Review for test 2morrow

Middle Ages= medieval period
Ad 476- AD 1453

New society has roots in:
-classical heritage of Rome
-beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
-customs of various Germanic tribes

Overrun the western half of the roman empire
causing:
-disruption of trade
-downfall of cities
-population shifts to rural areas

Invasions led to decline of learning

Germanic warrior' loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them with food, weapons, and treasure

Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks
- in 496 he has a battlefield conversion- he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians
- by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners

In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks:
-vows of povery9live simply in monasteries)
-chastity (no martial relations)
-obedience (listen to church superiors)

Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies(theocracy)

Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer
-hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours

Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Greta is Martel's second son.

Charlemagne
-six foot four
-built the greatest empire since Rome
-fought the Muslim
-his government kept close watch on his huge estates

Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the treaty of Verdun

Some old and new notes

Germanic Kingdoms Unite under Charlemagne
476 AD- Roman Empire broke down
-When Romulus Augustulus was deposed as the emperor

476-1453 AD
(From the end of the roman empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks)

This new society has roots in:
-classical heritage of Rome
-beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
-customs of various Germanic tribes

5th century Germanic invaders
-overrun the western half of the Roman Empire
causing:
-disruption of trade
-downfall of cities
-population shifts to rural areas

effects of Invasion
-decline of learning
-tribes had an oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin
-Romance languages evolve: French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian
-Few besides priests were literate.

-Germanic warriors were loyal to the lord and protected him.

520, Benedict writes rules for monks:
-vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)
-chastity ( no martial relations)
-obedience (listen to church superiors)

-Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
(this is a theocracy)

Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732. If hammer did not win, the Muslims could have blown through all of Europe, making it the Muslim Empire.


Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
-He works with the Church and is named "king by the grace of God" by the Pope.
-Pepin the Short dies in 768, leaving two sons
-Son #1(Carloman) dies in 771
-Son #2(Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great)
      -He was six feet, four inches

Charles the Bald and Louis the German split up the kingdom at the treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

review and stories :D

We talked about the exam and some of the essay questions..

Describe how Christianity evolved into a full-fledged religion?

Also Mr. Schick talked about how he wanted to be a priest when he was in high school. he said that Mass was every day and that the school he went to, there was like 50-100 kids in the whole school. He said that lots of people would leave the school because of being home sick or because they just changed their minds about becoming a priest.

he told about the tornado that hit his school in Chicago, April 1967. He was saying that the sky was green and they hid underneath a mattress. The tornado sounded like a freight train rolling right over them. He said he was off a school for about a week.

A European evolves
1. Franks control largest European kingdom
      a. The roman province known as Gaul
      b. Rules by Clovis- the Merovingian Dynasty
2. major Domo- mayor of the palace- ruled the kingdom
3. Charles Martel- Charles the Hammer
      a. extended the Franks reign to the north, south, and east
      b. Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the battle of Tours

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne

-Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
-Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us come from.

Middle Ages- medieval period(500-1500 AD)
-Medieval Europe is fragmented

Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
1. Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
      a. Disruption of trade
            i. Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
            ii. Money is scarce

      b. Downfall of cities
            i. Cities are no longer centers of administration

      c. Population shifts
            i. Nobles retreat to the rural areas
            ii. Cities don't have strong leadership

2. Decline of learning
      a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition.
     
      b. Only priests and church officials could read and write

      c. Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost

3. Loss of a common language
     a. Dialects develop in different regions

     b. By the 800's, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin

Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
1. The concept of government changes
      a. Roman society: loyal to public government

      b. Germanic society: loyal to family
            I. Germanic chief led warriors
            ii. During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall).
            iii. During wartime, warriors fought for the lord

      c. "The king? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"

      d. Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul - their leader is Clovis

2. The Franks under Clovis
      a. Another  battlefield conversion (Just like Constantine)
    
       b. Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
     
      c. The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
    
      d. Clovis and the Church begin to work together

Equation

Clovis' military expertise + the Church's support and money= A strategic alliance between two powerful forces

Germanic People adopt Christianity
1. 511 AD- Clovis unite Franks into one kingdom
2. 600 AD- Church+ Frankish rulers convert many
      a. Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians

Monasteries and Convents
      a. 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
            I. Poverty, chastity, obedience, study
     
      b. His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents

      c. 731 AD- The Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England

      d. Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (Bibles, Greek texts)

(Pope) Gregory I expands papal power
      a. papacy- pope's office
      b. Secular power- worldly power
      c. So...under Gregory the Great

-Papal power(power of the pope) is political power presented from the pope's palace

     d. The can use church money to:
            1.raise armies
            2. repair roads
            3. help the poor
     e. Gregory the Great began to act as many of Rome and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christiandom)

Notes

Feudalism- a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances
      In other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you

-vassals will look over the rich guy's land

The Feudal pyramid(top to bottom)
-King
-The most powerful Vassals(Nobles and Bishops)
-Knights- mounted warriors who received fiefs for defending their lord's land
-Peasants(mostly serfs)- landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-less, just working the land for "the man" (their lord)

manor- the lord's estate
-The lord's manor house
-A church
-Some workshops
-15-30 families
-All on a few square miles

Good news- It's a self-sufficient community
Bad news- It's harsh if you're a peasant

Peasants are poor and pay high taxes
-tax on grain
-tax on marriage
to be continued..

Rome fades away

Two Emperors

Diocletian
-he rules from 284-303
-it's cool to persecute Christians
-Rome needs a big army (400,00 strong)
-Rome needs a big government (20,00 officials)

Constantine
-he rules from 306-337
-it's cool BE a Christian
-conversion to Christianity via a cross in the sky (conquer by this!)
-313- his Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
-built a new capital in the east
      -Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

Edict of Milan
The agreement shifted Christianity from being an illicit, persecuted sect to being a welcome—and soon dominant—religion of the Roman Empire.

-It came out of a two-man summit meeting in the northern Italian city of Milan in January 313. The two men were the Roman emperors—Constantine ruling the West and Licinius the East. They met “under happy auspices,” as their joint communiqué put it. After years of power struggles for the imperial purple, the Roman world enjoyed a degree of peace. And after the failure of the Great Persecution (initiated by the emperors Diocletian and Galerius in 303–304), the Christian church had begun to recover its stability. Constantine and Licinius turned their minds to matters affecting the general welfare of the Empire.

The Edict of Milan is a proclamation that gave religious toleration.

The struggle of the peasants, Life in the Fourth Century
-country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection
-new farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
-peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
-paying off debts and being "allowed" to love on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work (such a deal!!)
-landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
-Foreshadowing feudalism

The western Empire crumbles
-Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
-western Empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
-Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
-Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
-Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean

Other barbarian tribes
-Ostrogoths in Italy
-Franks in Gaul
-Angles and Saxons in Britain

End of an era
500 BC- the monarchy is abolished
450 BC- the Twelve Tables are established

through the glory days
44 BC-end of the line for Julius Caesar
27 BC-180 AD- the roman Peace (Pax Romana)

to the bitter end
-constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
-The last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
-Barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

Review for test tomorrow

Q:Specifically, where did the first Indo-Europeans settle around 750 BC?

A:On the shores of the Tiber River, in the low-lying "Seven Hills" of central Italy. perfectly located. In the middle of Italy. In the middle of the Mediterranean sea, which was (thought to be) the center of the world. Its fate!

Q: What three groups of people dominated the culture of early Rome?

A: Latin's, Etruscans, Greeks

-Tarquin the proud was last of the Etruscan kings, he ruled as a tyrant from 534-510 C. He was run out of Rome by a scandal.

-Ruled by Etruscan kings (monarchy) who were advised by rich patricians (the Senate- an aristocracy)
After Tarquin (no more tyranny), the gov't became res republica (the peoples business), or republic (Like the Greek democracy)

Patrician- upper class , landowning, established, connected, powerful
Plebian- common people, workers, small-time farmers, some wealthy non-patricians
Senate-gov't assembly of 300 9unpain) patricians, appointed for life; first by kings, then consuls
Consuls- two senators who led the gov't and military for one-year terms; could veto each other
Tribunes- leaders of the plebian assembly; first rather powerless, gaining ground over the years

-The Twelve tables marked the first time that laws were written down, they set up protection of the plebeians who were getting pushed around by patricians, and were publically displayed in the Forum (450 BC)

-The Roman republic serves as a model for The Constitution of the US and its separation of powers and for the Senate, Assemblies-USS Senate, House of Reps- Consuls, Dictator-president of the US, Senate could act like judges-like our Supreme Court

-The rich could only serve in the Senate because members were not paid, but worked their way up from low-ranking magistrates to higher ones. They needed to spend a lot to look good, popular, and powerful, making them electable. Plebs couldn't afford to do that.

-The kings who ruled between 600 and 500 BC ordered the building of the Forum, Rome's political center.

More notes

Test Review

The first emperor was Caesar Augustus
Caesar began the Pax Romana

Notes

Caligula
-In addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great-nephew- putting him next in line for emperor
-he started off well: granting bonuses to those in the military, declaring treason trials a thing of the past, and made government spending matter of public record
-All in all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful" (according to the historian Philo)..but then..
-he began to fight with the Senate
-He claimed to be a god, and had statues displayed in many places- including the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (sacrilege)
-Other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other men's wives and bragging about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest (at least that's what his critics said)
-Assassinated by his own aides, AD 42 (aged 28)

Next in line: Claudius
-ostracized by his family because of his disabilities (limp, slight deafness, possible speech impediment- thought to be cerebral palsy or polio), he was the last adult male in his family when Caligula was killed
-he rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts; he renovated the Circus Maximus
-had an awful marriage to Messalina, who was quite often unfaithful to him, even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius through a coup- so Claudius had them killed

Meanwhile religious troubles
-Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
-Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
-AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for one wall)
-The Western Wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines
-Half a million Jews died in the rebellion

Persecution of Christians
-Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor
-Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
-Often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colisseum (thrown to the lions, etc.)
-Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200, around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians

notes

Assassination and Another Caesar
Caesar had become a Greek-style tyrant- and there was a traditional and honorable way of getting rid of tyrants. On the ides of March, 44 B.C., Caesar appeared in the Senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers. Caesar's murder did not restore the Republic; instead, his death produced they another crop of warlords and yet more bouts of civil war. The main contenders were Mark Antony, once a commander under Caesar and now a consul; the leading assassins, Brutus and Cassius; and Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, the youthful Octavian Caesar. 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. Then, however, they joined forces against Caesar's assassins; formed another triumvirate together with a lesser warlord, Marcus Lepidus; eliminated opponents in a new reign of terror in Rome; and defeated Cassius and Brutus in battle in Greece.

Pg 103
Within the empire, the Roman version of Greco-Roman civilization prevailed in the Western territories, and the Greek version was dominant in the East. Roman literature and art, philosophy and law, architecture and engineering were often inspired by Greek models, but Roman achievements in these fields eventually equaled or surpassed those of the Greeks and became just as much an inspiration and model for future Western development.

West- native languages of conquered European barbarian peoples began to be replaced by Latin
East- Egyptian hieroglyphic writing fell out of use.

LO1(rule of emperors)
Soon after Octavian's triumph at Actium, the Senate conferred on him a new title, Augustus, the name under which he has gone down in history. Now he was the supreme ruler.

Augustus
-Confirmed as commander by arrangement with the Senate in 27 B.C.
-In return of being confirmed as commander, he permitted the Senate to supervise Italy and the city of Rome, as well as provinces where no soldiers were stationed
-He had proscribed and put to death many opponents in the Senate and replaced them with his friends and allies.
-He still summoned the assemblies from time to time
-He followed the dictator's even more arrogant-seeming example of accepting religious worship of himself.
-He also acquired the title "Father of the Fatherland"
-He passed laws of adultery by women and against both men and women who failed to marry
-he showed respect for local institutions and encouraged provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibilities
-He married a woman named Livia, but never managed to have children
-He brought the system of government appointments under his personal control.
-He reorganized the army to ensure the loyalty of the rank-and-file soldiers
-Augustus and his successors broke with the Roman tradition of citizen-soldiers to create the world's first professional standing army.

Augustus was convinced that if Rome's new peace and stability were to last, the changes he had made in its government system must continue after his death. Having no son's of his own, Augustus finally settled on Tiberius, Livia's son from her first marriage, as the next princeps. Tiberius was already experienced in government and trusted by the army, for Augustus had made sure that men of his family got their share of leading magistracies and high military commands. Augustus adopted Tiberius as his own son, so as to give him the necessary hereditary standing.

In this way, the Augustan settlement brought two hundred years of relative stability and prosperity that have gone down in history as the Pax Romana, the era of the Roman Peace

Roman Empire

We talked about how Caesar was stabbed by the Senate because of how he was helping out the poor and the aristocrats were losing power. Then, Octavian takes over at the age of 18.

Octavian, also know as Caesar Augustus takes over at the age of 18
-Begins the Pax Roman- a Period of peace and prosperity
-Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)
-Set up civil service to take care of roads, to grain supply, even a postal service
-Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power to Tiberius

From Jesus to Christianity(the historical 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 Jew) nervous, and they began to plan his execution
-The governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (promoted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

The word spreads about the risen Jesus
-Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, and message
-He travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britain

Julius Caesar

We reviewed a little bit on the Gracchus brothers, talking about the Latifundia.

Notes
Proletarians-the lowest class of the Roman Citizens

With the changes in Rome's society and politics, the character of its armies and their commanders also changed. Instead of the farmer-soldiers of old, it was now landless and property less proletarians who were drafted to fill the ranks of the legions. This new type of soldier proved just as courageous and tough as the old one, and throughout the first century B.C., Rome's empire expanded faster than ever. But Rome's citizen-soldiers were now "semi professionals" who fought largely in the hope of bettering themselves through pay, loot, promotion, and above all grants of land or money to provide them with a living when they were discharged . And small farms for veterans were precisely what the senate had shown itself too greedy and shortsighted to provide.

Julius Caesar came from an old patrician family that had come down in the world, and he entered the city's politics as a young man determined to regain the fame and power of his ancestors. In 60 BC he began to collaborate with Pompey, an officer promoted by Sulla who had conquered many eastern Mediterranean lands. The two allies formed a triumvirate(three-man board), together with another former henchman of Sulla, Marcus Crassus, that was for a time the dominant political force in Rome.
Caesar won an appointment as proconsul of a province that included the southern regions of Gaul, a territory stretching all the way from northern Italy and the Mediterranean coast to the Rhine River and the Atlantic Ocean. The Gauls, as the inhabitants were called, were a branch of the Celtic peoples, the predominant barbarian ethnic group across most of western Europe and the British Isles.

Crassus had led an army to crushing defeat by the neighboring empire of Parthia, while Pompey had stayed in Rome, growing increasingly jealous of Caesar's success. Finally, with Pompey's support, the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome.

Rubicon- A big decision that you make where you can't go back(in general)

Pompey was hastily commissioned to defend the Senate, but his forces were no match for Caesar's veterans. Forced to flee from Italy, Pompey was later defeated by Caesar in Greece and murdered in Egypt, where he had taken refuge. After subduing supporters of Pompey and other opponents, the Senate now hailed him, however reluctantly, the Father of the Fatherland- a title recently invented for the Republic's most admired statesman. The people's assemblies continued to exist, but they did little more than endorse Caesar's propels.

Caesar extended Roman citizenship to parts of Gaul and Spain and appointed citizens from the provinces to the Senate. He gave the Romans splendid public buildings and roads, and introduced reforms into every department of administration.

Roman legion

Mr. Schick explained the test coming up on Friday and he talked about the Roman Legion. He reviewed a little on the Punic wars too and talked about the 200 point project.


The roman legion would have 5000 soldiers. It contained cavalry and infantry. The Legion had groups of 80, every group was called a century.  

This has been such an educating blog, I know, but the project, and test study guide is already on Mr. Schick's blog. So....THE END      

Notes

I'm back after being sick all last week. Today we took notes on Rome and talked a little bit on the project that we have to present after we get back from break.

Gracchus Brothers
They thought that the rich should give land back to the people they took it from because they were out fighting in a war and the rich have enough money. They don't need more land.

Is this fair?
In one way, yes. The rich just came in, bought the land and just walked off. The man was out fighting in the war and could not take care of the land. When the man comes back, he'll have nothing. Giving the land back would be good because he'll have a home again.

In another way, no. The rich came in, gave the remaining part of the family on that land, money, got the land and said "See ya!" The rich should give the land back because even though they have lots money, losing it is still bad. If they just gave it back to them, it wouldn't be fair. It's kind of like they just game them money for no reason. If I bought land, I'm going to keep it.

 Latifundia-

a large landed estate or ranch in ancient Rome or more recently in Spain or Latin America, typically worked by slaves.

 

Punic wars

The three Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome took place over nearly a century, beginning in 264 B.C. and ending with the destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C. By the time the First Punic War broke out, Rome had become the dominant power throughout the Italian peninsula, while Carthage–a powerful city-state in northern Africa–had established itself as the leading maritime power in the world.

 

The Punic Wars (from Poeni, the Latin name for the Phoenicians) were waged on land and sea in three vicious rounds between 264 and 146 B.C.

 

First phase

-Rome was able to Carthage out of Sicily, but the North African city kept the rest of its empire.

 

Second

-The Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy, defeated several roman armies, and brought Rome to the brink of defeat. But the loyalty of the Roman armies, the perseverance of their own forces, and their greater manpower, for they were able to draw citizen and allied soldiers from all of Italy, while Carthage relied on smaller mercenary armies, enabled them to triumph. At the end, Carthage was disarmed and helpless.

 

Third

Carthage was captured. In a final act of vengeance, the Senate ordered the city to be leveed, its people sold into slavery, and even the ground on which it had stood to be solemnly cursed. But this was only an epilogue to the main struggle. Already in 202 B.C., Rome had won control of the western Mediterranean.

Roman Scoiety

After getting our test back we had to write either about the Roman society, family, or government. And well..... Family

The community and family
Instead of devoting his life directly to the city-states, as in Sparta, a Roman man belonged first of all to a family and a clan(a group of families descended from a real or mythical forefather). Clans and families, in turn, were held together by fathers. In particular by men who had the status of paterfamilias or "family father." The family father wielded unlimited power, including the power of life and death over everyone in his household, as well as over sons and daughters who left his household upon marriage. Only his wife might not be completely subject to him, if she was still subject to authority of her own father.
      Roman community life was seen as a kind of family life on the larger scale. One of the Republic's most important deities, besides those worshipped on the Capitol, was Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home. In every household, the fire in the hearth was sacred to Vesta and was only put out if the family moved.
      Motherhood, too, was reveled in Rome. A married woman bore the title of matron(Latin word matron meaning "lady mother.") Her "Juno", the divine force of fertility and nourishment that she embodied, was worshipped in the household alongside her husband's genius. She was supposed to live in subordination to her husband, but through strength of personality and authority with her menfolk, she was also expected to contribute to the community as well the family.

Test

We took a test today on Greece. I thought it was pretty easy, not saying that I think I'll get a 100%, but I feel good bout this one. After the test we just sat around, doing homework and other stuff. I got in trouble for playing games which is ridiculous because we weren't doing anything, but its KOOL. I just kind of sat there for 45 minutes looking at a wall.

The fun yet creepy stories

 In the beginning of the class, we got to listen to Laura talk about some very random stories that I think Mr. Schick was very much into(sarcasm) and then we reviewed a lot for the test that we have soon, by looking at the worksheet that we have been taking notes on for like 3 weeks. Mr. Schick told stories about him getting his masters and pronouncing Hippolyta wrong, he told stories about Oedipus killing his father then sleeping with his mother. The list goes on with countless, 1 or 2, stories that he told. We talked about Aplasia, Isagoras, Xerxes, Cleisthenes, Oedipus, Delian League which lead to talking about Russia and the Ukraine, we talked about Salamis, and a little bit on Darius. By the way, I was sick yesterday and couldn't get to blogging, but I'm sure the class was fine.

Great day

So we went to the gym and worked on stuff, but the problem was.. the internet was slower than slow and it took like 30 minutes to get on my blogger. I reviewed a little bit for an upcoming quiz/test and then I worked on some other homework. I wish we could go to the auditorium because the seats would have been A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE. However, the good thing was that Sam was here.

Review and stuff

We reviewed in class today for an upcoming test and we had the last people present their projects. Besides that, Mr. Schick was made fun of and we had a fun time laughing at him all class. Can't wait for tomorrow. We have to go to the auditorium because of teachers being called to this meeting. So, because there will be a lot of teachers out and not enough subs, classes will be brought to the auditorium while being watched by a few teachers. Have fun at the meeting Mr. Schick. Don't fall asleep....

Cyberday Questions

1. Mostly fertile land is not a characteristic of Greece

2. Approximately 2/3 of Greece is covered by mountains

3. barbarian-The word came from the Greek "barbaros," which originally meant "Non-Greek."

4. Megalithic structures are massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs

5. A tribe refers to a social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship.

6. tribes we governed by warrior kings or queens, chieftains, or tribal leaders chosen by warriors.

7.  The first European Barbarians to make contact with civilization were the Greeks.

8. The United States would not be considered a member of western civilization

9. The sea that is west of the Greek mainland is the Ionia Sea.

10 The sea that is east of the Greek mainland is Aegean Sea.

11. The major crops the Aegean people lived on were potatoes, vines and olives

12. The Civilization that arose on the island Crete was the Minoan.

13.  The Mycenaean civilization established settlements along the Greeks mainland southern shore on some islands.

14. The Minoan civilization built massive walls to protect themselves from attack.

15. A period of Greek history in which the population dropped, ships no longer sailed, and writing fell out in use is called the Dark Ages.

16. Following this period, the Greeks joined the Phoenicians as the leading commercial and seafaring nation of the Mediterranean.

17.  The "c" before a date meant "circa"

18.  By 600 BC, Greek city-states dotted the coastlines around the Mediterranean Sea called colonies.

19. Although they varied in size, ancient Greek city-states most closely resembled counties

20. Oligarchy is a form of government in which decisions were made by the majority of adult male citizens.

21. Democracy is a form of government in which decisions were made by the majority of adult male citizens.

22. Tyranny is a form of government in which a self-proclaimed dictator held power.

23. Monarchy is a form of government in which power is held by a single ruler, and is often passed along from father to son.

24. Spartans used Monarchy

25. At age seven was when a Spartan male began their military training.

26. Athens was the wealthiest city-state in the ancient Greek world.

27. Parthenon was the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.

28. Peloponnesus was the name of the southern peninsula where Sparta was located.

29. Phalanxes were massive fighting ships with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships.

30. Hoplite was a heavily armed and armored citizen-soldier of ancient Greece.

Short Answer

1. The Dark Ages began at 1100 B.C. and ended at 800 B.C.

2. Homer told two stories called 'The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"

3.  The word Mediterranean originally meant middle earth.

4.  Aristocrats were  prominent and long-established Athenian land-owners.


THE END

Get Better Mr. Schick

Mr. Schick was out and so we continued with watching the video on the Greeks-Crucible of Civilization. We worked on the worksheet for a little and just took more notes on the video.

Notes:

-Themistocles was an Athenian general and politician of superlative skill and foresight. He fought against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon while a young man, and distinguished himself as the savior of all Greece by persuading Athens to build a navy which went on to defeat Persia at Salamis in 480 B.C.

-As a politician Themistocles appears to have had no tutor other than himself, but rather than prove a hindrance, this was to become his greatest asset. His ability to innovate and to think of a new ways of doing things suited the times.

-Ultimately, the Athenians sided with Themistocles and Aristides went into exile. Immediately work began at break neck speed to build a navy of 200 triremes, the most advanced ships of the Ancient World.But time was running out…
-When the Persian king, Xerxes, invaded Greece in the spring of 480 BC, he did so at the head of a vast army. Once the Spartan force at Thermopylae had been defeated, his route by land to Athens was virtually undefended. Attica was seized by panic.

Pericles was born around 493 BC into a rich aristocratic family. On his mother’s side he was related to the great reformer Cleisthenes. His father was a famous general.

In 451 Pericles introduced a new citizenship law which prevented the son of an Athenian father and a non-Athenian mother becoming a full citizen. The law’s main effect was to curb the power of the aristocrats since if their heirs could not be legally recognized they could no longer forge alliances with aristocrats from other cities. Ironically, it would have major consequences for Pericles own private life.

Started in 447 the Parthenon was masterminded by Pericles who took personal responsibility for the whole project.

The spectacular defeat of the Persians at Salamis in 480 led to the formation of a more permanent alliance. Three years later negotiations, led by Aristides of Athens, began on the Greek island of Delos. The result was the Delian League, a sort of ancient equivalent to NATO.

projects

Today we watched the rest of the presentations. We watched Arri's video on Sparta and it made the whole class laugh so hard. Mr. Schick told us about when his daughter taught a class of seniors a long time ago. It was very entertaining. There are still like 2 presentations to watch.

Get better

Mr. Schick was sick today, so we got to have an extra day to work on the project if we didn't get to finish every little thing. Even though, I was up until midnight working on it. But, it was good to just do nothing and relax.

More on the video

We continued watching the video while Mr. Schick was on the senior retreat. Fabs was our sub. 

Notes
In the years before Cleisthenes’ was born, the most influential man in the city had been Solon, an unselfish and model aristocratic reformer who became known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Solon had sought to limit the excessive powers of the nobility and restore Athens to a state of ‘eunomia’, or ‘good order’. To achieve this he had created a Council of Four Hundred men whose job was to represent the population as a whole, and encouraged the people, especially the aristocrats, to be responsible for their city, not just themselves.

When Pisistratus became tyrant of Athens in 547 BC it marked a change of direction for city-state and the surrounding land of Attica, which despite its large size and power was overshadowed by many of the other city-states of Greece. During the long period of his rule, Pisistratus sought to correct this.

When Hippias was driven out of the city in 510 BC, Athens celebrated its liberation from tyranny. Now in his 60s, Cleisthenes, the man who more than anyone had brought that liberation about, could sense power was within his grasp. He had at last lived up to the heroic myths he’d been brought up with since childhood.
But almost immediately another nobleman, Isagoras, emerged to challenge his power.
Cleisthenes responded by appealing for supporters far beyond the normal factions of the aristocracy, proposing a series of sweeping reforms that would appeal to the ordinary people of Athens. It was a bold move that forced his opponent Isagoras to dramatically up the stakes.

After Cleisthenes captured Hippias, he became the most powerful in Greece.

According to tradition the first Olympics took place in 776 BC. While one legends claims the games were established by Heracles (Hercules), who brought a sacred olive tree to Olympia, an alternative myth has the hero Pelops (from which the name of the Peloponnese region of Greece originates) establish the festival after defeating King Oenomaus in a chariot race.

Video

We watched a video on Greece and Sparta learning about a city-state's way of life, military, rulers and their accomplishments. Since I was sick yesterday I didn't get to see the first 10 minutes but Im sure it wasn't much. We were told that the project due Friday is now due on Monday which gives those procrastinators some extra time.

Notes on video
Halot- a person who was captured by Sparta then turned into a slave
Aristocrat- member of the ruling class

When Cleisthenes ruled, there were 1000 city-states

Help me Jesus

We watched 2 videos on Baltimore and Los Angeles. We compared how each commercial was presented in terms of music, scenes, etc. We were then introduced to the assignment where we have to make our own commercial, showing off Athens or Sparta. It's worth a lot of points and I am scared. The Baltimore video we saw made us cry because of how boring we are. When I looked at the Los Angeles video I just was speechless. It went from showing you buildings and old people to like electro music and great scenery with sports, celebrities, the zoo, the aquarium, and much, much more. We don't have to do the assignment, because we are American, as stated by Bob, but there goes our education and then we will just lose our minds, picking up can in Los Angeles for nickels.

new teacher

Today Andrew was out teacher, presenting his like 7 page word document filled with notes and had pictures as well...making it the best presentation EVAR. Mr. Schick was examining him and every now and then, he would tell us that some of the things Andrew was saying, was going to be on the test. Grant broke his computer and couldn't do anything and Sam was here. We just went over the notes we took on Monday with Athens and Sparta, so we didn't really learn anything else new.  However I did learn that the land, which Sparta lies is called Peloponnesia.

More on Greece

Geography
Mountainous Peninsula
      3/4 of Greece
Approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
-Location shaped its culture
-Skilled sailors
-Poor natural resources
-Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small; independent communities
-Approximately 20% suitable for farming
-Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula
-Because of geography the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives
-Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
-Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer

Mycenaean's
Began around 2000B.C.
-Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall
-Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600 to 1200 B.C.
            controlled trade in the region
-1400 B.C. Mycenaean's invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language
"Mediterania"-the middle of the earth

Culture in Decline
-Around 1200 B.C. sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
-The Dorian's moved into the war-torn region
  -far less advanced                                                              <<<<<Dark Ages
  -economy collapsed
  -writing disappeared for 400 years

Homer and Myths
-Stories were passed on by word of mouth
-Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
-Recorded stories of the Trojan War in the Iliad and The Odyssey
    -Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaean's
    -Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter
-The Iliad was an epic poem and was written in verse and it was huge

LO3

Greek City sates were small places, generally consisting of no more than a town and a few square miles of surrounding countryside.


Athens and Sparta
     -were about the same size as a couple of U.S.counties
     -were fiercely competitive
     -constantly fought each other
     -most important civic activity was worshipping a god or goddess


Athens
    - population may have reached as many as 250,00
    - Was built around a hill, at the top stood an acropolis
    - city of the goddess Athena(Athena's temple, Parthenon, overlooked the whole city)

acropolis- a combination of temple and fortress precinct

Greece was protected by many miles of land and sea. With no universal empire to keep them in order, the city-states were free to struggle among themselves. They occupied a land that was far less wealthy than Mesopotamia or Phoenicia. In their conflicts with one another, they could not afford professional soldiers or large cavalry forces.  Instead they came to rely mainly on infantry armies made up of their own male citizens. They equipped themselves with bronze helmets and armor, round shields, long spears with iron blades, and short iron swords.
    They fought in formidable shock units of several hundred men each know as phalanxes or "rollers. Poorer citizens fought as light armed infantry, harassing the enemy ahead of the phalanx's charge or covering its vulnerable flanks.

Each city state was believed to have been founded and developed by a family or clan descended from a divine or semi divine founder.

Government

Vocab
monarchy- government by kings
oligarchy- government by few
tyranny- the rule of a tyrant
democracy- literally, government by the common people)

Monarchy
Citizen armies gave way to new forms of government that distributed power more widely among male citizens.

Oligarchy
A minority of citizens dominated the government, and the power of the majority was limited in various ways. Many city states in mainland Greece were oligarchies, above all Sparta.

Tyranny
Self proclaimed dictator who held power partly by force, partly by exploiting internal divisions, and partly by providing efficient government.

Democracy
All government decisions were made by the majority of male citizens.

Sparta
Decedents of the Greeks who had conquered part of the southern mainland, the territory of Lanconia. By the 8th century B.C., they were a minority of landholders ruling over a majority of helots, decedents of earlier Greek immigrants.

Through the Laconian helots were the relatively well treated and even fought in the army, the Messenians were harshly exploited, never accepted their defeat, and often rebelled. To hold down the helots, the Spartan citizens had to accept a government system that put them under almost total domination by a few among themselves.

The Spartan government was a leading example of oligarchy


Spartan Life
Women were the organizers, they had to set up fairs, etc. but they didn't have power when it came t politics.
Boys were taken from their families at age 7 and they were taught manly behavior and reading as well as writing. They also had to undergo a life long routine of physical toughening and military training.

To protect their harsh and rigid way of life, the Spartans tried to seal off their city state from outside influences. Sparta had little contact with foreigners; it discouraged trade and showed visitors little hospitality.

The state did not control women as rigorously as men, and for long periods they lived apart from their husbands, so that they led relatively free and active lives.

Persian Wars
Persians conquered a realm that stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean. For the first time, a universal empire had come within striking distance of the Greeks, and the Persians were able to bring the Greek city states in the west of Asia Minor under their rule.

490 B.C. Persians lost the first battle to the Athenians at Marathon. Ten years later, in a sea battle off the island of Salamis near Athens, the Athenian navy smashed the Persian fleet. On land a small spartn force held up Xerxes' army in their renowned suicidal stand at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

After Athens was burnt down, Democracy came into effect with the new Athens. The leader of the democratic Athens after the victory over Persia, was an aristocrat named Pericles.

Assembly
Meetings were held once a week and there was usually less than 5 thousand citizens attending.
-The Assembly met in the marketplace of Athens(agora), later it met on the slopes of a nearby hill(the Pnyx)
-Voting was by a show of hands.

Aliens
The 50,000 or so resident aliens were a very varied group. Some were wealthy business men, or independent women like Aspasia, who socialized on equal terms with the "fine and noble" citizens. Many were owners of stores and workshops, hardly different from citizens in the same lines of business.

Slaves
They were the powerless and the unpopular

Greece!

Today we learned about how Greece invented new ideas, democracy, art forms, and they had innovators in welfare. We talked about Stonehenge, which was a megalith. Megalith's a re rough cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs. We talked about LO1 as well. in 4000 B.C. farming and village life spread from Sumerian and Egyptian lands across SW Asia and NE Africa, and the European continent. Their lives centered around strength and courage, comradeship and loyalty, contests and battle. Also know as "Arete"
      We talked about barbarians. They had a destructive way of life that focused on farming and warfare. They moved to southeastern Europe by 2000 B.C. The Greeks shared knowledge and adjusted the barbarians way of life. THEEEEEEEEEEEEEE END

Pyramid challenge...

Today, we did the pyramid challenge, being a pain in the butt, it was impossible to beat and still is. At least, for me it is. If we complete it tonight, we get half points, but we have to take screenshot of it to prove it. hope I can do it..

Cyberday 2

Short Answer A
Inventions discovered back in the stone age, helped the Egyptians farm, trade, battle, and more. The sailboat being one of them, allowed for transportation along the Nile, allowing trade to nearby villages, etc. The Egyptians invented the plow. The plow made it possible to produce more food for storage. The Egyptians invented hieroglyphics to write. These were pictures used to describe events, etc and stood for whole words.

Short Answer B
Pyramids are the most fascinating structures in the world and are still standing today, thousands of years later. However, there is more to this three dimensional triangle, for example, when they were first build, the pieces could so well fit together that a person couldn't slip a knife through the blocks. On the inside of the Pyramid, Past pharaohs are buried with valuable items that are worth some money. However, finding these chambers are difficult. Each pyramid has a maze inside, with traps that could leave you dead, or leave you trapped. To get inside, it is said that on the outside, there is a single block that can be removed, but finding this block out of thousands is hard.

Cyberday 1

Power has been off and on..

Essay A
The social hierarchy of the Egyptians was: from top to bottom
 Pharoah
 Government officials
 Soldiers
 Scribes
 Merchants
 Artisans
 Farmers
Slaves and Servants

    Starting with the top, Pharaohs were the religious and political leaders of the Egyptian people. They help two titles, "Lord of the Two Lands" and "High Priest of every Temple." Lord of the Two Lands was the ruler of upper Egypt. He owned all land, made laws, and collected taxes.
    The Government officials were apart of the upper class, known as the "White Kilt Class." This was composed of priests, physicians, and engineers.
    Soldiers used wooden weapons(bows and arrows, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots.
    Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy and medical treatments- they wrote in hieroglyphs and in hieratic.
    Merchants accepted bags of grain for payment- later , coinage came about.
    Artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes.
    Farmers raised wheat, barley lentils, onions-benefitted from irrigation of the Nile
    Slaves and Servants helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties, working 24/7.

Essay B
The Nile River, flowing south to north, helped the Egyptians with many things. Farming became easier, it allowed for better transportation, and it became just an easy access to water. However, the Nile did overflow at times, especially, in July. The Egyptians made their own little path for the water, when it does overflow. It helped them water crops better and extra water for bathing.
  

Pyramids

We watched a video on the inside of a pyramid and talked about how every pyramid has chambers that have a different path to get to Pyramids held treasures buried with past pharaoh's and pyramids were built so precisely that one couldn't stick a knife in between the marble. However, there was one block that could be easily removed to get inside, but it proved to impossible to find back then. Pyramids also had a chamber that went actually below the ground.... called the queen's chamber. 

Good Job Mr. Schick

Today, Mr. Schick broke another desk, spending half of our class time picking up the thousands of erasers and pencils, and thumbtacks. There was constant screaming, giving me a headache and making me want to just leave the room, but other than that we watched a video on mummification, talking about the layers and layers of resin and straps involved in this process. When a ruler is mummified, a bird has its organs taken out as well, and buried with the ruler. There is also a drawing of the ruler buried a long with it. 

The 5 topics

In class we learned about the five things that make up Egypt.
-Geography
-Daily Life
-Pharaoh's
-gods and goddesses
-Pyramids

Geography-Egyptian life is centered around the Nile, allowing crop growth, transportation, etc.
Daily Life- there are 8 social classes: from top to bottom
-Pharaohs
-Government Officials-Nobles, Priests
-Soldiers
-Scribes
-Merchants
-Artisans
-Farmers
-Slaves and servants

-Pharaoh's were the religious and political leaders of the Egyptian people. Holding the tittles "Lord of the Two Lands" and "High Priest of every Temple"

Government officials- upper class, known as the "white kilt class"

Soldiers-Used weapons(bows and arrows, spears) w/bronze tips and might ride chariots

Merchants- accepted bags of grain for payment-later coinage came about

Artisans- would have statues and reliefs showing military battle's and scenes

Farmers- raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions- benefitted from irrigation of the Nile

Slaves and Servants - helped the healthy with household and child raising duties

Gods and goddesses
Ra- the sun god
Hatshepsut- a women who ruled for 20+ years focusing on trade and not military like the male pharaoh's.

The two lands

The Nile flows south to north and was a major provider for the Egyptians. Lowe Egypt was the wide land of the Nile Delta, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The Two lands were united under a single king, or pharaoh. Pharaoh's were powerful, worshiped as a god, connected to other godss and goddesses, allowed to have multiple wives, and all routes to success were through the palace.

SNOW DAY

today in class we did nothing :)
       during advisory, we were told that we were going to get off early at 10. But, we still had to go to West Civ. Mr. Schick suggested a schedule for snow days like this. We all thought it was terrible because no one wants to be at school till 2 in the morning. Other than that, I am scared of falling on my face and dying :O

What we learned

Today in class we talked about the prehistoric era, learning about how people lived their lives before people could write things down. We focused on the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age as well as agriculture(farming). Paleo meaning old and Neo, new. We talked about some of the inventions that came about in that era, however, it took thousands of years to accomplish these tools. These tools, wheel and plow were made for farming. It allowed for more crops, at a faster rate. With the stone age, stones were used for other things such as weaponry and carpentry.

The beginning of a great class

We started out with learning each other's names and Mr. Shick gave some of us funny nicknames. He gave me the name 'Both" because I told him Matt/Mattson was fine and he could call me by both names and he just called me "Both". He told us the things we need for next class and overall I think this is going to be a fun class. I cant wait to experience the rest of the year in West civ, learning, having fun.