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.