Video on Nero

Today in West Civ we were told that today would be a relax class. Basically, we just sat back and watched an episode from this Rome series that used to be aired on TV. So we did exactly that. Sat back and did nothing except watch the video. It was quite interesting, too. The people who act and made the show really give you the feeling it is happening in Rome. It is so realistic. I found it really interesting and was kind of upset that class ended. The episode we watched was based on the emperor of Rome at the time, named Nero. Apparently, he was crazy and we saw glimpses of that in that nine minute video. But, the video ended with some gruesome stuff, like someone almost getting their eyeball taken out because of a plan to kill the emperor because he was making huge mistakes. Along with a man getting stabbed in the throat. That’s the only thing that bothered me when we were watching it. 

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Octavian- Caesar’s grand nephew

Mark Antony- involved in the army

Some people in senate wanted to kill Caesar and some didn’t

Just because he had a lot of power doesn't necessarily mean he was ruining Rome.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE: after Julius Caesar dies

Octavian- AKA Caesar Augustus

Augustus- meaning honorific

·         He was nearly a god

·         He took over at 18 years old

·         Basically known as the first emperor

·         Begins the PAX ROMANA- a period of peace and prosperity

·         Built roads, aqueducts , which brought water into the cities

·         Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service

·         Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power to… TIBERIUS

This was around the time of Jesus:

·         Jesus was a roman citizen and a practicing Jew

·         At 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31-33), preaching to the poor (and there were lots of them) in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders

·         Statements like “My Kingdom is not of this world” made the Romans and the Jews nervous, and they began to plan his execution

·         The governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

·         Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and message

·         He travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britain

·         He writes letters to many of those he spoke to- these epistles are a part of the New Testament

·         If not for the efforts of Paul, it is likely that Jesus remains an obscure preacher, instead of the central figure of the world’s largest religion 

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BBC Rome Julius Caesar

BBC Rome Julius Caesar- YouTube:

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

Alesia, Gaul- 52 BC

Titus Labienus: General, Caesar’s Army

Gaius Crastinus: Veteran Centurion

Mark Antony: General, Caesar’s Army

Caesar’s army defeated the opponent and was victorious in their mission.

Everyone admired Caesar for leading them into victory and doing it correctly. They stated that this was a great win for Rome, while Caesar stated that “It is just beginning.”

In this short nine minute and seven second video they show how Caesar’s army stood up for him and fought in his honor, and how he came out and fought as well. Caesar was a well-respected man due to his consideration for the people and not just himself. This is the reason why his army chants his name and praises him. He leads them to a victory and leads Rome to a victory. This film was actually cool to watch because they act it out so it looks like the real thing as in dialogue and such.  

Julius Caesar

Today in west civ we took notes and highlighted in our text book. We basically talked about ancient Rome and how people who we thought never would lead Rome into victories did. We talked about how these people dominated and made Rome stronger than before. We also discussed some definitions in the book and highlighted more important key facts that will probably be on the test when we have it. We also discussed the rest of the class time on Julius Caesar. We were talking about what a great person and leader he eventually became. We talked about how he was a great leader of his army and loyal to them. We discussed his kindness to the poor. He soon replaced the leader of Rome and did a much better job than the previous guy. He was basically adored by the citizens because of the type of person he was and how he acted and cared for others. 

Pages 99-101

·         With the changes in Rome’s society and politics, the character of its armies and their commanders also changed.

·         Landless and propertyless proletarians were drafter to fill the ranks of the legions.

·         Surprisingly this type of soldier was stronger than the ones before and was courageous and tough.

·         Triumvirate- in ancient Rome, an alliance of three politicians that enabled them to control the Republic’s decision making

·         The roman’s believed that a man’s good fortune was a sign of divine favor, which people could share in by honoring and obeying him.

·         By installing a statue of Sulla and carving this dedication on its pedestal, prominent citizens in a district of Rome could at least hope to avoid the very bad fortune of becoming victims of his reign of terror.

·         “but that which brought upon him the most apparent and mortal hatred was his desire of being king; which gave the common people the first occasion to quarrel with him, and proved the most specious pretence to those who had been his secret enemies all along.” Plutarch, from THE LIFE OF JULIUS CAESER 

Failing test Day

Today in West Civ Class we took a test. Everyone failed except Carly. That took up most of class and for the rest of class we sat and wrote this blog. The test was kind of hard but to other people it wasn’t. I was a little confused on some stuff we’ve been learning but I’m understanding more of it. It was nice to sit and relax after class because I am extremely exhausted. It was a nice way to end class and go on Easter break today. We joked around like we usually do and we had fun even though we all failed miserably. This has to be on of my favorite classes and one grade won’t hurt that much. We do have our project to do which we will do good on, so I’m not worrying so much about this little test. We are cooking and we will do a good job. 

Rome

The Roman Legion - army, police force.

·        Divided into smaller units

·        A legion consisted of 5000 people

·        People joined legion just for money

·        You might not have even been a soldier or roman

Century:

·        Consisted of 80 people

·        Like a Greek phalanx

Infantry-people on foot, all men and no women, ground troops.

Calvary- people on horses

Advantage on horses because of speed.  

·        Three Punic wars won all by Rome.

·        1^st Punic war Carthage attacked Rome over Sicily  

·        2^nd Punic war Hannibal attacked Romans.

·        Hannibal had 98,000 people and lost lots of men crossing the Alps.

·        Hannibal rode on elephants, which was an advantage because elephants can stomp them to death.

·        3^rd Punic War Romans attacked Carthage

Latifundia- Latin word for great estate

When in trouble with money or property, rich move to Rome.

-         Urban poor living in Rome.

-         Thousands of people roaming streets for help and money.

Gracchus- rich are getting richer, middle class is disappearing and poor are getting poorer.

-         Their suggestion: give some of the land back to people that fought

Law passed by assembly that rich had to give stuff back to people who fought.

Senators then came and attacked Tiberius Gracchus and beat him to death and threw him into Tigris River. 

Group Day!

Today in West Civ we did two things. Mr. Schick started off class by going over the things we need to know for the project. He went over what we could do, and the grading rubric. We also learned what days we would be presenting our projects when we get back from spring break. My group is going Wednesday, April 23. Mr. Schick also allowed us for class today to get with our groups and discuss our project. I think that helped a lot because like he said, now we won’t have to do the project over break. A lot of us are going different places over spring break and he doesn’t want to put that burden on us. My group came up with what we were going to do for our project, and I think it is a good idea. We discussed who would do what and what we would need in order to make the project. 

Punic Wars and Notes

Etruscans- they set up their cities with a grid system (blocks, and streets)

-         Also introduced romans to gladiator fighting

-         Gladiator fighting was important to identity of romans.

Romans were good at making roads. Ways before Romans was dirt beaten down.

·        Made brick roads and rain would wash off of

Romans made such great buildings such as:

-         Coliseum

·        Latins came before Etruscans and the Greeks

Patricians- higher ranked because of government influence

Plebeians- no power what so ever. Very useful because they grew everything.

Senate- rich aristocrats, consisting of 300 people

-         If your father was a member in senate, you likely would be too.  

The 12 Tables- the first set of laws that were written and publicly posted.

·        Plebeians soon found that they did have a say and a power.

Assembly- like the senate but for the plebeians.

·        If you are elected to the assembly you are called a tribune.

The councils:

-         2 councils

-         They had 2 because they could keep an eye on each other

Dictator- one person with all power; only dictator for 6 months and then went back to senate or whatever you were before 

When elected consul, you were in for 1 year 

Punic Wars:
Who fought? 

Who won? 

Notetaking- Rome

Today in West Civ class I had to go to the office. This happened at the beginning of class and I had to see the athletic director concerning whether we would have our game today again NDP. So, I missed the first few minutes of class but came back eventually. When I came back we had had our books open highlighting notes that Mr. Schick was going over. We are starting a new chapter on Rome and today we started off. Class went by pretty fast even though we were just highlighting and reading a bit. I really like how we took notes today, and I liked highlighting in the book. Even though today’s class went by faster than others, it was still a good class. I did learn some new stuff about Rome and highlighting helped me remembered some of it. Now, when I have to study for the test, it will be easier to look in my book at the important notes. 

Sick):

Today I was home sick, so I wasn't in class. Though we did go over the test and I got a 95, and I was really excited about that! The test wasn’t really hard because I knew the material pretty well. However, yesterday we were assigned a project. We also found out we will have a test before Easter break! Thankfully, we do not have to do the project over break, it is more of a before-break project, which I am happy about. Jess and I are in a group and we are thinking of making food. We are however starting a new chapter based on Rome, and I think this chapter will be interesting. So, Jess and I are going to see what food we can make and type the paper explaining what we had to do. The project seems fun and brings back memories from middle school projects, so I’m excited.