Today in class we took our Rome test; this is our last test we will take in western civ. Well except for the exam. The test was very fair, and was easier then expected. I didn't do as well as planned on the test. Now I have to review the questions for the essay part of the exam tomorrow. I plan to do a great job on the essay as well as the Scantron portion of the exam.

Today, Friday 5/22 I was not in class because my sister had surgery. The surgery went as planned, and she is home resting now. Here are the notes I got from Chris.

Crossing the Rubicon
-Julius defied the Senate and did what he want - he took his soldiers over the Rubicon
-Brutus and the Senate murdered Julius on March 15 (Ides of March) 44BC
-Brutus was Julius' friend but he thought he had too much power

-Octavian, 18 at the time, took Julius' power
-Lepidus and Mark Antony worked with Octavian
-Octavian changed his name to Caesar Augustus

-Caesar Augustus
-period that came after Caesar Augustus - Pax Romana - Roman time of peace 

In class we finished up the projects. After we just sat around and talked about the upcoming weeks. Our test got changed to Wednesday, which I'm happy about because we have more time to study.

Today in Western Civ Nikki, Chris and I presented our project on the Roman Colosseum. We had to go first because the originally scheduled group wasn't ready. I think we did okay on our project, just have to wait to see what we got.

Today in Western Civ we watch three people present their projects. All of the projects were appealing, but some weren't as great as others. Tomorrow is the day we present our project, I am a little nervous; but i think we will do okay.

Today in West Civ we took notes and continued watching the video.
Below are my notes ....

Poor plebs (literally)

• The poet Juvenal said the people "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses"
• bread (free grain from the state) and entertainment (Circus Maximus, Colosseum), partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet

A change in rule 

• Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful) 
• Military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils
• soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

Nobody did that better then Caesar 

• Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BCE) 
• a highly successful general 
• he conquered the huge territory of Gaul 

He could play the game (of politics) 

• made common folks happy 
• made friends in high places 
• Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine) 
• Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)
• these three men formed the First Triumvirate ("rule of three men")

Today in West Civ we had a pop quiz. I did okay, on the quiz. Whatever I feel that these pop quizzes are crap.

Today in class we watched the video that we were suppose to watch last Friday

Today in West civ we had a sub because Mr. Schick wasn't here. We went to the ceramic room, and worked on our project. We started to write the one page paper to go along with the project. Hopefully, we will finish the paper before this mod is over. We also got to see Maggie, the cutest dog ever.

Today in western civ we went tried to watch the video that is on Mr. Schick's blog. His computer didn't work so we had to watch it individually.

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


Roman Legion-5,000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)            -The Roman army’s elite heavy infantry            -Recruited exclusively from Roman citizens            -Group of eighty – century            -On horseback – cavalry            -Shield, sword, dagger and tunic

Punic Wars in Carthage-The Punic Wars (264 – 146 BCE)-Rome vs. Carthage-Three wars

Two Empires fighting for control

First Punic War – (264 – 241 BCE)-Naval battle for control of the strategically located of Sicily-Rome wins this oneThe (Carthaginian) Empire Strikes Back

Second Punic War (218 – 201 BCE)-29 year old Carthage general Hannibal almost does the impossible taking Rome-Attacks Rome from the North after crossing Iberia and the Alps-Lays siege too much of the peninsula for 15 years, but could never get back to Rome

Third and Final Punic War (149 – 146 BCE)-Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage-Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attached the city-Carthage was burned for 17 days, the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed-When the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city was sold into slavery-The rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

Total Destruction; end of an empire-Marcus Portius Cato the Elder was a politician who ended every speech by saying, “Delenda Carthage est.” which means Carthage must be destroyed-He got his wish

Economic Change; Social Upheavels-Slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,000 Greek POWs, etc.)-By the end of the Second Century BCE there was over a million slaves in Italy-Small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles-Slaves did the work on the farms for the rich-The big farms became massive estates called latifundia

Below are the notes we took in class 

Patricians
Rule of Kings is replaced by rule of two consuls
-Consuls are elected officials
-Term of office: one year
-Always aristocrats (patricians)
-Patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor or “pater” (father)
-Duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army
-One consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)
Plebeians
-Fifth century BCE – Patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs (“people”)
-Plebs were 98% of the population
-How did the Patricians dominate?
            -Plebs had to serve in the army
            -But could not hold office
            -Plebs were threatened with debt slavery
            -Plebs had no legal rights
-Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials
-Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs
-Patricians cold interpret these to their own advantage
So, plebs refused to serve in the military until…
-Laws were written out – The Law of the Twelve Tables
-These laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)
-Tribunes “tribal leaders” were elected
SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanum
-Designates any decree or decision made by “the Roman Senate and People”
Res publica – the people’s affairs
Brand new republic, ready to run
-Democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes)
-Aristocracy (the Senate – approx. 300 members)
-Plus monarchy (the Consuls)
-Not a tyranny
Gov’t. : ancient Roman/ USA
-Originally, the US modeled their new government on the model used by the ancient Romans
-Not exactly the same

-But both have 3 branches of government
            -Executive
            -Legislative
            -Judicial
-And both have a legal code
3 branches (1) – Rome/USA

Rome
-Executive
            -Two consuls
            -One-year terms
            -Each has veto power
            -Controls the military
            -Could appoint a dictator in a crisis for a six-month term

USA
-Executive
            -President (and VP)
            -Four-year terms
            -Can veto proposed laws
            -Commander in Chief
3 branches (2) – Rome/USA

Rome
-Legislative
            -Senate – 300 people – aristocrats – members for life
            -Assemblies

USA
-Legislative
            -Senate – 100 senates (two from each state) six-year terms
            -House of Representatives – 435 members
3 branches (3) – Rome/USA

Rome
-Judicial
            -Praetors
            -Chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
            -One-year terms

USA
-Judicial
            -Supreme Court
            -Nine members
            -Appointment by the president, confirmed by the Senate
-Lifetime terms

Legal Code – Rome/USA

Rome
-Twelve Tables
-Publically displayed
-Gave rights to plebeians, not just aristocrats
-Only protected free – born male citizens (not women)

USA
-Bill of Rights
-First ten amendments to Constitution

Today in class we had the opportunity to go talk to the junior AP honor US history class. They called it the 1920s "speakeasy". I thought that it was boring in the beginning, but when I started talking to the people, I liked it more. My favorite was Clara Bow. She did a great job acting as her, and she was very enthusiastic about it. This is also was my favorite time period which makes it better!