Reading Section two Questions and Definitions.

1. Consul- One of Two rulers of Rome. They were like Kings and they hall power over military and government. They could control life and death of citizens in wartime. They could only serve for a year and could not run again for ten years. 
2. Veto- Something the Consuls to do overrule the other Consul's ruling. In Latin it means I forbid. 
3. Senate- The Aristocratic branch of Rome's government. It came from the saying that Romulus appointed 100 men to help him rule. You ruled for life on the senate and you could be Plebian or Patrician.
4. Assembly- The democratic side of the Roman government. It was run by the people which was all the citizens and soldiers. At first they had little power but it increased over the years. 
5. Dictator- A leader was appointed when Rome was in a time of crisis. They had absolute power to make laws and command the army. Their rule only lasted for six months.
6. Mercenary-Soldiers hired to fight by a country. They do it as a job not because they want to do it for their country. They weren't as loyal as actual soldiers from a country though. 

Questions

1. Many Plebians were dissatisfied with Roman government because of the little amount of power they had. Back then only the Patricians could rule and the Plebians could not take office. They could vote but that was all. They won more power by not fighting in wars unless they got more power. Since the need for a bigger army was needed Rome needed to conform. They ended enslavement for debt and interclass marriage was allowed. Also they had the twelve tables or they had laws written down for them.  .
2. Rome thought they had a balanced government because of what the government was made up of. They had part Monarchy with the consuls, aristocratic with the senate made up of the Patricians. They had democracy with the assembly and a dictator that  was somewhat controlled if crisis struck. They figured the combination of all these gave them a good government. 
3. Rome was sucessful with governing Italy by the freedom they gave. They allowed freedom to all of the places they conquered. There were three levels of freedom or citizenship for the conquered places of Rome. You had full citizenship given to Latin neighbors on the Tiber river. They could marry Romans, vote in assemblies, and go to court. In places a bit farther from Rome you had half citizens who had all the Roman rights except the right to vote. Finally the people left over were allies of Rome. They had to contribute soldiers to Rome and couldn't make peace with other countries. They could govern themselves without Rome's interference though. This freedom made Rome sucesful in governing all of Italy. 
4. Carthage might have appeared more powerful for a few reasons. For one they had more money and people. They had more people and had a better economy. The city was also bigger. This led people to believe that the Romans would lose the war. Rome won because they had more loyal troops. This was because the Romans had actual soldiers and Carthage had mercenaries. Rome's were more loyal than the hired soldiers and gave them an advantage. 
5.  The battle of Zama was so important because they could finally defeat Hannibal with their new general Scipio. He drove Hannibal out of Rome by directly attacking Carthage and making him run back to defend Carthage. Hannibal was defeated by Rome at Carthage and the Second Punic war was ended. This is a huge turning point for two reasons. For one it decided the most powerful nation in the world which was now Rome and it ended the second Punic War. 
6. The Greeks welcomed the Romans at first because they thought they would free them from their enemies. At first they did and helped them out and freed them from Macedon. Then Rome began to interfere with Greek politics and the Greeks got mad. As an example of what would happen to the Greeks if they fought back they destroyed Corinth. They killed or enslaved all its people and knocked down the walls. The city was reduced to nothing and so was its citizens. 

Roman reading Section one questions and definitions.

Define

1. Republic- A political unit that is not ruled by a monarch and in which citizens have the right to vote for leaders. The word Republic came from the Latin Phrase res publica which means public affairs. 
2. Gravitas- having weightiness or seriousness. Gravitas was a virtue that contained discipline strength and loyalty. 
3. Pater Familias- " Father of the family" or the eldest male in the household. He was the leader of the household and had complete power. He controlled all property and could even sell family to slavery or kill them. He usually acted as the protector of the family though. He spoke for families at assemblies and in court. 
4. Toga- It was an uncomfortable garment the Romans wore. It was cold to wear in winter and hot in the summer. It was clumsy and not practical. It was good because it was very easy to make and no sewing was needed. It was basically a big wool sheet. It could also represent social status by what you wore with it. 
5. Patrician- a small group of upper class families who dominated Rome. They claimed their ancestors were the fathers of Rome. They claimed that they had the authority to make laws. 
6. Plebian- The common farmers, artisans, and merchants. They were free citizens with the right to vote. The had far less power than Patricians though. 
7. Legion - A massive military unit consisting of 4000-6000 men. They had heavily armed infantry and the calvary( soldiers on horses). 
8. Century- One of the sixty smaller groups that the legion was divided into. This allowed the Roman legion to be more flexible and able to move around more than the Greek Phalanx. The Romans could flank and surround enemies with the Centuries. 

Questions. 

1. Geography helped Rome in a few ways. For one the Italian peninsula was near the middle of the Mediterranean and divided the sea in half. Rome was the center of Italy and was therefore the center of a peninsula in the middle of a sea. Their position allowed them to easily send out ships and armies in all directions. Rome was also built near a crossing place for the Tibus river and became a key trade place on routes between Northern and Southern Italy. These are some advantages for the Romans. 
2. The Latins contributed to Rome by being one of the first people to settle there. They settled on both sides of the Tiber River and created Rome. Rome started as a bunch of Latin shepherds living on a hill. They lived very simply though and had little trade. The Greeks advanced Rome more when they came to Italy. They established 50 colonies on the coast of Southern Italy and Sicily. They had good trading cities and brought Italy into contact with Greece. Finally the Etruscans were the most civilized group and came around the same time as the Latins. They had a writing system adapted from the Greek alphabet which the Latins didn't have. Also they had a cultural influence on Rome and many Roman kings were of Etruscan descent.
3. Early Rome had many values many regrading family. The values were called the ways of our fathers and emphasized loyalty, strength, and discipline. A person that held this quality had the virtue of gravitas or weightiness. The Romans were a practical society. They liked strength more than beauty, power over grace, and usefullness over elegance. The family was the heart of Roman society and family ties were important values. 
4. The Roman household had an obvious leader. The leader was the pater familias or the father of the family. This was the eldest male in the family and he had all the power. He owned all the property and could even sell or kill other members. His main job was to protect family though and not do those things. He also spoke for the family in public places. The women in the family ran the household though and had more freedom than a Athenian woman. They could own property and testify in court. She could eat with her husband and often provided business or political advice. She could not vote though and stayed in the background. 
5. The army was a big place in the Roman family because of how the family lived around it. Every man in Rome had to live a double life as a farmer and a soldier because of a constant threat of war. All male citizens, plebians and patricians, had to serve in the army. You couldn't hold public office until you had served ten years. Basically to get anywhere in Roman society you had to serve and you had to join either way. 
6. We could compare Roman values to Greek values. Both cultures believe in being great and doing the best you can. They have high values and wanted to do everything good something we miss sometimes in culture nowadays. They valued loyalty and discipline something we don't always value nowadays. Roman society is a good society with good values to live by something Greek did have but in modern times not so much.

Test on Greece today.

      Today we finally had our test on Greece. It had about 30 multiple choice questions about everything from math, philosophy, Socrates, and architecture. It also had a essay question worth 25 points. I did my essay question on the allegory of the cave since i understood that concept well. I think I did well on the test. There were some questions I didnt know because I was absent the day we learned about it but that was only a few. Overall the test was just right and not too hard or easy.

Reviewing for the big Greece test in class today.

     Today we reviewed for our big test on Ancient Greece tomorrow. It will cover everything from the movie Greece the Crucible of civilization to our powerpoint presentations we did on certain Greek topics. We reviewed over a few peoples projects and talked about other subjects. Some review that we did was finding the three types of columns which are Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric. We reviewed that most ancient Greek sculptures were made of limestone or bronze. We reviewed the Peloponessian war and how the Athenians walled themselves into Athens and were killed by a plague. We reviewed Greek drama and saw that Theaters were called Theatertrons and had Skeens and orchestras. There were also three types of plays comedies, tragedies, and satyr. We reviewed the allegory of the cave and what it meant. Finally we reviewed some Greek philosophers and other things that will be on the test. We will take the test on last mod tomorrow.

Watching an awesome movie in class today.

     Today we watched a awesome movie about Alexander the Great. He was a war general who won many battles and conquered a lot of the world. He even beat Persia outnumbered by thousands of men. He wanted to conquer the whole world in his life and he wanted to do this by reaching the oceans. He believed once he found the oceans he had found the end of the world. In the movie we watched the battle of Galgama. It was against Persia and Alex won even though he was way outnumbered. He then defeated Persia. We also saw him fight against the Indians. He nearly lost that battle and his horse was killed. His men then revolted against him and they had to leave India. Alex died on the way back to Greece and his age ended. We will review next week for the test. The test will be on Wednesday.

Gone from class today.

Today I wasn't in class because I was at a funeral.

Amir's Project on the Hellenistic age.

He had information that was short yet informative. He got to the point and didn't give out useless details but still explained it. Id give him a 97/100
1.  Whos death began the Hellenistic age. The death of Alexander the great.
2. Into how many parts was Alex's kingdom divided into. Four different parts after the people who wanted it fought over it and split it up.
3. What was the series of wars called that made up this age and hoe many were there? They were called the Punic wars and there were 3 of them.

Watching the movie in class today and the allegory of the cave.

     Today we finally finished watching Greece the Crucible of Civilization and then we discussed the allegory of the cave which was made by Plato. In the movie we saw things about Socrates. We saw that he was ugly but was very smart and thought outside the box so to speak. He questioned the government which got him in trouble. He also questioned the Gods and got others to think like this. He eventually got put to death for this but accepted his fate like a true hero. Platos allegory of the cave basically says that people are taught what the world is like from a young age by the government, TV, and your parents. We believe this and this is all we know until we go into the real world. Once we go out we discover what the real world is like or what times are like now. If we try to tell our friends or family that havent seen the real world yet they won't believe us. This basically says people believe what they see and might not know anything else in the world except what they are told. I will be gone from school tomorrow so I will miss class.

Todays Projects

Jason
He did a good job and had good information with many details.
96/100
1. What were the two major wars. The Peloponnesian war and Trojan War.
2. Who was the great military commander that conquered Persia. Alexander the Great.
3. Name two ancient Greek weapons. Sword, spear, shield, catapult, or Ballista.

Mark
He did a good job and had good info.
1. What was the theatre where plays were performed. Theater of Dionysus.
2. Name one kind of play the Greeks had. Comedy, Drama, or Tradgedy.
3. What were the short plays in between acts that made fun of the previous play. Satyr.

Madi
She did a good job with good info. 100/100
1. What were most building made of. Limestone.
2. Who made the statue of Athena in the Partenon. Phidias.
3. Why are not many statues left over. Because they were melted down for their Limestone.

Presenting my Project in class today!!

      Today in class we had a lot of people present their projects. Emily S went and told us about the trial of Socrates. Elena went and talked about Greek poetry. Rachel went and taught about Greek Architecture. Emily told about how people had to come up with charges like Impiety and corruption of young mens minds to charge him. We also learned how he had chances to escape from death but stayed the way the people chose, a very heroic thing to do. Rachel taught us about the three types of pillars which were ionic,doric, and corinthian. She also told us about how the Parthenon was built with simple Doric pillars. Elena taught us about a lot of poets and types of poetry. Types of poetry were pre classical, classical, Hellenistic, and roman age. We also learned about poets like Pindar, and Homer who might not even have existed. I then presented my project on the Age of Pericles which I thought went well. We will continue presenting Tuesday.

Grades in class today.

Emily S

She did good and her project taught me a lot I didn't know about the trial of Socrates. It was very good but it wasn't perfect 95/100

1. Name one charge that Socrates was charged with. Answer is Impiety or Corruption of young mens minds.

2. How was Socrates put to death. Answer is he had to drink the poisonous drink Hemlock that killed him.

3. How old was he when he was put to death. Answer is he was around 70 years old. 

Rachel

She did a very good job on her project and explained Greek architecture well. She had a lot of details but didn't know a few things but other than that is was very good and well done. 97/100

1. What were the three types of pillars. Answer is Doric, Corinthian, and ionic.

2. What type of pillars was the Parthenon built with. It was built with the simple Doric Pillars. 

3. At what time was there not much Architecture in Greece. Answer from the end of the Mycaenean period to the 7th century. 

Elena. 

Her project was good. She had a lot of information and taught me a lot about the subject. She didn't know some things so it wasn't perfect. 90/100

1. What were the stages of poetry in Greece. The answer is Pre-Classical, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman Age.

2. Who was the first Woman poet that also sung. The answer is Sappho.

3. Who was the blind poet who was thought to maybe not even exist. The answer is Homer, the blind poet.

More Presentations in class today.

     Today in class we had more presentations on Greece. Colleen went and reported on ancient Greek philosophers. Amir tried to go but the computer projector didn't work so we couldn't do that. Colleen's was all about ancient Greek Philosophers. It taught me a lot of things I didn't know like philosophers I never heard off like Thales and the Epicureans. I also thought the Epicurean idea of happiness was very interesting. We also learned from Mr.Schick how Socrates taught and how he would make you think about everything. He said something like if you don't understand what you believe life isn't worth living. Amir's project was on the Hellanistic age but didn't work right. He will get to go tomorrow along with me. I will present mine on The Age of Pericles tomorrow, hopefully.

Colleen's Project on Greek Philosophers.

     Colleen had a good project with a lot of information. It was well put together and informative with a lot of detail and information about Greek philosophers. It covered many different Philosophers and was good. She did just read off the slide sometimes though.
95/100

Three Questions.
1. What did the Epicureans believe in. Answer is they believed that you should make yourself happy and you can do this by wanting less and being happy with what you have.
2.What was Socrates interested in. He was interested in Ethics.
3. What is so special about Thales. Answer- He is considered to be the first Western Philosopher.

Presenting the first two projects in class today.

     Today we presented the first two Greek projects in class today. Emily Waite and Rita went. Emily's was about scientific and mathematical breakthroughs in ancient Greece. Rita's was about Homer the blind poet. I learned new things like how Greeks didn't like algebra and instead focused on geometry. I learned how Greeks discovered the Pythagorean Theorum and how it was discovered by Pythagoras. From Rita's project I learned that Homer might not have been real but just a legend that people spread around saying he told these stories to people. Tomorrow Colleen, Emily.S, and I will present. My Project is on the Golden Age of Greece or the Age of Pericles. My project is also a slideshow.

Rita's Project on Greece.

Rita did a good job. She just read off of the slides though and stopped a lot of times. 

89/100

My three questions are

1. What two famous poems did Homer write. Answer is the Illiad and the Odyssey. 
2. Around what time was Homer born. The answer is around 8th or 9th century BC.
3. What was so special about Homer. He was a blind poet. 

Emily Waite's project

She did a good job of giving information. She read straight off of the slides though which wasn't good. She did bring in pie though so that make up for it.
My three questions are

1. Who created the pythagorean Theorum and what is it. Pythagoras created it and it is A2+B2=C2
2. Who discovered displacement. Answer is Archimedes. 
3. Who discovered things about eclipses and suppoively taught Pythagoras. the answer is Thales. 
4. 
   

93/100 A

Perfecting our Powerpoints on Greece.

     Today in class we worked on our powerpoints some more. Mr.Schick showed us his powerpoint that he made for a class he takes as an example of what a good presentation would be. He basically said that for it to be good you just have to not put a whole bunch of information on one slide. Instead put smaller bullets and then explain them on your own and not just read off of the slides. My powerpoint is on the age of Pericles. I found out things like how art, culture, and science developed. I also learned about economic, political, and military developments in this age. Tomorrow we will begin to present our projects to the class. We will present them like we are teaching a lesson to the class on Greece.