5/28/14

Today in class, we took a test. It was very hard. Some of them I know, but others were very hard. I did study last night. I was pretty confident I knew the information but a lot of those questions I fe could have gone either way. In class you threw a eraser at Hanna. It was kind of scary. If she would have stood up you probably would have hit her. That would not have been good. I hope this grade doesn't move my grade down. I have a 90 and it would suck if it went down. I am very happy with it now. If I get lower then 80 I will not be happy. I hope I do fine.

5/27/14

important notes to know: Study this and notes on Charlemagne

• the middle ages were from 476 AD- 1453 AD
• this 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
• Effects of Invasion:
• Decline of learning
• tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin
• Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
• few besides priests were literate
• Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the Lord of the manor he provides them with food, weapons, treasure
• Results:
• no orderly government for large areas
• small communities rule
• Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France" comes from)
• in 496 he has a battlefield conversion- he and 3000 of his warriors became Christians
• In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks:
• vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)
• chastity (no martial relations)
• obedience (listen to church superiors)
• His sister Scholastice writes similar rules for nuns
• they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books
• Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise money
• this is a theocracy- a government ruled by religion
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany
• Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at The BATTLE OF TOURS in 732
• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• son #2 is Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great
• six foot four
• built the greatest empire since Roma
• Fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanic tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited Western Europe
• Became the most 

5/23/14

Today in west civ, we took more notes on  Germanic kingdoms and how they united under Charlemagne. I like when you post power points on your blog. It makes it easier and if you forget something you can always go back and look it up later. We talked about the effects of invasion. It effected the learning. There was a decline in learning. Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin. They had romance languages. They had a few priests that were literate. We learned how they emerged. they emerged from AD 400 to 600. The Germanic warriors loyalty is to the lord of the manor. He provides them with food, weapons, and treasure. There was no orderly government for large areas and had small communities that rule.

• Notes on blog

5/21/14

Today we did not have class so I did not learn anything knew.

5/20/14

• 511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
• 600 AD- Church + Frankish rulers convert many
• fear of the Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• Monasteries and convents
• 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
• Poverty, chastity, obedience, study
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
• 731 AD- the Venerable Bible wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (Bibles, Greek text)

European Empire Evolves

• Franks control largest European Kingdom
• The Roman province formerly known as Gaul
• Ruled by Clovis- the Merovingian Dynasty
• Major domo- mayor of the palace- ruled the kingdom
• Charles Martel- Charles the Hammer
• extended the Franks' reign to the north, south, and east
• Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732- historic battle
• Charles the Hammer's son- Pepin the Short
• Possibly named for his unusual short haircut
• Working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombard's
• Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God" beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751- 987 AD
• Pepin the Short had two sons: Carolman AND Charles
• Carman died, leaving

Charlemagne takes center stage

• Charlemagne- aka Charles the Great
• six foot four
• Built the greatest empire since Rome
• fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanics tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited Western Europe
• Became the most powerful king in western Europe
• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly Roman mob
• This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire
• Charlemagne's Government
• He limited the authority of the nobles
• He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
• Kept close watch on his huge kingdom
• Culture revival
• Encouraged learning
• Ordered monasteries to open schools
• Opened a palace school
• But his heirs were weenies...
• His son- Louis the Pious- was ineffective
• Louis' three sons; Lathair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

5/19/14

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne

Main Idea

• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire.

Why it matters?

• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from.

Middle Ages= medieval period (same thing)
500-1500 AD
medieval Europe is fragmented (many different tribes that have settled in different parts)

Invasions trigger changes in western Europe

• Invasions constant warfare spark new trends
• Disruption of trade
• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
• Money is scare
• Downfall of cities
• Cities are no longer centers of administration
• Population shifts
• nobles retreat to the rural areas
• Cities don't have strong leadership
• Decline of learning
• Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
• Only priests and church officials could read and write
• Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
• Loss of a common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 800's, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin

Germanic Kingdoms emerge

• The concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyal to public government
• Germanic society: loyal to family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
• During wartime, warriors fought for the lord
• "The king? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
• Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis
• The Franks under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversion (Just like Constantine)
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishops
• The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
• Clovis and the Church begin to work together

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

Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

• Gregory I (Pope) expands papal power
• Papacy= pope's office
• Secular power = worldly power
• So.. under Gregory the Great...

Papal power (power of the pope) is Political Power; Presented from the Pope's Palace

• The church can use church money to
• raise armies
• repair roads
• help the poor
• Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthy Kingdom

5/16/14

Today in class, we went over the answers to our test. I was very happy with my grade. A 96 was probably one of the best grades I have gotten in my class. It moved my grade up to an 90! Which is an A. I am pretty happy with my grades right now. I have five A's and 2 B's. My goal is to get second honors. I have had second honors all year long and I would like to keep it up.

Feudalism: a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances.
Rich dude (Lord)- "I own land; I need people to help me work it and defend it."
Tough dudes (Vassals)- "There are a lot of us, we can help the rich dudes hold on tot here land."

The Feudal Pyramid:

1. King
2. Vassals- (nobles and bishops)
3. Knights- mounted warriors who received fiefs for defending their lords land
4. Peasants- (mostly serfs)
• landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-less, just working the land for "the man" (their lord)  

Mind your Manors

• 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

How harsh is it?

• Peasants are poor and pay high taxes
• tax on grain
• tax on marriage
• Church tax (tithe= 10% of their income)
• They live in crowed cottages
• Live with animals and insects
• Eat VERY simply
• the church says this is your lot in life
• God determines your place in society

5/14/14

Today in Mr. Schick's west civ. class we took our big Rome Test. I had studied a little bit because I know this lesson pretty well. When ever I take a test like this it always makes me nervous. I am just afraid that I am going to forget everything. While taking the test, it was very easy. I knew all the answers to the first two pages, but the last page I had to think more about it. I did not know much about Romulus Augustus so for those answers I had to guess. I knew a good amount of information about both Diocletian and Constantinople. I know all of the tribes though, which was good. I was so happy to see that I had gotten an 96! That is one of the best test grades I think I have gotten this whole semester.

5/13/14

Today in class, we looked over what was going to be on our test tomorrow. We are supposed to study the power point and the test that we took last week. This week I have had many test. On Monday, I had a quiz in Spanish on vocab words. Today, I had two test. I had a biology test which I think I did pretty well on. Then I had my hardest religion test that I have ever had to take. There was so much information I had to learn it got to the point were I couldn't learn the information anymore. I have many test this week too. Tomorrow, I have West Civ. and a math test. I think that many teachers are trying to cram more information in before the exam. I can't believe that Exams are already three weeks away.

5/12/14

Decline of the Roman Empire

AD 180: Rome has problems

• economic (trade became risky; taxes were too high; food supply was dropping)
• military (frontiers were hard too patrol; Roman generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• Diocletian divided the empire into two
• Greek-speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin-speaking West (Rome. tradition)
• Diocletian:
• Diocletian was Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus.Wikipedia
• Born: December 22, 244 AD, Solin, Croatia
• Died: December 3, 313 AD, Split, Croatia
• Full name: Diocletian
• Spouse: Prisca
• Children: Galeria Valeria
• he wasn't a big fan of Christians. he tried to persecute them out of existence.
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantine), where Asia met Europe (now Turkey).
• after his death, empire is divided again this time, "barbarian invaders" (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks) overrun the empire's frontiers
• That's it for the Roman Empire (AD 476)

Two Emperors:

• Diocletian:
• he rules from 284-303
• its cool to persecute Christians
• Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
• Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
• Constantine:
• rules from 306-337
• its COOL to 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 became known as Constantinople
• Edict of Milan;
• it was rules stating that no more persecution of Christians
• was the dominant religion force of the Roman Empire

The struggles of the peasants

• 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 of debts and being "allowed to like on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work
• 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 to be neglected
• Huns migrate from Chine 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:
• Ostrogoth's in Italy
• Franks in Gaul
• Angles and Saxons in Britain

End of an era

• From the beginnings:
• 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 invasion by barbarians tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• the last emperor was a teenage by installed in 475 by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

Notes 5/10/14

The Changing World of Rome: Emperors, Christians, and Invaders 200 B.C.- A.D. 600

Learning Objective 1: Describe the effects of Roman rule on the development of Judaism.

• The biggest change in the era of Roman peace was the spread of the monotheistic religion, Christianity
• the religion began as a group called Judaism 
• In 2 centuries, Christianity developed away from Judaism to the Catholic Church
• the religion brought many changes
• Germanic barbarians became more wealthier, highly organized, and there military was much stronger
• A.D. 200, they became much threat to the Romans that the emperors had to build a better army
• at the beginning they did not like Christianity, but at the end they grow a partnership with it
• the emperor began to collapse 

5/9/14

• Christianity evolves from cult status to established, official structure
• priest, bishops, pope (Bishop of Rome)
• Christians and Jews were monotheistic
• conflicted with Roman beliefs
• persecution against both was common
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and since there were many poor, their numbers grew
• as it grew, even more Roman leaders embraced Christianity
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• He issues the Edict of Milan
• Not only no persecution, but actual approval of Christianity, eventually making it the official religion of Rome
• The Roman Empire and Christianity are now linked in power influence

5/7/14

Today in Mr.Schick's West civ. class, we took our test. I thought that I did very well on it I got a couple wrong, but I still think I A it. There was a couple of them that were very confusing. Both of the Caesar's confused me. They were both very similar in ways. I got an 90!! I am very proud of that grade. I hope this moves my grade up. I have an 88 and I would love to move it up to an A. I have enjoyed learning about Rome. They are all very interesting people. From all of the emperors to the way people lived. I hope that the next lesson we get will be interesting. I like learning about world culture and historical events that have happened in time. I enjoyed learning about the Greeks to they were all very interesting groups of people.

5/6/14

Specifically, where did the first Indo-Europeans settle around 750 b.c.?
on the shores of the Tiberus Rivers, near the Seven Hills had the mountain ranch, on the meditterean sea

Who was the Tarquin the Proud, and what was so significant about him?

last of the kings, he was thrown out because of a scandal of his son. He raped a respectable older women her name was Lucrisa he ruled from 534-510 BC.

Describe how Rome moved from monarchy to a republic?

Ruled by Etruscan kings who were advised by rich patricians (monarchy)
After Tarquin the government became res publica or republic

Describe the difference between a patrician and a plebeian.

Patrician: upper class, landowning, established, connected, powerful
Plebian: common people, workers, small time farmers, some wealthy non-patricians

Define: Senate consuls tribunes

Senate: 300 people, represented the patricians, appointed for life
Consuls: two guys that were as close to a monarchy, could veto each other, only served one year
Tribunes: represented the plebeians, not powerful, but gained power over the years were like democracy

What was important about the Twelve Tables

Marked the first time the laws were written down in Rome
Set up a protect plebeians who were getting pushed around by patricians
displayed in the forum

Roman republic serves as a model for what modern document, what modern government

The Constitution of the US and its separation of power

Senate/assembly  US Senate/ House of Reps    Consuls/ Dictator-- President of the US
Senate could act like judges-- like our Supreme court

Describe why only the rich could serve in the Senate

Members were not paid, the only way to be appointed was to spend a lot of money to look good, popular, and powerful Plebs could not afford to do that

Forum is Rome's political center

Notes 5/5/14

Caesar

Monday, May 5, 2014

• Caesar was the First Emperor
• From Republic to empire
• Caesars real name was Octavian but he went by Caesar because it was his family name
• He was given the honor of the name Augustus
• Pax Romana: Roman peace; a period of peace and prosperity
• Passes power to Tiberius

 The word spreads about risen Jesus

• 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.

Caligula was after Tiberius

• In addition to being Germanic's' 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 a matter of public record
• All in all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful then…..

Bad finish for Caligula

• 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
• Other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest
• Assassinated by his own aides, AD 41 (age 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 was 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 hum, 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 id 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 Coliseum (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 5/2/14

• 44 b.c. Caesar secured a vote form the senate making him dictator for life.
• On the Ides of March, 44 b.c., Caesar appeared in the Senate unarmed and unguarded
• the senates struck him with a daggered
• the people who were to rule next were Mark Antony, commander under Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, the leading and assain, Octavian grandnephew and adopted son
• Mark Antony and Octavian joined forces
• the divide the Roman world
• Octavian based in Rome, Mark in Alexandria, and Lepidus, in North Africa
• Octavian pushed Lepidus out of power.
• In 31 b.c. the two rulers went to war
• Octavian defeated mark and Cleopatra
• within  a year both mark and Cleopatra committed suicide
• Octavian was now the supreme leader of the world
• within the empire Greek was dominant in the East
• Over time it became more of a Roman inspired because Roman was growing

The Rule of the Emperors:

• Octavian was given a new name called Augustus
• he wanted to reconstruct the failed government , keep the empire together
• Augustus settlement had emerged by 27 b.c.
• he started his plan to restore the Republic
• He refused to offer long dictator ship
• he called himself princeps
• Princeps: "First citizens" a traditional Roman name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensable to the Republic that came by Augustus and other emperors
• in 27 b.c. Augustus was confirmed the commander in chief of the armed forces
• He let the senate supervise Italy and the city of Rome
• Augustus put to death by his opponents in the Senate and replaced them with allies and friends
• there was no more peoples assembly
• the people didn't oppose of this
•   Augustus won supreme power, people in Greek cities started to build shrines and sacrificing "Rome and Augustus" worshipping Rome itself as divine and Augustus was a god-sent human being who embodied Rome's beneficent rule.
• This began being practiced in many places
• Augustus was given the title Father of the Fatherlands like Julius Caesar was a Divine Being like him to
• He made laws against adultery
• Romans believed that there was something divine about every paterfamilias and every matron
• the rule of one man was easier to except
• First, he brought the system of government appointments under his personal control
• second, he showed respect for local institutions and encouraged provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibility
• he reorganized the army to ensure loyalty of the rank-and-file soldiers.
• he brought about his single most dramatic form, all the soldiers became volunteers
• In this way he broke with the Roman tradition of citizen-solders to create the worlds first professional army.
• in his army he was the Praetorian Guard
• Egypt the lands stretching from Italy to Greece, and much of Germany was taken under Augustus rule
• As his successor, he picked Tiberius, Livia's son from her first marriage
• he was experienced with the government.
• he adopted Tiberius as his own son 
• when Augustus died on a.d. 14, Tiberius took over without a challenge
• he was fighting with Caesar decedents
•  Vespasian founded another dynasty, the Flavian.
• Nerva was a respected highly general, he had no sons and was unknown to the army, he adopted another son who is Trajan
• he took over in A.d. 98
• Caesar: the imperial title given to the designated successor of a reigning emperor.
• Trajan was called the best of the rulers
• Augustus: the imperial title given to a reigning emperor.
• Roman Peace: A term used to refer to the relative stability and prosperty that Roman rule brought to the Medditerranean world and much of western Europe during the first and second centuries a.d.

4/30/14

Today in class, you gave us an off mod. this was very nice. I was able to talk with my friends and get some homework done. We were in the room for a little while, but then you let us go to the cafeteria. I enjoyed that. We have been working really hard in class recently. It was nice to take a break especially because it was a Wednesday. Wednesdays are very long days. I like to have enough off mods during the day. It gives your mind time to take a break. my favorite day of the week is Thursday. It is my easiest day.

4/29/14

Today in class we got our grades back. I am happy that we got an eighty eight. We did really well. The class gave us an ninety two which is a better grade than you gave us. You talked about Delaney's project. She did much work. Her project was letters that people in ancient times would have written to other people. For example, a plebian writing to a person who is higher then them. It was a great idea.

Notes:

• When he died, the empire was given to his 18 year old grand nephew
• Octavian was the his name
• Augustus was there first emperor
• Begins the Pax Roman- a period of peace and prosperity
• built roads, aqueducts(bought water to 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, passes power to Tiberius
• 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 Judea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by the Jewish High priest), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

4/28/14

• Caesar sided with the poor.
• He fights with his men.
•  Triumvirate with Pompeii and Crassus
• He goes to Gaul, he is taking over land, making himself much richer.
• Rubicon River marked the border of the roman empire and the other providences.
• Senate thinks he is to powerful.
• They tell him to leave most of your men on the land to guard them. Caesar thinks they are trying to still his thunder.
• When he reached the Rubicon, it was a huge decision. Weather to leave his men or to bring them all with him.
• He decided to bring them all in. There was no turning back.
• Crassus lead an army to defeat buy the Parthia army.
• Pompey had stayed in Rome and was jealous of Caesar.
• Caesar's men killed Pompey because he was taking sides with the Senate.
• They named him "Father of the Father Land".
• Caesar made himself very high up in political power.
• he became a tribune.
• Named himself the Consul, Dictator for 10 years, Supreme Leader.
• Power in every branch of the government
• He showed respect to the Senate, but he did what he wanted to do.
• he used his power to take care of the problems in room.
• he let his army veterans live on there own land when they were done.
• he extended roman citizens from Rome to Spain. he let them become Roman citizens and gave them rights.
• The only enemy's he had at this point are the Senate.
• He had people treat him like a god.
• the Senate felt like they lost all there power so they wanted to kill him.
• in the Eyes of March, they invited them in and stabbed him to death right in front of the Senate.
• Each of them stabbed Caesar. He was stabbed 23 times.

4/25/14

Today in class, the last couple of projects went. Nat's sculpture was very good. Maria did a nice job to with her dessert. We also started to talk about Rome and war. We learned about the Garcas and how they believed that the soldiers should be able to come home and have there land. Many people didn't like this. We also talked about How they would take over towns. They would kill the men, rape the women, and still the belongings. Then we learned about Cesar. He sided with the poor people. this was rare because mostly aristocrats didn't do this. He was a politician and a great thinker. In 60 b.c., he worked with Pompeii and Crasses and they made there own government. He won over much of the land and became like the governor. He took over every where he went.

4/23/14

Today in Mr. Schick's west civ. class, more people presented there projects. Ava and I presented our project too. Many peoples projects were very good. Everyone had a lot of details about there project. Today Taylor, Brad, Cameron, Phil, Will, and Ryan presented. Taylors cake was very good. Ava and I were going to make that cake but then we decided to do the other dessert instead. I think our cake and apples were very good. I think many people liked it. I hope that I get a good grade on this. we worked really hard on it.

4/22/14

Today in class, we looked at other people projects. Today Hana Patrick, Barwick and Hanna, Scoot and Devin, Aiden, and Austin. I thought everyone did a very good job. You could tell who spent a long time on it. Ava and I are presenting tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. We mad everything from scarge and I hope it is delicious. We made cinnamon apples and they are fantastic. I hope we get a good grade. We worked very hard on this project. In total we probably spent five hours on this project. We put in the effort and I hope we get a good outcome.

4/11/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s west civ class, we took our test. While taking the test I thought I was doing really well. I know mostly all of the information except a couple of questions. I was hoping for at least an A and I did get it. I got a 92 on the test. I am very happy with this. I was surprised to because most of the people did ok on the test and the average for our test was 74. It surprised me though. I thought the test was very easy and I know most of the questions. I am so happy we have spring break. I am just glad I do not have to get up at 6 in the morning. During break, Ava and I will work on our project. I would like to get a good grade in this.

4/9/14

Punic Wars

Legion- 5000 men
Century- 80 men
infantry- soldiers in foot carried short arms
cavalry-

Rome vs. Carthage
Fought over
1. Sicily
2. Hannibal
3. they destroyed Carthage
Carthage is in North Africa

I hope that the test will be easy. I am going to study hard, but it would be great if we could use our blogs. I hope I have all the information for the test. I hope that Ava and I would be able to find a good recipe to cook for our project. Rome eat pretty basic food.

4/8/14

Today in class we took some more notes about Roman. They included they following:

·         Three main groups that settled in Italy

·         The first people were the Latin's

·         The Etruscans and the Greeks

·         Rome was on the Tiber river

·         You get many things from the rivers

·         On seven hills

·         They drained part of the lands on the peninsula to make it not as marshy

·         Used it to build

·         This is the last king that Rome and Italy ever had his name was Tarquin the Proud

·         Res publica is Latin for peoples business

·         Republic:

                                                               i.      Democracy(there Assembly like our house of represtantives)

                                                             ii.      Monarchy (had 2 consuls, they could veto each other's suggestions)

                                                            iii.      Aristocracy(there senate like our senate)

·         Plebeians- middle class/lower class

·         Patricians- rich and the aristocrats, owned money and land

·         Slaves

·         Assembly- this is for plebeians the people they elected were called tribunes.

·         Senate was only a man of petitions

·         When the USA was thinking about their government we looked at the way the Romans did it.

·         Consuls were like presidents

Notes on pages 95-96

• In 250 b.c. all of Italy south of the River Po was in romans hands
• Carthage was founded about 700 b.c. by Phoenician colonist
• became a oligarchic and empire-building republic like Rome
• they wanted Sicily
• Punic wars were on sea and land
• three vious rounds
• between 264 and 146 b.c.
• first Rome was able to force Carthage out of Sicily
• second phase, Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy
• they defeated Roman armies
• At the end of the Second Punic War in 202 b.c., Carthage was disarmed and helpless
• rome provoked a third war in 146 b.c.
• Carthage was captured
• the Senate ordered the city of Carthage to be leveled, its people out into slavery, and the ground on which it stood cursed
• 202 b.c. Rome had won control of the Western Mediterranean 
• Carthage was on the north end of Africa
• they had land in Egypt and Spain

4/7/14

1. How did geography affect the development of Rome?

good location, gave them the chance to control all of Italy. built on seven hills on the Tiber river, near the center of Italy's peninsula. Near the Mediterranean sea

2. How did the Etruscans influence the development of Rome?

 they were lad out in roads

3. Which were the main groups that competed for power in the early Roman republic?

nobles and common people

4. What is the significance of the Twelve Tables in Roman Law?

all free citizens are protected by law, over time the common people won more rights. the laws were written down.

5. How did Rome regain control of Italy after the sacking of the city of Gauls?
 Gual was a huge area north of rome. It was France. the tribe was called Gaul. the barabarians that live dup north were trying to get more land they want some of romes land. They tried to talk things out bu the Romes started killing them. Gaul attacked rome directly. they get to Rome and they lay base to it. they destroyed it. Rome attacked and took it back. built better walls around the city and was more prepared.

4/5/14

On class in Mr. Schick’s west civ class, we looked over some notes in our text book. We went through and underlined what we would need to know for the test and other notes that were important. The last couple of classes we have just been taking notes. I am excited for our ancient Rome projects. I am curious to see what everyone is doing. I think most people are doing food. Ava and I are making an Apple cake. I hope it turns out pretty good. I hope the test this Friday will be ok. I feel like it will be a lot of information. I like to learn about Ancient Rome. i think I liked Greek better. I wonder what else we will learn this year. I hope we learn more about other ancient cultures.  

4/2/14

Three main groups that settled in Italy

The first people were the Latin's

The Etruscans and the Greeks

Rome was on the Tiber river

You get many things from the rivers

On seven hills

They drained part of the lands on the peninsula to make it not as marshy

Used it to build

This is the last king that Rome and Italy ever had his name was Tarquin the Proud

Res publica is Latin for peoples business

Republic:

1. Democracy
2. Monarchy (had 2 consuls, they could veto each other's suggestions)
3. Aristocracy

Plebeians- middle class/lower class

Patricians- rich and the aristocrats, owned money and land

Slaves

I am working with ava on my project! we are planning on making food.

4/1/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s west civ class, we talked about our next project on ancient Rome. In some ways I am excited for another project but, I feel like it is going to be a pain. Ava and I our going to work together. We were thinking of doing the food one. It seems pretty easy and fun. We already found a couple of recipes that we could use. I think that we are going to try to do it before break. I think I may be going away over break. I am happy that you gave us both options. This makes it easier just in case we will be out of town. It is also nice to just be done with it and not have to worry about doing it over break. I hope that our project ends up well. It is always a great feeling when you get a good grade on a project.

The Roman Family Life

The Roman’s family life was based religion, values, and the community. They believed in many gods and goddesses that are similar to Greeks gods and goddesses. They believed in the three deities, whose joint temple was on the Capital. The deities were the sky-god of Jupiter, the fertility goddess Juno, and the goddess of skill and wisdom Minerva. They also believed in another goddess named Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home. In every house, the fire in the hearth was scared to Vesta and it was only put out when a family moved. The responsibility of maintaining peace of the gods was done by the pontiffs. Pontiffs are one of the Republics leading priests.

 They believed in many values. They believed that it was right and a duty of man of the community to fight in wars. A women had no right to share in politics and government. Also, Romans must admire in the leaders of their city-states.

             In the community, a Roman man belonged to a family and a clan. The families and clans were held together by paterfamilias. They are the family fathers in Rome, who had unlimited power over the household. In Rome, a married women had the title of matron. This is an honor to have this title. The ideal matron was very hard working, gave courage to warriors, and gave devotion to the men. Women were accepted to make sure that man had the qualities they needed to keep the Republic strong.

3/26/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s west civ. class, we took a test. I think that I did well but I am not sure. I missed three questions. I got confused about the names of the kings and generals. It took me a long time to think about the questions. I was really happy to hear that we could use blogs. That helped me a lot. I knew most of the information on the front of the work sheet though. It was just nice to be able to check back on answers that we did not know. I hope I did well on the test. I just want to start off the quarter with an A or a B.

3/25/14

            Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we talked about the test tomorrow. You said that it was going to have 40 questions on it. It would be multiple choice and fill in the blanks. It is going to be on the gods and poets work sheet. It will be on the video too. I hope that this test will be easy. I am going to have to study for it a lot. I left school early today because I had a game so I missed some of the review. This whole years feels like it is going by so quickly. It is crazy to think that it is already march and almost April. I would like to have at least second honors all year.

3/24/14

Today I was not in class today because I came in late.

3/22/14

            On Friday in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we watched our videos again and graded them. We also made some comments about them to. I enjoyed many of the videos. Most of them I would at least give a 87- to an 100. Many people had many nice things to say. They gave us an 92. I was very happy when I saw my grade. I got an 95. That’s really good and I am very proud of it. I also saw that it moved up my grade to an 90 which is awesome. I hope I will be able to get first honors. I think I might be able to. It all depends on my grade in Spanish. It is my goal to at least make first honors once.

3/19/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s class, we looked over some notes and went over the answers to the problem. You had us work in our rows. In my row, there was Taylor, Bradley, and Aiden. You had us say the questions out loud in class and we went over the answers. In class today, we had a shadow. We also talked more about Greece. I think we have a test on Friday but I am not sure what it is on. I think it will be on the worksheet our the information on our blogs. I hope the quiz will be easy. I would like my grade to become an A so I hope I do well.

3/18/14

Today in Mr. Schick's west civ. class we did not really do to much. I worked on my blog most of the time. We all just kind of sat quietly and did our on thing. I really enjoyed just having a class we did not have to do much in. I could do what I wanted and not have to worry about anything else. It feels like we haven't been in class for weeks. I enjoy being off from school, but the cyber days are so much work. I started working yesterday at 11 and ended at 4:30, 5 o clockish. It is just a pain sometimes. I would rather come to school then have to stay at home and work. I could be doing much better things. but I am glad to be back in class.

3/17/14

1. Mostly fertile land is not a characteristic of Greece.

2. Approximately ¾ of Greece is covered by mountainous.

3. Barbarian is a life based upon farming, warfare, and tribal organization.

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

5. A tribe is a social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, tradition, and real or mythical ties of kinship. All of the above!!

6. Tribes were governed by warrior kings or queens.

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

8. China would not be considered a member of the western civilization.

9. The Aegan Sea is located east of the Greeks mainland.

10. The Ionian Sea is located west of the Greek’s mainland.

11. The major crops the Aegean people lived on are grains, vines, and olives.

12. Minoan civilization arose on the island of Crete.

13. Mycenaean’s established settlements along the Greek mainland southern shore and on some islands.

14. The Mycenaean people built massive walls to protect themselves from attack.

15. The Dark Age is when the population dropped, ships no longer sailed, and writing fell out of use.

16. The Greeks joined the Phoenicians.

17. c means around, about, and circa. all the above

18. these were called colonies

19. they are like counties

20. A oligarchy is were a small group of citizens dominated, and the power of the majority was limited in various ways.

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

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

23. A 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 oligarchy.

25. Boys were taken by the age of seven to begin their military training.

26. Athens was the wealthiest city-state.

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

28. Sparta is located on the Peloponnesus peninsula.

29. Triremes 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-solider of ancient Greece.

31. The Dark ages began c. 1100 b.c. and ended c. 700 b.c.

32. He wrote The Iliad and the Odyssey.

33. The word “Mediterranean” originally meant middle of the earth

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

3/15/14

On Friday in Mr. Schick's West Civ. class, we watched a movie. this movie was about the story   of Pheidippides; the wars with Darius, Xerxes and the Persians; the brilliant leader Themistocles; the mysterious Oracle of Delphi; the battle in the Straits of Salamis; and the Golden Age of Greece. It was all very interesting. My favorite part was the mystery's of Oracle of Delphi. It was a very interesting topic and I enjoyed it a lot. I also really enjoyed learning just about the Golden Age. The time was filled with war and excellence. I still really liked doing the video it was very fun actually.

3/12/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s west civ. class we watched more of peoples commercials. As a class I think that we all did really well. Even though I thought It was going to be a pain, it was really not to bad. I am pretty happy with everything ava and I did on the project. It makes me wonder what other stuff we are going to do later in the year. I enjoyed learning about the Greeks too. I just think as a whole they are pretty cool people. I like Athens better. The Spartans are pretty intimidating people. Everything that they do are very intense. Watching the videos Athens just looks more appealing to me. I think that Nat’s video was pretty cool. She had many videos and pictures and I liked the music a lot. I am looking forward to what we are going to learn next.  

3/11/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class we watched some of the commercials. You showed Ava and I’s video. I was very proud about it. I think we did very well. We got to watch Hana’s, Ryan’s and Wills, and Austin’s. They all did really will. I liked how some of them had a video in it. Some had some good facts too. I am interested to see what grade I got. I think that you really enjoyed our video. You said that we had many pictures and you liked our music. I really liked the song we picked too. It was very up beat and it had a nice beat. I am really looking forward ot watching the others videos. I like to compare what I did compared to what they did. I also like to see that new thing they can come up with.

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class we worked on our projects a little more. My group did not have to do that much because we finished it over the weekend. I think we did really well. We put a lot of time and effort into this project and I hope we get a good grade on it. I learned much information about Athens and the ancient world that the lived in. I learned about land, life, the Olympics, Navy, and the beauty that they had in Athens. They had very cool structures of buildings. I learned about the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a temple of the Athenian Acropolis. It was dedicated to the goddess, Athena. She is considered the patron deity of the people of Athens. I learned that the Olympics were in honor of the God, Zeus. The Greek gods and goddesses are all very unique in their own way.

3/7/14

Today I was not in school because I was sick.

3/5/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we took some more notes and watched the video about ancient Greece. I never realized how tuff the Spartans were. They were the color red so if they were injured or bleeding you would not be able to tell. They eat tuff food and just seemed intimidating. I know I would not want to go against the Spartans. They would take in helots and use them as there slaves. Helots are people that lost the war against the Spartans. They were very harsh on them. In the video we see a worker looking very tired and the work goes up to him, and probably threatens him, and he starts to work up again. If I lived back in the time of ancient Greece I would defiantly live in Athens. They seemed like much calmer and less intense people.

8/18/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class we started the class watching the video you made for our cyber day. It was a nice video. Ava and I have started to work on our project. We are making a video. It is going pretty well so far. At first I was dreading this project, but it is actually pretty easy. If you use an app it is very simple. You just have to look up information about Athens or Sparta and then find pictures or videos and put it together. The most fun was picking out music to go with it. Like you were saying we need an upbeat song and I think I found the perfect one. We also have to do the outline of what are video is about. I dint think it will take very long. Later in class we started to watch a video about the gods and great people of ancient Greece.  

3/3/14

Today we did not have school today.

2/28/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we watched videos about two cities. The two cities were Baltimore and Los Angles. The Baltimore video was awful compared to the Los Angles one. It showed pictures of just buildings and not a lot was going on. It looked like it appealed to an older crowd. Los Angeles video flowed well. It had many pictures and it just looked like you could have a good time. The video was like a story. It had music through out which made it more entertaining. It also showed people having fun and appealed to people that were younger. Then you told us how we are going to do a project. I am working with Ava. I am not a fan of doing projects like this. We will have to choose between Sparta and Athens. I think we will probably end up doing Sparta for the project.

2/26/14

Today in class, Devin was our teacher. I thought he did a really nice job. We had a review of all the notes that we took during class yesterday. Some more notes that a took earlier in the week are about the culture in decline. Around 1200 B.C., sea people began to invade the Mycenaean’s and burnt palace after palace. The Dorian’s moved into the war-torn region. They were l=far less advanced and the economy collapsed. The writing disappeared for four hundred years. This was known as the Dark Age. There was an author named Homer and he wrote many stories and myths. Stories were passed on by word of mouth. The recorded stories of the Trojan War in were the Iliad and the Odyssey. They were written in 750- 700 B.C. Trojan War was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaean’s. Odyssey was 12,110 lines of the dactylic hexameter.

2/25/14

Today in West Civ. we took some more notes about the Greeks and you told us the stories about Odyssey and Iliad. The Greeks world revolved around courage. There are approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Sea. They had skilled sailors and poor natural resources. The land of Greece is very mountainous. There is approximately 20 percent land that is suitable for farming. Fertile valleys cover ¼ of the peninsula. Their diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives. There lack of resources led the Greeks to colonization. The temperature ranged from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer. The Mycenaean’s began around 2000 B.C. It is located on a rocky ridge and is protected by a 20 foot thick wall. There king dominated Greece from 1600- 1200 B.C. they controlled the trade in the reign. In 1400 B.C., Mycenaean’s invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language.   

2/24/14

LO 3: Contrast the ancient civilization of the Nile with that of the Tigris-Euphrates, and discuss the defining features of the Egyptian life.

 

·         Dark age began to develop City-states

·         Athens and Sparta were giants among the city-states

·          Acropolis: the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.

·         Were competitive with each other

·         Made their own armies made up of the own male citizens.

·         Hoplite: a heavily armed and armored citizen-solder of ancient Greece.

·         Phalanx: a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy.

·         City-states ruled by kings

·         Monarchy: a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually hereditary ruler.

·         Oligarchy: a state in which supreme power is held by a small group.

·         Triremes: massive fighting vessels with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships.

·         Tyranny: rule by a self-proclaimed dictator

·         Democracy: in ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making.

·         Spartans were decadents of the Greeks who had conquered part of the southern main land, the territory of Laconia.

·         Helots: noncitizens forced to work for landholders in the ancient city-state of Greece.

·         By the fifth century, policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders

·         There were two kings

·         Boys were taken by age of seven, they were taught manly behavior and reading and writing and were started a long life routine of physical toughening and military training

·         Permitted to marry after age 20

·         Girls were required to participate in drills and exercises that were designed to develop them into healthy, child-bearing women.

·         Athenians, believed that the Spartan life was not worth living

·         Athens carried on a prosperous commerce and had direct access to the sea.

·         Athens chief strength is the navy

·         Athens welcomed foreign ideas and visitors

·          Athenians were proud of their free life

·         Athens flowed daring inventiveness, glorious literature, and stunning creations of mind and hand.

·         Athens was a warlike community

·         Homeland was the peninsula of Attica.

·         800 B.C. many old established communities in Attica merged to form a single city-state that was known by the name of the most important community, Athens

·         Athens began to trade and manufactory center

·         Aristocrats: members of prominent and long established Athenian families.

·         Excellent human beings

·         Boys were trained for physical fitness, when turned eighteen they were assigned a company for two years of military and civic training.

·         Girls got an education, they were sent off to live for a few years before they got married with one group of young women who served in temples of various goddess

·         Most were kept home without education

·         Had strong citizenship and responsibility to the community

·         Began as a monarchy, lead to extension of political power to all adult male citizens, became leaders instead of rulers.

·         Democracy

·         Persian War, which Athens led the city-state to victory. The success followed the Golden Age.

·         Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, Athens was defeated, never recovered its power, and continued a democracy to 338 B.C.

·         In the sixth century the Persians conquered a realm that stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean.

·         Persian King Darius I determined to extend his control of the mainland.

·         Lost first battle in 490 B.C.

·         Athens took over rule by 445 B.C.

·         Athens went back to democracy

·         The Athenians ultimate power rested in the Assembly of adult male citizens

·         Made major decisions

·         Council of Five Hundred and the roughly one thousand public officials that it supervised

·         Military officials were called the Ten Generals

·         Ostracism: Banishment for ten years by majority vote of the Athenian Assembly

·         Believed in Aliens

·         Men had many more rights then Women

·         Could own slaves

·         Had a diverse group of slaves

• Aliens took care of industry and truth