5/28/14

Today in class we had a test and I got a 77 on it. I studied hard and long but somehow I just got confused on a lot of questions. The thing that confused me was the dates. I feel like my grade on this test will move my grade from an 82 to a 70 something. The only thing I can hope for now is this blog and class participation.

5/27/14

Today I read the notes to the class but here are some notes.

5. Charlemagne takes center stage

1. Charlemagne- aka Charles the Great

1. Six foot four
2. Built the greatest empire since Rome
3. Fought the Muslims in Spain
4. Fought Germanic tribes
5. Spread Christianity
6. Reunited Western Europe
7. Became the most powerful King in Western Europe
8. Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from unruly Roman mob
9. This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church and the heritage of the Roman Empire.

 

 

 

2. Charlemagne's Government

1. He limited the authority of the nobles
2. He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
3. Kept close watch on huge estates

3. Cultural Revival

1. Encouraged learning
2. Ordered monasteries to open schools

 

4. But his heirs were weenies…

1. His son- Louis the pious- was ineffective
2. Louis' three sons- Lothair Charles the bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the treaty of the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

5/23/14

Today in class we just took notes on some old stuff and a little bit of old stuff (mine was on a sheet of paper). The PowerPoint he showed us was about Charlemagne and more. We learned about him, his sons, and his grandson who all of which tried to make change to Europe. Some people didn't even know who he was but Charlemagne wanted to be known so he went out in the public a lot. Mr. Schick made an excellent point the other day about how we have starving people, and some people sitting on golden chairs which could be used to feed the poor people. Our test is next Wednesday and I am not ready yet. I am going to start studying on Monday.

5/20/14

 

1.  

1. 511 Ad- Clovis unites the franks into one kingdom
2. 600 AD- church plus Frankish rulers convert many
3. Fear of Muslims= spur many to convert to Christianity
4. Monasteries and convents

 

1. 520 AD- benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
2. His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
3. 731 AD- the vulnerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
4. Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books \

 

4. European empire evolves

1. Franks control target European kingdom

1. The roman Province formerly known as Gaul
2. Ruled by Clovis- The Merovingian dynasty

 

2. Major domo- Mayor of the palace- ruled the kingdom
3. Charles Martel- Charles the hammer

1. Extended the Franks' reign to the north, south, and east
2. Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the battle of tours in 732

 

4.n Charles the hammers son- Pepin the Short

1. Possible named for his unusual short haircut
2. Working for  and with the Pope. Pepin fought the Lombard's
3. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the Grace of God"- beginning the Carolingian Dynasty

751-987 AD

He had two sons one named Charlemagne

 

5. Charlemagne takes center stage

1. Charlemagne- aka Charles the Great

1. Six foot four
2. Built the greatest empire since Rome
3. Fought the Muslims in Spain
4. Fought Germanic tribes
5. Spread Christianity
6. Reunited Western Europe
7. Became the most powerful King in Western Europe
8. Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from unruly Roman mob
9. This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church and the heritage of the Roman Empire.

 

 

 

2. Charlemagne's Government

1. He limited the authority of the nobles
2. He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
3. Kept close watch on huge estates

3. Cultural Revival

1. Encouraged learning
2. Ordered monasteries to open schools

 

4. But his heirs were weenies…

1. His son- Louis the pious- was ineffective
2. Louis' three sons- Lothair Charles the bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the treaty of the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

 

5/19/14

1. Invasions trigger changes in western Europe

1. Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends

1. Disruption of trade

1. Europe cities are no longer economic centers
2. Money is scarce

2. Down fall of cities

1. Cities are no longer centers of administration
100. Population shifts

1. Nobles retreat to the rural areas
2. Cities don’t have strong leadership

 

 

1. Invasions trigger in western Europe (cont'd)

2. Decline of learning

1. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
2. Only priest and church officials could read and write
3. Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy was almost lost)

3. Loss of a common language

1. Dialects develop in different regions
2. By the 8005, French, Spanish, other Roman based languages are evolving from Latin

 

2. Germanic kingdoms emerge

1. The concept of government changes

1. Roman society: loyal to public gov't
2. Germanic society: loyal to family

1. Germanic chief led warriors
2. During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lords hall)
3. During wartime, warriors fought for the lord

 

100. "the king? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"

4. Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis

 

2. Germanic kingdoms emerge

2. The franks under Clovis

1. Another battlefield conversion! (just like Constantine)
2. Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
3. The church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
4. Clovis and the church begin to work together

 

A simple mathematical equation:

Clovis' military expertise

+ the church's support and money

                       =

 

A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE BETWEEN TWO POWERFUL FORCES! WOO-HOO!

 

 

3. Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

5. (pope) Gregory I expands papal power

1. Papacy= Pope's office
2. Secular power= worldly power
3. So… under Gregory the great…

 

Papal power (power of the pope) is political power, presented from the popes palace

 

4. The church can use church money to:

Raise armies

Repair roads

Help the poor

5. Gregory the great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom)

5/17/14

Friday in class we just went over the test and the answers to it. I got a 74 on the test but only because of a few minor mental mistakes that I should've gotten right. We also started our new unit which we took a little bit of notes on. The life for a slave was really rough and they had to live with animals and bugs (tragic)

5/14/14

Today in class we took a Test on Rome and I got a 76. I feel like its going to bring my average down. It's hard on the section on Rome because I didn't really study to be honest. Right now I have English and I have to go. This blog was short because all we did was take a quiz.

5/13/14

Diocletian- divided Rome east and west
Constantine was the one who let Christianity free because he saw a sign before a war
Angles and Saxons In Britain

Today in class we just studied a little bit about Rome, then Mr. Schick said we were free to do anything we want. I feel like the test is going to be hard but we will see.

5/12

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 to patrol; Roman generals fought for control; soldiers loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• Greek- speaking East (had more resources)
• Latin- speaking west (Rome, Tradition)

DIOCLETION
Diocletian (Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus)^{[5][notes 1]} (245–311)^[4][6] 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. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and marks the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as augustus, co-emperor, in 286.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian

• Son of freed slave
• he didn't like Christians
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• Moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantinople), 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
• that's it for the Roman Empire (AD 476)
• he rules from 284 - 303
• thought that Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
• Rome needs a big Government (20,000 officials)

CONSTANTINE

• Rules from 306-337
• says its cool to be a Christian and almost became one his self because of his vision
• conversion to Christianity (Via a cross in the sky(Conquer by this!)
• 313 his edict of Milan proclaims freedom, of worship
• Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

Milan proclaims freedom, of worship

The Edict of Milan refers to the February 313 agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire.^[1] Western Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in Milan and among other things, agreed to change policies towards Christians.^[
1]



 LIFE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY

• country dwellers are getting bankrupt 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 off depts. and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back breaking work
• landowners hold power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
• foreshadowing feudalism
• Rome's power is decreasing while nomadic barbarians gain power
• Western Europe Is too poor, begins to be neglected
• Huns might migrate from China to eastern Europe
• Visigoths 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

• 500 BC- the monarchy is established
• 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 invasions by barbarians tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• The last Emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

5/9 notes and page 123

RISE OF CHRISTIANITY

• Jesus spends three years preaching, is killed by Roman leaders
• Jesus' followers believe he is the messiah and savior who has risen from the dead
• Saul (the persecutor) becomes Paul (the evangelists), spreading Jesus' message (one true God, not Roman gods)
• Christians and Jews were monotheistic (believing in one God)
• this 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 some 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 and influence

5/7/14

Today in class we had a test. I di not do as good as I thought I was going to do because some of the questions confused me. I got an 88 but our class average was an 81. On the other hand the test wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Basically it was the whole Rome test we already took and some more questions about Rome's leaders. Can't wait to see what our next unit will be about.

More notes on Rome

Today in class we just reviewed on what was going to be on the test tomorrow. I am ready because I have studied for this, plus half of the things on the test I already know. We reviewed the notes from yesterday about Caesar and the other leaders. I feel like Rome ran their government right but they just didn't have the right leaders. I wonder if we gave our presidents all that power how they would act.

5/5 notes second part of quiz

What's on second part of quiz

Monday, May 05, 2014

8:28 AM

• Caesar Augustus's real name was Octavion

 

Augustus the first emperor getting it done

• Begins the pax roma- a period of peace and prosperity
• Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)
• Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, and postal service
• Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14 and passes power to…
• 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 man of those he spoke to these epistles are a part of the NT
• 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- good start

• In addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great nephew

-putting him next to 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" (according to the historian philo)…then…
• 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  (at least that’s what his critics said)
• Assassinated by his own aids, AD 41 (aged 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 when Caligula was killed
• He rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts; he renovated Circus Maximus
• Had an awful marriage to Messalina, who was unfaithful to him, 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 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 is 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 cult  (trying to start a new religion)
• Often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Coliseum (thrown to lions ect. )
• Despite the oppression Christianity grew quickly by AD 200, around 10 percent of the people in the roman empire was Christians
   

5/2/14

PAGE 101

• There were a stubborn core of senators who were disturbed by Caesar's success.
• their concern deepened further when in 44 B.B. he secured a vote from the senate making him dictator for life.
• Caesar never ruled by terror like Sulla. But they both didn't want to give up their high position
• In the view of the diehard senators, Caesar had become a Greek style tyrant- and there was a traditional way of getting rid of tyrants
• Caesar appeared in the senate house unarmed and unguarded and a crowd of senators struck him to death with daggers 23 times
• Caesars death did not restore the Republic instead it produced another crop of warlords and yet more bouts of civil war.
• the main contenders were; Mark Anthony, once a commander under Caesar and now a consul; The leading assassins, Brutus and Cassius; and Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, the youthful Octavian Caesar.
• Mark Anthony and Octavian were rival loyalist of Caesar and each used to attract some of Caesars legion which they used to fight a brutal battle war against each other in Italy
• The two then joined together to take down the assassins in Greece.
• The partners then divided the Roman world with Octavian based in Rome; Lepidus in North Africa; And mark Anthony in Alexandria
• They're cooperation soon turned to rivalry, and the balance of power began shifting to Octavian.
• Octavian pushed Lepidus out of power and began expanding Rome's frontiers northward toward Danube.
• Finally in 31 B.C. the leaders of the two halves of Rome went to war and Octavian won against Antony and Cleopatra in a naval battle near Actium
• The two then returned to Egypt, committed suicide and Octavian became the supreme warlord the one who finally managed to turn military dictatorship into legitimate and permanent monarchy

PAGE 103
"THE ERA OF THE ROMAN PEACE WAS ONE OF MASSIVE SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CULTURAL CHANGES THAT WOULD FORM A NEW PATTERN OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION.

• Augustus's new system of government kept many features of the roman republic, allowed subject peoples a good deal of self rule, and brought Rome's destabilizing expansion to a halt. The result was two hundred years of stability that modern scholars call the Roman peace.
• Roman literature and art, philosophy and la, architecture and engineering, were often inspired by Greek models. but roman achievements in these fields eventually equaled or surpassed those of the Greeks and became just as a model for future western development
• In many ways the dominant international civilization undermined the traditions of other peoples of the empire
• The era of Roman peace was one of massive social, religious, and cultural changes that would form a new pattern of western civilization.

PAGE 104-107

• The senate conferred on him anew title, Augustus ("Revered One")
• 27 B.C. the year generally accepted as the end of the Republic and the beginning of the rule of the Roman Emperors
•  Unlike Sulla and Caesar, Augustus refused the offer of a long term dictatorship and referred to himself simply as princeps ("first citizen") a name given to leaders that are considered indispensable to the Republic.
• the title he held the longest was Tribune of the people
• by arrangement of the senate in 27 B.C. Augustus became commander in chief of the armed forces and the senate supervised the city and Italy
• After he won supreme power shrines were built so people could sacrifice to Rome and Augustus because they thought that Augustus sent as a god who embodied Rome's beneficial rule.

4/30/14

Today we have a break class which means we don't do anything. Basically we have a free mod to do whatever we want. Mr. Schick is awesome for this because I have homework so now I can work on my b flex. We should do this more often.

4/29/14

Octavian- AKA Caesar Augustus - they held him up almost as if he was a God (August)

• begins the Pax Romana- a period of piece and prosperity
• built roads, aqueducts(brought 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, and passes power to

TIBERIUS
But first, a word about Jesus. and Paul.

FROM JESUS TO CHRISTIANITY

• 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 em) in the empire, and reaching out to the 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 Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

THE WORD SPREAD

4/28/14 notes (pages 97-101)

Gracus brothers (bros who made the law to give the plebeians their land back)

Then came Caesar who is a plebian but had a taste of the rich life

Proletarian (page 97)

 

Pompey                 First

                     Triumvirate

Crassus   

 Julius Caesar                                 

 

• Rubicon- the river that marks the northern most boundary of the northern territories
• (decision you cant come back on)
• Caesar and his men killed pompey because pompey told the senate to tell Caesar what he cant do
• They names Caesar "father of the father land"
• Caesar tries to be supreme ruler of the republic
• He becomes a tribune and becomes part of the senate
• He has power in all of the Governments
• Caesar becomes dictator
• Caesar took control and didn't listen to the senates
• Caesar used his problems to attack the problems in Rome
• He took care to keep the loyalty of the soldiers and prevent the rise of rival warlords
• He extended Roman citizenship to parts of Gaul and Spain
• Caesar was dictator for life
• Caesar got stabbed 23 times in the senate
• Caesar never ruled by terror like Sulla

4/25/14

Today in class we ate Maria's cheesecake and watched Alyssa and Nat present their project. The cheesecake was interesting because it had a bayleaf on it. It made the cheesecake taste kind of spicy. After that we took more notes on Rome. I think this Rome section is very easy and I cant wait until the test because I want to bring my grades up. Well its getting late and im tired so goodnight to all who read this.

4/23/14

Today we presented more projects and mostly today was just food. Will had good pork, and the girls had good pastries. Cameron told me an interesting fact that they would sometimes fill up the colosseum with water and have a ship battle. There are a lot of similar foods that the Romans would eat, that we would eat too. hopefully we all did good on our projects.

4/22/14

Today in class we presented our projects that we had to do over spring break. Mr. Schick called our Colosseum a do-nut which kind of made us feel bad about it. We made the coliseum out of Styrofoam and it took us 2 days total to finish it. Austins coloseum was amazing but he didnt have a presentation to go along with it. Overall I think we probably got a 85, I was hoping for a 90 or above but it is what it is. The food the people made was really good, we had a pie and sesame cookies. They both tasted the same to me but all in all today was a very good day to me.

4/11/14

Today in class we took a test for Mr. Shcick. I got an 80 on it but I thought I did much better than that. Next week we don't have school so me and Scott are taking that opportunity to build the coliseum. We are building it out of Styrofoam. Mr. Schick just put my grade in and im looking now!

4/9

Today in class we took notes on the Punic wars and the government of Rome. Here are the notes.

Roman legion- was like the name of the army

Legion- 5000 men

Century- 80 men

Infantry- foot soldiers     cavalry- soldiers on horse

Punic Wars                 Rome (wins all 3) v. Carthage

1. Sicily
2. Hannibal
3. Sack Carthage - North Africa   

Me and Scott's project is due on Tuesday and we haven't started yet. Luckily we don't have school next week because of the break.

4/8/14

Today we took notes- here are the notes

• instead of a king, there were 2 consuls (president/king)
• Senate and the house of representatives, u.s. is modeled after Roman government
• Senate runs every 2 years
• They discovered what kind of government they want to have
• u.s. went to roman government but gave more power 
• Plebeians(middle class) and patricians(aristocrats) and slaves

 

 

• 3 forms of gov in republic - aristocracy(senate/senate), monarchy(consul/president) and democracy(assembly/house of representatives)
• Senate are elected by aristocracy 
• Assembly elected by plebeians, service of the middle class
• If you were elected to assembly - tribune
• Senate - senator
• Consul - consul - 2 of them, most powerful people
• When u.s. formed their gov., they based it off the way the Romans did it
• If something happened they used a dictator until it passed; only served for 6 months

4/7/14

1. It was placed in the center of Italy in on a river. It was a good location which gave them the chance to control all of Italy. It put them in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
2. In 600 B.C a Etruscan king ruled over his people and Rome. By this time, Rome had grown to be a wealthy and large city. The Romans resented the Etruscan rule. In 509 B.C, they finally over threw the king and declared that Rome would be a Republic.
3. The nobles and the common people.
4. They said that all free citizens were protected by law. They were posted in a public place for all to see.
5. During the next century the Romans capitalized on their advantageous geographical position and rebuilt Rome.

Gauls- France


                                                                THE PUNIC WARS (basically was for the control of Sicily)

• Carthage was on the  North coast of Africa
• Rome vs Carthage
• Carthage was founded in 700 B.C. by Phoenician colonists
• Carthage had become an oligarchic and empire building republic like Rome.
• But ultimately what was at stake was control of the Mediterranean sea
• the punic wars were waged on land and sea in three vicious rounds between 264 and 146 B.C
• in 146 B.C. Carthage was finally captured
• To be leveled its people sold into slavery
• in 202 B.C. Rome had won control of western Mediterranean

4/4/14

Today in class we took notes from out of the book. We are learning about Rome and its social class and government. The plebeians were like common people like us and they would be treating wrong from the upper class people. Then they had the laws on this tablet to help support the plebeians, Kind of like the declaration of Independence. Rome was a lot like Sparta but they change a few things. This subject is interesting to me though.

4/2/14

Today in class we took some notes:

The Latin's were the first people to settle Italy

Then Etruscans

Then the Greeks

Rome was on the Tiber river

You get many things from the river

On seven hills

Found a way to transport water from other swamps and lakes to the Tiber river

The last king Rome/Italy  ever had- Tarquin the Proud

Res publica- Latin for the people's business where the word republic comes from

They elected representatives

 

REPUBLIC

1. Democracy
2. Monarchy  - two consuls                                      plebeians- regular, ordinary people
3. Aristocracy                                      patricians are the people with the money and the land.

4/1/14

Today in class Mr. Schick just reviewed this list for a project we are doing before spring break. Me and Scott already have some ideas on what we're going to do. We are going to do the coliseum and make it out of Styrofoam. I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't. It's very simple because we watched a guy do it on you tube. Other than that todays class was really chill. We even had chic ago come in for a second ;) he was really cool.

3/31/14

Instead of devoting his life to the city state of Rome he belonged first to a family or clan. They clans and fathers were held together by "fathers" or "paterfamilias"  meaning the family father who had unlimited power over his household. The only person who could not go under his rule is the wife but only if she was still subject to the authority of her on father or the "genius" of the family. A married women in Rome is known as a matron or "lady mother" she embodied worship in the house along side her husband's genius. The Romans believed in the power of fatherhood in their community as well. Roman community life was seen as a family but on a much larger scale.

3/26/14

In class today we took the test on the ancient Greek civilization. I am so glad that it is finally over but I am going to miss it at the same time. I feel like I got a low B on the test. It was pretty easy, open blog, fill in the blank, and multiple choice. The only thing I had trouble with was the names. This blog is not late, I clicked publish and it only saved it as a draft.

2/25/14

Today in class we watched the video about the Persian vs. Athens war. Tomorrow is the test and im honestly not ready for it like I have prepared for it but I feel like there's going to be some special detailed questions on it that I'm not prepared for like always. The video talked about Xerces and how he gathered his 1 million army on the march to Greece. But the Athens won because they took the war to the sea and because of their strong navy and trireme.

3/24/14

Today I wasn't here because I was in Virginia so I have nothing to tell about class today because I wasn't there, other than that Virginia was cool.

3/21/14

Friday in class I accidently showed up 20 minutes late but Mr. Schick doesn't think it was an accident. All we did on Friday was watch videos of peoples commercial including mine. I got a 95 which is pretty good but I don't know what was keeping me from a 100. I miss our old class with all of the other kids but it is what it is. Right now I am in Virginia taking a break from John Carroll finally.

3/19/14

Today in class we just reviewed our cyber day work that we did on Monday. I don't feel like being in school right now so I am bummed out. The worksheet was like 30 question computer test, it took me a long time. It asked all kind of questions about our Greece unit. Mr. Schick says that our test is going to be on Friday so that's good because I am tired of talking about Ancient Greece.

3/18/14

Today in class we sat here with a sub because Mr. Schick isn't here. We have to review that one paper that we were supposed to finish the other day because he said something about a quiz. Right now I am sitting in class watching other kids play on their labtops. I think we have a quiz in here tomorrow but im not sure but hopefully not because im not ready. I hope Mr. Schick and his team do good in the playoffs and win a big trophy as tall as him. Meanwhile we are in here talking about the Ancient Greek civilization. The Athens are my favorite because they remind me of modern day America in a way because of how free their people were.

monday cyber day asignment

1. Mostly fertile land is not a characteristics of Ancient Greece.
2. Approximately 3/4 of Greece is covered by mountains.
3. The word Barbarian came from the Greek word "barbarous," which originally meant "Non-Greek"
4.  megalithic structure is Massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs.
5. the term tribe refers to A social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship.
6. tribes were governed by warrior kings or queens, chieftains, and tribal leaders chosen by warriors.
7. The first European barbarians to make contact with civilization were the Greeks (not 100% sure because I couldn't find a defendant answer).
8. United States would not be considered a member of western civilization.
9. The Ionian sea is located west of the Greek mainland.
10. The Aegean sea is located east of the Greek mainland
11. The major crops the Aegean people lived on were grain, vines, and olives.
12. The Minoan civilization arose on the island of Crete.
13. The Minoan civilization established settlements along the Greek mainland's southern shore on some islands.
14.  The Mycenaean civilization built huge walls for defense.
15. A period of Greek history in which the population dropped, ships no longer sailed, and writing fell out of use was called the dark ages.
16. The group the Greeks joined was the Etruscans
17. The "C" as in c 1500 BC. means circa, around, and about.
18. the 600 B.C Greek city states that dotted around the Mediterranean sea were called colonies
19. although it is a matter of opinion the city states resembled counties
20. an oligarchy is a form of government in which small group of citizens dominated, and the power of the majority was limited in various ways.
21. A democracy is a government in which the decisions were made by majority of adult male citizens.
22. A Tyranny is a government with a self proclaimed dictator.
23. A Monarchy is a government with a single ruler.
24. Spartans had a monarchy, oligarchy, and a democracy government.
25. Spartans boys started training at age 7.
26. the wealthiest city state in the Ancient Greek world was Athens
27. The Acropolis was the high fortified citadel religious center of an ancient Greek town.
28. The southern peninsula where Sparta was located is called the Peloponnesus.
29. triremes were massive ships used to ram people.
30. a hoplite is a heavily armed citizen- soldier

short answer:
1. The dark ages were from 1100 BC – 750 BC.

2. The two stories homer wrote were called The Helen of Troy and the Trojan war.

3. Mediterranean comes from the Latin medius (middle) and terra (land), meaning middle of the land.

4. The Athenian landowners were called aristocrats.

3/14/14

Today is pie day! In class we tried to watch a video in class but we had no speakers so we had to listen to it in groups. Mr. Schick has not seen my commercial for ancient Athens. He is not here today so I doubt he will watch it. I wasn't here yesterday or the day before so I have no clue what's going on. It's a good thing that today is Friday because I hate school. Tomorrow is Saturday and I will have nothing to do because I am boring. I might go to the circus and the Washington D.C. Wish me luck, goodbye!

3/13/14

Today I don't know if I have Mr. Schick's class today. But I'm still sick so I wasn't at school today.

3/12/14

Today I was absent because I am sick.

3/11/14

today in class we watched peoples commercials. I couldn't go today because I had to upload mine to you tube and it took forever. watching other videos compared to mine is weird because there's are different. Mine has music and instead of Sparta I did Athens. I talked about the acropolis, the theatre, the navy, the school, the government, and the Olympics. The only thing I think I have more of instead of them is information. Well we will see tomorrow!

3/10/14

Today in class I  finished the story board in class. I didn't know that we had to do the board and the video so I am glad Mr. Schick is sick, I guess. I already finished it in class and it is really easy if you already have your video. I feel really good about the project but the only problem was getting old pictures instead of modern pictures.  Mrs... Merkel  was being mean to us but it's ok because I'm happy (:

3/7/14

Today in class Mr. Schick wasn't here because he was on retreat with the seniors. While he wasn't here we tried to finish our worksheets we started the other day. I don't think anybody finished because I sure didn't. Hopefully Mr. Schick will go over it when he gets back. The paper is about ancient Sparta and ancient Athens and more. I haven't started on my movie but I might start tonight.

3/ 5/14

Today in class we were watching the video that we never finished. We still didn't finish it. We took notes on a piece of oaper about Sparta and Athens. I haven't started my movie yet but hopefully I'll start it tomorrow. Other than that nothing really went on in class so I have nothing else to say.

3/4/14

Today in class we started by watching Mr. Shick's cyber day video because he wanted us to blog. Other than that today was a short class because of the 2 hour late bell so we just started taking notes on this movie that is supposed to help us for the test. I was kind of confused at the beginning but then I started picking up on it. So yeah that's all we did.

3/3/14

Today is a cyber day so we didn't have school. I am starting my movie today and I think I can get a good grade for this. I'm going to do mine on ancient Athens because they were more happy and it will be easier to do. See you tomorrow Mr. Schick, and nice video by the way ha ha ha.

2/28/14

 Today in class we watched a trailer of Baltimore and Los Angeles about why people should go there and why they should not. The Baltimore one was all boring and simple but the Los Angeles one was more exiting and it was so good it made me want to live there. At the end of class he told us that we have to make a movie on Athens or Sparta. I think im going to do it on Athens but im thinking about it. I'm going to start it tomorrow, but not today because I have too much homework.

2/26/14

Todays class was good. Mr. Schick let me teach it and I feel that all of the students learned more about Athens and Sparta than before. The movie 300 made me like the Spartans but ever since we have been taking notes, I like the Athens because they were more free and everybody had a free way of speech. It would suck to be a Spartan because they would have to work from a young age. I had fun today and hope Mr. Schick lets me teach again.

2/25/14

Today's class was cool because Mr.Schick told us about this story after we took notes. The story was about some Greece guy who went to war for 10 years and tried to come back to his wife and child but Poseidon God of the sea was  playing with him ad sent him on obstacles. One obstacle was they were in a cave with a Cyclops and they fought they're way out. Then these singing creatures tried to attack them and they got out. Eventually they got home after 10 more years. From what the book sound I might want to read it.

2/24/14 Devin's day

LO3:

• with the recovery of Greek civilization, tribal communities of the dark ages began to develop into city- states. communities of this kind had often arisen before
• acropolis- a combination of fortress and temple precinct. at the center of an ancient Greek town and on top of a hill
• Assyrians were reaching for power westward of Mesopotamia
• hoplite- a heavily armed and armored citizen soldier of ancient Greece
• phalanx- a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy.
• monarchy- a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually hereditary ruler (a monarch)
• 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 (a tyrant)
• democracy- in ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making
• SPARTA
• the Spartans were descendants of the Greeks who had conquered part of the  southern mainland, the territory of Laconia
• by the eighth century B.C they were a minority of land holders (less than ten thousand adult males) ruling over a majority of helots
• helots- noncitizens forced to work for landholders in the ancient city state of Sparta
• nobody knows when and how Spartans developed their government but in the fifth century b.c policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders- some thirty men from leading families who had to be at least sixty years of age and were chosen by the citizens  for life.
• the cities and farms were runned by the helots, and a middle class of immigrant aliens took care of industry and trade.
• the boys were taken from their homes at the age of 7 and were taught behavior and reading and writing and were started on a lifelong routine of toughness and military training.
• they even had to marry at age twenty
• the women had to require in drills and exercises that were designed to develop them into healthy child bearing women
• 'to protect their harsh rigid way of life, the Spartans tried to seal off their city state from outside influences. Sparta had little contact with foreigners; it discouraged trade and showed visitors little hospitality
• Athens- to Athens the Sparta life was not worth living
• Athens joke about Sparta was that their way of life explained their willingness to face death
• Sparta was agricultural and landlocked; Athens carried on a prosperous commerce and had direct access to the sea
• trireme was what made their navy so strong
• Sparta had a strong army and Athens had a strong navy
• Sparta sought cultural isolation and Athens welcomed foreign ideas and visitors
• Sparta more controlled Athens free way of life
• Sparta- exercises Athens- reading and writing
• aristocrats- descendants of prominent and long established Athenian families that had traditionally ruled the city state and- the increasingly numerous demos.
• Athens passed through several stages of political growth from monarchy to democracy
• the Persian wars in which Athens led the Greek city states to victory. this success was followed by Athens golden age
• in the 6ty century b.c Persians conquered a realm that stretched from the border of india to the Nile and the aegan.
• in Athenian democracy ultimate  government power rested in the assembly of adult male citizens.
•  ostracism- banishment for ten years by a majority vote of Athenian assembly
• the hundred thousand slaves in Athens were also a diverse group
• aliens-people from somewhere else in Greece some were wealthy business men or  independent women like Aspasia who socialized on equal terms with the fine and noble citizens
• the Athenian laws and customs and concerning women, aliens, and slaves were not a special feature of democracy of such.
• they were the local versions of traditional values and practices that the Athenians shared with most of the world at the time.
•  

fridays class

Fridays class we didn't really do anything but take notes on Ancient Greece. I think Mr. Schick said that it's his favorite place and if he had a time machine he would go because of Socrates and more. The most impressive thing was the stone structure that correlates to the son. It seems as if every place in the old day with the word ancient in front of it is pretty smart.

2/19/14

Today we reviewed the test which I got a 69 on -__-. I feel like I have been ripped off because I studied for so long and put so much effort in the essays and everything, but it is what it is. The question that I got wrong were the questions that you really had to pay attention to in class. For example, the scythe. I didn't see any scythe in that picture and I don't remember him pointing it out. Next test I am going to crush it, just watch.

2/18/14

Todays class was very irritating because we had to make a pyramid. It took the whole class and we finished in 4th place which is good because we got a B. But if your not 1st your last so im not happy. We had to pick decisions and every time we got something barely wrong we had to start over. Other than that everything went good. Today was a chill day and I barely have any homework.

monday

                                       The first European civilization: the Greeks

• barbarian is the way of life based on farming, warfare, and tribal organization that became widespread in Europe beginning around 2500 B.C
• within classical Greek civilization there appeared ideas, art forms, and types of government whose influence on western civilization has lasted down to the present day

• by 200 BC they began to migrate into Europe's southeastern region

• 500 = developed methods of fighting  

• barbarian- a term used to describe the distinctive way of life based on farming, warfare, and tribal organization that became widespread in Europe beginning in 2500 BC

• megaliths- massive rough cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs

• a tribe is a social and political  unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship

• in 4000 BC framing and village life spread

• a megalithic is a massive rough cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs

• 3500 BC =megalithic structures constructed in Europe

• 2500 BC =Indo-European nomads from the steppes migrate into Europe, European barbarian way of life evolves

• a tribe is a social and political unit of consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship

• 494-445 BC= Persian wars

• Stonehenge: The most famous of megalithic structures was built by a farming and trading people in the west of England about 2000 B.C.

• 460-430 BC= golden age of Athens  

• 2000 BC =Greeks developed a distinctive civilization