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 

Warring City States

Today in Western Civ we started a new chapter. Lauren gave Mr. Schick the plastic bags for his TV production class too, no Satan ones however. Anyway, we also reviewed what we learned in the first chapter, and took notes on chapter 2, and this is what I wrote down:

Chapter 2- Warring City States

polis- fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside, politics
monarchy- rule by single person (a King in Athens since there were no such things as queens there)
aristocracy- rule by small groups of noble, rich, landowning families
oligarchy- wealthy groups dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, seized power usually with military force
tyrant- powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support

Transformation of Government

• during the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece 
• rich had more influence in society and held more government power than middle class or the poor 

Aristocracy 

• aristocrats- members of ruling class, they attended symposiums which are meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine, poetry, etc. while discussing political duties, women were only there for entertainment, and if there were any slaves they were there for merely entertainment as well 
• aristocrats on the outside would be excluded from these meetings 
• (Spartans treated women better than the men in Athens did. Go Sparta.) 

Tyrants Seize Control 

• tyrant rules outside of the frame work of the polis 
• modern meaning of tyrant- abusive or apprehensive ruler
• aristocrats would sometimes form alliances with the tyrants