Essay Exam

Today in Western Civilization we wrote the essay portion of the exams. I was nervous that I would not finish but I did. I ended up finishing with about 1-2 minutes to spare. I picked the questions C, D, and E. I think I did a good job answering them and I also think that my answers were long enough. Before I took the essay portion, I prepared by writing out my essay answers. Then during my off mods, I read over them and made an outline for my answers. I am glad that this is over but I am still nervous for the rest of the exam. I am going to study a lot this weekend. I will do my best studying and hopefully it will pay off when I take the exam.

Test on Rome

Today in Western Civilization we took our test on Rome. I thought it was pretty easy except a couple questions. This was my last test for this class besides the exam and the essays. I studied my notes and the power point many times so I really I hope I did well. He is grading them right now and I am nervous to see how I did. I am also really nervous for the essays tomorrow. I am going to prepare them tonight so I will be ready tomorrow. I ended up doing well and I am glad that it paid off.

5/22

Today in Western Civilization we went over the slides on Rome. I really liked this because we haven't looked over this is in class for a couple days. There were some things that Mr. Schick added to the slides. Here are the last part of the notes.

Crossing the Rubicon
-Julius defied the Senate and did what he want - he took his soldiers over the Rubicon
-Brutus and the Senate murdered Julius on March 15 (Ides of March) 44BC
-Brutus was Julius' friend but he thought he had too much power

-Octavian, 18 at the time, took Julius' power
-Lepidus and Mark Antony worked with Octavian
-Octavian changed his name to Caesar Augustus

-Caesar Augustus
-period that came after Caesar Augustus - Pax Romana - Roman time of peace

5/21

Today in Western Civilization the last two projects were presented today. The first to go were Suky and Christina. They made a video, drew a picture of what the different Roman classes would wear, and a model of the Colosseum. I think they did a great job and I could tell that they put a lot of effort into this project. The next to go were Sophia and Katie. They made a trifold of all the different types of Roman buildings and a model of the Colosseum. I think they did a great job also! Then Mr. Schick told us that our test on Rome would be next Wednesday. The writing portion of our final exam will be next Thursday because he will not have time to grade them the actual week of exams. He is putting the four questions online this weekend so we can pick the three we want to choose. I am really happy about this and I appreciate it so much because it will help me out a lot.

5/20

Today in Western Civilization Sydney, Nicole, and I presented our project. We were supposed to present first but the group before us was not ready. We cut our cake and started talking about our project. I think we did the best that we could have. I know that we put a ton of effort in to this project and I hope it pays off. The other two groups did a pretty good job as well. I am proud of what we did and the amount of effort we each put in to make this project the best it could have been.

5/18

Today in Western Civilization we watched three groups do their projects. I liked all of them because they were very interesting. My project is completed except for the dessert which has to be made the day before. I am probably going to make notecards so when Sydney, Nicole, and I present, it will be easier and will flow better. I present second on Wednesday which is good because I don't like being last. I am excited to get this over with so I don't have to think about it anymore. I am also glad that our main project and our paper is done.

5/15

Today in Western Civilization we finished the video on Rome and Tiberius Gracchus. Here are the notes that I took.

• Tiberius' mother wanted her son to apologize to Annulus
• Tiberius didn't want to
• "Rome is dishonored if it doesn't keep its word"
• Tiberius stands for the people
• Tiberius ran for tribune
• Tiberius got married to Claudia
• Tiberius won tribune
• Tried to pass laws on getting the people their land back
• Tiberius blamed the aristocrats for the people not getting their land back
• The people voted with him
• Octavius veto'd the vote so the people couldn't vote
• Tiberius is now veto'ing all everyday openings of markets and banks
• Tiberius is putting Rome at a standstill
• (An assembly happens everyday to open stores that are normally passed)
• Citizens rioted
• The only way Tiberius will stop is if Octavius is voted out of office
• Tiberius won to get him out of office
• The senate is trying to convince the people that Tiberius doesn't care about them and wants to be king
• Then they will go against him and kill him
• Tiberius wants to run again (illegal)
• They are going to kill him because they think he wants to be king
• Tiberius was killed
• They never gave land back to the people

5/14

Today in Western Civilization we took notes on Rome and watched some more of the video. Here are the notes that I wrote.

Poor Plebs (Literally)

-How do you keep the plebs happy (or at least keep them from revolting)?

-The post Juvenal said the people “anxiously hope for two things: bread and circuses”

-Bread (free grain from the State) and entertainment (Circus Maximus Coliseum), partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet

A Change in Rule

-Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was the ultimately unsuccessful)

-Military generals worked that angle – lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils

-Soldier’s loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

Nobody did it better than Caesar

-Julius Caesar (100 – 44 BCE)

-A highly successful general

-He conquered the huge territory of Gaul

-The soldiers were getting rich (from all of Gaul’s money) and so was Caesar

He could play the game (of politics)

-Made common folks happy

-Made friends in high places

            -Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)

            -Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)

-These three men formed the First Triumvirale (“rule of three men”)

5/13

Today in Western Civilization we took a pop quiz. I thought I did pretty well considering it was a pop quiz and I didn't get to study. I wish I would have done better than I did because I always pay attention in class. I really thought I would have known the ones I got wrong but some were hard. The rest of the class I started reviewing what we did in the beginning of the semester so I could get a head start on study for the exam.

Rome Video

Today in Western Civilization we watched the video on Rome. Here are the notes I took from the video.

·      Leader died

·      His son Tiberius Gracchus was set to take his place

·      Tiberius died 20 years later

·      146 BC – Carthage – End of the Punic Wars

·      Romans wanted justice over tyranny

·      Rome and Carthage had been locked in conflict for 120 years

·      Ammelianus ordered Carthage to be burned

·      After 6 days of fighting, the Carthaginians surrendered

·      Romans demolished Carthage

·      Survivors were made into slaves in Rome

·      There are so many poor people because of slaves and because many women got kicked out off their property

·      Tiberius crushed a rebellion in Spain because he was listening to his mother (she wanted him to get power first)

·      Tiberius did not like when aristocrats stole land from the poor

·      Latifundia – The name for aristocrats who stole farm after farm

·      Spain was owned by Carthage

·      Tiberius made peace with the Barbarians

·      The Senate did not like this decision

Working on our projects

Today in Western Civilization Mr. Schick was not here so we went to the ceramic room to work on our projects. We decided that it would be a good idea to work on getting the one page paper done. We each wrote one paragraph for the paper. I'm so glad we finished the paper because now we don't have to worry about it and all we have to do is finish up the project and make practice making the dessert. I was excited that we got the opportunity to work on our projects.

5/7

Today in Western Civilization we talked for a little while. After, Mr. Schick's computer wasn't working so he asked if anyone had a computer like his. Some people did but their computer was about to die. We ended up just watching the video individually on our own computers. I didn't have earbuds so I had to watch it without them. I shared my computer with Callie because she didn't have earbuds either. Then we both could hear more easily instead of having two computer playing out loud.

5/6

Today in Western Civilization we took notes. Here are the notes that I took.

Roman Legion

-5,000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)

            -The Roman army’s elite heavy infantry

            -Recruited exclusively from Roman citizens

            -Group of eighty – century

            -On horseback – cavalry

            -Shield, sword, dagger and tunic

Punic Wars in Carthage

-The Punic Wars (264 – 146 BCE)

-Rome vs. Carthage

-Three wars

Two Empires fighting for control

First Punic War – (264 – 241 BCE)

-Naval battle for control of the strategically located of Sicily

-Rome wins this one

The (Carthaginian) Empire Strikes Back

Second Punic War (218 – 201 BCE)

-29 year old Carthage general Hannibal almost does the impossible taking Rome

-Attacks Rome from the North after crossing Iberia and the Alps

-Lays siege too much of the peninsula for 15 years, but could never get back to Rome

Third and Final Punic War (149 – 146 BCE)

-Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage

-Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attached the city

-Carthage was burned for 17 days, the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed

-When the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city was sold into slavery

-The rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

Total Destruction; end of an empire

-Marcus Portius Cato the Elder was a politician who ended every speech by saying, “Delenda Carthage est.” which means Carthage must be destroyed

-He got his wish

Economic Change; Social Upheavels

-Slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,000 Greek POWs, etc.)

-By the end of the Second Century BCE there was over a million slaves in Italy

-Small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles

-Slaves did the work on the farms for the rich

-The big farms became massive estates called latifundia

5/4

Today in Western Civilization we took notes. Here are the notes I took.

Patricians

Rule of Kings is replaced by rule of two consuls

-Consuls are elected officials

-Term of office: one year

-Always aristocrats (patricians)

-Patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor or “pater” (father)

-Duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army

-One consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)

Plebeians

-Fifth century BCE – Patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs (“people”)

-Plebs were 98% of the population

-How did the Patricians dominate?

            -Plebs had to serve in the army

            -But could not hold office

            -Plebs were threatened with debt slavery

            -Plebs had no legal rights

-Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials

-Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs

-Patricians cold interpret these to their own advantage

So, plebs refused to serve in the military until…

-Laws were written out – The Law of the Twelve Tables

-These laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)

-Tribunes “tribal leaders” were elected

SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanum

-Designates any decree or decision made by “the Roman Senate and People”

Res publica – the people’s affairs

Brand new republic, ready to run

-Democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes)

-Aristocracy (the Senate – approx. 300 members)

-Plus monarchy (the Consuls)

-Not a tyranny

Gov’t. : ancient Roman/ USA

-Originally, the US modeled their new government on the model used by the ancient Romans

-Not exactly the same

-But both have 3 branches of government

            -Executive

            -Legislative

            -Judicial

-And both have a legal code

3 branches (1) – Rome/USA

Rome

-Executive

            -Two consuls

            -One-year terms

            -Each has veto power

            -Controls the military

            -Could appoint a dictator in a crisis for a six-month term

USA

-Executive

            -President (and VP)

            -Four-year terms

            -Can veto proposed laws

            -Commander in Chief

3 branches (2) – Rome/USA

Rome

-Legislative

            -Senate – 300 people – aristocrats – members for life

            -Assemblies

USA

-Legislative

            -Senate – 100 senates (two from each state) six-year terms

            -House of Representatives – 435 members

3 branches (3) – Rome/USA

Rome

-Judicial

            -Praetors

            -Chosen by the Centuriate Assembly

            -One-year terms

USA

-Judicial

            -Supreme Court

            -Nine members

            -Appointment by the president, confirmed by the Senate

-Lifetime terms

Legal Code – Rome/USA

Rome

-Twelve Tables

-Publically displayed

-Gave rights to plebeians, not just aristocrats

-Only protected free – born male citizens (not women)

USA

-Bill of Rights

-First ten amendments to Constitution