tribes 

Invasions of Western Europe

• in the fifth century, Germanic invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire, this caused many changes
• disruption of trade: merchants faced invasions from both land and sea, businesses collapsed, money was scarce 
• downfall of cities: cities were abandoned as centers of administration 
• population shifts: nobles retreated to rural areas, cities had no strong leadership, city dwellers fled to the countryside, western Europe became mostly rural
• decline of learning 
• Germanic invaders couldn't read or write, few people were literate, knowledge of Greek was almost lost
• the invaders had a rich oral tradition of song and legends but no written language 
• loss of common language 
• german speaking people mixed with rome, latin changed and was no longer understood 
• different dialects developed
• by the 800s French, Spanish, and other Roman based languages evolved from Latin 

Germanic Kingdoms Emerge

• they replaced Roman provinces 
• the Church provided order and security 
• concept of government changes 
• family ties and personal loyalty instead of citizenship in a public state held germanic society together 
• germanic people lived in small communities governed by unwritten rules and traditions
• every germanic chief led a band of warriors who pledged their loyalty to him, he fed them and they fought to death at his side because it was considered a disgrace to outlive him 
• they felt no obligation to obey a king they didn't know 
• Clovis rules the Franks 
• in Gaul a germanic people called the Franks held power 
• leader was Clovis 
• he brought Christianity to the region because he believed God helped him in battle and his wife urged him to 
• the Roman Church welcomed his conversion and supported the military campaigns 
• by 511 Clovis had united the Franks into one kingdom 

Germans Adopt Christianity 

• politics, coastal attacks of muslims in southern Europe and missionaries helped spread the religion (missionaries often risked their lives) 
• the church built monasteries 
• religious communities including monks and nuns 
• around 520 a monk named Benedict began writing a book describing the rules for monasteries and his sister Scholastica adapted the same rules for the nuns 
• these became Europe's best-educated communities
• the religious manuscripts that were made here preserved some of Rome's intellectual heritage 
• Papal Power Expands Under Gregory I 
• also called Gregory the Great 
• head of the church in Rome 
• the papacy (pope's office) became a secular, a worldly power involved in politics 
• papacy was also the center of Roman government 
• the region from Italy to England and from Spain to Germany fell under his responsibility 

An Empire Evolves 

• after the Roman empire dissolved, small kingdoms spread everywhere, some no larger than Connecticut 
• the Franks controlled the kingdom formerly known as Gaul 
• when Clovis died in 511 he had extended Frankish rule over most of what's now France 
• Charles Martel emerges 
• by 700 an official known as the mayor of the palace (major domo) had become the most powerful out of the Frankish kingdom 
• the mayor in 719, Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) 
• held more power than the king 
• he extended the Franks reign 
• he defeated Muslim raiders in the Battle of Tours, made him a Christian hero 
• passed power to Pepin the Short after he died 
• he wanted to be king
• this began the Carolingian Dynasty, a family that ruled the Franks from 751-987 

Charlemagne Becomes Emperor 

• Pepin died in 768 
• kingdom was left to his sons Carloman and Charles or Charlemagne or Charles the Great 
• Carloman died and Charlemagne ruled, he achieved: 
• extended Frankish rule, he built an empire greater than any known since ancient Rome 
• conquered new lands and spread Christianity 
• reunited western Europe 
• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor 
• all the powers joined together 
• he lead a revival
• he made sure royal agents and landholders governed justly 
• he opened a palace school 
• ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests 
• his heirs 
• a year before he died in 814 he crowned his only surviving son Louis the Pious as emperor 
• Louis was devoutly religious but ineffective as a ruler 
• he left his three sons Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German to fight for control of the empire 
• they signed the treaty of Verdun dividing the empire into 3 kingdoms which led to feudalism 

Feudalism in Europe 

the broken up territory by the three brothers began feudalism 

Invaders Attack Western Europe 

• from about 800 to 1000 invasions destroyed the Carolingian Empire, vikings came 
• Vikings Invade from the North 
• set sail from Scandinavia 
• raided with ships and swords and struck quickly, then left again before the locals could defend themselves 
• the largest ship held 300 warriors and 72 oars and weighed 20 tons 
• they were warriors, traders, farmers, and explorers 
• journeyed from Russia to the North Atlantic 
• as they accepted Christianity they stopped raiding monasteries 
• warm climate made Scandinavia farming easier 
• Magyars and Muslims attack from East and South 
• viking invasions declines and the Magyars began attacking western Europe in the late 800s 
• took captives to sell as slaves 
• Muslims struck from the south and the plan was to conquer and plunder Europe 
• they were excellent sea farers so they were able to attack settlements on Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, struck as far as Switzerland 
• these invasions caused widespread suffering, kings couldn't defend the land 

A New Social Order: Feudalism 

• in 911 two former enemies faced each other in a peace ceremony 
• Rollo was head of a Viking army and had been plundering the rich Seine River valley for years 
• Charles the Simple was the king of France but held little power and granted Rollo a huge piece of French territory that became known as Normandy and Rollo swore a pledge of loyalty to the king
• Feudalism Structures Society 
• leaders like Charles and Rollo made similar agreements in many parts of Europe 
• feudal system was based on rights and obligations & depended on the control of land
• in exchange for military protection, etc a lord (landowner) granted land (known as a fief)
• the person receiving a fief was a vassal 
• Feudal pyramid 
• at the peak was the king, then powerful vassals, then knights (mounted horsemen who pledged to defend their lord's lands in exchange for fiefs), then peasants 
• Social Classes 
• status determined a persons's prestige and power 
• three groups 
• those who fought 
• those who prayed 
• those who worked 
• most peasants were serfs, people who could not lawfully leave the place they were born but not slaves 

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism 

• the manor was the lord's estate 
• the manor system was the basic economic arrangement rested on a set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs 
• a self contained world 
• peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their own manor 
• typically consisted of the lord's manor house, church, and workshops 
• 15-30 people generally lived here with streams and farms 
• serfs and peasants made everything they needed themselves 
• the harshness of manor life 
• the privilege of living on the lord's land peasants paid a tax on all grain ground in the lord's mill, marriage, and they owed the village priest a tithe (church tax) 
• tithe represented 1/10 of their income 
• serfs lived in crowded cottages with only one or two rooms and had a simple diet 
• for most serfs men and women, life was work and more work 
• day resolved around family and farming 
• children were put to work right away and often didn't reach adulthood because of illness and malnutrition 
• average life expectancy was about 35 years and most never traveled more than 25 miles from home
• believed God determined their place in society 

trst review

I misspelled test in the title but I'm gonna just go with it. Anyways, today in Western Civ we went over the test and I got an 85 which is better than failing in my opinion. And I got 9 questions wrong but I thought I did worse so aye. After we went over the 60 questions, Mr. Schick told us about how his daughter was also into journalism and stuff since we placed 1st out of almost 2,000 schools, (that was in the beginning actually but). And then he showed us a video his daughter and friend starred in that was made by his daughter's boyfriend, and it was really good and well made and stuff. And now I'm in english writing my blog and its cool okay bye.

we Um took a test today

Today in Western Civ we took our test on Rome and it actually wasn't awful and im having a better day today with no emotional breakdowns. Anyways then we had to take some notes and here they are:

The Rise of Christianity

Life and Teachings of Jesus

• Roman power spread to Judea a town of the Jews in 63 BC
• Rome took control of it and made it a province of the empire 
• roughly 2 decades after this, the Jews believed the Messiah was on his way 
• Jesus of Nazareth 
• historians believe around 6 to 4 BC the king of the Jews, Jesus, was born in Bethlahem in Judea 
• he was baptized by John the Baptist 
• began his public ministry at age 30 
• A Growing Movement 
• historical records mention very little about Jesus 
• main source of information is from the Gospels, some thought to be written by his apostles 
• Jesus' fame grew as he preached from town to town
• his minstry reached out to the poor 
• Jesus' Death 
• his growing popularity concerned Roman and Jewish leaders 
• crowds greeted him as he entered Jerusalem about AD 29 
• the chief priests of the Jews denied he was the Messiah 
• Pontius Pilate let the Romans crucify him 
• three days after his burial he rose 
• Christos is a Greek word meaning "messiah" or "savior" 

Christianity Spreads Through the Empire 

• Jesus' followers spread his ideas 
• the new religion of Christianity spread slowly but steadily through the Roman Empire 
• the apostle Paul majorly influenced Christianity's development and spent his life spreading and interpreting his teachings 
• the Pax Romana allowed Christianity to spread
• Paul declared Gentile or Jew to follow Jesus, this diversity allowed the religion to spread 
• Jewish Rebellion 
• in AD 66 a group of Jews rebelled against Rome 
• in AD 70 the Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple 
• about half a million Jews were killed in this rebellion 
• in AD 132 the Jews tried to escape Rome again, with another half million killed throughout 3 years of fighting 
• Jewish political state ceased to exist for more than 1,800 years 
• most Jews were driven into exile, called the Diaspora 
• Christians also refused to worship Roman gods and were persecuted 
• crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals in circus arenas 
• persecuted christians were known as martyrs, people who die for their faith 

A World Religion 

• Christianity became a powerful force 
• by late 3rd century AD, millions of Christians were in the Roman Empire and more 
• it grew because 
• embraced everyone 
• gave hope to the powerless
• appealed to those repelled by Rome 
• offered a personal relationship with a loving God 
• promised eternal life after death 
• in AD 312 Roman emperor Constantine was fighting three rivals for leadership of Rome
• prayed for help before the battle and swore he saw an image of a cross and ordered it to be put on his soldiers' shields 
• victorious in battle, gave credit to God
• in 380 emperor Theodosius made it the official religion 
• Early Christian Church 
• religion had some structure: bishop, priests, all that traced their authority back to Jesus' disciple Peter 
• eventually every major city had its own bishop 
• later bishops claimed to be heirs of Peter and that he was the first Pope, and that the bishop of Rome was the leader of the church, and that as Rome was the capital it seemed logical for it to be the center of the church 
• as Christianity grew, disagreements about beliefs developed 
• church leaders tried to set a single official standard of belief compiled in the NT 
• in AD 325 Constantine had the Nicene Creed written defining the basic beliefs of the church 
• the "Fathers of the Church" were influential in defining the teachings 
• one of the most important was Augustine bishop of Hippo 
• his book "The City of God" was written after Rome was plundered in the fifth century 
• as Christianity grew, Rome began to crumble

strawberry tart things

Today in Western Civ Holly taught the class and asked questions while Mr. Schick wrote the test and stuff and I decided to write down some questions and facts I thought were important (also PS please scroll to the bottom of this post) and here they are:

1. Who originally lead Rome?
kings, it was a monarchy

2. Who was the final king of Rome?
Tarquin the Proud

3. What ideas did the Romans borrow from the Greeks?
religion, army (phalanx)

4. What did Rome change to after Tarquin?
republic

5. What percentage of the population were plebeians?
98%

6. How were the patricians dominating the plebeians?
debt slavery, plebeians had no legal rights, could not hold office, or serve in the army

(rome didn't have actual laws at this time)

(laws were posted 450 BC, tribal leaders were elected)

SPQR- Senate

a legion has 5,000 soldiers that eventually got paid

7. Who fought in the Punic Wars?
Rome and Carthage

8. Sic semper tyrannis translates to what?
"Thus always to tyrants!" (said by the conspirators and John Wilkes Booth fun fact)

9. After Rome was a republic, what did it turn to?
an empire

10. What was the time of peace Rome had and who started it?
Pax Romana (means Roman peace) and it was started by Octavian, lasted for 207 years

first war fought over- Sicily
second war- Hannibal and the alps
third war- rome wanted to finally fight carthage and win one more time (a lot shorter than the others)

Pompey vs Caesar

Caesar's reforms (know them) (also know crossing the Rubecan and how/why that was such a risk)

• also know how he was plotted against by the senate which included his own friend Brutus 
• THIS WAS THE END OF THE REPUBLIC BTW

Lepidus, Antony, Octavian
then
Antony vs. Octavian and Lepidus bYE
then
Antony and Cleopatra vs. Octavian
then
Octavian

Octavian= Caesar Augustus

• know his reforms and accomplishments too 
• know how he died (died of natural causes) 

Know the Emperors and some things they did its gonna be matching:  

• Tiberius 
• Caligula 
• Claudius 
• Nero

RUBECAN RUBECAN RUBECAN RUBECAN

we r done rome ALSO I HAD LEMonade today

In Western Civ today we talked about Emperor's and we finished up the slide on Rome and I drank pink lemonade it was a good time here are my notes:

Caesar Seizing Power

• serves as consul for one year 
• appoints himself governor of Gaul 
• Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival, they battle, Caesar wins 
• increased pay for soldiers 
• started colonies where those without land could own property 

Caesar's Reforms

• granted citizenship to people in provinces 
• expanded Senate, added friends 
• created jobs for the poor through things like public works projects 

Assassination 

• senators saw Caesar's rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability 
• stabbed him 23 times 
• senators were not punished 
• end of republic 

Aftermath

• Caesar's grandnephew Octavian takes over at 18 and forms own triumvirate with Mark Antony and Lepidus 
• 2nd triumvirate 
• Octavian forces Lepidus to retire 
• became rivals with Antony 
• Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt, personally, politically, and economically 
• Octavian defeats them at battle of Actium 

Octavian on his Own 

• only one in charge 
• named Augustus (meaning honored one) 
• also named "imperator" 
• where we get emperor 
• 40 years of rule 27 BC to AD 14 
• began the era of peace: Pax Romana 
• 207 years long, 27 BC to AD 180 
• some accomplishments 
• expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa 
• set up civil service to run the gov/empire 
• died of natural causes 

Age of Emperors 

• after Octavian's death power was passed down to emperor's `
• Tiberius 
• ruled from AD 14 to AD 37 
• excellent general but reluctant emperor 
• after death of his son he left and let the prefects take charge 
• died at 77 
• Caligula 
• D 41 
• won power struggle after Tiberius' death 
• known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity, was an insane tyrant 
• named horse consul 
• assassinated by a group of guards and senators 
• Claudius 
• ruled from AD 41 to AD 54 
• possibly had cerebral palsy 
• took over because he was the last adult male in the family 
• ruled well, built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started conquest of Britain 
• died by his last wife poisoning him because she wanted her son Nero to rise to power 
• Nero 
• ruled from 59 to 68 AD 
• over EMPHASIZED the arts 
• huge fire in 64 (didn't fiddle) 
• wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic 
• hugely overspent, even raided temples for money 
• historiaNS do not look at him kindly 

pasta salad

Today in Western Civ we took more notes and talked about crossing the Rubicon and such and here are the notes we took:

poor plebs

• poet Juvenal said "Rome anxiously hopes for 2 things: bread and circuses" 
• bread (free grain from the states) 
• entertainment (Circus Maximus, Colosseum) 
• this was to keep them alive, quiet, distracted, and docile

A Change in Rule

• Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful) 
• military generals worked that angle and lead an army that conquered a land and then shared it 
• soldier's loyalty was to their military leader not necessarily to Rome or the Republic 
• Senate spread rumor that Tiberius wanted to become king 
• then Tiberius got killed by chairs and thrown in a river 

Julius Caesar 

• (100-44 BCE) 
• highly successful general 
• conquered the huge territory of Gaul 
• made common folks happy 
• made friends in high places 
• Pompey (conquered Syria/Palestine) 
• Crassus (richest man in Rome) 
• these 3 formed the first Triumvirate 

More Notes and More Notes and More Notes

Today in Western Civ I got the notes I missed from Lauren:

5th century BC- patrician dominance

• gov. was being challenged by the Plebians (98% of the population) 
• Plebeians served in army and threatened by debt slavery, had no legal rights, and could no hold office 
• Plebians were victims of dicrimination in judicial trials 
• no written laws, just unwritten customs (artisans cold twist it any way they wanted) 
• plebeians refused to serve in military 
• wrote out Law of the 12 tables 
• posted in pubic in 450 BC 
• tribal leaders were elected

Senates Populusque Romanium

• designated any decree, etc made by the "roman senate" and the people

res pubilica

• republic
• democracy (peoples assembly by tribunes)
• monarch (consuls)
• aristocracy (the senate)
• not tyranny

US vs. Rome

• we model ancient Rome
• both have 3 branches of government
• both have legal code

US executive
senate, 100, 4 year term
vs.
Rome executive
Senate, 300, aristocrats, members for life

US judicial
Supreme Court, 9 members, lifetime terms, appointed by Pres. but senate may approve
vs.
Rome judicial
praelots,chosen by Centimate,1 year terms

US legislative
senate,100,6 yr term
vs.
Rome legistlative
senate,300, aristocrats, for life

House of reps
435 , 2 year terms
vs.
Assemblies
(centimate or tribual)members for life

Twelve Table

• publicly displayed
• gave rights to plebeians not just aristocrats
• only protected free male citizens

Bill of Rights

• 1st 10 amendments to the constitutions

And then today we took more notes on things like the Punic Wars and here are the notes I took from today: 

Roman legion 

• 5000 soldiers, not in it for pay 
• elite heavy infantry 
• recruited exclusively from Roman citizens 
• group of 80's is a century 
• horseback, cavalry 

Punic Wars 

• (264-146 BCE) 
• Rome vs. Carthage 
• First Punic War 
• (264-241 BCE) 
• naval battles for control of strategically located island of Sicily 
• Rome wins 
• Second Punic War 
• (218-201 BCE)
• 29 year old carthaginian general Hannibal almost takes Rome 
• he attacks Rome from the north after crossing Spain 
• crossed the alps in this war 
• Rome won again 
• Third Punic War 
• (149-146 BCE) 
• Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage 
• Scipio, Tiberius, and others attacked Carthage and the city was burned for 17 days and destroyed 
• Aftermath
• the leftover 50,000 people were sold into slavery 
• rest of Carthage's territories were made into the Roman province of Africa 
• slaves poured into Italy 
• over a million slaves on Italy by the end of 2nd century BCE 
• poor farmers lost land to aristocrats 
• lig forms became massive estates called latifundia 

I Was Absent

So I was dying yesterday and I didn't get on my laptop at all so I didn't write a blog post about being absent and feeling like death so here it is today and I have nothing else to write so here is the end of my post for yesterday.

Hello, It's Rome

In Western Civ today Ben, Jack, and Matt sang Hello by Adele but like a Rome version (twice). And then we took notes on a Rome Powerpoint and here they are:

Rome

etruscans

• came from north central part of peninsula 
• first people to come to Rome 
• metal workers, artists, and architects 
• Romans often did things the Greeks did 
• Latins were the real people who settled first 
• descendants of Indo-Euorpeans 
• settled on banks of the Tiber 

Romulus won- ROME

• thought they were special because of their location to everything (thought "center" of the world) 
• drained a swamp because it affected the land and the Tiber 
• Tarquin the Proud's grandpa built the Cloaca Maxima that channeled water into the Tiber 

Tarquin the Proud:

• also known as Tarquin the arrogant 
• the seventh and final king of Rome 
• true tyrant in every way 
• Roman people had Tarquin and his family expelled from Rome 
• never wanted  king again 

Government

• two consuls 
• elected officials 
• served one year in office 
• always patricians 
• like our executive branch 
• could veto each other 
• duties: dealing dealing justice, making laws, commanding army 
• they couldn't run again until after 10 years 

who can say where the road goes

Today in Western Civ we presented our project and we went last but it was okay because our video was just a+ editing skills like hire us to edit anything (it actually took us like an hour to edit it because we had zero idea how to work iMovie). I hope we get a good grade and I'm really happy we added the video and such.

Also all the other projects were really good too like Robby's rap good job that was fire and the debate was sassy and the battleship was cool and everyone did great.

This week is also going on forever.

And here is the link if anyone wants to watch it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsNLUJX16ao

The caption of the video also has an honorable mention for Mr. Schick and his quote about cars and the rain.

First Part of Presenting

Today in Western Civ everyone started the first part of presenting the projects. All of the groups were really good and creative, there was a movie, a rap, a song, a prezi, and they were all really really good. Lauren, Sehrish, and I are going to present tomorrow because we are adding a video on to the end of our Prezi because even though we have all the information and stuff we need, it's still really kinda boring so we are going to work on a little small video or something after school today. But today was cool and I'm kind of nervous to present tomorrow.

Also Misha says hi and that I should mention her in my blog so yeah.

Photobooth + Project

Today in Western Civ we finished our project on the Punic Wars. We are doing a Prezi and putting some A+ music in the background, and we added our bibliography today and it was a great time. We then went on photobooth to pass the time and it was great i'm gonna put some pictures in that we took:







I ALSO ACCIDENTALLY HIT MR SCHICK IM SORRY LIKE I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE BEHIND ME IM SO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO PLEASE DONT FAIL ME IM SORRY

I'm Tired

Today in Western Civ we continued working on our projects about Rome and stuff. Lauren didn't eat any food today either. Sehrish, Lauren, and I are doing the Punic Wars on Prezi with some music in the background. We tried rhyming our facts we had on the slideshow thing because half the class is doing a rap, but we got about 3 slides in and found that it's hard to rhyme when we don't know how to spell half the cities and everything is so factual it's a little difficult. So we have like three slides that rhyme and the rest just don't, which is kind of sad. Anyway yeah that's all we did today and I'm really tired I'm ready to go home and sleep but we still have one more day man and I'm not up for it.

I Don't Know What to Put as My Title

Today in Western Civ we went over our test but let me tell a story so I was late getting in today because my ride picked me up later than usual and then we had to make a stop and I was pulling into the school at 7:57 and as soon as I was walking into the school the warning bell rang so I RAN FOR MY LIFE and made it into the classroom a second after the actual bell rang and then I stood awkwardly for announcements and then ran back up to my locker and that was my exercise for today. Anyway after all that happened we went over our test and then we got into groups and started our project on Rome, my group of Me, Sehrish, and Lauren are doing a Prezi and stuff so that's a fun time.

Also PSA Misha wants a cameo in my blog and she's sitting behind me right now and she says "WASSUP" AND she wants me to talk about her in Portuguese which I'm fluent in (kind of) so here we go:

Misha é um verdadeiro homem   pessoa legal como eu quero dizer que se tornaram amigos na primeira semana de aula , quando ela veio e sentou-se no chão ao meu lado e conversamos sobre música e , em seguida, alguns dias mais tarde eu sugeri que preencher todas as micro-ondas com a sacos de pipoca que eles têm na cantina e ela era como sim o homem e que foi o início de nossa amizade , mas nós nunca realmente fez isso

Rome Rap

Today in Western Civ we went through and discussed the lyrics to Mr. Schick's rap about Rome that sadly, I missed. But anyways, I took a few notes and stuff so here they are:

Rome

• first to settle: 
• Latins, Etruscans, and Greeks 
• Tarquin 
• leader who was a tyrant when Rome was a monarchy 
• his son did really awful stuff and it made the people hate them even more so they drove them out
• patricians- wealthier more higher up class of people 
• plebeians- everyone not in that category, the lower class and middle class 
• senate- like ours now 
• monarchy- executive branch 
• two consoles to keep one person from getting too powerful and could veto each other 
• not a tyranny 
• Rome was more violent than Greece 
• "rich got richer and the poor got poorer" 
• Hannibal used elephants to cross the alps during the war with Carthage 
• rich would buy land so the poor could pay debt 
• triumvirate (set up by Caesar) 
• also included Crassus possibly the wealthiest person in history 
• Rubicon 
• "crossing the Rubicon" still used today 
• means you are at a certain point in your life where you HAVE to make a decision 
• Rome was scared to let Caesar in with his huge army
• he was dictator for 6 months 
• on the ides of March his friend Brutus and others stabbed him to death 
• new triumvirate was formed that included Mark Antony and Octavian 
• the two had a war and Antony lost 
• Pax Romana started when Octavian ruled,  it was a reign of peace and prosperity for 207 years 

oh we also watched a video of the fighting, or "entertainment" as the Romans called it at the end of class. 

I Left Early Yikes

Today (well technically I was supposed to write this yesterday but I was slightly dying all day) I had to leave school early because I felt dizzy and anxious and a little nauseous, so I went home died and then slept.

Test and Terms

Today in Western Civ we took our test on Alexander and I don't think I failed but then again I don't think I did amazing either. There were some questions that messed me up and the pictures did a little too, but I don't think I did completely awful. Anyway, our work is to define the terms for Chapter 6 Section 1:

• republic-form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
• patricians- wealthy landowners who hold most of the power 
• plebeians- common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the population 
• tribunes- elected representatives that protected the rights of plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials 
• consuls- two officials of Rome who commanded the army and directed the government with a one year term 
• senate- aristocratic branch of Rome's government that had both legislative and administrative functions in the republic 
• dictator- leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army 
• Punic Wars- the struggle between Rome and Carthage in 264 BC 
• Hannibal- mastermind between the second Punic War, was a 29 year old Carthaginian general 

Movie Movie Movie

Today in Western Civ we watched the movie Alexander (director's cut?) by Oliver Stone. It started out with the Battle of Guagamela and it was really kind of gory but it showed a lot of the things that happened and was very detailed, it was actually really cool. Then it flashed back to when Alexander was a kid, and Angelina Jolie played Olympius, his mother. It showed the scene with the snakes and stuff, and then a scene got too nonononononononono nono so we skipped it and went to the scene where he is getting taught geography. I like how the writer of the movie really played on all aspects of Alexander's life, such as the influence of his mom, bisexuality and homosexuality, and the whole thing with the horse. The horse scene where he tamed it and no one else could was really well made. Anyways, thats what we did today. I like it so far and we have a test Monday :)

FrEe DaY

Today in Western Civ we had a free day because Mr. Schick had to work on making the test we are going to have on Monday and he has to do other work. So I decided to study for my French Quiz and we talked about coffee. And now I have nothing else to write so yeah.

Making Up Test Questions and Dying

Today in Western Civ I died because I got no sleep and my ears are dead but the concert was fun so I'm happy. But anyways we were told to come up with some possible questions we would like to see on the test, here they are:

1. What was the name of Alexander the Great's Father?
            (the right answer is King Philip II)

2. What was the final battle between Alexander and Darius called that ended Persian power?
        a. Battle at Granicus
        b. Battle near Issus
        c. Battle of Guagamela
                       (the answer is c)

3. How old was Alexander when he died?
        a. 45
        b. 22
        c. 34
        d. 32
                       (the answer is d)

4. Who were three of Alexander's influences?
        (the right answer is his dad, his mom, and Aristotle)

5. What are the two types of monsoons they had in India?
       (ones with really heavy rain and ones that just brought really dry weather)

6. What was the method Alexander used to help him win most of his battles?
       (the phalanx)

7. Why was Alexander crowned Pharaoh in Egypt?
       a. they were scared of his power
       b. they saw him as a god
       c. they felt like it
       d. he made them crown him
                         (the answer is b)

8. Why did Alexander want his men to marry Persian women and stay in Babylon?
      a. he wanted them to have a reason not to go back home
      b. wanted to fuse cultures together
      c. wanted to improve and unify his empire
      d. all of the above
                      (the answer is d)

WHY

THIS ISN'T A BLOG POST OF NOTES OR HOMEWORK BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE CLASS TODAY. BUT IM REALLY SAD BECAUSE YOUTUBE IS BLOCKED AND THAT'S HOW WE DO LIKE HALF OF OUR SCHOOL WORK THAT'S THE ONLY THING MAKING ME HAPPY IN LIFE LIKE PLEASE WHO TOOK THIS AWAY FROM ME HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC NOW I'M BROKE SO LIKE I CAN'T USE iTUNES UGH THIS IS A PROBLEM AND IT MAKES ME SAD WHY

WE CAN'T EVEN WATCH THE ALEXANDER VIDEO MR. SCHICK

I KNOW THIS IS SUCH A FIRST WORLD PROBLEM BUT I JUST NEEDED TO RANT

The Last Part of Le Video

Today in Western Civ we finished the video on Alexander the Great and these are the notes I took:

• couldn't have conquered all he could if not for his brutality 
• obsessed with the notion he could be a god in Egypt 
• Egypt welcomes him and names him Alexander Pharaoh because he still let them practice their religion and culture 
• oracle was well known destination 
• Alexander and men were lost in the Dunes because of a sandstorm, but supposedly "two birds" saved them" allowed his publicist t make up/exaggerate his story 
• h was a "god on earth" 
• being Pharaoh wasn't enough he wanted to defeat Darius 
• Guagamela 
• 331 BC 
• most notable battle 
• Alexander was outnumbered 
• still defeated the Persians 
• his phalanx helped him repeatedly win 
• used hammer and anvil technique 
• Darius fled and one of his officers killed him 
• tired of him retreating an saving himself 
• proclaimed the Lord of Asia 
• still wasn't pleased 
• thinks world ends at India and wanted to conquer it all 
• Afghanistan was way harder to conquer because very mountainous, etc 
• the area was very cold, highly elevated, narrow in many places so they had to walk one by one which stretched across for 10 miles 
• his army did this because they had a bond in him 
• had Persians fill in the ranks 
• he drank two heavily 
• boasted and then killed his friend because he said all his glory was from his father 
• all of these things broke the bond slowly 
• Calesthenes thought Alexander was being too much of a tyrant 
• Alexander had him tortured and killed 
• his empire stretched from Greece to Afghanistan 
• got to india and the Raja tried to fight him 
• they used elephants because they could charge and trample their enemy 
• Alexander realizes he couldn't fight them 
• he used a surprise attack and attacked them and their elephants 
• one of his toughest battles 
• the raja surrendered and Alexander gave him back his land 
• India now is still very heavily influenced by Alexander 
• monsoons in India 
• could be a lot of rain or a lot of really dry weather 
• troops refused to go farther 
• Alexander was forced to go back 
• traveled back through the Maikan desert because maybe that would be punishing his men 
• less than 1/3 survived
• thought he could handle more than he could 
• made Macedonian men marry Persian women to keep them there in that place instead of going back home 
• wanted to fuse these cultures also married 3 or 4 women himself 
• wanted to make Babylon his new empire place to reign 
• fell mysteriously ill after drinking 
• dies after 12 days at age 32 
• historians debate on what killed him 
• funeral procession was broken up by an officer who wanted to take his body back to Egypt 
• Julius Caesar came to visit the tomb 
• the tomb was destroyed 
• don't know where his body now lies but there are many theories 

VIDEOVIDEOVIDEOVIDEO

Today in Western Civ we watched a video on Alexander the Great. And we had to take notes, here is what I have written down:

Documentary on Alexander the Great

• Alexander learned military skills and leadership from his father 
• Olympius his mom, also influenced him 
• passion and emotional nature 
• she spread a rumor that she was impregnated by Zeus through a snake 
• was thought to be too crazy for king Philip
• Also learned and was influenced from Aristotle 
• Achilles chose eternal death but was also one of his influences 
• "whatever Achilles could do, Alexander could do better" 
• his new mom had a son who was seen as his dad's favorite 
• feuded with his dad and went into exile 
• his dad was stabbed at his daughters wedding 
• thought to be an ex lover BUT some think it could have been an angry Alexander or Olympius 
• murderer was killed right then so there is no proof on anything 
• Alexander was 20 when he became king 
• planned to go after Persia because that was his dads plan 
• never seemed to hesitate with anything 
• in the battle with Darius, he was outgunned, outnumbered, but not out-planned 
• killed 50,000 people 
• was the first chance to prove himself and who he was
• was one of the most great military geniuses and may have been bi or gay- so maybe people should stop using gay as an insult, it's 2016 people 2016 
• Alexander brings Cleisthenies (spelling??) to "tell the story" kind of like Homer and his stories
• even though he was a great man he was very cruel 
• had 2,000 Tyrian fighters crucified because of defiance 
• in some places of Persia to get revenge he would kill all the men and leave the women alone, which was an incredibly cruel punishment back then 
• tied governor to a horse and had him dragged across the town until he died 

The Spread of Hellenistic Culture

Today in Western Civ Mr. Schick had to work on the speech and debate team stuff so we had to read pages 146-149 and take notes, and its all on Hellenistic Culture and the spread of it, so here we go:

Hellenistic Culture in Alexandria

• Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences that became known as Hellenistic culture 
• Koine was the language spoken by the Hellenistic cities, and enabled educated people and traders to communicate in cities throughout the world 
• trade and culture diversity 
• Alexandria became the foremost center of commerce and hellenistic civilization 
• western edge of Nile delta 
• was able to grow and thrive because of the commerce 
• became an international community exceeding half a million people 
• alexandria's attractions 
• great beauty 
• statues of greek gods 
• royal palaces looking over harbor 
• a much visited tomb held Alexander's glass coffin 
• Pharos (enormous greek lighthouse) 
• museum dedicated to Muses 
• The Alexandrian Library with half a million papyrus scrolls 

Science and Technology

• Hellenistic scholars preserved Greek and Egyptian learning in the sciences and provided most of the scientific knowledge available to the West 
• Astronomy 
• museum contained a small observatory in which astronomers oculd stufy planets and stars 
• astronomer Aristarchus found out two things: 
• disproved the belief that the sun was smaller than Greece 
• proposed that the planets revolve around the sun but this theory was widely unsupported and rather accepted Ptolemy's theory of the earth being in the center of the solar system for the next 14 centuries 
• Eratosthenes, director of Alexandrian Library used geometry to compute the Earth's circumference 
• also a highly regarded astronomer and mathematician
• poet and historian 
• Mathematics and Physics 
• Eratosthenes and Aristarchus used a geometry text compiled by Euclid who was a highly regarded mathematician who taught in Alexandria 
• his best known book Elements contained 465 carefully presented geometry propositions and proofs, and is still the basis for courses in geometry 
• Archimedes of Syracuse studied at Alexandria 
• explained law of the lever 
• accurately estimated the value of pi 
• invented the Archimedes screw and compound pulley 
• using his ideas Hellenistic scientists later built force pumps, pneumatic machines, and even a steam engine 

Philosophy and Art 

• teachings of Plato and Aristotle continued to be influential in Hellenistic philosophy, but in the third century BC philosophers became concerned with how people should live their lives which developed two major philosophies 
• stoicism and Epicureanism 
• Philosopher named Zeno founded the school of philosophy called Stoicism 
• stoics proposed people should live virtuous lives in harmony with the will or the natural laws that god established to run the universe 
• preached that human desires, power, and wealth were dangerous distractions 
• promoted social unity and encouraged its followers to focus on what they could control 
• Epicurus founded the school of thought called Epicureanism 
• taught that gods who had no interest in humans ruled the universe 
• believed only real objects were those that the five senses perceived 
• greatest good and highest pleasure came from virtuous conduct and absence of pain 
• main goal of humans was to achieve harmony of body and mind 
• realism in sculpture 
• sculpture flourished during the Hellenistic age 
• rulers, wealthy merchants, and cities all purchased statues to honor gods, commemorate heroes, and portray ordinary people in every day situations 
• Colossus of Rhodes is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world 
• later toppled and sold for scrap 
• moved away from harmonic balance and idealized forms of the classical age 
• by 150 BC the Hellenistic world was in decline, because a new city Rome was growing and gaining strength 
• through Rome, Greek culture was well preserved and eventually became the core of western civilization 

Holly Taught the Class Today

Today in Western Civ Holly taught the class, and Mr. Schick sat down in the class. Everyone called him Bob and Angela yelled at him for having his phone out and the other side of the room said they liked Holly teaching better and didn't have to keep hearing "shut up shut up" and "on the opinion question you were WRONG" and "you guys are writing too slowwww". Then Mr. Schick said he was tired of being bullied and nobody had aloe so that was sad.


We also did page 145 numbers 2-5:

2. I think the Persian invasion was the most significant conquest of Alexander the Great because it was what his father had planned and if he defeated Persia, the biggest empire, he would then be the most powerful. It was a bunch of battles that were all significant that he won.

3. Philip II was able to conquer Greece because he was a brilliant general who organized a very large army (and used phalanx's, each armed with long weapons, and his huge cavalry). He also had an advantage of the city-states not listening to Demosthenes about his plans to invade and attack.

4. Alexander continued his campaign of conquest because he wanted more power and wanted to gain a larger empire. He had a god-like complex, and the power got to his head and he wanted to pretty much conquer the entire world.

Then Bob went on a huge rant about this question and everyone asked him to repeat himself and he said "maybe you should write fASTER then" and everyone was like "oohhh" and then he said "but thats my opinon so it's probably wrong."

5. Alexander's empire after his death was taken over by three Macedonian kings: Antigonus, Ptolemy,  and Seleucus. They ignored everything Alexander had worked for and changed everything and governed with complete full power over the people.


Today was fun.

We Finally Finished the Projects and We Got Our Tests Back & Took Some Notes

So my post title sounds like a Fall Out Boy song but anyways today in class the last group presented and they did Architecture, and here are the notes I took:

Architecture in Ancient Greece

• stretched from 900 BC to the 1st century BC and farther 
• post and lintel system 
• friezes 
• pillars 
• doric: heavy and very plain 
• ionic: most thin with small columns and a scroll on the top 
• corinthian: most ornate, slim columns (fancy) 
• stoa 
• covered walkway with pillars on the side designed for public use 
• temples 
• made in honor of the gods 
• wood and brick 
• Naos was a new version of the temples 
• Athens spent a lot of money that came from many different places on architecture 
• Parthenon 
• doric with ionic features 
• marble columns 
• used as Masq and church 
• set up to glorify Athens 
• huge intricate statue of Athena inside 
• Theater 
• scene (backstage) 
• seating (theatron) 
• orchestra (stage) 
• Houses 
• stone, clay, marble, sundried brick
• roofs: overlaid clay tiles 
• floor: mud 
• often had courtyards 
• Then vs now
• auditorium- like a theater 
• white house and other buildings- like temples and Parthenon 
• pillars from Athens are used in the design of pillars today 

Then this is our homework, we had to take notes on page 142-145 and here it is okok: 

Alexander's Empire 

• Philip Builds Macedonian Power 
• King Philip II ruled the kingdom of Macedonia starting in 359 BC 
• Macedonia had a rough environment and a hardy population, and had no people like sculptors or writers, but they did have their shrewd and fearless kings 
• at 23 Philip changed the people into an army, used the technique of a phalanx and cavalry 
• this caused him to prepare his invasion of Greece
• Demosthenes the Athenian orator urged the people to prepare for the attack of Macedonia, but the army couldn't agree on a single policy 
• then Athens and Thebes joined together to fight Philip, but it was too late because they were defeated by Macedonia in the battle of Chaeronea 
• this ended Greek independence 
• Philip planned to invade Persia next but never had the chance because he was stabbed by a former guardsman at his daughters wedding 
• Philips son Alexander took his place and became known as Alexander the Great
• Alexander Defeats Persia 
• was only 20 years old as king but well prepared and learned many things under Aristotle's teaching, also loved Homer and his works 
• did very well in military training 
• destroyed the city when the people of Thebes rebelled, and this caused other city states to give up any ideas of rebellion 
• Invasion of Persia 
• Alexander had a plan to invade and conquer Persia with Greece being secure
• in 334 BC led 35,000 soldiers into Anatolia, the two met at Granicus River
• Persian's army of 40,000 men was attacked by Alexander's cavalry 
• this victory alarmed Persian king Darius III 
• he vowed to crush the invaders with his army of around 75,000 men, and so Alexander ordered his finest troops to break through a weak point in Persian lines, then charged straight at Darius 
• they fled, and Alexander won Anatolia 
• Conquering the Persian Empire 
• Darius tried to make peace with Alexander 
• the rapid collapse of Persian resistance fired Alexander's ambition and rejected the offer, continuing on with his plan of conquering the entire Persian empire 
• was crowned pharaoh of egypt in 332 BC and he founded the city of Alexandria 
• Alexander left egypt, and engaged in battle with a weak Persian army, they met in Gaugamela and Alexander's massive phalanx attack caused Darius to retreat, and Alexander finally ended Presia's power 
• soon Alexander's army captured more areas,  and soon later the Persepolis was burned to the ground, and no one knows why 
• Alexander's Other Conquests 
• he now reigned as ruler of southwest Asia 
• left ruined Persepolis to pursue Darius and conquer Persia's remote Asian provinces 
• he found DArius dead to the south of the Caspian Sea 
• his army fought across central asia for the next 3 years 
• Alexander in India 
• in 326 he and his army reached Indus Valley 
• a powerful indian army blocked their path at the Hydaspes River 
• Alexander won, but they were starting to grow weak, after fighting for 11 years and marching more than 11,000 miles, so they headed back 
• by the spring of 323 BC, they reached Babylon 
• he announced plans to organize and unify his empire 
• was never able to carry these out as he became seriously ill with a fever and died at 32 years old 
• Alexander's Legacy 
• after his death, Macedonian generals fought for control of his empire 
• three leaders finally won: 
• Antigonus- became king of Macedonia and took control of Greek city-states 
• Ptolemy- seized Egypt, became pharoah, and established a dynasty 
• Seleucus- took most of old Persian Empire that became known as the Seleucid kingdom 
• these rulers and descendants ruled with complete power 
• Alexander adopted things like Persian dress and costumes and married a Persian woman
• Greek settlers then also adopted new ways

Finished Projects..Almost

Today in Western Civ we almost finished the projects. Robby and Emily's groups went today and they did the Delian League and Pericles, these are the notes I took:

The Delian League

• organization made of many greek city states 
• most prominent was Athens 
• founded in 478 BCE 
• moved to Athens 
• had over 150 members or city states 
• Athens used power of the league to build up their navy, beautify Athens and build it up in general 
• Sparta 
• reluctant to join the league 
• caused war between Sparta and Athens 
• they would have made the league stronger 
• pericles hubris caused him to lose the war
• also he died of plague
• comparisons to today 
• the city states resemble the united nations
• UN bring many countries together like in the delian league 
• some groups resemble the delian league like the NATO 
• shows how strong the combination of world powers can be 

Pericles 

• wise statesman 
• led Athens during Golden Age 
• Had popular support for 32 years
• dominated Athens from 461 BC to 429 BC which was the age of pericles 
• goals 
• strengthen Athens democracy 
• hold and strengthen the empire 
• glorify Athens 
• some reforms 
• increased number of public officials that got paid 
• glorifying Athens 
• gold, marble, ivory for structures 
• the Parthenon 
• built to honor goddess Athena 
• all his idea 
• death 
• lost sons from plague and then died soon after 
• Plato was born a year later but it was too late, Athens had already fell from their Golden Age 
• Aspasia 
• Pericles' wife 
• important and educated which was unusual for women in Athens 
• Pericles was criticized for being with her 
• couldn't marry her 
• relied on her and her decisions a lot 

Presenting Projects pt 1

Today in Western Civ we talked for five minutes and then we started to present our projects. Cat and Audrey's group went first and they did Theater in Ancient Greece, here are the notes I got from that:

Theater in Ancient Greece

• first performances were in the theater of Dionysus, built near the acropolis in Athens 
• types of performances: 
• comedy 
• mocking
• politics
• Aristophanes 
• tragedy 
• serious drama 
• tragic hero 
• hubris (this is excessive pride which often led to a characters demise) 
• Sophocles 
• Oedipus Rex is an example of a tragedy 
• three genres all together: comedy, tragedy, and satyr plays 
• clothing and props 
• masks
• costumes that showed stuff about the character 
• props 
• Greek Theaters 
• lots in many city states, and you can still visit them today even though they are in ruins 
• then and now 
• many plays today are modeled after plays then
• genres we have now came from them 
• heavy makeup and costumes are used in both 

Then my group presented, which was nice because we got to get it over with, and we were a little bit of a mess because we were missing one person, but we did good I think still. And Mr. Schick said I actually projected my voice for once which was nice because I'm usually told I'm too quiet so. 

Anyways, then Claire's group that did Greek Government went, and we didn't take many notes because we had already pretty much covered that. But I did write a few things down: 

Ancient Greek Government 

• monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, oligarchy, tyrant 
• Pericles' mom was the niece of Cleisthenes 
• arete to them meant to do everything to the best of their ability 

And that is all. 

Guacamole Party

Today in Western Civ, we argued whether or not to add another powerpoint onto our powerpoint and spent 15 minutes trying to get a picture centered. Then we were done, so we started our guacamole party. Lauren brought in tortilla chips and guacamole. We ate all the tortilla chips and Angela and Holly chased each other because one had the chips and one had the guac. Then we ran out of tortilla chips so Holly went and got Doritos and we ate them with the guacamole. (It's actually very good)  Then they fought over a fruit roll up and we talked about tacos and blueberry pancakes plus Mr. Schick said barbecued Doritos and strawberry yogurt or something was really good. We also asked if we could go make popcorn but he said no so that was a sad time.

Then we spent the rest of the class editing the powerpoint and making everything good to present.

Finally Took My Test and There's Also a Project

Today in Western Civ I studied more and crammed a bunch of stuff from chapter 2 in while Mr. Schick went and got my test, and then I was separated from society and went out in the hallway to take my test. I actually don't think I did that bad tbh. It was 40 questions and since I studied it wasn't too horrible, it was probably one of the easier tests we have had this year. I was confused on the maps part a little, and just now I checked some answers I thought I got wrong and I think I actually got them right, but then some others I know I definitely got wrong. Oh well I tried my hardest. And while I was taking my test we formed groups and me and Lauren, Angela, Maureen, and Holly are in a group and we are doing a presentation on Greek art, so that should be interesting.

Also Misha suggested I put this picture in here so here it is:



And then I asked her for other pictures and here we are:

Almost-test and Pericles

Today in Western Civ, the class took a class, but Mr. Schick was nice and gave me an extra day to study so I'll be taking the test tomorrow. While they took the test I studied a little and once everyone was done I got on my laptop and now I'm going to give you the page 134-136 notes:

Pericles Plan for Athens

• Pericles led Athens during much of it's golden age
• honest and fair and had support for 34 years; skillful politician, inspiring speaker, respected general 
• so dominated his reign of Athens that the time from 461-429 BC became known as the Age of Pericles 
• had three goals: 
• strengthen Athenian democracy
• increased number of public officials who were paid salaries 
• got all citizens rich and poor and in-between to engage in the government, making Athens one of the most democratic governments in history 
• introduced direct democracy: form of government where citizens rule directly and not through representatives 
• to hold and strengthen the empire 
• helped organize the Delian league 
• Athens in time took over it 
• made the Athenian Navy the strongest in the Mediterranean 
• helped Athens strengthen the safety of its empire 
• navy used surrounding waterways for battle and citizens used them for trade overseas 
• Athenian military might've made Pericles to treat other members of the Delian league as part of the empire 
• some cities resisted Athens though and formed their own alliances 
• to glorify Athens 
• used money from Delian League to beautify Athens 
• without the league's approval he persuaded the Athenian assembly to vote huge sums of the leagues money to buy gold, ivory, and marble, but money also went to the workers who used these materials 

Glorious Art and Architecture 

• Pericles wanted Artists to build sculptures and buildings to glorify Athens 
• at the center of his plan was the Parthenon 
• was a masterpiece of architectural design and craftsmanship but not a unique style because the same style was used to build temples for many years before 
• was built to honor Athena 
• contained examples of Greek art that set an example for artists all over the world 
• entrusted most of the work to the sculptor Phidias who crafted a giant gold and ivory statue of Athena inside the Parthenon that was over 30 feet tall 
• Phidias and other aimed to create perfectly formed figures that only showed serenity 
• wanted to portray ideal beauty not realism 
• considered classical art 

Drama and History 

• Greeks invented drama as an art form and built the first theaters in the West 
• theatrical productions were both an expression of civic pride and a tribute to the gods 
• wrote two types of drama 
• tragedy: serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal
• Aeschylus and Sophocles were two people who wrote these kinds of plays 
• comedy: contained slapstick situations and crude humor 
• made fun of politics and respected rules and rules 
• Aristophanes wrote the first kind of comedy 
• no written records from the Dorian period  besides epics of Homer 
• Herodotus' book on Persian Wars is considered the first work of history 
• greatest historian was the Athenian Thucydides

I Left Early

Today I had really bad neck, back, head, and stomach pains so I went to the nurse which sadly caused me to miss the whole class and the review for the test. I'm still planning on studying and hopefully getting a good grade though. And I don't really know what else to write besides aye I left early, so I'm just gonna stop rambling now.

Cyber Day #2 Work

Here is my summary of the Persian Wars.

The Persian Wars started in about 490 BC and went to about 479 BC. It was between the Persian Empire and Greece, and looking at it from the start, with The Persian's great army, huge empire, and practically unlimited resources, it seems like they are to win. There were also practically two stages to the war-

1st Stage

• the Persian armies in 550-486 BC were led by King Darius I
• the Persians fought the Athenians and their Greek allies, and lost to them 
• there was a famous land battle of Marathon in 490 BC where the Persians were again defeated by the Athenians and the Plataeans 
• news of the victory was delivered by a messenger who ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens and later died (origin of the modern Olympic event the Marathon) 

2nd Stage 

• Under the command of king Xerxes I in 519-465 BC, the Persians arrived on the Greek shore with over 2,000,000 men between their army and navy
• The Greeks, with only 5,000 men under command of Spartan King Leonidas, held off the Persian forces at the narrow pass between the cliffs and sea at the 'Pass of Thermopylae' 
• Persian soldiers found a secret way around the pass, and defeated them
• in the naval battle at Salamis in 480 BC, ruled by Athenian general Themistocles, the Athenian navy defeated the Persian navy
• in the land battle at Plataea in 479 BC, the Greeks again defeated the Persians who were then driven from Greece
• this was the final victory in the war, which could be said to have saved all of Greece from Persian domination

Ending Stage 

• Greek city states had a new confidence and freedom 
• Athens gained the most from Persian defeat 
• caused them to become stronger as a whole and individually (government, army) 
• this war led them into their "Golden Age" even if it was brief

That was pretty much the whole war. But, here are some differences from the Persian army and the Greeks/Athenians' army: 

Persians 

• expensive weaponry
• strategy: 1. attack from a distance 2. disrupt communication 3. lightly armored infantry 
• huge numbers 
• long way from home 
• mercenaries, professional army

Greeks 

• iron weaponry
• normal citizens not all professional played a part 
• hoplites trained from an early age 
• spears, shields, swords 
• strategy: phalanx formation, used sea to their benefit
• fought on home grounds so they were familiar with the area 
• motivated to preserve democracy 

We Had A Sub Today

Today in Western Civ Mr. Schick was out sick, @ Mr. Schick feel better :). But anyways here is the work we did today:

3. An aristocracy differs from an oligarchy because an aristocracy is a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families. An oligarchy is a government ruled by a few powerful people.

4. The contributions Solon and Cleisthenes made to the development of Athenian democracy were:

• Solon
• outlawed debt slavery 
• organized Athenians into 4 social classes according to wealth 
• let all citizens rich or poor participate in the assembly 
• introduced the legal concept that any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoers 
• Cleisthenes 
• broke up the power of nobility by organizing citizens into 10 groups based on where they lived rather than wealth 
• increased the power of the assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage 
• created the Council of 500 that proposed laws and counseled the assembly 

6. Living in Athens was different from living in Sparta because they both had different forms of government and what a citizen was considered to be. Some examples: 

• Athens 
• was a democracy 
• citizens participated in political decision making 
• Council of 500
• only sons of wealthy families received education and prepared them to be good citizens 
• boys went to military school to prepare for defending Athens
• girls did not attend school, they stayed at home to be educated by their mothers and learned about housework and other things, some learned to read and write
• most women had little to do with Athens outside the home 
• Sparta 
• was a military state 
• government had several branches and two kings and 5 elected officials 
• Council of Elders 
• powerful army/military 
• boys AND girls received military training and were taught the same things at the same place, women had a lot of freedom which was weird to places like Athens (you GO Sparta) 

Socrates Again + Some Questions

In Western Civ today we took notes on the rest of the chapter. This is what I wrote down:

Socrates

• looked to science and logic for explanations of how the world worked 
• Athens was the intellectual place of the world back then
• Socratic method fostered critical thinking 
• "the unexamined life is not worth living" 
• was charged with impiety and corrupting Athens youth
• sentenced to death by hemlock, but before he died admitted to his crimes and said he should have free dinners for life 

Plato 

• student and follower of Socrates 
• Apology meant explanation 
• Plato wrote a book called Apology 
• Republic was his other book that was about Socrates discussion of justice and ideal state, one of the most influential books on philosophy ever written 

Aristotle 

• student of Plato 
• helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination 
• his school the Lyceum, focused on cooperative research and building a knowledge gathered from all over the world 
• did not invent the internet but liked the idea of all mankinds knowledge being easily accessed in one location 
• wrote extensively on 
• logic, physics, biology 
• ethics, politics, metric 
• motion, theater, poetry 
• metaphysics, psychology, dreams 
• also tutored Alexander the Great

Then our homework was page 139 questions 3-5. 

3. The steps Pericles took to strengthen democracy in Athens was increasing the number of public officials who were paid salaries. This was necessary because it meant now even poor people could serve in government. This led to Athens becoming one of the most democratic governments in history. 

4. The battle strategies of Athens and Sparta in the Peloponnesian War were: 

• Athens 
• attack using the sea and their large fleet 
• avoid land battles 
• Sparta 
• use their large army and nice safe spot to hide from Athens 
• burn Athen's food supply 
• attack from land

5. I think some Athenians found the ideas of Socrates so disturbing because they had never been asked to question themselves or their morals. Athenians didn't know what to do with themselves when told to question their thoughts and their actions. They were also just really confused by the certain viewpoints he had. 

Sparta, The Bible, and Science?

In Western Civ we started off the class by talking about Greek gods and goddesses. We didn't need to write anything down about them though, which is neat because they are just kind of like fairy tales, we should probably spend our time learning about history, current events, and how to pay our taxes. Anyways, we somehow got into a discussion of the Bible and science, and how the stories of Noah and the Three Wise Men may not be as true as everyone believes, I mean there is scientific evidence of these things not being possible. But everyone almost started a huge whole argument so I kept quiet, but I think religion is up to the person and whatever you want to believe, and that science is hard cold facts that you can't really disprove. Also why worry about the camels and the star, I just feel bad for Mary because she had to supposedly give birth in a barn. Anyway, here are my notes from today:

The Fighting Spartans

• Greeks were certainly a warlike people, especially the Spartans 
• Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry soldiers who fought on land
• Spartan boys trained from the time they were seven 
• *insert Mr. Schicks opinion about spartans and gym rats here* 

A Naval Power

• Athens had a great infantry too but wasn't as good as its navy 
•  most efficient weapon was the trireme 
• technological marvel 
• fastest ship in the world at the time 
• rowed by 170 or so men 
• battering ram 
• agile, fast 

The Phalanx 

• close rank group of warriors 
• armed with long spears and interlocking shields 
• would advance slowly to their enemy before breaking through their ranks 

Finishing Chapter 2

Today in Western Civ we started finishing up Chapter 2. These are the notes I took in class:

Rules, Codes, and Laws

• Draco (621 BCE) 
• all athenians rich or poor are equal under the law 
• but death is the punishment for many crimes 
• debt slavery is ok (work as slave to repay debts) 
• Solon's reforms (594 BCE) 
• outlaws debt slavery 
• all Athenian Citizens can speak at the assembly 
• any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers 
• more reforms (around 500 BCE) 
• allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate 
• created the Council of 500
• leading to democracy 
• only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens 

Clash of the Tyrants 

• Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BC 
• his brother was murdered causing his rule to become harsh 
• eventually he was expelled from Athens (ostracized) 
• he began working with Persian King Darius 1 by helping them invade Marathon for revenge 
• with Hippias gone, Isagarus and Cleisthenes, both aristocrats, engaged in a power struggle 
• Isagarus had support from fellow aristocrats and Sparta 
• Cleisthenes has support of Athenians 
• Isagarus becomes tyrant and ostracizes Cleisthenes 
• Cleisthenes supporters and ordinary citizens revolted against his tyranny \they trap Isagarus on  the acropolis for 2 days, on the 3rd day he fled and was banished
• 508 BCE

Cleisthenes and Democracy 

• definitely a member of the elite 
• very rich 
• crafty politician 
• saw the value of stepping into the patience, intelligence and the energies of the non-aristocratic people (middle class)  

Then we had to take notes on pages 131-133, and here they are:

The Persian Wars

• wars between Greece and the Persian Empire began on the coast of Anatolia 
• around 546 BC the Persians conquered the area 
• Ionian Greeks revolted, Athens sent ships and soldiers to their aid 
• Athenians and the Greeks fought again in Marathon, Persians lost over 6,000 men 
• Young runner Pheidippides brought news of Persian defeat so that the Athenians would not give up the city without a fight , delivered the message "Rejoice, we conquer." after rushing 26 miles from Marathon to Athens then he collapsed and died 
• ten years later Xerxes came into power 
• underestimated the other teams troops, causing the greeks to stop the Persian advance for 3 days, then fearing defeat the Spartans held the Persians back causing a great impression on all Greeks because of their sacrifice 
• Athenians were trying to defend their city, Xerxes set fire to Athens and sent his warships to block both ends of the narrow channel near them, but since it was too narrow, over 1/3 of his ships sank
• they were defeated again in 479 BC, and since that they were always on the defensive 
• a year later, several greek city states formed an alliance called the Delian League 
• they in time drove the Persians out of their territories surrounding Greece and ended the threat of future attacks

End of the Persian Wars 

• Greek city states felt a new sense of confidence and freedom 
• Athens gained the most from Persian defeat 
• in the 470s Athens came to be known as the leader of the Delian league 
• then Athens took control and moved their headquarters to Athens, used military force against whomever challenged their authority, city states became little more than provinces of the Athenian empire 
• prestige of victory over the Persians and victory of Athens led them into the city's brief golden age