Friday May 27, 2011

Today in class we went over the packet on Diocletian and Constantine and highlighted some important information. We talked alot about it and it lasted most of class. Also, Mr.Schick helped us all review for our vocab test today which is going to be really hard. After that we got our homework which I just finished.

Thursday May 26

Today I came to school even though I was really sick but I ended up having to go home during second mod. it actually really weird because no matter what I do nothing feels better! Hopefully I will be in class tomorrow if I am feeling better.

Wednesday May 25, 2011

Commodus- Marcus Aurelius's son and the Roman empire began its decline while he was in rule
Diocletian- a strong-willed army leader and a son of a slave and in 284 he became the new emperor
Constantine- a young commander who was one of the 4 rivals competing for power when the civil war broke out
Eastern Empire- the wealthier half of the empire and was ruled by Diocletian
Western Empire- not as wealthy as the east and was not ruled by Diocletian
Battle of Milvian Bridge- the clash between Constantine and his rival fought near the bridge which is 2 miles outside of Rome and Constantine won
Edict of Milan- when Constantine announced an end to the persecution of Christians and their religion was approved by the emperor
Constantinople- the capital which was given its new name of Constantinople after the center of the empire shifted from west to east
Germanic Peoples- one of the people the Huns raided, they lived near the Rhine River
Huns- people who were feared and as they moved west the Germanic People moved too and eventually destroyed the western half of the empire
Alaric- was the king of the Visigoths in 410 and he marched across the Alps towards Rome
Gaiseric- king of the Vandals in 455 sailed to Rome from north Africa and was a ruthless leader
Attila- one the the Huns leaders that made them seem more dangerous
Leo I- the Pope of Rome in 452
Romulus Augustus- the last Roman emperor who was 14 years old
Odoacer- a barbarian general who took the throne from Romulus Augustus

1. In the third century they had economic problems such as poor harvests, disruption of trade, no more plunder from wars, gold and silver drain inflation, and crushing tax burden.
2. Their military had changed because their soldiers only fought so they could earn money so therefore they had to find barbarians who would accept lower pay.
3. The religious change that Constantine brought was when he ended the persecution of Christians. The political change he brought was when he gained control of the western and eastern empire and changing the capital.
4. Germanic tribes invaded the empire because the Huns were moving and they felt threatened and moved west just like the Huns. The empire was unable to drive invaders out because their army wasn't very strong.
5. Diocletian should be considered a successful emperor because he made the empire stronger, he divided the empire into two parts, and he was ranked as one of the greatest emperors. Three reasons why Diocletian could be known as a failure is because not 100% of the reforms were a success, taxes were higher because of him having to pay the soldiers more, and when he tried to control the prices that mission failed.

Monday May 23

Today in class I had Katie read my essay and she said it was really good except fr my title which I need to correct. In the paper we had to write about the Roman empire and the Roman republic. My paper was a little over 500 words and had 3 paragraphs.

Friday May 20

Today Mr.Schick wasn't here and we had Mr.A for a sub! We worked on our essays the whole mod which was over an hour long! On the plus side, Mr.A is an english teacher so he offered to read them. I think i got around 300 words!

Thursday May 19

Lord today we had a test please help us do our best! The test was on alot of information but overall i think I did pretty well!

May 18, 2011

Persecution of Christians

• Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor
• Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new cult
• Often used for entertainment in the Colosseum
• Christianity grew quickly and by 200 AD around 10% of the people in the Roman Empire were Christians

What was the Roman republic made up of?

• democracy
• aristocracy
• monarchy

May 16, 2011

Augustus:

• Began Pax Romana- a period of peace and prosperity
• Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)
• Set up civil service to take care of the roads, the grain supply, and the postal service
• Augustus died at age 76 in 14 AD and passed the power to Tiberius
• Emperor when Jesus was born

Jesus and Paul

• Jesus was a Roman citizen and a practicing Jew
• At age 30 he began his ministry by preaching to the poor in the empire
• Statements like "My kingdom is not of this world" made the Romans/ Jews nervous and they planned an execution
• The governor of the Roman province of Judea Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion 
• The 4 canonical gospels explain his life
• Jews think that Jesus did not fulfill all of the things it takes to be a Messiah
• Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and message
• He wrote many letter to people and they are part of the New Testament
• Without Paul it is likely that Jesus would not be as famous as he is today and he wouldn't be the figure of the largest religion in the world
• Jesus is the 3rd most influential person in history

Tiberius

• Augustus's stepson and adopted son
• He was a great general but he was a dark, somber, reclusive emperor
• He referred to the senate as "men fit to be slaves"
• Germanicus started out as Tiberius's ally but when he looked like h would succeed Tiberius he got paranoid and had Germanicus killed
• He started off well, he gave bonuses to poor soldiers, declared treason trials a thing of the past, and made the government spending a matter of public record
• Assassinated by his own aides in 41 AD at the age of 28
• Slept with other mens wives, too much sex & spending, tried to make his horse a priest

Claudius

• Ostracized by his family because he had disabilities (limp, slight deafness, speech impediment, and probably had polio or cerebral palsy)
• He conquered Britain; built roads, canals, and aqueducts and he renovated Circus Maximus and rebuilt it
• Had an awful marriage to Messalina who was unfaithful to him and Claudius had one of the people in the senate killed for messing around with his wife

Religious Troubles

• Christianity and Judaism were monotheistic which set them aside from other religions
• Romans had many gods and the emperor was viewed as a god
• 66 AD the Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel but Roman troops put hem down and burned their temple
• The Western Wall today is still the holiest of all Jewish shrines
• Half a million Jews died in the rebellion
• 
  

Friday May 13

Today we finished the video in class, here are my notes:

• In class we talked about Jesus and his message that was passed to Paul
• Paul passed the message on to people and eventually more and more people started to pass it on

After the video we got in a group and observed Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.

Tiberius

• Born in 42 BC
• Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD
• Augustus's step son
• One of Rome's greatest generals
• Lucius Sejanus served the imperial family and was a close friend to Tiberius
• People say that the crowd rejoiced when Tiberius died

Caligula

• Also known as Gaius 
• Roman Emperor from 37 to 41 AD
• Son of Germanicus who was a very successful general
• People called him and insane tyrant
• Brief reign
• In early 41 he was assassinated
• At 2 or 3 he accompanied his father Germanicus
• Dressed Caligula in armor
• His father was posioned
• His murder was planned

Claudius 

• Emperor from 41 AD to 54 AD
• Son of Drusus
• Born in Gaul
• Caligula was his nephew
• Adopted his nephew Nero
• Died probably from an illness
• Some people thought he died of poisoning

Thursday May 12

Today in class we continued to watch the video and here are the notes I took (summarized):

• Tiberius was killed and so was Saganius (his aid)
• Caligula was the next to rule
• Caligula was insane just like Tiberius
• Caligula was the son of a war hero and he traveled with his dad during the war and many people loved him
• When Caligula grew up he showed signs of bipolar
• Caligula was later murdered by his friends
• Claudius was the last one left to rule and he had facial deformities
• Many people made fun of Claudius 
• People killed Claudius's wife who he loved alot 

Wednesday May 10

Today in class we started to watch a video on Rome. The video is on youtube and it was pretty detailed and Mr. Schick made us take notes on paper which was strange for him to do. Some of the things the video discussed were:

• The baths where people worked out, talked, and bathed
• Tiberius became the ruler after Octavian died from old age
• People started to hate Tiberius because he was weird and perverted
• Tiberius was the step son of Octavian Augustus but he was not a good ruler because he didn't take charge in his position

Monday May 9

Today in class we got our Rome test and our Greek test back and we went over the answers to both. Mr.Schick said that they are going to be on the exam and since his exam was hard last time i'm sure it will be again.I did okay on the Greek test but not so good on the Rome test.

May 6, 2011

Pax Romana started in 27 B.C. it was period of about 200 years of peace within Rome.
Farmland, cities, and road were created.
Circus Maximus was the oldest and largest Colosseum in Rome. Held athletic events, fights, chariot racing.

May 5, 2011

Clark & Billy
The Roman Republic had 3 governments into one: democracy, aristocracy, monarchy.
Patricians were the upper class that owned land
Plebians were the lower class
Used legions in the army, consisted of about 5,000 men and they could move all directions so they were better
Punic wars where in Carthage
Carthage and Rome were enemies

Sarah, Emma, & Cole
Latifundia were large farms that were formed when landowners bought up smaller farms
Hannibal destroyed their farm, homes, and villages
The Gracchus brothers were Tiberius and Gaius & they were plebians that attempted to pass land reform legislation

Kamau & Taylor
Julius Caesar entered into a political alliance consisting of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus
Their group was The Triumvirate
Crassus was considered one of the wealthiest men in history but he died when they were concurring Gaul
Pompey ended up being an enemy of Caesar and was eventually defeated

Alyssa & Catherine/ Gracie & Catlin
Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times in the chest and on March 15, 44 B.C. is when he was assassinated, called the Ides of March
Brutus was a politician and the main leader in the assassination of Julius Caesar
Gauis was Brutus's helper in killing Caesar

Katie & Fiona
Caesar's nephew and adopted son
Cicero was the senate's greatest orator but did not plan to kill Caesar
Went to get revenge for Caesar being killed
Battle of Actium was fought between Octavian and the joined forces of Antony and Cleopatra VII
Battle of Actium was fought by sea
Octavian won the battle and was given the title Augustus

May 2,2011

I was not in class today because I had a game at Bryn Mawr. Actually it was a really weird day, when we got to Bryn Mawr there were about 40 of their students dancing on the lacrosse field to irish music. They said it was a tradition and they were performing it as a school.