Gracchus Video

Today in class, we started a new video. Since our last test didn't focus a lot on the Gracchus Brothers and what they did, Mr. Schick decided to show us a video of everything that happened to further explain the topic to us.In the video, we learned that Tiberius saw that people of Rome how they truly were and wanted to help them and truly was a good person. Meanwhile, we also learned that the Senate was conniving, self absorbed, and cared about nothing except for getting richer and richer, no matter who they had to step on to do it. It was a really good video and the class really did enjoy it and I want to continue with this instead of a power point and/or lecture.

Who's Not Here?

Today for class, I wasn't here. The reason I wasn't in class actually was because I had to go with my family to do some things for my grandma's citizenship and drop her off at the bus station so she can heard back to New York. So you can imagine, today was busy for me. But anyway, I hope western civilization was cool and/or fun. But at least it's finally Friday!

Quest Today

Today in western civilization, we took our quest/tizz. It was pretty easy accept there were a few questions I didn't really know the answer to. The ones I was struggling with were about what the members were for a monarchy, a democracy, and an aristocracy. I really couldn't figure it out. THE STRUGGLE!!! THE STRUGGLE!!! But the test was a little hard but it was cool. I think I did alright. 

I ain't no cheater!

Quest or Tizz?

We started western civilization off today on a different note. Instead of getting straight into reviewing the Rome song, we actually began with watching the chariot scene from Ben Hur. It was pretty funny actually because after we finished it, Drew told the class that he had noticed something while we were watching. What did he notice, you ask...well let me tell you. There was a moment in the video where you had a quick glimpse if the emperor watching the race. When you saw this scene, right next to the emperor was a camera man who had been cropped in. It was so funny but so weird and confusing. But we laughed and then moved on. After watching the scene, we went into continuing taking notes. we didn't really get very far because we stayed on the topic of the Punic Wars. But we did go in the text book and read, even though we did go through a couple of bumps on the way. The notes we took down today were;

• The word Punic was the Latin word for Phoenicians.
• In the first phase of struggle, Rome was able to force Carthage out of Sicily,  but the North African city kept the rest of their empire.
• Hannibal brought Rome to the brink of defeat, but Rome prevailed by bringing out citizens and allies from the rest of Italy who were ready and excited to fight for Rome.
• On the other hand, Carthaginians were paid to fight and didn't have the same motivation as the Romans.
• Rome finally took Carthage and controlled most of the western Mediterranean.  

After writing this information down, Mr. Schick said that we would have a "quest" on it tomorrow. He isn't referring to the quest, as in a search for something, but as in a combination of a quiz and a test - a quest!

Ben Hur

This morning, western civilization started off with Mr. Schick asking about our Rome Song video. A couple people should their videos and the class picked out a grade that their video worth out of 10. Some of them were in the 7 to 9 range while others were worth a 5 or less. Mr. Schick thought we were cold humans beings. After finishing up with the videos, we continued with learning about the lyrics of the Rome song. What we learned today was :

• Punic Wars
• 3 Punic Wars
• Sicily - Rome wanted to own Sicily and take it away from Carthage [Rome:1 - Carthage:0]
• *Hannibal* - general from Carthage
• he attacked from the North going through the Alps
• but they lost a lot of people and elephants [Rome:2 - Carthage:0]
• Rome and Carthage - Rome went on the attack and took control of Carthage [Rome: 3 - Carthage:0]
• Life in Roman Empire 
• The rich are getting richer
• 1/3 of the population are slaves
• while man were fighting, women ran things but the had trouble, and so the rich people buy their land -- latifundia
• Latifundia - a massive estate farm
• Opportunities were in Rome
• But millions of people moved to Rome as well
• Rome started "welfare" so the people wouldn't revolt
• + they entertained them : gladiators, chariot races, fight to the death
• people put in there :
• Christians
• Criminals
• Animals
• Brothers Gracchus
• they tried to reform the government
• they asked the aristocrats to give some land away to the poor but the aristocrats just laughed  and were furious at the fact they wanted the rich to the give away all the stuff they bought
• the rich people killed one of the brothers to show the other one not to mess with them
• with that, the people noticed and were oturaged

After were worked on this, Mr. Schick showed use a chariot race clip from the movie Ben Hur. It was great except we didn't get to get very far, so tomorrow we are going to art off our day watching this clip.

Project Rome...Runs-Away!

Today in class, Mr. Schick gave us some devastating information. After a couple days of working on our project of making a video to match Mr. Schick's catchy song, it got cancelled. Mr. Schick told us that since many people were having technical problems and issues, that he would just make the project extra credit. Now, this new information kind of hurt me to hear, but it's okay. I don't really the extra credit since I have a 93 in this class and I can easily get it up higher without ant extra credit. But at least there is one benefit to all of this. I still get to learn a catchy song that will help me study for the test.

Movie Making

Today in class, Mr. Schick ad to leave to go do something so he left us with Sister Marge. Once she arrived, he bolted. Sister Marge didn't know what we were doing so she came to Kate and I and asked. we explained that we had an assignment to make a video using the song Mr. Schick gave us. She understood and sat in her place at the desk and watched over us and the whole class worked. Ali wasn't here today so it was just me and Kate working on the project. Even without our expert movie maker with us, we still got pretty far and did a pretty decent job of it. So really, class was pretty simple and easy. Nothing new.

Lecture or Movie?

Mr. Schick began class today by explaining to us that he put the lyrics for Chi Cago's song on his blog. After telling us that, he told us that we would be starting a new project. We have to make a video about our Rome chapter and using the Chi Cago's song as the background. In the beginning I didn't understand how we were going to make his video since I have never made a video or anything like that. But then I remembered about a video I made using Windows Movie Maker for my camp. It was actually pretty easy. But what wasn't easy about this project was for about half of the class, the internet was down so we couldn't download the song or get started on our project. Ha! But evetually, Mr. Schick called the tech lab and they fixed the internet. With that, my group of Ali, Kate and me, began working on the video. Instead of Movie Maker, we used a program called Camtasia. And may I say, it is actually better than Movie Maker is. Anyway after getting a few slide down, class was over and Mr. Schick asked us if we liked this project better than sitting and listening to a lecture. For me, it was 50/50. I mean, I couldn't care less either way!

Team Kate and Tona Comic

Hey Mr. Schick. We couldn't get our comic links up yesterday but we finally got it and we have it to post. Because our comic was so long, we had to make two comics, so we actually have two links. Here they are ;

Part 1 :

http://Pixton.com/ic:myy0fw02

Part 2 : 

http://Pixton.com/ic:kgnhk1m5

Thanks!! 

Our Pixton Comic

Kate and I have been working frivolously to complete this comic about Romulus and Remus and we finally finished it today. But we do have one little issue. Kate's internet is down and she can't get to the link for the pixton. Meanwhile, my computer is being stupid and will not let me connect to pixton and edit our comic. So, that means, neither of us have the link to the comic. We are both really sorry about this unfortunate mix up and Mr. Schick, we hope you understand and will give us one more day so that we can put up our links to the project. Thank you very much, from Kate and Tona!

Romulus & Remus

Today in western civilization, Mr. Schick wasn't here. He was off doing whatever teachers do when they aren't at school. So in place of him, we had a substitute. He was very nice, kind of like a Mr. Powell and a Mr. Schick put into one. After the substitute introduced himself, he read what Mr. Schick had left for him and then told us to pair up, get started on our assignment, and keep the noise down. Our project, by the way, was to make a comic about the story of Romulus and Remus. If you don't know the story, he is some insight.

According to Roman mythology, Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus. These two men were twin brothers. The story begins with the deposition of Numitor, by his brother Amulius. Numitior's duahgter, Rhea, was a Vestal Virgin and she was forbidden to marry. However, the god MArs came to her in her temple and with him she conceived her two twin sons, Romulus and Remus. As soon as they were born, her husband, Amulius, abandoned them. They were abandoned because Amulius didn't want the boys to overthrow him. So as a result, he put them in the Tiber River. Luckily, the boys survived and washed ashore. They were later found by a she-wolf, who instead of killing them, looked after them and fed them some of her milk. The she-wolf was also helped by a woodpecker who brought them food. Eventually, the twins were discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, and his wife, who brought the children into their home and raised them as their own. As the boys reached adulthood, Romulus and Remus killed Amulius and reinstated Numitor as King of Alba Longa. Then they decided to start a town of their own. They chose to create their town where the she-wolf and nurtured them. Romulus starting building the walls of the town on the Palatine Hill, but Remus thought they were too low. Romulus, in anger from his brother's remark, killed Remus. Romulus continued building the city and named it Roma, meaning Rome, under his own name. This is the story of Romulus and Remus.

With this information, Kate and I had to begin making a comic about it. At first, it was difficult because the internet wasn't working and we couldn't make an account but eventually, after a couple trial and errors, we finally got it to work and began creating the comic. It was a lot of fun to do and I'm pretty sure our comic will be amazing once it is done.

Chi Cago feat. M. Schick Lamar

Today in western civilization, the strangest thing happened. We weren't greeted by Mr. Schick's goofy personality. Instead, a strange man clad in dark sunglasses, a black sweatshirt, and a black Chicago Bulls hat entered the classroom pushing Mr. Schick's familiar cart. Following him was someone who seemed like Mr. Schick's daughter, but it wasn't. It was a girl who went by the name M. Schick Lamar. She was also dressed in the same dark clothing. I was in the beginning was confused about what was going on. But then, it was all explained. The man dressed in black stood behind the desk where Mr. Schick would teach and began to speak. "You guys know Flo Rida?" We nod, showing that everyone knew who the rapper/singer was. "Well," there was a dramatic pause, "I'm Chi Cago." He turned around and pointed to the back of his hat with the Chicago Bulls logo on the back. There was a stifle of confusion. With that, he shifted the attention onto the girl named M. Schick Lamar. One of the students asked if we could film whatever was going to happen because they knew it was going to be something good. Mr. Schi--I mean, Chi Cago, allowed and Kate and I rushed to our lockers to get this extraordinary moment on film. When we came, the show was just about to start. Now, if you know the catchy tune and musical hit "Low" by Flo Rida, then you would know that Chi Cago was making his own parody of it to each us about Rome and Ancient Greece. It was truly a great song. And lucky me, that I got it all on camera. Maybe 40 years from now, when I am an alumni and my children are attending school here, I can show them the video of Chi Cago in action! After our great little music session, Mr. Schick's alter ego, Chi Cago, left  us wanting more but he also left us with the real Mr. Schick again. Mr. Schick asked if we liked and I'm pretty sure the majority of us loved it. Later on, we went back to LO-1 and continued on taking notes. At the end of class, though, Mr. Schick introduced a new project to us. I was at my locker getting my charger for most of the explaining of this project but I know it has something to do with making a comic with a partner about some people. I guess my partner will be able to fill me in on the details. But all I really want to know is, when will Chi Cago's song go on iTunes and when will he be in concert?

Starting A New Chapter

At the beginning of class today, Mr. Schick handed back our Chapter 5 test on Alexander the Great. I really thought I had gotten a hundred. But unfortunately, I didn't. I got one answer wrong, which was Name two of Alexander's significant battles. I did. I gave Granicus and Secretariat. Unfortunately, one out of those two were wrong. Instead of Secretariat, I could have had the option of putting down Gaugamela, Hydaspes, or Issus. Because of my wrong answer, I got 5 points taken off and instead of getting a 75 out of 75, I got a 70 out of 75, which resulting in me getting a 93. But hey, at least it's still an A. After that, we moved on to our homework which was to read pg. 88- 94 and write down some important information about that. Because Mr. Schick and the rest of the class didn't know how we wanted to go about this, Mr. Schick just went through most of the lesson and pin-pointed material that he thought would be important and might be on the test. Instead of typing everything he said on my blog for today, I decided to highlight the things he said in the textbook because that would be easier for me. But in the end, I did have to add some stuff to my old blog I put with my homework because it wasn't mentioned in the book. Even though we didn't finish the whole lesson, we did get through a great portion and shouldn't have as much to do tomorrow.

Alexander The Test

It's back to class now! Now that Spring Break is over, we head back to school and we start off with Western Civilization. To start off the class, we reviewed on Alexander the Great. Each group gave a few brief notes about their section and then Mr. Schick helped answer some questions. After that, we took our chapter 5 test and to be honest, it was actually easy. I barely used my blog. And I'm pretty sure I got a 100 or at least an A.  After we finished the test, Mr. Schick told us to go to his blog and do some work. We are now starting to move onto the Romans. I am very excited, so here we go.

LO-1 : City State and Empire

The rise of Rome began as a continuation of Greece's early westward expansion through the Mediterranean Sea, which brought the Greek model of civilization to the peoples of Italy during the 8th century BC. The Romans not only imitated Greek life, but also improved it, by at least government and warfare. By 500 BC, Rome became a Greek-style city-state that was no longer ruled by kings, by the Roman government system, known as the republic. With that, Rome's fighting methods became more successful than those of the Greeks and as a result, Rome became the center of an empire that stretched from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic Ocean.

ITALY AND ITS PEOPLE

In the era of the Indo-European migration, some tribes moved into Italy. They arrived in a Mediterranean land with farming resources that were basically similar to those of Greece, but able to support a larger population. Italy was situated astride the Mediterranean, commanding every direction.

The Indo-Europeans formed various tribal groups, among them were the Latin people of central Italy. Some of the Latins settled near the mouth of the Tiber River and built a cluster of dwellings on low-lying hills along the river - "Seven Hills." Around 750 BC, these settlements joined together to form a single city-state called Rome. But the Romans were not the only ones living in Italy, there were also the Etruscans and the Greeks.

The Romans borrowed form the Greeks. As part of expansion, the Greek city-states began building colonies in southern Italy and spread northward. It was from this that the Latins first learned the alphabet and gained knowledge of the life of Greek city-states.

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC: THE SENATE AND THE PEOPLE 

Under the influence of the Etruscans and the Greeks, the Romans developed the skills that enabled them to build their unique political instructions. In the beginning, Etrucans kings were ruling over Rome but around 500 BC, Rome decided to overthrow the rulers and so the monarchy was abolished. The government of the Roman  city-state became officially the "people's business." Like Greece, the Roman Republic went through a long and turbulent development under the influence of social struggles. But because of these struggles, the Roman government system was neither a Greek-style democracy, nor an oligarchy, but a mixture of both. 

Patricians were the the aristocratic side of conflicts of the Republic, but on the other side were the plebeians, who were everyone who didn't belong to the patrician families. In the beginning, the "people's business" was run by the Senate. Two among the senators functioned as consuls. these consuls now appointed senators, as well as chose their successors. The fact that there were two consuls and that they both served one-year terms were a guarantee against a revival of monarchy. The Romans were so eager to avoid this possibility that the practice grew up appointing two or more men for one-year terms to every public office. This slowed down the government and its actions, but in time of emergency the consuls, on the advice of the Senate, could appoint a dictator, with full power to give orders and laws for a max of six months. With this, the Republic's original government system kept power in the hands of the patrician group as a whole.

At first, the plebeians deferred the patrician rule, but as Rome grew and the plebeians became more numerous, they began to resent being treated as social class citizens. They began to pressure the patricians. Rome, just like the Greek city-states, relied on its own citizens to be soldiers, so that the Senate could not forever deny the plebeians a share in government. As a result, the Republic developed a government system that both maintained the leadership of the Senate yet also allowed the plebeians power.

In 500 BC, Tarquin the Proud was the last king of the Roman monarchy. Tarquin's son had raped a young woman named Lucretia. Lucretia had killed herself because off all the shame. Tarquin was suppose to do something about this but did nothing and the people got fed up with him and kicked him out of office. Since they couldn't come up with a new leader, they decided to end the rule of the kings and combine a monarchy and an oligarchy and created the Republic, "the people's business."

In about 450 BC, in the response to the plebeians demand in written laws, the laws of Rome were put in writing. It was said to be engraved on twelve slabs of wood or bronze and mounted in the chief public square for everyone to see. These "Twelve Slabs"served as a foundation for the elaborate system of Roman Law that grew up in later centuries.

Not long after, new plebeians assemblies came into being alongside the existing one that soon gained far greater power. One of the new bodies won the right to elect consuls subject to confirmation by the Senate. The other began electing their own magistrates, called tribunes. The tribunes eventually gained the power to make laws and veto laws passed by the Senate. Eventually, the patricians gave way to the plebeians, until by 250 BC, when the two groups couldn't be distinguished and no longer mattered in politics and government. By this time,  the plebeians were now eligible for office, including consul, they had won the admission of the Senate itself, and they had even accomplished the right to marry into patrician families.

TERMS TO KNOW

patricians - upper-class citizens who belonged to the oldest and noblest Roman families.

Republic - in reference to ancient Rome, the system of city-state government in which decision-making power was shared between the senate and assemblies of male citizens.

plebeians - the Roman common people, including workers, small farmers, and wealthy people who were not patricians.

Senate - in ancient Rome, a government assembly appointed by the king, and under the Republic by the consuls; originally all members were patricians, but in time wealthy plebeians were appointed as well.

consuls - int the Roman Republic, two senators who led the government and military for one-year terms and appointed their own successors.

dictator - in the Republic, a single leader with the full decision making powers, appointed for a maximum six-month term during times of emergency.

tribunes - magistrates elected by the plebeians, who eventually gained the power to initiate and veto laws.

client - a person who provides personal services in return for money and protection from a patron.

patron - a wealthy person who supports others with money and protection in exchange for personal services.

pontiff - in ancient Rome, one of the Republic's leading priests.

paterfamilies - the "family father" in ancient Rome, who had unlimited power over his household.

matron - title of honor given to a married woman in ancient Rome.

Notes For Alexander The Great

·         Parentage

o   King Phillip : Alexander’s father

§  Birthplace : Pella of Macedon

§  King from 359 BC – 336 BC (assassinated)

§  While held hostage, he learned military and diplomatic education

o   Olympias : Alexander’s mother

§  Originally a princess

§  Arranged marriage to King Phillip

§  She though Zeus was the father of Alexander

§  Horrible relationship with Phillip

§  She was born around Macedonia but she wasn’t a true Macedonian

·         Early Years

o   344 BC – a dealer gave Phillip a black horse but when Phillip refused to take it, Alexander said that he would tame the horse

§  The horse was afraid of its shadow

§  Its name was Bucephalus

§  Mythical – it was better than a Pegasus

§  Alexander had the horse for the rest of his life; rode it into battle and war

o   Education

§  Tutored by Leondias

·         Math, horsemanship, archery

§  343 BC – tutored by Aristotle

·         Rise to Power

o   Phillip II was assassinated in 336 BC in Macedon by Pausanian

§  One theory was that the Persians persuaded Pausanain

§  Another theory was that Pausanain had a loving relationship with Phillip – GAY

o   Family Relationship

§  Bad relationship with his father

§  Took the throne after his father died

o   Assuming Power

§  People doubted him

§  He was 20

§  People plotted to overthrow Alexander, so he had them executed

§  His plan was to conquer most of the land

·         Military Career

o   Fight the Persians

§  Revenge of King Phillip

o   Battle if Granicus River

§  335 BC : Alexander crossed Hellenspont

§  334 BC : fought Troy

o   Siege of Halicarnassus

§  Fought in 334 BC

o   Egypt

§  Stronghold of Gaza

§  Fourth assault they took over

§  Men were killed, women and children were sold into slavery

§  Alex let Egypt live, but simply pay taxes

§  Egypt made him Pharoah

·         India

o   Alexander marched into 327 BC

o   He invaded Punjab

o   326 BC – forces met at Porus

§  The Indians fought on elephants

o   Alexander’s horse died

o   Revolt of the army

§  Macedonians fled after hearing about the elephants

§  He talked to General Coenus

§  Malli – most war like Indians

§  Thousands of soldiers died in Gerdosian Desert

o   Returning home

§  Hydaspes + Indus Rivers

·         Death

o   When?

§  Alexander the Great died either on June 10, 323 BC or June 11, 323 BC

§  He was only 32, a month away from being 33

o   How?

§  The death until this day is still a mystery

§  One theory to his death is that he drank poisoned wine

§  Another theory is that he got sick with malaria and then died

§  The idea that he engaged in a large drinking party was one thought

§  People also think that since he drank so much and had bad wounds that his health was not the best

o   Where?

§  Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchanezzar II, in Babylon

o   Why?

§  Roughly 14 days before the death of Alexander, he entertained admiral Nearchus, and spent the night and next day drinking with Medius of Larissa. Eventually, he developed a fever, which worsened until he unable to speak.

§  One theory was that people thought that he had been poisoned. The belief is that Antipater arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son, Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer. Suggestions rose that Aristotle may have participated in this act.

o   Aftermath

§  His body was laid in a gold sarcophagus, with honey, and then put in a gold casket.

§  On the way to his funeral, his sarcophagus was taken to Alexandria and his was replaced with a glass one so they could make coins with it.

o   If He Didn’t Die

§  Historians believe that Alexander wouldn’t have lived much longer than he did.

§  His next plan, though, was to conquer all of India and then head back towards Europe.

·         Ruling Style

o   Treatment of Foes

§  He tried to make peace, but if they attacked, he would kill the men and sell the women and children

o   Hellenistic Era

§  Macedonian rule for the next 200-300 years

§  The purpose was to combine Greek and Persian ways and cultures

o   Succession

§  Division affected Macedonians

§  Macedonia unity collapsed after 40 years