Nero

Today in West Civ, we watched this video on a Roman empire named, Nero. Apparently he was really insane and crazy. From what I saw in the video, he seemed like a weirdo. He wanted to use all this money to rebuild Rome, and since they didn't have enough money, they robbed the temples and used that money. Some people in the Senate wanted to murder him and someone told, so people were threatening to kill someone. It was really strange. I think that this guy Nero is really creepy and the movie is also really strange.

Julius Caesar

• Senate Murdered Caesar 
• most of them came in with hidden knives and stabbed him
• Not all of the senate took part
• Best friend Brutus even murdered him 
• Shakespeare 
• Wrote story called "Julius Caesar"
• "Et tu, Brute?"
• Even You?
• Supposed to be his last words 
• No one know what his last word actually was 
• Octavian-AKA Caesar Augustus 
• Caesar's grand-nephew 
• Became known as Caesar Augustus 
• August: means to be revered/honor
• Nearly a god in the people's eyes
• Became leader at age 18 
• Begins the Pax Romana - a period of peace and prosperity 
• Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)
• Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service 
• Dies at age 76 in A.D.14, and passes power to...
• Tiberius 
• Jesus
• Was a Roman Citizen and a Jew
• At 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31-33), preaching to the poor (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 
• Wikipedia says Jesus is a "historical figure" 
• Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and message 
• He travels far and wide 
• He writes letters to many of those he spoke to- these epistles are 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
• Muhammad, Newton, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, and St. Paul of Tarsus 

Ancient Rome Video

Today in West Civ, we watched a video called "Ancient Rome Video." We were going to watch it on the projector but the speakers were not working. Since the speakers weren't working, we watched it on our laptops instead. Here are some notes that took:

• Gaul vs. Romans
• Caesar
• Alesia, Gaul 52 B.C.
• Titus Labienus
• General, Caesar's Army
• Garius Crastinus
• Veteran Centurion 
• Mark Antony 
• General, Caesar's army
• Rome wins; Caesar Wins 

Notes from Textbook

Today in West Civ, we took notes on the textbook. Mr. Schick told us what was important, and what to underline. It makes it easier because then we know exactly what is important and what we need to know for the test. After we would underline something, Mr. Schick would explain it. Tomorrow maybe we will take more notes or maybe we will do something else.

Outline Pg. 99-101

Soldiers, Warlords, and Civil War

• With the changes in Rome's society and politics, the character of its armies and their commanders also changed 
• The soldiers began looking for these benefits to their own commanders
• The first of the civil wars took place between 88-82 B.C. 

Sulla abolished the traditional limits on the power of the Senate but also made sure to pay off his soldiers with generous land grants

• Rome's first experiment with one-man rule had not been encouraging, and the Senate and the other institutions of the Republic returned to their traditional functioning 
• Julius Caesar
• Came from an old patrician family 
• Triumvirate: in ancient Rome, an alliance of three politicians that enabled them to control the Republic's decision making

Foreign Conquest, Civil War, and Supreme Power

• With the help of his new friends, Caesar won an appointment as proconsul of a province that included the southern regions of Gaul 
• Meanwhile, on Rome's eastern frontier, Crassus had led an army to crushing defeat by the neighboring empire of Parthia 
• Pompey was hastily commissioned to defend the Senate, but his forces were no match for Caesar's veterans 
• Caesar moved swiftly to make himself supreme ruler of the Republic
• Caesar used his new powers to attack the grave problems facing Rome 

Assassination and Another Caesar

• Romans at home and abroad applauded Caesar's deeds, but there remained a stubborn core of senators who were disturbed by his successes
• Caesar's murder did not restore the Republic, it caused more civil wars
• Mark Antony and Octavian were rival loyalists of Caesar, and each managed to attract some of Caesar's legions, which they used to fight a brutal war against each other in Italy 
• "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
• The partners then divided the Roman world, with Octavian based in Rome, Lepidus in North Africa, and Mark Antony in Alexandria 
• Finally, in 31 B.C., the rulers of the two halves of Rome's empire went to war 

Presenting Projects

Today in West Civ, Carly, Ellie, and I presented our projects. We made a PowerPoint and made food. Each of us talked about the food that we made and then gave everyone one. I think that we did pretty well. After we presented, another group presented their project. This group made food also. I think that they made some sort of cake. We had to grade the other groups and say how they did with their presentations.I don't like grading other peoples projects. Tomorrow I think that other groups will will present their projects.

Before Spring Break

Today, I was not in West Civ. I had the induction for the National Art Honors Society. The ceremony was also for Quill and Scroll. We  had a ceremony and guest speaker. Then we got our certificates and flowers. On my certificate, my name was written "Harley" instead of "Hailey". I found it really funny. Since I wasn't in West Civ, I missed taking the test. I made up the test after the ceremony. I thought that it was alright, some were hard. I got confused when the questions were asking about monarchy and stuff like that. I think that I did pretty well though. I am so excited because today is our last day before spring break. I am glad that we have a good amount of days off. Now, I am glad that we did Cyber Day's, because we still have our days off!

More Notes on Rome

Roman Legion

• The soldiers
• If you needed to attack someone they would do it
• The "police"
• or army
• divided into two section
•  one legion is 5000 people
• They didn't get paid
• They wanted to do it to defend there country
• Century:
• 80 people
• Infantry
• soldiers on foot marching
• "ground troops"
• Cavalry:
• men on horse back
• If they could shoot on a horse you were really talented

Punic Wars

• Carthage vs. Rome
• 3 wars
• Rome won all
• First was trying to win Cecily
• Second with Hannibal riding on elephants
• idea was to go up and down the peninsula, but could never get to Rome
• Never knew that Carthage was coming in from the north
• If Carthage won, it would have been the end of the Roman Empire
• Third was Romans attacks Carthage 

• Latifundia:
• A huge estate of farms that people buy
• Farmers can't cope, they are low on hope, so they move to Rome
• Gracchus brothers:
• Rich are getting richer
• Poor are getting poor
• Came up with a reasonable solution
• Give some land back
• The law got passed
• Senate got made and beat Tibirius to death with a chair and threw his body in the river  

• People buy up family farms
• Made chickens have bigger breasts as a way to get more money
• But for the chicken that isn't fair

Ancient Roman Cookies

Today in West Civ, we worked on our projects. Carly, Ellie, and I made a Google Docs for our project. I made a couple of slides about the cookies. I am making a couple of slides that has the ingredients in cookies, how they originated, and pictures of making the cookies. I am going to make a test batch, and then I am going to make a good batch to bring in. I am glad that we were able to work on it in class, because it helped get stuff done. Tomorrow I hope that we can work on the project tomorrow also.

Notes On Romans

Etruscans  

• Made grid sections
• Master Road builders 
• Roads were mostly muddy dirt piles when it rained
• Helped people get places quickly 
• They had to be dependable
• Introduced gladiator fighting which was a huge part of Roman identity
• Made people not realize how bad there lives were  
• The arch was another Etruscan breakthrough 
• Coliseums were where they mad Christians go against lions 
• We got our language for the Latins 

• Plebeians were the lowest class
• They ran stores and grew food
• Patricians were highest up
• The consuls were two of them
• Senate: the aristocrats if your dad was in it, you would be too
• 12 Tables- First laws 
• This helped the Plebeians, they got in trouble for things that weren't illegal 
• Assembly was like the senate but for Plebeians 
• IF you were elected to the Assembly you were called a tribune 
• Aristocracy-Senate
• Democracy-Assembly 
• Monarchy-2 consuls 
• There was two so not one would become two powerful
• If they needed a person to make a quick decision they would use a dictator
• You were only dictator for 6 months, to get you through the crisis 
• The consuls were in power for 1 year. Then, you could only run again after 10 years 

Homework

• Rome and Carthage fought in the Punic Wars.
• Rome won all of the wars 

Roman Food

Today in West Civ, we decided to work on our project. Ellie, Carly, and I are making food. I am going to make a Roman cookie. The ingredients include honey, flour, butter, and sesame seeds. I am not sure if it is going to taste good at all, but we will see. I will probably make a test batch to see if they taste good. Carly got a cookbook on Roman foods and she is going to pick something from their to make. I am pretty sure that Ellie is going to make cheese balls or something. I hope that our project turns out great.

Outlining the Chapter

Today in West Civ, we went through the chapter in the book and underlined what is important. This was very helpful because now we know what we have to study for the test. I hate when we have to outline the chapter, because I don't know what is considered important. I know that the vocab words and things in quotes are important. Also, usually the first sentence in the paragraph is important. I liked having Mr. Schick tell us what we had to underline because we are sure that we will not miss anything and it is a lot less time consuming. I wonder what we are going to do tomorrow in West Civ.

Rome

Today in West Civ, we got our tests back, and started to take notes on Rome. I got a 93% on the test which is very good. For the question about which country wasn't a member of "Western Civilization"? I put United States, but the correct answer is China. Also circa means circa, about, and around. Also Greek city-states resembled counties, not states. I got all the others correct, I just have to remember the Aegean is in the middle, and Ionian is on the left side. Today, some of the notes we took today were about Rome. We learned about the myth Romulus and Remus and how they were raised by a wolf. Romulus was how Rome got its name. We also learned about how Rome was a combo of three governments, monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The United States copied the Romans on that. I think tomorrow we are going to continue to take notes on the Romans.

Rome Rap

Today in West Civ, Mr. Schick did a rap about Rome. He let us video tape it. Mr. Schick wrote it and recorded it himself. It was pretty good. The rap was about Rome and facts about it. The rap was to the song Low. After Mr. Schick did the rap, he told us about what we are going to do for the Rome chapter. We are going to have an 100 point test before we go on break and then when we come back, we present our projects. I am in a group with Ellie and Carly. I think that we are going to make food that the people in ancient Rome ate. I wonder how this project is going to end up. We have to finish it before break, so we don't have to work on it during break.