Who settled in Rome?

Etruscans

• came from the north - central part of the peninsula 
• metalworkers, artists, architects 
• two foundation myths - Virgil's plus the story of Remus and romulus 

Greeks 

• They had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea 
• Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as: 
• religious beliefs 
• alphabet 
• much of their art 
• military techniques and weaponry

But who first settled there? 

the Latins! 

• descendants of Indo-europeans 
• settled on the banks of the Tiber 
• situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further 
• a commercial port, but not susceptible to attack 
• and .. built on seven hills 

Remus wanted Aventine 

Romulus chose Palatine

They drained a swamp 

• many streams flowed into the Tiber 
• there was a marshy area called the Forum, between Palatine and Capitoline Hills 
• Tarquin the Proud's grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the tiber

Now Tarquin's kinda proud, but he got a little loud 

• Lucius Tarquinas Superbus 
• The seventh and final king of Rome
• known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to Tarquin the Arrogant) 
• a true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word 

No kings no more

• The people's shock at this horrible behavior and this horrible family made them NEVER want to be subject to the rule of kings EVER again - this was an attitude that lasted for centuries 

Today in class I was starving, but we worked on organizing our project. We made a list of what we need to get and who will get the supplies. Im very excited to complete this project. Tonight I will be going to get the supplies so we can start this project on Sunday.

Class on Friday was all about our projects. Since Nikki wasn't there Chris and I brainstormed over ideas and what we could do. I think that our project will get an A, and I'm excited to start it.

Today in class we took notes, they are listed down below ....

1. They drained a swamp for Rome.
2. Tarquin the proud was a bad tyrant.
3. Tarquin's son was guilty of raping an older women (Lucricia).
4. Tarquin didn't care. he didn't punish him.
5. She committed suicide after the rape.
6. The Roman people were outraged; They ran Tarquin and his family out of Rome. 
7. After that, they took 3 different governments and combined them all to make their republic.
8. A Roman legion had 5,000 people. The legion was divided into century's consisting of 80 soldiers.
9. Carthage is in Africa.
10. Conflict started about how people wanted to control the passages of trade and the coast.
11.  Romans took Sicily from Carthage. 
12. Hannibal wanted to take over Rome.
13. Hannibal attacked from the "back door" of Rome.
14. They never took Rome.
15. Romans came down to Carthage and absolutely annihilated them. 

Today in class it was normal as usual. We started taking notes until the phone ran and said Mr. Schick has a visitor. Mr. Schick went to go get him, and it ended up being Mr. Schick with a sweatshirt and sunglasses. Mr. Schick performed Low by Flo Rida. The performance was pretty funny because he changed the lyrics into things about Rome. After, we took notes, they are listed below...

City - State: The Roman Republic (4 of 4)

• Romans had strong values & a particular connection to the God Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera), and Minerva (Athena) 
• Romans believed that it was every citizen's duty to participate in government and war, excluding women 
• The Roman family and clan (group of related families) was paternalistic and the "family father" had complete control 
• Named women were also revered in Rome as "Matrons"
• Pater familias - in charge of family

Roman Expansion (1 of 3)

Allies & Colonies 

• Rome was a military culture & made a number of improvements to the older Greek tactics which made their armies nimble and effective 
• When Rome conquered a neighboring territory, they often extended Roman rights & privileges to the conquered people, absorbing them into Rome itself 
• Non-Romans in Italy, anxious to become Roman citizens, were incentivized to become allies of Rome 
• Tarquin the Proud - leader - monarch 
• New form of government - republic 

Today in class we went over our new chapter on Rome.

Because I forgot my book, here are the notes Chris allowed me to use...

Rome

Etruscans, Greeks, and Latin – first settlers on the peninsula

Ninth Century – Etruscans move into Italy

-Greeks have colonies all around the Mediterranean in Tiber River

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (1 of 4)

·      Italy and Its People

-       Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the city-state known as Rome

-       The Etruscan people, originally from the east, had settled in the north of Italy and were also influenced by the Greek’s settlements to their south and learned the alphabet and city-state organization from them

Remus and Romulus – brothers

-       Mother: Ria Sylvia and Mars, a god, had an affair and had the boys

-       The twins were abandoned to die in the river

-       The River carried them to safety

-       She-wolf took care of them

-       A Shepard and his wife eventually “adopted” them

-       Both grew up to be leaders

-       They had an argument over where their land would be

-       Romulus killed Remus because of the argument

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (2 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Originally, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders called the “Senate”

-       C. 500 B.C., the Romans overthrew their monarchy and established a “Republic”

-       Since the Senate was populated only by patricians (aristocratic men), the plebeians (ordinary citizens) fought for a vote in Rome’s government

-       Each year the Senate elected two rules, “consuls,” who each served a term of one year

-       As in the Greek City-States, the Romans would appoint a single dictator in times on war or conflict

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (3 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Eventually the plebeians gained power in the Senate by electing their own magistrates called “tribunes”

-       In 450 B.C.,  the laws of Rome were codified and written into the “Twelve Tablets”

-       The “mixed” government of patricians and plebeians had many of the checks and balances that modern democracies have today

Today in Western Civ class we learned about our new project! We are now moving on to Ancient Rome. My partners are Chris and Nikki, I'm very happy with my group. We have a great topic, it will take a lot of time and effort but our grade will reflect it.

Today in class we watched the video that we were suppose to watch yesterday. The video is called "Plato's Allegory of the Cave". The video was very strange in the beginning, but after you watched and thought about it, it made more sense. The video is about prisoners that were locked up in a cave. The only thing that gave them an idea of what life is like outside of the cave would be the shadows they saw, passing by. One of the prisoners had the chance to go into the real world. He didn't expect it to be like the shadows he saw, he went back into the cave to tell others. When he went back into the cave to tell them, the prisoners made fun of him. As a class, we were close to the meaning of the video but not exactly there. Mr. Schick then told us that people and news casters want us to believe everything we hear from them. The message is we need to form our, own personal ideas and opinions on things in life. That we shouldn't follow everything everyone else does and believes. 

Today in class we went over mistakes that were on our essays.  Some of the topics we talked about were what words to capitalize and what words we shouldn't. We then started to talk about how we will write many essays in our high school years. I think that writing this essay for Western Civ will help me become a better writer. Since we were not able to watch the video in class today, we will start it tomorrow.

Today in class we went over our test on Ancient Greece. I should've studied more then I did, so I would've had a better grade. I can just now hope to do well on my next test and my blogs so I can bring my grade up. Also, we got our papers back, personally I think that we should've gotten a better grade. There were little errors that took off points. Im gonna take this as a learning experience, which only can help me write better papers.

Today in class we had a test on Ancient Greece. I did not do well on the test at all. But oh well, better luck next time