Talking With Strong Vocabulary

Today in class we had to finish talking about our paper we got the day before. It was our first class of the day so it was a very long class. Mr. Schick realized that we were all stressing about our vocabulary test today. He gave us some points. He used to be an English teacher. He offered extra credit if you wrote an essay with the words and one of the students wrote the best story. He wishes he would've kept the story. Anyways, during class he would use some of our vocab words in our talk. It actually helped me learn them a lot! I think I did pretty well on the test. Also, we talked a lot about Diocletian who tried several things and failed. We learned that in the end there was a 14 year old emperor. His power was over taken by a barbarian man and the empire came to a close..

Talking About Back Them...

Today  in class we had a very nice talk.  we didn't even need to takeout ourcomputers. People want to go outside. Others just wanted to goto a nice cold room. I just wanted to  stay where we were.  Anyways, we talked about our reading from last night.  We talked deeply and I liked it.  Mr. Shick brought to my attention some important things.  We got to all talk about how our world could be going down. Things can change. Back in Rome the people wouldn't have thought that  their country would have  so many problems occur.  We don't know  what our future holds.  We don't know what's going to come next.

A++ !

Today in class we had to turn in our papers. I hope that I get a good grade because I worked really hard. Mr.Schick read some of the titles out loud. Some were really funny! After that, we checked our tests. I got a 100 plus 3 points. That took up most of class. For the remainder we had to read and work on our homework. It's another one of those Rome things...YAY.. NOT.
Homework: 
- Define/Identify: 

• Inflation: An increase in prices
• Diocletian: a strong-willed army leader and son of a slave, became one of Rome's greatest emperors; With boldness, he tried to restore order in the empire & increase its strength. 
• Constantine: One of Rome's greatest emperors; he ended the persecution of Christians; won control of eastern & western empires. 
• Eastern Empire: The more prosperous half of the empire; Byzantium was located in this half. Came to be called the Byzantine empire; included most of the great cities and trade centers of the empire; far wealthier side. 
• Western Empire: Latin=speaking side and the more rural west. 
• Constantinople: the city of Constantine; 
• Huns: a nomadic people from central Asia; they were feared
• Attila: new leader of the Huns; wanted to conquer the entire empire and failed/withdrew
• Leo I: First truly powerful pope of Rome; journeyed to Attila's camp causing him to withdraw his forces. 

Questions:

1) What economic problems did the empire face in the third century? 

- All three of their prosperities dried up. Trade was disrupted by barbarian raids and by bands of pirates on Mediterranean sea lanes. Rome's gold and silver were drained away to buy luxuries from China, India, and Arabia. They couldn't pay their expenses; coins lost 98% silver and prices were sky high.

2) By the third century, how had Rome's army changed since the days of the republic? 

- Soldiers now fought strictly for money, not for patriotism. To attract recruits into the army, government promised higher pay. Empires began to recruit barbarians who accepted lower pay but not loyal. 

3) (a)What important religious change did Constantine bring about in the empire?

- AD 313, he announced an end to the persecution of Christians. He granted "both to the Christians and to all men freedom to follow the religion that they choose." Christianity become a religion approved by emperor because of Milan. 

(b) What political change did he bring about?

Constantine won control of the eastern as well as the western empire. In AD 330, he took the momentous step of moving the capital from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium (Constantinople) in what is now Turkey.

4) (a) Why did Germanic tribes invade the empire in the 400's? 

-   They were fleeing the Huns; the Huns kept pushing westward and they felt they needed to move westward as well. 

(b) Why was the empire unable to drive the invaders out?
  - They couldn't get a strong enough army. They couldn't muster even a medium-sized army to stop the barbarians. 

5) (a) List three reasons why Diocletian should be considered a successful empire. 

1. He restored order in the empire & increased its strength

2. Ranked among the greatest emperors.  

3. Divided the empire 

(b) List three reasons why he might be considered a failure

1. Not all the reforms were totally successful. 

2.  Wages for new troops added to the already high taxes

3. Price controls failed

Home Sick

Today I missed school. I am sick. I hope that I didn't miss to much. I know that we were supposed to go over our papers today. My paper is finished, but it needs to be proof-read. It is 1000 words... I hope that's allowed. I don't know if I will be in school tomorrow either. I have a fever right now. It is terrible because I never get sick. I will finish up my paper and have it ready for Wednesday.

Home Sick

Today I missed school. I am sick. I hope that I didn't miss to much. I know that we were supposed to go over our papers today. My paper is finished, but it needs to be proof-read. It is 1000 words... I hope that's allowed. I don't know if I will be in school tomorrow either. I have a fever right now. It is terrible because I never get sick. I will finish up my paper and have it ready for Wednesday.

Essays

Today in class Mr.Schick wasn't here! We had a sub! It was Mr.A. We already knew our assignment. We just sat in silence and did our work. Our work was on Rome. We have to write an essay in 12 font times new roman. It has to be double spaced as well. It has to be 500 words. I got about 360 words done in class today. It shouldn't take me too much longer. I am going to finish it up for homework. Get well Mr.Schick!!!!!

Woo Wee! Test is over!

Today we had a test in western Civ. Mr.Schick gave us time to study before we took it. I studied with Fiona. I think i did pretty good. There was like 3 I didn't know. Mr.Schick gave us an extra credit. I got it right so I am happy! There was about 26 questions one the test. He said instead of an essay on the test we have to write one that's 500 words. It is going to be on the difference between a Republic vs. Empire. We have been learning about both so this shouldn't be to too hard. The paper is going to be worth 100pts. On Monday we need to have a rough draft ready. People are going to proofread it. Then on Wednesday we will have to turn the final copy in.

Test Tomorrow ://

Today in class Mr.Schick reminded us that we have a test tomorrow. We went over more and more notes for tomorrow ://

Religious Troubles

• Roman's had several different Gods
• Christianity new group

Persecution of Christians

• Romans were harsh toward those who world not worship the emperor
• Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
• Often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions, etc)
• Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly - by AD 200, around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians

What was the Republic made up of?

- Democracy

- Aristocracy

- Monarchy  

PowerPoint Notes!

Today in class we started off with a video. The video was this basketball player dunking on someone else! It was pretty awesome. After that we looked at a power point. We took notes on it to help us with our test. The test will be on Wednesday. The PowerPoint was on the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire PowerPoint:
Octavian 

• Octavian - aka Caesar Augustus: First Emperor when Rome started an Empire 
• Begins the Pax Romana - 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, even a postal service
• Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power too.. Tiberius 

Jesus & Paul

• 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 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
• Jesus: 7 or 2 B.C was born
• Believed he rose from the dead
• Jew; crucified in Jerusalem; awaited Messiah 
• See the historical figure in Wikipedia 

^Paul: 

• Paul is instrumental in telling telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and message
• He traveled far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britain
• He writes letters to many of those he spoke to - these epistles are a part of the New Testament
• 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 large religion. 
• Thanks to Paul Jesus/ word got spread

* The 100: A ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History:

1) Muhammad

2) Sir Isaac Newton

3) Jesus 

4) Buddha 

5) Confucius 

6) St. Paul of Tarsus 

Tiberius

• As Augustus' stepson and adopted son, Tiberius succeeded Octavian
• Although a great general, he was a dark, somber reclusive, and reluctant emperor
• He referred to the Senate as "men fit to be slaves"
• Germanicus started out as TIberius' ally, since he quelled a legion mutiny, but when it looked like he would succeed Tiberius, he got paranoid and had Germanicus killed
• Died in AD 37 at agge of 77,  giving way to.. Caligula

Caligula

• In addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great-nephew - putting him next in line for emperor
• He started off well
• All in all, the first seven months of 
• ..^ finish?
• 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 (sacrilege!)
• Other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other mans wives and bragged about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make him horse a consul and a priest (at least that's what his critics said)
• Assassinated by his own aides, AD 41 (age 28)

Claudius

• Next in line
• Ostracized by his family because of his disabilities (limp, slight deafness, possible speech impediment - though 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 the Circus Maximus
• Had an awful marriage to Messalina, who was quite often 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 (ONE GOD)
• Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a 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 
• People today put their prayers in the wall

Back and Running

Finally, blogger is back and working. Today in class we continued with our notes. First, Mr.Schick showed us pictures of his new horse! He not that happy about it though. The hourse was brought down by the NYPD. He is a very special horse. After that we went on to watch the video. We finished watching the video. After watching, we got into groups. I am putting up all my notes from the days I could not blog as well.
Our Assignment:

• Working with two other people, combine your notes on the video with the notes of the others in your group.
• Supplement these notes with information on the first three Roman emperors, as found in Wikipedia.
• These emperors are Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.
• Post these notes by Saturday night.

Notes: 

-5/12

• Tiberius: likes sex and having sec with younger people (boys + girls) and watches; PERVERTED!
• 31 B.C: Tiberius for about Sejanus and brought on Caligula
• Sejanus was strangled + put in the Tiber River
• Tiberius lied to Sejanus and they executed Sejanus  
• It showed no one was secure in Tiberius' government
• Caligula was Tiberius' ONLY hare left
• Under a full power they can go crazy and destroy so much
• When government power is shared ideas can be denied or agreed on
• It was impossible for poor to feed their families
• Augustus ordered a census before Tiberius' time
• Jesus went from town to town preaching
• After he died, his messages got spread around by Paul
• Jesus followed Augustus
• If Paul didn't spread the word then Jesus would've gone unnoticed/forgotten
• Paul = Reason for starting of Christianity
• Jesus was baptized at 30
• Jesus' talk about a kingdom bigger than Rome caused controversy 
• He said he was the son of God
• Puntius Pilate sent Him to the King (harid?/harris?) then he sent Jesus back to Puntius Pilate. 
• They went back and forth until the Roman gov. and people forced them to kill Jesus
• Jesus died in 3 hours
• "don't start an uprising if you don't want to be killed"
• Puntius Pilate: fell quickly

5/13

• Tiberius died!
• 37 B.C: Caligula (25) became empire 
• He had a bonfire to burn records
• People hoped he'd enlighten Rome
• But he ordered his men to pick up seashells when they were about to invade
• He showed signs he was bipolar
• He was supposed to sacrifice an animal, but he decided to bring it down on a high priest
• He would have people kiss his feet; talked about sex at dinner; seduced men's wives
• Caligula made people carve a statue of him as a God and put it in Jerusalem (Jews)
• This would cause trouble ! Statue = Caligula as a God
• Under Augustus' rule everyone could practice their religion
• Caligula is trying to make them
• He put the statue in the holiest place of Jerusalem - TEMPLE
• Caligula was eventually killed by his closest aids
• Slavery in Rome
• Freed Slavery
• Claudius: was disfigured & his family was ashamed; target of Jokes
• 41: the laughter stopped; he became the only surviving hare of Augustus after Caligula died
• He would surprise everyone
• Increased womens freedoms; established new rule; helped slaves + poor
• "What we do today will be an example for the future"
• 48 brought Gauls before him
• Mesalena: Claudius' wife who he LOVED
• She started another affair with a new man and Claudius tried to have him killed
• His people went after his wife though
• They killed her right in front of her mother who knew she deserved it

Paper & Pencil

Today  we started off class with watching a funny YouTube video. Mr.Schick said it was some of his favorites. Its called Ultimate Dog Tease. This is the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw. After that we watched another YouTube video. It was on the Roman Empire. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y35wlq00oM. He had us take some notes with paper so we wouldn't get distracted. I think that was a great idea.
My Notes:

• Octavius got full power/empire after the ending of the triumvirate
• Changed from a Republic to an Empire
• Augustus (Octavius) died: he ruled as a monarchy & did so much for Rome
• His hares: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius = would take over 
• The Roman Empire by 14: Spain, Greece, North Africa, & Syria - Part of Rome
• could trade more easily and travel
• Contributed to their wealth + gained protection
•  Senate declared Augustus a God
• Tiberius: step-son of Octavius that took over
• He was forced to divorce his wife and marry another woman; he was never the same
• The senate needed leadership, but hated Monarchy
• Tiberius was Augustus last choice to take over
• All the others had passed away
• Tiberius was indecisive while in power
• He wanted the power, but tried to be like Augustus and failed because he had not experienced or accomplished what Augustus did
• This caused much resentment towards Tiberius
•  Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures.
• Caligula: As a child he had this nickname meaning little boots; son of Germanicus
• He grew up in the tents and experienced a lot 
•  Agrippina the Elder was Caligula's mother and they were forced to refuge while Germanicus was battling
• The Baths: Large public baths for rich, poor, and every other class; people mingled, worked out, bathed, and ate there
• The people loved when they got to bath
• Sex, Wine, Baths
• Tiberius: people really began to hate him and see he was perverted; pretended to treat people as equals
• Sejanus helped Tiberius and was his "Partner of My Labors"; Trusted aid of Tiberius
• The Empire: Only as strong as the man in power
• It's okay when they know what they're doing
• It's bad when power is just handed down. 

Greece & Rome Tests Back!

Today in class we got 2 of our tests back! We got our Greece test and our Rome part one test back. I got a B+ on the Greece test. I got a 100% on the Rome test. The Greece test was kind of hard. I had 4 wrong on that test. The Rome test at first I thought it was a little difficult, but I managed to do really well. Anyways, we went over the tests. We marked all the right answers to the questions. Everyone got a chance to answer a few questions out loud. We will be using those papers from those tests for our exams. Exams are coming up pretty soon. We should all start studying and preparing for everything. Also, Mr.Schick quickly told us about his horrible weekend. He has been sick for the past few weeks. He has been taking medicine proscribed by a doctor. He was outside cutting the grass and when he was finished he came in. His wife said "what happened to your face?". He had broken out in bumps all over his body. He said it was so gross and made him feel horrible. I hope you feel better Mr.Schick!

Quizzes Are No Fun

Today in class we were finishing up some presentations. After getting some information from those presentations we had a quiz. It was kind of hard and kind of easy. Some of the questions took me awhile to answer. I hope I got a good grade on it!

Andrew & Christy: Paragraph 7

• Pax Roman: 200 years of Peace; time of inprovement 
• Circus Maximus: oldest and largest circus in Rome; oval shape; entertainment place-chariot races
• Chariot Racing was the most entertaining and favorite- win prize money

Clake: Paragraph 1

• Etruscans: Mystery Language; literacy was rich and widespread; built cities
• Tiber River: 3 largest river; named after King
• Tarquin the Proud: last King of Rome
• He died in exile at Cume
• The people of Rome overthrow him 

Some Presentations

Today in class we went over our presentations. Mr. Schick said we were having a quiz tomorrow. I'm nervous for it.
Rome:
Clark & Billy: Paragraph 2

• had 3 diff governments in one: democracy, aristocracy, monarchy
• didn't have a tyrant
• Patricians: best treated; upper class; noble and wealthy land owns
• Plebeians: lower class; Plebs; tradesmen; poor people
• Legion

Sarah, Emma, Cole: Paragraph 3

• Latifundia
• Hannibal destroyed farms, homes, villages
• They sold there land to the wealthy and moved to Rome
• Tiberius & Gaius: Plebeians founding fathers in 
• attempted to pass land reform legislation
• Both assassinated  
• Tiberius: a Tribune. they feel they said give the rich part of the latifunda and take they rest for the others and have them farm it. 
• Gaius: tribunes (Both). Tried to get people their land back
• Plebeians were for it & Patricians weren't
• Patricians spread rumors about the brothers so their support was weakened and then they killed him. 

Taylor & Kamau: Paragraph 4

• Julius Caesar dictator of Rome
• Triumphate: group of three (Crassus (the rich), Pompey, Caesar) Tried to get power of all Rome
• Crassus was recruited by Caesar: he was a politician, wealthiest men in history. Killed while conquering gaul
• Pompey: military leader, became an enemy of Julius, Julius' father in law

Caitlin & Gracie: Paragraph 5 ALSO CATHERINE & I

• Julius Caesar: Roman dictator
• Senate was worried that he would become to powerful
• Stabbed to death
• Butus and Cassius main leaders in death
• Killed in Theatre of Pompey

Fiona & Katie: Paragraph 6

• Octavian: Caesar's nephew and adopted son
• second triumvirate
• teamed up with Lepidia & mark Anthony: killed 100 senators and 2,000 businessman 
• Cicero: senates greatest orator; didn't plot to kill Caesar, but was against his rule
• Battle of Actim: Octavia & the joined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatria VII
• Octavian won and got the title of Augustus
• Octavian thought Antony was trying to take over with Cleopatra 

Kristy & Andrew: Paragraph 7

Project?

Today in class Mr.Schick wasn't there. I was told that we have a project due tomorrow. I'm so confused because no one really helped us. I just picked one of the sections of the rap. We decided to do the Julius Caesar one. We are looking up facts and some things to use. We didn't get to get to much done. I guess I have to finish it all for homework. I'm kind of made because I have so much to do. I don't even know how much slides we need. Whatever I guess. Hopefully Catherine and I get a good great. Also, I hope you are okay Mr.Schick! If you are sick, FEEL BETTER! Hope to see you tomorrow!

No Class For This Girl!

Today, yet again I missed class. We had an away game so we left early. It was a very important game for us. I apologize for missing so much class, but the season is almost over. I hope that I didn’t miss too much in class. I love having class because we always have a good time! I don’t  want to be too far behind either. The past few classes I have missed some important information. I was able to catch up though so it’s okay. This game will determine where our team sits for the play off’s. The game was against #2 seat Bryn Mawr. Unfortunately, we lost today. It was a huge upset for everyone, but we have another game tomorrow. We have play-offs Friday so we can redeem ourselves!