4/30

Today in Western Civilization we took notes on the Etruscans, the Greeks, and the Latins. Here are the notes I wrote.

Etruscans

• came from the north-central part of the peninsula
• metal workers, artists, architects
• two foundation myths: Vigil's Aeneid (Where Aeneas escapes from Troy), plus the story of Remus and Romulus
• What we know about them mainly comes from their paintings

Who else settled Rome?

Greeks

-They had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea

-Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as:

            -Religious beliefs

            -Alphabet

            -Much of their art

            -Military techniques and weaponry

But who first settled there?

The Latins

-Descendants of Indo-Europeans

-Settled on the banks of the Tiber

-Situated so trading ships – but not war fleets – could navigate as far as Rome

-A commercial part, but not susceptible…

They drained a swamp

-Many streams flowed into the Tiber

-There was a marshy area called the Forum, between Palentine and Capitoline Hill

-Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber

Tarquin

-Lucius Tarquinias Superbus

-The seventh and final king of Rome

-Known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to as Tarquin the arrogant)

-A true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word

-The people’s shock at the horrible behavior of Tarquin’s son and this horrible family made them never want to be subject to the rule of kings ever again – this was an attitude that lasted for centuries

4/29

Today in Western Civilization we talked about our projects with our partners. Sydney, Nikki, and I are making a coliseum and two desserts that the high class Romans would eat. We are making the coliseum out of a laundry basket. I have to get the spray paint and the laundry basket. The other supplies we need are foam, Roman characters, the ingredients for the food, notecards, sand, and possibly a poster board. These supplies would probably seem very odd to someone who didn't know what the project was but I think it will turn out very well. We might meet on Sunday to work on it and get the majority of the project done. I am going to try to get my supplies on Friday.

4/27

Today in Western Civilization we had to find 5 facts about Circus Maximus, Colosseum, aqueducts, and the Roman Forum on websites that have real facts. This was extremely hard because most of the websites that come up first are not verifiable. I had a very hard time finding websites that could be used. We talked about how we can figure out if they are verifiable or not. I learned that not all we sites with .org are reliable. People pay to have .org, .com, and .net. There are only two that cannot be bought: .gov and .edu.

4/24

Today in Western Civilization we took the entire class to meet with our partners to talk about our projects. Sydney and I met and figured out when we could meet to work on it. I figured out two desserts we could make as an extra part to our main project. I hope we will be able to finish this project early so it won’t be as stressful. I have to buy the laundry basket and spray paint this weekend. I am going to try and spray paint it soon so that it will be ready when we want to work on it.

4/23

Today in Western Civilization we went through a slideshow with all the lyrics from Mr. Schick’s rap about Rome. The notes that I took were from what Mr. Schick said. Here are the notes that I wrote down.

Tarquin the Proud

·      “Proud” was not a compliment

·      A tyrant – really harsh

·      He wasn’t going to die anytime soon

·      Tarquin’s son raped an older woman that was highly looked up to by the Roman citizens (Lucretia)

·      Most leaders would have punished their son but he had no intension of punishment

·      His son had no remorse

·      This woman felt so guilty that she was the victim, she committed suicide

·      Romans were outraged and ran Tarquin out of Rome

·      At this point, they were done with a monarchy

·      They put three governments together – democracy, an aristocracy, and a monarchy

·      Why a monarchy? If the leader is a good leader, then the citizens are happy with having him be in control

·      Most power came from the aristocracy – the people with the most money

·      Roman legion – improved phalanx

·      A Roman century had eighty men

Punic Wars

·      Conflict of passage and trade

·      Three different series of battles

·      Rome won the first battle against Carthage

·      Hannibal of Carthage took hundreds of elephants, picked up more people on the journey, and attacked Rome from behind

·      Carthage won the second battle

·      Rome took over Carthage and won the third battle

4/22

Today in Western Civilization we took notes on Rome. Before we took notes, Mr. Schick rapped a song about Rome as Chi-Cago. Here are the notes that I took.

Italy is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Rome is on a hill, which is very good for them.

The people who lived in the Italian Peninsula thought that they lived in the middle of the world.

City State Empire: The Roman Republic (4 of 4)

·      Republic Values

-           Romans had strong values and a particular connection to the gods Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera), and Minerva (Athena)

-           Romans believed that it was every citizens duty to participate in government and war, excluding women

-           The Roman family and clan (group of related families) was paternalistic and the “family fear_ had complete control

-           Married women were also revered in Rome as “matrons”

-           “Pater familias” – head of the family (family-father)

Roman Expansion (1 of 3)

·      Allies and Colonies

-           Rome was a military culture and made a number of improvements to the older Greek tactics which made their armies nimble and effective

-           When Rome conquered a neighboring territory, they often extended Roman rights and privileges to the conquered people, absorbing them into Rome itself

-           Non-Romans in Italy anxious to become citizens, incentivized to become allies of Rome

Tarquin the Proud – Leader, monarch, bad to his people

Rome overthrew Tarquin

New form of government – Republic

Republic was a mix of three other types of governments  - Democracy/Aristocracy/and a small part Monarchy

They had two consols because they didn’t want one to have too much power

Senate and Assembly could over rule the leader

4/20 Notes on Rome

Today in Western Civilization we took notes on Rome. Here are my notes.

Rome

Etruscans, Greeks, and Latin – first settlers on the peninsula

Ninth Century – Etruscans move into Italy

-Greeks have colonies all around the Mediterranean in Tiber River

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (1 of 4)

·      Italy and Its People

-       Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the city-state known as Rome

-       The Etruscan people, originally from the east, had settled in the north of Italy and were also influenced by the Greek’s settlements to their south and learned the alphabet and city-state organization from them

Remus and Romulus – brothers

-       Mother: Ria Sylvia and Mars, a god, had an affair and had the boys

-       The twins were abandoned to die in the river

-       The River carried them to safety

-       She-wolf took care of them

-       A Shepard and his wife eventually “adopted” them

-       Both grew up to be leaders

-       They had an argument over where their land would be

-       Romulus killed Remus because of the argument

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (2 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Originally, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders called the “Senate”

-       C. 500 B.C., the Romans overthrew their monarchy and established a “Republic”

-       Since the Senate was populated only by patricians (aristocratic men), the plebeians (ordinary citizens) fought for a vote in Rome’s government

-       Each year the Senate elected two rules, “consuls,” who each served a term of one year

-       As in the Greek City-States, the Romans would appoint a single dictator in times on war or conflict

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (3 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Eventually the plebeians gained power in the Senate by electing their own magistrates called “tribunes”

-       In 450 B.C.,  the laws of Rome were codified and written into the “Twelve Tablets”

-       The “mixed” government of patricians and plebeians had many of the checks and balances that modern democracies have today