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.