Vocabulary Words for Unit 11

Feudalism:
 A term coined by the torians to describe the type of government institutions, as well as the general social and political relationships that existed among the warrior-landholders in much of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Feudal Compact: 
An arrangement between a lord and his vassal involving the exchange of property for personal service.

Fief:
A grant of land and accompanying government responsibilities and power.

Homage:
A vassal's act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord.

Vassal:
Another word for "servant", who served the lord that owned him in exchange for a fief.

Knight:
A vassal who was required to protect the lord and pledge his allegiance to him, in exchange for a fief. They also must go through training with an older knight before they could become one themselves.

Serf:
People in charge of exploring and settling on unexplored or unclaimed territory.

Barons: 
Lords of large territories who usually paid homage to a King.

Peasantry:
People who farmed on large plantations known as "Manors" which were owned by a lord or lady of the nobility (or members of the clergy).

Three-Field System:



(more to come)

*Notes on Chapter 11 (Manors, Towns, and Kingdoms)*

The Feudal Compact
-Feudalism is the relationship between landowners and warriors.
-Warriors known as knights, would pledge his allegiance to a lord, who would in turn give that knight land.
- The Lord would give land to the knight (or fief, which is property)
- The knights would them become the Lords vassal, or servant, (This was known as the "feudal compact")
-The Vassal was required to defend the Lord when necessary, and attend his court once a month.

Homage and Knighthood
- A Vassal was required to pay homage to his Lord, usually requiring to pledge your allegiance by kneeling     down and taking the lord's hands while speaking an oath.
-Men were apprenticed to older knights before they could become a knight themselves.
-When a knight died, his fief would be passed down to the next generation (if he was a male of course)

-Some Clergy would be known to fight as knights themselves

Feudal States
-Barons were lords of large territories who usually paid homage to a King (Kings ruled a country).
- Often a Baron's army could outnumber that of a King, which helped protect the King even more.

Peasants and Lords
- Medieval society was divided into three "estates": the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.
-Usually the peasantry farmed on large plantations known as "manors" which were owned by a lord or lady of the nobility (or members of the clergy)
- Iron plows and water-powered grinding mills helped with agricultural production, but yield was still minuscule by today's standards.
-To maintain the health of the soil, the "three-field system" was used where two fields were planted (on in fall, one in spring) and one field was left to reconstitute its fertility- them they were rotated.
-Many villages sprung up on and around manors with small cottages for the peasants, and a large manor house for the lord and lady.

The People of the Manor
- The Lord oversaw everything that happened in the land.
-The Lady of the House took care of the manor and helped make decisions with the Lord
- Most Peasants were serfs, meaning they were bound to the lands and to their lords for "labor service" a few days each week.
- Serfs were also in charge of exploring and settling on unexplored land.

The Growth of Trade
-The Agricultural boom after 1000 allowed for the establishment of many towns across Europe.
-Most of the Trade could have been things that were raised on an average manor.

Trade and Towns
-Most Medieval towns were surrounded by fortified walls.
Residences also sprang up outsides the walls in suburbs.
-Towns were dominated by a main church and a central marketplace.
-Buildings for the craft guilds and the wealthiest families would also be in the center of the town.

The Life of Townspeople
-Though townspeople were free, unlike serfs, they still had a hierarchy: merchants at the top, then craftsmen and artisans, then unskilled laborers and apprentices.

The Guilds
-Merchants, craftsmen, and artisans formed their own groups called guilds, which regulated their trade and protected its members.
- Craftsmen were classified as masters, journeymen, and apprentices.
- Once became a master after spending years learning as an apprentice, working as a paid journeyman foe a number of years, and completing his "masterpiece"
-Guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals, social organizations and usually provided well for charities.

(credit to Gavin Lewis's WCIV student textbook)

Getting Back Our Tests Today

Today in class we got back out tests from last week. One of them was a Barbarian Quiz about the foreign invaders that brought about the end of the Roman Empire. Many people in my class had either gotten a high grade or a perfect score. In fact, our class had the highest scoring average of all of Mr. Schick's freshman classes. I however, didn't do as well as I wouldn't have liked. We also got out "Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire" tests back today. We reviewed some of the questions on the test, and Mr. Schick even hinted to us that some of the questions he mentioned on the test might be questions that he may ask on the final exam. Tomorrow we will probably read more about the collapse of the Roman Empire.

*More Notes After Rome*

After Rome 500-700

The Germanic Barbarians

• They were the ones who became the 'nobles' and the aristocrats in Roman Culture.
• They decided to conquer and assimilate other barbarian peoples, and well as the former Roman land

• The Angles and Saxons invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons (They were from Denmark and northwestern Germany)
• Most of the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity in the seventh century.
• The most powerful Germanic Tribe were the Franks.
• The officials and nobles were the ones with the power because they were the "Mayors of the Palace"

• Eastern Roman Empire still continued on while the Western Empire was invaded by the Germanic Tribes. Eastern Empire was referred to as "Byzantium"
• Justinian came into power in 527 AD, and decided to reunite the Western Empire with the East.
• His plan worked for a while, but more Germanic Tribes continued to invade, while a massive plaque spread though the west. It depopulated much of the western side immensely.

• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors 
• The Byzantines wanted to preserve the art, architecture, philosophy, and writing as much as possible, even though it went against Christian beliefs. 
• Justinian built the Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, which was the greatest church on earth at the time. 
• The Hagia Sophia was first a Christian cathedral, them a mosque, then a museum in the early 19 hundreds. 

*Conquerors of the Roman Empire*

Ostrogoths

Ostrogothic Kingdom

The Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian declared war on the Ostrogoths in 535 AD. During the 20 year war, the Ostrogoths conquered large parts of Italy.






Angles and Saxons
The Angles were people from German descent who conquered what is now modern-day Britain during the fall of the Roman Empire. The name England originates from the Angles.

*End of Roman Empire / Europe Takes Shape*

Today we took a test on the Roman Empire once again. This test was a bit different from past tests he has given us. Instead of 'multiple choice' or 'true or false' questions, this test was 'fill in the blank' and short response questions. Many of my classmates who took the test yesterday said that this test was very hard, and they were right. I worked to the very last minute because it was so long. Our new unit is 'Europe takes shape', which takes place during 700-1000 AD. Below are some notes on the chapter.

EUROPE TAKES SHAPE

The Carolingians

By 700 AD, the Frankish Kingdom, once the most powerful Kingdom in Western Europe, was falling apart. The wealthy family named the Carolingians took control of the Frankish Empire, and they had been the first to start fully developing western Europe. One of the family members, Charles, became the mayoralty (similar to king) of the new Empire. (Carolingians also translates to "children of Charles" in Frankish). 

Charles was nicknamed Charles Martel ("Charles the Hammer") because of his warlike and fierce personality. He was very generous with land, and gave it to his people as gifts or for respect. Some of the land given was from defeated enemies, while some of the land was from the Church. 

Charles son Pepin decided that power in the Kingdom needed to be lawful and rightful, with an organized structure of government. Over time, Pepin became a monk and missionary of the Kingdoms Eastern Lands. This was the first time in history that a king began his reign with a religious ceremony. 

Pope Steven II also anointed Pepin and his two sons to make sure they could rule the Empire well. Pepin claimed parts of Italy during his rule, and gained far wider power. This new "Roman" Empire was under the influence of Charles the Great. 

Charlemagne was Pepin's son and Charles Martel's grandson, and he was a very influential individual by contributing greatly to the evolution of western Europe. He had a very militaristic personality, and was always fighting a war. His military efforts helped him win over half of Italy. 

Charlemagne was a firm believer in Christianity. Local officials called counts helped make the decisions, and each count was in charge of a region of the Empire, or county. Occasionally, a group of counties would work together on an issue, and the man in charge of the group would be known as a duke. For taxation, he would use his many Estates for profit. 

Charlemagne made his capitol at Aachen. Charlemagne encouraged better education in his kingdom, so he set up clergy schools in Aachen. 

Study Guide for Test

What is an Edict of Milan?
The Edict of Milan was the order from Constantine to stop persecuting the Christians and to give them equal rights in the Empire, along with everything that has been taken from them. This was issued in February 313.

What is the Pax Romana?
The Pax Romana was a period of peace in the Roman Empire. It was about 207 years long
(27 BC - 180 AD) and was established by Caesar Augustus. With the accession of Augustus, it marked the end of the Roman Republic. Pax Romana is Latin for "Roman Peace".

Who were the people who Jesus associated with?
He talked with Tax Collectors, Prostitutes, and Sinners.

What does Gospel mean?
Good News

What was the average length of an Empire's term?
two and a half years, either due to assassination or dying in battle.

Who is Diocletian?
In 284 AD, Diocletian came into power. He increased his army to 400,000 men (1/3 bigger than Augustus) and recruited the newly conquered barbarians into the army. His new government had 20,000 officials. (10 times more than Augustus) and collected lots of tax money.


Constantine moved the capitol of Rome to Byzantine and named it Constantinople after himself.
Predestination

In 300 AD, 60 million lived in the Roman Empire.

(more to come)

Learning More About Rome during the Rise of Christianity.

Today we talked a bit more about Christianity in the Roman Empire. We discussed what happened after Diocletian's rule and when Constantine came into power. The comparison of how they each treated Christians is very little, and each of their ways of dealing with people who believed in the religion were very different. Diocletian tortured the Christians in brutal ways, often slowing burning them or crucifying hem in public. Constantine, however, took a different approach toward Christianity. It it believed that right before major battle, Constantine tried to pray to the Christian God instead of the Roman gods. The reason for this was to see if the Christian God even existed, and the second reason was that the Oracle kept giving them false information. According to legend, the sign of the cross appeared in the sky, with gold lettering underneath it saying "by this you will conquer". Constantine took this as a sign from the Christian God, and ordered all of this men to paint their shields with the cross on the front. They ended up winning the battle immensely. Constantine then ordered that all Christians stopped being executed.

(sorry this was so late. I had to leave early on Friday and didn't get back home until late Sunday.)

The Roman Empire Struggles...

As the Roman Empire grew, so did the problems with it. 10's of thousands of acres can be a good thing, but also a bad thing at the same time. With that much land came great responsibility, and the Roman Empire had an enormous amount of trouble controlling the borders. The average term of an Emperor at the time was two and a half years, either due to wars or an assassination.
By 284 A.D, a man named Diocletian started to rule the Empire, and he helped bring Rome back to a neutral state. He increased his army to 400,000 men (1/3 bigger than Augustus's time) and he also recruited the newly-conquered barbarians into the army. He also divided the Empire into smaller provinces and his new government had 20,000 officials. (10X more than Augustus). He also collected lots of tax money to help the Empire.
In 300 A.D, there are 60 million people in the Roman Empire, but a few million were Christians. Christianity was very popular among the poor, and there were many of those in the Empire. Diocletian left alone Christianity at first, but he then had a structured method of persecuting every Christian in the Empire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 303 A.D, Diocletian, along with Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius ordered that anyone who believed in Christianity be sacrificed to the gods.  Over time, this was broken down into four edicts. The first edict, Diocletian declared that all Christian temples and churches be destroyed, scriptures be burned, and Christians be deprived from their rights and potentially be tortured or executed. Any Christians who refused to be sacrificed to the gods, would be burned alive. Over time, these punishments became progressively   worse. The second, third, and fourth edicts were announced after a series of rebellions around modern day Turkey and Syria. The second stated that all bishops and priests be arrested and imprisoned. In fact, so many priests and bishops were imprisoned that the Empire was not able to contain all of them.
The third edict involved releasing the overcrowded bishops and priests, so long as they made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Anyone who refused would be executed.
In 304, the fourth edict ordered that all men, woman, and children who were Christians gather in a public place and do a collective sacrifice. Anyone to refuse would be executed.


Constantine built up the Roman Empire army and in order to pay for his army he introduced a new gold currency. He shared power with other Emperors which were his sons and began building a new Capitol.                                                                                    

*Spreading the News*

        Today Mr. Schick gave us our Rome tests back. I had got a pretty decent grade, along with everyone in the class. We reviewed the answers to the test by going over the questions. After that, we then talked a little about the chapter we were supposed to read. It talks about the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire, and how Rome was affected by it. Here is some of the notes that I took in class today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It all begins with Jesus.

• His life comes from the "Gospels" of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• "Gospel" means "good news".
• Jesus had set himself apart from other "Messiahs". 
• Jesus taught that you should strive for perfectness, because God was perfect in every way.
• Jesus associated himself with people that were considered in the lower class of Roman society, like prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners.

• Jesus was thought of as the Savior sent by God.
• They believed that Jesus was both human and divine.
• Rome thought of Jesus as a threat to the Empire, so they crucified him on the cross. They believed that he rose from the dead three days later and ascended into Heaven.

Start Spreading the News

• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after he was knocked off his horse and blinded by God.
• He then traveled all throughout the Roman Empire, and preached about Jesus and the miracle that had happened to him.
• Paul had established many churches throughout the land. Many of the early Christians would ask him questions about the churches practices and the Christian Faith. Paul responded to them by writing letters that contained information on how to run the church and what to believe in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last thing we did in class was take a last-minute pop quiz on what we had just learned. I think that I had gotten all of the answers right. I am interested to see what we will learn tomorrow.

Christianity in the Era of the Roman Peace

Christianity gained lots of popularity during the age of the Roman Empire, and over time it grew to be the most popular religion today. The most important figure that led to the creation of this new religion was Jesus. The Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John told stories about Jesus's life and what he had preached to the people. The Gospels mainly focused on Jesus's birth, his life as a preacher, and his death and the aftermath. Many people believe that Jesus was sent by God himself. Jesus improved on the religion, by saying that you should go above and beyond from what God expects you to do. Jesus associated with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners to prove his point. Jesus was a very unorthodox preacher, and he made many changes to the church that eventually evolved into its own religion.

throughout his life, Jesus performed many miracles, including  transforming water into wine, miraculously healing people of sickness and blindness, walking on water, and most importantly rising from the dead. Jesus had followers named apostles, who followed Jesus when he preached and were his messengers. Jesus sent these men to preach to the rest of the world, even when Jesus was gone. These apostles were the ones who started up the Christian religion.

Paul was one of the apostles during Jesus's time. He helped spread the word all across the Roman Empire, and he had become a major figure in the Catholic faith.

New Writing Assignment for Western Civ

Today in class, Mr. Schick announced a new writing assignment that would be due on Monday. He wants us to write a 500 word assignment on the Pax Romana, which is covered in the textbook and partly on Wikipedia. I'm sure that we will have to write more than 500 words on this, because there is so much to talk about.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (3)

Today we watched the last portion of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. We were very close to the end of the first episode, so we watched the ending of it and then took some more notes on what happened afterwards. Tiberius in the video was nearing the end of his reign as Tribune. Tiberius felt like there was so much more to do as Tribune, and that he didn't have enough time to do the things he wanted to do. So, he decided to (possibly illegally) have a reelection so he can run for a second term. The crowd that day was very loud, so he could not communicate with his bodyguard by speaking. Instead, Tiberius said that he would pat his head if he was in trouble or was under attack. Coincidentally, the Senate was in a meeting right outside from where Tiberius was. Someone had informed the Senate that Tiberius was patting his head to signal that he wanted a crown on his head. They misinterpreted the message by thinking Tiberius wanted to be king. So they stormed out of the meeting hall and beat Tiberius to death, as well as 300 of his followers. There was no funeral for Tiberius, and they threw him into the river Tiber when he died.

Tiberius's brother Gaius also ran for Tribune. When he held too much power, he was killed and beheaded. The Senate had said that whoever retrieved his head would be rewarded its weight in gold. Someone had brought the head to the Senate, but they tried to get more gold by making the head heavier. The retriever of the head had taken out the brain and put lead inside. It is believed that the retriever of the head was possibly killed as well.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2)

Today in class, we watched the movie Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Today, we watched as Tiberius was surrounded by enemy troops. In order to prevent 20,000 people of Romes army from dying, he decided to make peace with the barbarians. When he returned to Rome, the people of Rome were very pleased with him for saving their family members, but the Senate, however, was not. They claimed that making peace with these barbarians would be an uncivilized thing to do, and that it would ruin the reputation of Rome. Tiberius claimed that he had made an oath to the gods about it, and that calling off the treaty would dishonor Rome and the gods. Breaking a promise to the barbarian people would dishonor Rome, but the Senate insisted that Tiberius made the wrong decision.
Later on Tiberius found out that his childhood friend Octavius  was taking large amounts of land away from the common people to himself. Tiberius and Octavius were each running for Tribune and each of them had different opinions on the distribution of land. Tiberius wanted to give the land to the people who had too much, while Octavius wanted to keep the land for himself. Octavius vetoed the law to give the land to the people, preventing the law from taking effect. In response, Tiberius vetoed the opening of the public treasury, the courts, the market, etc., thus bringing Rome to a standstill.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (1)

Today in class we planned to see the movie Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. However, Mr. Schick's laptop was having trouble with the sound. Mr. Schick had tried everything he could do to have gotten the video to work, but nothing happened. Eventually, he unplugged his computer from the desk, and took it with him outside the classroom. All of us thought that he wasn't in a very good mood, so we decided to hook one of our computers to his desk so the movie could display correctly. The computer played the movie with sound too, so when he came back, he saw all of us watching the movie with sound. He seemed pretty surprised after that. We ended up taking notes on the parts in the movie we saw. We noted that King Tiberius's son led the attack on Carthage, and with that came much more land for the Roman Empire. We also saw that many of the citizens of Rome were very poor, and had either lost their farms, or were slaves.

Reviewing Ancient Rome Test

Today in class, Mr. Schick talked about our test scores, and compared them to the rest of the classes. He had said that we had the highest average, but not by much. He also said that many of the students did very poorly on this test. He had told us that there wasn't one question on the test that everybody got right. One particular question had 1/3 of the freshman class get it wrong. Anyway, he told us that we should study up on this material, because he said that it is guaranteed to be on the final exam. So we reviewed the answers to the questions on the test and took notes on some of it. When we finished, Mr. Schick showed us part of a series created by the BBC, that was based on the rise and fall of Rome. It was actually very interesting and exciting. We watched the first 10 minutes of the show before the bell rang. Lets hope that we can all do better on the next test that he assigns.

*Chapter 6 (LO3) Notes*

The Overthrow of Rome

Over time, Rome grew larger than any other Empire before it. However, with great power came great responsibility. Rome eventually collapsed because it was too large to control itself. War and conquest also erupted through Italy, disrupting social order in Rome. The leaders and officials in the government were also making decisions based on their own personal interests. As a result, Rome began to break down. 

The Impact of War and Conquest

Proletarians, Profiteers, and Slaves

The Punic Wars and the constant conquests called for drastic measures for the military. Once a man was drafted, he served for years at a time until the conflict had ended. Many of the men never came back, and the ones who did found their farm ruined because of neglect. Many people became the rank of proletarians, which basically meant "producer of offspring" in Rome. It was considered the lowest rank a Roman citizen could get. Some of the proletarians could expect to get free food and entertainment from the wealthy class citizens. A new social group was also being established. It was made up of dealers in loot and slaves, contractors to the armed forces, and war profiteers. They used their money to buy small farms and merged them into larger estates. They helped turn rundown farms into profitable farms. 

By 150 B.C, slaves made up 1/3 of the population of Italy. Slaves were mainly used on large estates, but in the city they functioned as secretaries and tutors. They helped their owners in any kind of business, including prostitution. Some slaves could save up enough money to purchase their freedom, while others worked for their owners their entire lives. Occasionally, the slaves would make enough money to become wealthy land owners too.

More to come.

Review for test/quiz

Today Mr. Schick announced in class that he would be giving a half-test, half-quiz tomorrow. Normally, a quiz is worth 50 points and a test is worth 100 points in his class. So he decided to make it a "quest" or a "tiz" worth 75 points. The test/quiz would be on material covered in Lo1 and Lo2 on the Roman Empire. Mr. Schick reviewed some of the information with us in class to help us study a bit. He talked about the Roman form of government, and how it is used today in the United States. He also discussed some of the battles that the Romans had, like the Punic Wars with Carthage. Mr. Schick also told us a bit abut some other interesting stuff that wouldn't be on the test/quiz, but was still interesting about Rome. He talked about how the Romans always used Gladiator fights as a form of entertainment to the public. Another major reason they used the fights to entertain the public was so that they would stay happy, and wouldn't plan to revolt against the government. Their plan was to supply the public with a bit of food and entertainment, to distract the people from the bigger picture. Anyway, I hope I well in the test. 

Extra Credit Projects Presentation

Today Mr. Schick asked us if we had any completed projects for us to show to the class. Mr. Schick was planning to give whoever finished the project over the weekend extra credit. One group showed their project to the class, and they did an amazing job at it. Almost everyone said that they should get a full 10 extra credit points for putting so much time and effort into the project. Another group made a power-point presentation containing pictures related to the rapping song. They also did a good job, but no where near as good as the previous group. Later, I had found out that one of my group partners decided to finish up a bit of the project so we could get at least a few extra credit points. Microsoft Movie Maker wasn't working because the pictures wouldn't upload and just had large "X's" where the pictures were supposed to be. So instead she made it on a word document, and had a few pictures going down the line with the lyrics. To be honest, it wasn't that well made, but I appreciate the effort my group partner went through to finish the project up. Each of the projects were very interesting. After that, Mr. Schick continued to decipher the lyrics in his song by explaining the meaning behind them. He told us about the essential information we would need to know for the test, and he may have said that he would give the test by the end of the week. I'm pretty sure I'll be prepared, considering we've spent such a long time on this Unit. 

Reviewing 'Rome' by Chi Cago

Today Mr. Schick said that we would review his rapping song about Ancient Rome, but first he said he wanted us to take a survey. The servery asked questions related to Mr. Schick's teaching capabilities, and we took the survey to evaluate how good of a teacher he is. Mr. Schick then reviewed the song that he gave to us, and he told us the truth behind the lyrics he made. He told us some valuable, useful information that we can use on our tests. He told us the test would be late next week, so that would leave plenty of time for us to study. Also, the projects he assigned last week will be due Sunday. If our group decides to complete the project, we can get anywhere between 1 and 10 extra credit points, depending on how awesome it turns out. I had submitted some photos to my group members, so they can can edit the projects with the photos if they choose to do so.

Continuing our Picture Projects

Today we continued to work a bit on our picture projects. Mr. Schick had told us that he had been receiving  a lot of complaints and difficulties about the project, and he wanted to see what we thought about it. About half of the class said that continuing the project wasn't really worth it, and that it wouldn't really help us study for a test. Mr. Schick then decided that he would possibly make the assignment extra credit. My group and I continued to work on it just for the sake of it. During the class, I had lots of trouble sending a simple E-mail to my partner. The first time i tried to E-mail the pictures to my partner, I had accidentally made a typo in the E-mail address. I then had to re-make the E-mail and try again, only this time, I spelled "org" wrong at the end and make the mistake of typing "oeg". I then had to re-make the E-mail the third time. This time, it just didn't even send the E-mail altogether. I typed everything in correctly, it just didn't send for some reason. That was when i found out, after clicking some options, that you can change who you can send the E-mail to. I tried sending the E-mail to my partners Gmail account, and it finally worked. At the end of the class, I agreed with everyone who had said the project was to much of a hassle.

Rome Movie Maker Project

Today Mr. Schick returned, and he posted on his blog the rapping song that he had sang for us last week. He wanted us to do a movie in Microsoft Movie Maker that included the rap, with added pictures to describe the lyrics in the song. My partners and I spent the class period doing Google image searches for pictures that related to the lyrics in the song. I had found a number of pictures that we could include in the project. We also had some guests come to our school today to examine us to see how well we were being taught. I heard that they only come once every decade, and all of the teachers in the school were instructed to not assign any tests or quizzes today or tomorrow (ya me). The project is due Wednesday, which leaves us a lot of time to make any changes and to find good pictures. 

*Chapter 6 (LO2) Notes*

LO2 Roman Expansion

Rome was a very Militaristic Civilization. As time passed, their empire grew, and they fought many neighboring invaders. One of the main factors to the empires success was its strong military power.

Allies and Colonies

The Romans were generous but strict to those that they conquered. They allowed then to become allies with Rome, but they kept their local laws, government systems, and armies under Roman authority. Their 'allies' actually came to help them by supplying them with horses and resources that the Romans were running low on. Rome gained power over the Italian Peninsula by making small colonies all throughout Italy. 

The Roman colonists were almost as free as those who lived in Rome itself. Soon they demanded that they have equal rights like everybody else. When the Romans denied at first, there were small wars, called the 

Social Wars (Wars against the Allies). Eventually, the allies became a part of Rome, and they were no longer classified as allies.

The Punic Wars

By 250 B.C, all area south of the River Po was Roman Territory. This success brought conflict with the rival city-state of Carthage, located on the North Coast of Africa. Carthage was interested in gaining control of the Island of Sicily. Carthage was very similar to Rome, and they spread their culture through Spain, Africa, Sardinia, etc. The Greek city-states had been fighting with Carthage for years before the Romans. Now it became the Romans responsibility to protect its Greek allies. 

The Punic Wars were fought between 264 and 146 B.C. The first round, and after an exhausting amount of fighting, Rome was able to kick Carthage out of Sicily. However, Carthage was still strong in its main city.

The next round the Carthage general Hannibal invaded Italy, and brought Rome to almost complete destruction. However, with the help of Romes 'allies', they were very powerful, and Carthage was helpless by the end of the 2nd Punic War. With Carthage near defeat, Rome declared a third war, and they leveled the city to the ground, and sold all of the people to slavery.

Conquering an Empire

The captured areas of Carthage did not enjoy the luxury of freedom. They gad to pay taxes and supply them with resources when necessary. In 27 B.C, they started to have a bit of the freedom that Romans had. 

Some of the local rulers also joined the Roman Empire, which allowed for a great increase in military power.  

The Romans even made it to Greece through special invitation.

Pixton Comic

Link to our Pixton
My partner for this Pixton was Cameron Exter. We included the story of Romulus and Remus in our Pixton. It was very cool the way we got to change the comic anyway we wanted. I think we did a pretty good job making the comic.

*Extra Notes on the Romans*

Today Mr. Schick brought in his daughter and they sang a song for us. They came in dressed in hoodies and sunglasses and they made a parody of a rap song that explained what we were learning in class. It was really funny to watch. We also went over our Alexander the Great tests today. We went over our scores and compared them with other classes that Mr. Schick teaches. I also took some extra notes for today.

The Romans adopted a lot of the Greeks culture. The military was considered the most powerful in the world, and was regarded as very fierce and strong. In the Bible, the Romans are frequently mentioned.
Rome was also strategically located in one of the best locations you could get. It had access to rivers and the coastline, and they were on hills, so they could see their enemies coming. This was one of the reasons Rome was so successful. Respublica was Latin for Republic, or in other words, the "peoples business"

*Chapter 6 (Lo1) Notes*

THE RISE OF ROME

Italy and its Peoples

The Roman Empire was the most successful Empire of its time. It was centered in Italy, and it had many of the tools from the Indo-European migrations that allowed it to grow in size. Italy was also in the center of many Ancient Empires, like the Greeks, Egyptians, and Mesopotamian civilizations.

They had many tribal groups. The Latin people of central Italy settled near the Tiber River, eventually becoming Rome. The Etruscans were non-Indo-European immigrants. They arrived in Italy in the 9th century      B.C and gained control of area above Rome that was called Etruria. In the 7th Century B.C, they conquered Latinum, and ruled Rome for a period of time. Romans developed cultures from them that would help in their success later on.

• Romans also borrowed directly from Greece.
• They gained knowledge of the Greek alphabet and the culture of Greek City-States. 
• ^ This was the result of Greeks colonizing southern Italy in 8th century B.C

The Senate and the People

• At first, the city-state was ruled by powerful Kings
• King was advised by council of Elders called Senate
• He choose from a group of Patricians, or Upper-class citizens to advise him, in other words, he would choose someone in his bloodline.
• When he died, a successor was chosen by the Senate. 
• In 500 B.C, Monarchy was abolished, and it became the "peoples business"
• Republic: A type of City-State Government in which decision making was held between the Senate and the male citizens.

Patricians and Plebeians 

Plebeians: The common people 

consuls: In the Roman Republic, two senators who would lead the goverment and the millitary for 1-year terms, then they would appoint their own successors.

dictator: A single leader with full descision making powers, appointed for a maximum 6-month term in emergancy. 

tribunes: Magistrates elected by the Plebeians, who got to veto and initiate laws eventually. 

The Republic was run by the Senate, and the consuls were in charge of the senate. The consuls had one-year terms and would appoint their own successors. Since there were 2 consuls, it guaranteed that monarchy would not be a factor. In emergencies, the Senate could appoint a dictator, where he would make decisions for six months. The Government type was a mix of Oligarchy and Democracy. 

Before the 5th century, there was no written law in Rome. As a result of the Plebeians demand, they were written on 12 slabs of wood or bronze in the Forum. They were called the "Twelve Tables"

Eventually, the Plebeians had as much freedom in government as the Patricians. 

"Mixed Government"

  The Roman government eventually became very complex. This "mixed government" is actually very influential in today's modern society. 

The government wanted to prevent abuse in the Senate, so they created regulations saying that you couldn't leapfrog ranks to achieve a high ranking official. To get votes for a high ranking official, a person would provide entertainment and displays, similar to the campaigns the U.S parties have every four years. He would also need to support clients, who were people who provided a service in return for money and protection. Patrons would support the clients, and they were essentially people who were looking for the opposite of the clients. Once the person was elected, he would have to pay for all the expenses himself, since the job had no salary. This method of government was very effective, and served as the structure of government in Rome for a long time. 

 Republican Values

The City and the Gods

The Gods were very important to the Romans. They adopted the Greek Gods and Goddesses and used them as their religion. They worshiped 3 main Gods and Goddesses, and those were Zeus, Minerva, and Juno. They used Pontiffs to communicate with the Gods and maintain good relationships with them. 

Citizens and the Community 

It was the right and duty for men to fight in wars, and also to share in its government. Some men in Rome took for granted that women had no right to share in politics and government, and that women need guardians for all legal transactions. 

The Community and the Family

Romans were in normal families like today, but there were groups of families that they were in called clans. Clans and families were under the rule of paterfamilias, or family fathers. He held unlimited power in the family or clan. He was considered sacred by the family members.
Vesta was the Goddess of the hearth and the home. She was a very important deity to the Romans. In the household, the fire in the hearth was sacred to Vesta and was only put out if the family moved.
The Vestal Virgins also tended for Vesta's fire in her temple for 30 years.
A matron was the title that a women bore when she married. They were required to make sure that the men were doing their job.

Alexander Movie

Today Mr. Schick showed us part of "Alexander", and what the ancient battles looked like back then. Besides that, we did not do much else.

Presenting PowerPoints

Today we went up in front of the class and presented our Alexander the Great PowerPoint's in front of the whole class. Our group assignment was to explain Alexander the Great's parentage. I started the presentation by speaking about King Phillip II of Macedon, and his relationship with Alex and his military career. My group members also talked about Olympias, who was one of the many wives of King Phillip and the mother of Alexander the Great. Back then, it was also believed that Alex was the son of Zeus, who was the King of the Gods and the God of Thunder and Lightning in Greek Religion. Because Alexander the Great  was the most powerful general and leader of his time, he was often thought of the son of Zeus, due to his superior military strength. As we listened to other groups presentations, we learned about the various battles Alexander fought in, and some background information on his history and the time period in which he lived in.

Last Day of the Third Quarter

Today in class we continued to work on our Alexander the Great PowerPoint  My group continued to find research on Alexanders Parentage, as well as their historical backgrounds. My job was to find information on King Phillip II of Macedonia, who was the father of Alexander the Great. When doing my research, I found out that he had conquered a large part of Upper Greece during his reign. I also learned that he had lost his right eye during the conquest of Methone, and he was also assassinated in 336 B.C. During his life, he had many wives, including Cleopatra, Audata, and Olympias who gave birth to Alexander. I believe that this will be the last assignment before the third quarter ends, so we want to try to make it good so we can have a good grade. I hope we do well presenting tomorrow.

Chapter 5 Powerpoint

In today's class we decided that we discussed more about the Hellenistic period and reviewed our homework from last night. We talked about the meaning behind Hellenistic, and discussed Alexander the Great into more detail. Mr. Schick even paired us up into groups to make a powerpoint on part of his life. Our group was assigned to write about Alexanders parents, while others were assigned to write about other things, like his military life and the battles he fought in, the places he visited, etc. I believe Mr. Schick said that this assignment was due Friday, which leaves us lots of time to complete the assignment. My group partners and I worked on it a bit in class today, and we are planning to do a lot of it at home as well.

*Notes on Chapter 5*

Ancient Macedonia

Today in class we took the Chapter 4 Test. I actually found it pretty easy, and didn't really need to use my blog to look up some of my notes to help me. I also didn't need to use the entire class period to take the test,  which left me with some time to read Chapter 5. My notes are below.

Definition of Hellenistic: Hellenistic refers to the time period in Greek history in which many of the civilizations and territories around the Mediterranean were internationally connected and were influenced under Greek rule.



There are a number of reasons why Athens lost the Peloponnesian War against their rival Sparta. First of all, the ruler of Athens at the time, Pericles, was eager to start a war with Sparta and to vanquish their enemy as quickly as possible, but didn't take the time to strategically plan how they would destroy them. Athens jumped at the opportunity to start a war with Sparta, but didn't have a good plan before they did.
Another major factor resulting in Athens defeat was the Plaque that wreaked havoc upon the streets. When the people abandoned the city during the war, they took refuge behind the massive walls that protected the nearby harbor of Piraeus. Athens plan was to bring in food and supplies through ships, but the ships happened to bring something else with them into the city. They ships had accidentally brought the Plaque with them, and the disease spread like wildfire. Before long, one-third of the population had died, including Pericles. The disease only made it easier for the Spartans to take control of Athens and soon the surrounding area. One last factor amounting to Athens defeat was their incapability to fight in land. Athens had an enormous navy, but was limited to fighting on land. On the contrary, Sparta was better on land than at sea. This made it difficult for either side to gain an advantage over the other, and each side never got any closer to victory. In conclusion, Athens had it very difficult in the wartime.

In 359 B.C., King Phillip II became the ruler of Macedonia. He was a ruler who had a bright future for Macedonia, and he was determined to conquer the city-states, and use their power to destroy their rival, Persia.

Chapter 4 Test on Monday

Today we reviewed the study guide for Monday. Mr. Schick realized that some of our classmates did not even know about the study guide for Chapter 4 until today, so he decided that we would spend the day going over the answers to the study guide to help us study for the test. I had updated my study guide during the class, so that is where most of my work is.

*Pastafarians and Socrates*

The Death of Socrates

Today we talked a bit more about Socrates in class. We studied a famous painting called The Death of Socrates. It was painted in 1787 by the French painter Jacques-Louis David. This painting however, is not historically accurate though. Socrates was actually an old, frail man during his life. Socrates always wore a dirty rag and cared nothing for his physical appearance. He looked no where close to the buff, 6-packed man in the painting. Another interesting thing about the painting is that the artist painted himself next to Socrates (the one with the orange gown). He has said that the reason he is clutching to Socrates leg, is to symbolize that he wants part of Socrates to stay with him even after Socrates dies. He is basically saying "yes, I agree in what you believe, and that I want to grasp onto your knowledge". The painting is ironic in general, because it shows this heroic, strong, brave man in the painting, yet the real Socrates was far from strong and bold.

There was one other topic that was very interesting to me. It was about this sort-of new religion called Pastafarianism. Basically, the followers believe in a giant flying spaghetti monster that created the universe. One of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights says that people in the United States of America have freedom of religion, speech, and press. But what is the limit to religion that draws the line? How can people say that there religion is right and others are wrong? What makes some religions better than others?

More Video

Today we once again continued to watch "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". In today's viewing, we learned the Sparta had eventually won the Peloponnesian War, after years of fighting and Athens eventually being destroyed and the Plague. Humiliated by the Spartans, and with a destroyed city-state, the Athenian people looked for someone to blame the loss of the war on. That person happened to be Socrates.
Socrates was arrested for undermining the state religion and corrupting the youth of Athens.
While Socrates had a chance to prove himself not guilty, he spent it by telling the Athenian people that what he had done was good. He said that the teachings and questions he told to people made others think for themselves, and to think twice about the world around them. He had said that...

***The unexamined life is not worth living ***

Another interesting thing he had said was that the Athenian people should be thanking him for all of the work he has done for them, and that as a reward he should be served free dinners for the rest of his life. Surprisingly, the vote was very close. Socrates was only found guilty by 30 or so votes. He was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. Even his friend broke in to his cell, and tried to convince him to break out with them. But Socrates insisted that this was a democratic vote, and that his sentence shall stand. 

Reviewing Greek Test

Today we decided to review our tests on Greeks that we just took. When he was passing back the tests, he said that he would ring his bell if anyone had got on A. When my name was called, I had heard an A. I had done a pretty good job on it, and there wasn't really much else for me to know. Mr. Schick spent pretty much the entire class going over the lengthy test, and some of the information was quite useful. We had talked about the ancient City-States, and some of the economic and political aspects of Greek culture. Besides those things, we didn't do much else.

More Video Viewing

Today we once again continued to view the documentary "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". Mr. Schick was on the senior retreat today, so me and a couple other of my classmates helped set up the projector and the movie player. In today's viewing, we learned that a man named Pericles, was a very important man during Athens climax, and was an essential figure in bringing up the arts and cultures of the city. His main focus was on the Acropolis, and planned a massive reconstruction project to build a massive temple for their Goddess Athena. The Acropolis was very expensive to build. He had spent about 5000 talons on the building, worth more than a billion dollars on today's money. With the large amount of help he was given, the temple was built in just 15 years. All of the critics were silenced, and everyone for around the area gaped in awe at the massive structure. Athens was also a great learning and education center as well. The Amphitheater was another area where people gathered to view entertainment and comedy. Athens was doing very well for its time.
Things started to change in 431 B.C, when Pericles takes the podium of the democracy and decides he wants to prepare a war with their old enemy, Sparta. He decides that it is finally time to rid of the old fiend, and by doing so would make Athens the most powerful and influential city-state in all of Greece. He proposed a strategy to abandon the city, and hide in the nearby port city. They would also use the Athens Navy to help then win the war. Soon, the Plaque erupts in the city as the war is taking place. It is a devastating disaster, and 1/3 of Athens population is killed by the disease, including Pericles. He ended up dying in 429 B.C, after 6 months of sickness. Athens was in big trouble, and they would have to depend on a miracle in hopes of ever surviving the mighty Sparta.

More on Greece

Today we continued to view "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization" in class. Mr. Schick said that he would not be in class tomorrow because he would be going on the senior retreat. So he appointed me and a couple other people to help set up the movie and DVD player while he was out. He was really appreciative that we were willing to help out. In the movie today, we learned that in 490 B.C, a man named Pheidippides had ran 140 miles in just 2 days to inform Sparta about the invasion by the Persians. This story was what inspired the Marathon, the 26.2 mile race. Apparently after running non-stop all the way to Sparta, the Spartans had told him that they were busy celebrating a holiday at the moment, and that they would not be able to help defend Athens from the Persians. Meanwhile back at Athens, the Greeks had miraculously won the battle against the Persians, even though the odds were against them and they were outnumbered 2-1. They ended up slaughtering 6,000 Persians in one day.
Themistocles had been a warrior in Athens, and he rose in power when democracy was established. He is credited with the idea of building an Athenian Navy, and developing the Trireme.
Using the large deposit of silver they had discovered, they were able to afford building 200 of these massive ships. These ships had helped win another battle for Athens when Persia had invaded again.

This ^ is a Trireme.

More about Greece

On Monday we continued to watch the video "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". We learned more about the history of Cleisthenis and Pisistratus, and more about the history of Athens. We had learned that pottery was considered one of the lowest ranks in social class that you can get. However, pots and vases were very important to Athenian society, as they allowed for goods to be carried and contained for long distances. In 527 B.C, Pisistratus had been murdered and he was put to rest in the graveyard. His brother, Hippias, had soon took the throne over and had taken revenge for what happened to his brother. The murderers family were brutally tortured and killed, and Hippias had taken his anger upon all of the citizens of Athens. In order to protect the people of Athens and to save the town he loved, Cleisthenis had overthrown Hippias so he could manage the city-state well, and do what he was destined to do. In 776 B.C, the Olympic games were founded. Over 40,000 Greeks assembled in peace to participate in the games, and whoever won the games had great honor bestowed upon them.
Later on, a man named Isagoris had also been brought up to be a ruler by his family, and plotted to overthrow Cleisthenis so he could become the ruler. Isagoris was an old friend of the Spartans, and he used their military strength to rid Cleisthenis of the throne.

Watching Greek Video

On Friday we watched a video on the people, the culture, and the history of Greece. Some of the people that were mentioned in the video were Cleisthenis, who was a war hero when the people rebelled against Athens government. Another man mentioned was Pisistratus, who was a normal man who convinced the public that he had brought Athena to the town, which soon allowed him to become the tyrant of the city-state. Pisistratus actually made quite a positive difference in the town, by freeing the demos from the aristocrats, by allowing the demos to own their own farms, and by making trade from far-away colonies. Athens economy soon grew in wealth.
About Cleisthenis, he was born around 570 B.C. He had been raised and taught that he was an aristocrat at birth, and was born to rule. By 508 B.C, there was pandemonium on the streets of Athens. The people had rebelled against the government for the first time in history. Cleisthenis was one of the men to help lead Athens into a democratic state of government. 

**Study Guide for Chapter 4**

Worksheet / Study Guide for

CLASSICAL GREECE

and

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

Want to do well on the next test?  Here’s where to start:  Know what’s on this sheet.  Post the answers on your blog.  Find the answers by checking your text, doing independent research, taking good notes while watching the video, or referring to the website that accompanies the video: http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks .

IMPORTANT DATES:  In a sentence or two, describe what important or historical event took place on the following dates:

1600 – 1100 BC: The Mycenean Civilization

1150 – 750 BC: The Dark Ages

776 BC: Olympic games were formed

750 – 700 BC: Homer wrote the Oddessy and Iliae

621 BC: Draco reformed the tax code

508 BC: Birth of Democracy (Isagoras was overthrown) (Cliesthenis came into power)

490 BC: Phedippedes runs to Sparta to inform them about the invasion of Athens. 

480 BC: King Darius is dead and Xerxes comes in and tries to invade Athens again. Athens uses the straight of Salamus to beat them.

461 – 429 BC: Pericles rises into power, and Themistocles is ostricised 
447 – 432 BC: Construction of the Parthenon
431 – 404 BC: goes to war with Sparta, Plaque comes, he dies. Sparta wins, Golden Age is over

399 BC: Socrates is killed by Hemlock.

336 BC: Alexander the Great comes into his empire.

MEN, WOMEN, GODS AND GODDESSES YOU SHOULD KNOW:  In one or two sentences, describe what is significant about the following people (or immortals):

Homer: Author of the Oddessy and Iliae. 

Odysseus: Character in Homer's poem, The Odyssey. He was the King of Ithaca in the poem. 

Zeus: He was the God of Sky and Thunder in Greek mythology. He is the ruler of the Gods and Mount Olympus.

Athena: Goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill in Greek Mythology.

Draco: He was the first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He developed a legal code to determine the fate of the accused. He was a very harsh person. 

Solon: An Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is best known for his contributions towards Athenian government.

Pisistratus: Came into Athens with supposedly Athena. He soon became the Tyrant of Athens and did a great job ruling the city-state.

Cleisthenes: He is credited with creating the constitution of Athens and making Athens a democratic city-state.

Darius (the Great): One of the Kings of the Persian Empire. He was in reign when he invaded the Greek Empire.

Xerxes: A Persian King of the Persian Empire. He was soon killed by his brother Sogdianus. 

Pheidippides: The Greek messenger who inspired the Marathon event.

Themistocles: An Athenian General and politician. He was one of the first non-aristocratic politicians to exist in Athens. He was the one who built the Triremes. 

Pericles: An influential Greek statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the Golden Ages.

Aristophanes: A comic playwright of Ancient Athens. He has written over 40 plays.

Socrates: A classical Greek Athenian philosopher. He is also the inventor of the Socratic Method.

Plato: A Philosopher of Classical Greece. He is the student of Socrates and is a skilled Mathematician.

Aristotle: A Greek philosopher and was the student of Plato and the teacher of Alexamder the Great.

Alexander the Great: An Ancient King of Macedon, and the creator of one of the largest Empires of the Ancient World.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:  Be able to locate the following on a map:

Athens                         Sparta                                      Peloponnesus                          Ionia

Ionian Sea                               Aegean Sea                             Persian Empire

GREEK POLITICAL STRUCTURES: Describe these political institutions:

Monarchy                    Democracy                  Oligarchy                    Aristocracy

PERICLES’ THREE GOALS FOR ATHENS: Name ‘em; describe ‘em.

GREEK ART: Identify and describe examples in these fields:

Sculpture                     Architecture                            Drama (tragedy and comedy)                

(more to come)

Chapter 3 Test

Today we took our test on Chapter 3 (The Greeks)

That is all.

*Continuation of Chapter 3 (the Greeks)*

On Friday, Mr. Schick wrapped up the notes of Ancient Greece. Here are some of the notes that he explained in class, and that I may use to study for tests.

CITIZENS AND COMMUNITIES: The Greek City States

Hoplites ^

• Notion of Citizenship could depend on the geography of the City-State
• Hoplites were men that were in a square-like formation and had long spears, bronze helmets and armor, round shields, and short swords.
• Each City-Stare had their own customs, government, money, etc.

• There were many types of government in Ancient Greece over the years. Usually the most successful city-states were the ones that had a democratic government in place.

1. Monarchy is when communities are ruled by Kings or all-powerful person.
2. Democracy was when all of the male citizens had a say in the government decisions.
3. Oligarchy was when a small part of the community made the choices for the people, and the majority of the community had little say in the laws of the community.
4. Tyranny was when one person takes charge over the other, or takes over the government. This does not necessarily mean that he/she is a dictator. (Just seized power.)  

Sparta: The military ideal

They were decedents of Greece who settled around Laconia (The southern mainland).

Sparta had a strong practice of Oligarchy, with a group of elders who made the decisions of the land by 500 BC. This decision of government was made because the helots would frequently rebel against their owners and the state. All make Spartans were required to join the military. Woman had lots of free rights due to the men being in the military. Spartans protected this way of life by defending their state the best they could.

Athens: Freedom and power

Communities on the Attica Peninsula formed together to create the city-state of Athens c.800 BC.  By overseas trade, Athens became the wealthiest and one of the most powerful city-state over the next 300 years. Their exports were wine and oil, along with weapons, pottery, and bits of silver, lead, and marble. 

Their imports were medal, timber, and grain. 

With the rising wealth and economy came social and political conflicts.

• Often between aristocrats (the wealthy) and the demos (the common people).
• These conflicts allowed for changes of government (monarchy, oligarchy and tyranny).
• Eventually, all males had rights in the community, with the aristocrats being the leaders.

Persian War

• Persian King Darius wanted to expand his territory into mainland Greece. c.494 BC
• Persians lost Battle of Marathon 490 BC
• Athenian Navy beat the Persians at Salamis.
• Peace was made with Persia in 445 B.C.
• Athens entered a "Golden Age"

Council of 500 and about 1000 public officials were chosen publicly. 

10 Military officers and 10 generals were chosen each year.

End of Chapter 3

More Important Notes of Ancient Mesopotamia

Today we continued with Mr. Schick's presentation about early Mesopotamia and the Ancient Greeks. Here are some of the notes I had took in class.

The European Barbarians 

• Farming and Village Life had spread throughout the continent by 4000 B.C
• gigantic religious structures were made by 3500 B.C

• Barbarians moved around a lot and Greek and Latin were their ancestor languages.
• powerful warriors
• Excelled in trade, metalworking, war, and farming. (organized people)
• no cities, written records, or fixed government.

• 2000 BC - 1000 AD was when they encountered civilization. (first was Greeks)

Aegean Encounter

• Minoan Civilization arose on the island of Crete c2200 BC
• grew wealth from trade with other civilizations (Egypt)
• The Mycenaean Civilization was the arrival of the Greeks. 
• Both were very similar to each other, and have been in constant conquests for control of the commerce of the Eastern Mediterranean when they encountered each other.
• Fighting lasted until c. 1400 BC when the Minoans were destroyed by the Mycenaean. 

• Conquest of the "Sea People" ended the Mycenaean c. 1200 BC
•  c. 1150 BC Mycenae was sacked, writing was not used, settlements were deserted, and population dropped. 
• This was known as the Dark Ages, and lasted from 1150 BC to 750 BC (400 years)
  
• c. 800 BC the Aegean region recovered
• 800-600 BC was when population rose due to settlements being founded. 
• The Greeks soon joined the Phoenicians as the leading trading, commercial, and seafaring nation.

-had a common religion

- new developments such as: iron tools and weapons, coined money, borrowing of Phoenician war tactics, and the Greek alphabet

(more to come) 

Another Day of Notes

Today we listened to Mr. Schick inform us more about the Barbarians and the Greeks. Mr. Schick purposely tried to make the presentation as boring as he possibly could, so for a portion of the class he lectured about the notes in a very tedious and monotone voice. Mr. Schick continued on the history, the economy, and the culture of the many barbaric civilization that had been in existence before Ancient Greece had. We reviewed the Aegean Encounter and the Dark Ages in a little more depth, and Mr. Schick talked about the story "The Odyssey" that was made during that time. The story was about a man who had went into the Trojan War, leaving his family and his wife behind. After the war, the man tries to make his way back home, but the Sea God Poseidon kept keeping him off course. It was interesting to hear what the story was like. Mr. Schick invited one our classmates to share the rest of the presentation. He did a good job explaining the presentation. Tomorrow we will continue learning about the Greek City-States and the development of Greece.     

Sharing our Presentations

Today Mr. Schick chose some people who thought there presentations were worthy enough to share in front of the entire class. My group was chosen to present because we thought we had a good enough presentation to share. One group had presented before us though. In their presentation, they discussed some of the material that was in the textbook for LO1. They had took pretty good notes and I made sure to write some of the information down. When it was our turn, we were assigned to present about LO2. We talked about the different civilizations that had arose before the Greek Empire turned to power, like the Minoans and the Aegean's and the Mycenaean's. We discussed the locations of those empires and we talked about the unique     features of each, including some of the culture and the economy of them. Another topic we went over was the Dark Ages. This period lasted from 1150 B.C to 750 B.C. The Dark Ages was a time when many of the  
Mediterranean civilizations collapsed. Settlements were deserted, ships and boats no longer sailed, population dropped, and the writing was no longer used. However, even though many of the civilizations collapsed, the Greeks were still surviving, and soon expanded and thrived.

Reviewing the Test

In today's class we went over our test for the Agricultural Revolution and the Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks. I received my test and I got an 84% on it. We went over all of the answers, and Mr. Schick made us read the question exactly the way he had typed it on the paper. He wanted us to say a word loudly if he had capitalized the word for emphasis, so someone would be saying "Which of the following inventions had NOT been invented yet?" or something like that. Our class was cut short due to the half-day off of school today, so we were only able to get through the reviewing of the test. Mr. Schick then said that he wanted us to continue our presentations from this week into LO3, so this weekend we plan to complete those.

Continuing the Presentation

Today was a very uneventful day, because we finished up the presentations on Ancient Greece today.
Mr. Schick was back in class today, so there was no need for a substitute. Also one of my group mates was not in class, so it was just me and my other partner to finish the presentation. We typed about the different kinds of civilizations before Ancient Greece was established, and we also typed about the Dark Ages and the rising of the Greek Empire. I had asked Mr. Schick if we needed to type about LO3, but he said that we would go over that tomorrow. Mr. Schick also wanted us to make our presentations better by making us add nice pictures to go along with what we typed. He also wanted us to put a picture on our presentation that was not Stonehenge, because that Megalithic structure is the most well-known, ans he doesn't want every presentation to have a photo of Stonehenge. So my partner and I added pictures so our presentation can look impressive and interesting when people look at it. Tomorrow we will probably continue with LO3, so I'm curious to see what will be in that Chapter.

ಠ_ಠ

Today in class we worked on our Ancient Greek and Barbarian Google Presentation. On Monday we started to make the presentation on LO1, but today Mr. Schick wanted us to continue the presentation on LO2. Mr. Schick was out sick today, so our sub for today's class was my math teacher Mrs. Hugo. From home, Mr. Schick could view our progress on the presentation, and could even send messages to us. At one point in the class Mr. Schick logged in to our presentation and started typing to us. I think it's really cool that Mr. Schick can instant message us right from his home. We even sent messages back to him too. I typed in the presentation the different civilizations that the Barbarians encountered over the years, and how the Barbarians eventually adapted the cultures from other civilizations to theirs. I am looking forward to possibly presenting these presentation tomorrow in class.

*How Was Stonehenge Built?*

Today we looked into the development of Ancient Greece, and the descendants of the people ho developed Greece. We focused mostly on the development of Megalithic structures around 3500 B.C. We looked deeper into the the monument Stonehenge, which was built even before even Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt was even developed! Each of the stones in Stonehenge is about 18 feet high, and weigh up to 50 TONS EACH. But even though we know so much about the prehistory of Greece and the barbarians, archaeologists and historians still are clueless to how Stonehenge was built in the first place? How in the world were the barbarians able to drag 50 ton stones many miles to a location, then stand them upright and place another stone sideways on top of them? People are still amazed to to how this could have been achieved.
We also learned about the geography of Greece. Greece is a peninsula with over 1400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas. The Aegean sea is to the right of Greece, or between Greece and Turkey. The Ionian sea is to the left of Greece, or between Italy and Greece. Greece is very mountainous, covering over 3/4 of the region. Many Greeks were good as sailing because Greece learned to adapt to the many mountains blocking their path from one side of the land to the other. Many Greeks simply sailed over to where they wanted to go, rather than traveling over all of the mountains to get to your destination. Traveling by boat made shipping supplies much easier.
Another thing about Greece, is that it was difficult to communicate between the far off city-states. The rough terrain made is hard to tell information to other people throughout the country.

* Important points in Greece *

The Greeks made many advances in art, technology, government, and science that have affected our way of life today. The Greeks started out as European Barbarian peoples. They soon migrated to Southeastern Europe, where Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Egypt would be in easy reach. They soon emerged as a "classical" Greek civilization about 800 B.C . The Greeks had adapted their culture from their neighbors, but many aspects of their culture were exclusive to them only.
The Greek City-States were the first to practice citizen participation in government. This led to democracy in Greece, and set the standard for many other future civilizations.

Over three thousand years up to the Persian Empire, civilization had spread to most corners of the world by this time. Elsewhere, people still lived the prehistoric lifestyle that emerged from the Agricultural Revolution.
By 3500 B.C., the people of Western Europe were civilized and organized enough to build ceremonial monuments based on circles and rows of huge, upright, boulders, as well as tombs and fortifications. These structures were known as Megalithic structures, meaning "large boulder" in Greek. One of the most known of these Megalithic structures is Stonehenge, which is a circular structure consisting of upright stones. This was built as a religious center by farmers and traders in the west of England. This incredible structure is still standing today.
From about 2500 B.C. onward, Indo-European nomads and peoples moved into Europe, and the settled people of Europe bean to create new ethnic groups whose way of life was a mixture of their original customs and Indo-European influences. new languages began to arise, which would be the distant ancestors of Greek and Latin. Their lives began to change, as there appeared groups of warriors usually with Indo-European heritage. They were horseman and charioteers whose lives centered around courage and strength. These warriors soon turned into gods of thunder, metalworking, war, and fatherhood. When the warrior died, his belongings would be buried with him. Next to him would lie his wife, with her work and possessions as well.
The main part of European life was based around farming. They settled villages or tribes, often separated from each other by great distances. The tribes would occasionally meet to trade and celebrate different occasions. Tribes would be allies in war, and would group together to live. They would join or leave tribes as they would see fit, and sometimes they would migrate if things got bad.
These people were know as the European barbarians, and there is no written records of them. eventually, they formed a civilization known as Greece.

Test Today

In today's class, we took a test on everything that we have learned from the beginning of the semester. It was  quite a lengthy test, but I managed to finish just before the bell rang, signaling the end of the mod. Mr. Schick had received some advice from other teacher, telling him to make his tests more difficult. For the semester 1 final exam, Mr. Schick made a 100 question test, with 5 short answers, yet some people finished in 30 minutes, with an hour to spare. Knowing this, Mr. Schick tried to make this test as hard as he could. In return, he allowed us to use our blogs to help us get the answers to the test. During the test, I didn't really need to use my blog for reference. The only part where I really depended on it was when I had to complete the short answer and the 3 paragraph essay at the end. I may have spent too much time on the short answer, because I only had 15 minutes to write the essay afterwards, I managed to do it though, and I hope that I get a good grade on it.

Test Tomorrow

In today's class we reviewed for the upcoming test on Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Agricultural Revolution. We saw a power-point that basically reviewed everything that we have learned since the beginning of the semester, which was back in January. I found the power-point very interesting, because not only were the facts interesting, but Mr. Schick described the information and explained all of it in great detail, which I also found interesting. Mr. Schick also showed us a video on mummification that the Ancient Egyptians, that described the steps that took place in mummification. It is amazing how after thousands of years, that a body mummified by the Egyptians can be preserved and still in a decent shape today. Mr. Schick also told us about one of his childhood stories. He said that one of his best friends family ran a funeral home. When Mr. Schick was over his friends house, his friend gave him a tour of the place. They saw where the mass was held, the place where you view the body, and even the place where you prepare the dead bodies. At the time, his friend's dad was preserving a dead body, and Mr. Schick got to see the body being prepared upfront. He explained that the way the Egyptians preserved the dead was somewhat similar to the way we preserve the bodies.

Building Pyramids

Today was a very fun, but also very frustrating day. We were assigned the task of building a virtual pyramid on the BBC website. The game allowed you to pick the location, the material of your pyramid, the work force, the food the work force would eat, the benefits the work force would receive, the angle of the pyramid, the god or goddess that would look over the construction, and so on. I was partnered up with someone else, and we worked together to try to build a good pyramid for the king. I failed miserably at least 5 times, and he didn't have much luck either. Towards the end of class, he was able to complete most of the construction, but then failed again by not having enough supplies. He then tried again, and was able to complete the pyramid with success. It was tough, but we were able to do it.