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.