Today in class we took a test. I did okay but i wish i would have done better. This grade did not effect my final grade too much. I will continue to do blogs to push up my grade in his class.

Today in west Civ we finished up the projects and they were all pretty good. I like Suky's and Christina's a lot. After that we went over the test next week and the upcoming exam. He is going to give us the essay questions before the exam. Then me, Mr.schick, and sydney had a great conversation.

Today in West Civ we finished up the presentations. Our group did very well I think, we also made a cake and everyone liked it and had some. The rest of the projects were very good, one was very short but was very funny and I enjoyed all of the projects very much.

today in west civ we watch 3 presentations for out project. they were all very interesting and creative. I think most of them were well thought out and interesting. I enjoyed all of them but I think Skylar, Gabbi and immanuel's

Today in class Mr. Schick gave us a 10 question pop quiz. I got an 8 out of 10 on it and that was one of the better score in the class. I hope this helps my grade.

Today in class we watched a video about what we have been learning about Rome and the Carthage war. This has just been going into more detail about what has been happening during that time and in the middle of the war. The movie so far has been really interesting and I look forward to watching the rest.

Today in class Mr. Schick couldn't get his laptop to work and no one had their chargers to help him. so he just told us to watch it on our own. If we didn't have our laptop we can just do homework for another class.

• 5000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)
• the Roman army’s elite heavy infantry
• recruited exclusively from Roman citizens

• group of eighty’s a century
• on horseback is the cavalry
• shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

First Punic War

(264 - 241 BCE)

• naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily
• Rome wins this one

Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE)

• 29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome
• attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps

lays siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he never can get to Rome Rome 2, Carthage

• Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage
• Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attacked the city
• Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed
• when the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery
• the rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

 plebs refused to serve in the military until…

• laws were written out (The Law of the Twelve Tables)
• these laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)
• tribunes (“tribal leaders”) were elected  

• plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials
• Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs
• patricians could interpret these to their own advantage

SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanum

• designates any decree or decision made by “the Roman Senate and People

brand new republic, ready to run

• democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes
• aristocracy (the Senate - approx. 300 members)
• plus monarchy (the consuls)
• not a tyranny
• executive - rome 
• two consuls
• one year terms
• each has veto power
• controls the military
• could appoint a dictator in a crisis for a six-month term

• executive- US 
• President (and VP)
• four year terms
• can veto proposed laws
• Commander-in-Chief

• legislative- rome 
• Senate - 300 people - aristocrats - members for life
• Assemblies (either Centuriate or Tribal) 193 members (later 373) - members for 
• life

• legislative- US
• Senate - 100 senators (two from each state) - six-year terms
• House of Representatives - 435 members (53 from CA, one from 7 states) - two-year terms

• judicial- rome 
• Praetors
• chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
• one-year terms

• judicial- US 
• Supreme Court
• nine members
• appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate
• lifetime terms

Who settled in Rome 

Etruscans, Latins, Greeks

Etruscans

• Came from the north-central part of the peninsula
• Metal workers, artists, architects
• Two foundation myths: Virgil's Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy - sound familiar?) plus the story of Remus and Romulus

Greeks

• They had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
• Romans borrowed ideas from them such as:

• Religious beliefs
• Much of their art
• Alphabet

But who first settled there?

 Latins

• Descendants of Indo- European
• Settled on the banks of the Tiber
• Situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further
• A commercial port, but not susceptible to attack
• And… built on seven hills (esp. palatine)

The people's shock at this horrible behavior and this horrible family made them NEVER want to be subject to the rule of kings EVER again -this was an attitude that lasted for centuries 

Today in class we went over our projects again and talked about what group we are in and how we were going to finish. This weekend Chris, Sydney, and myself are going to get together a buy the supplies and start doing all the hard stuff before we bring it to school. We are also going to have food with this project so we are going to get the ingredients and work together.

the holding capacity of the circus maximus was a quarter of a million people
this was quarter of Romes population.


the circus maximus was destroyed twice by fire and on at least two occasions the stands collapsed and killed many people

in circus maximus unlike the amphitheaters in that day men and women could sit together

circus maximus was in 549 AD a millennium after racks construction


coliseum

- built in 72 AD the Colosseum remains the largest amphitheater in the world

- 500,000 people lost their lives over 1 million wild animals killed

the last gladiatorial fights took place in 435 AD

festivals as well as games could last up to 100 days in the coliseum

thee Colosseum in Italy only took 9 years to build using over 6000 Jewish slaves

today we talked about how greece was formed here are some notes i took:

   Romans had strong values and a particular connection to the gods Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera), and Minerva (Athena)

 Romans believed that it was every citizens duty to participate in government and war, excluding

women

   The Roman family and clan was paternalistic and the “family fear had complete control

     Married women were also revered in Rome as “matrons”

       “Pater familias” – head of the family 

we also heard mr. schick rap!!

Etruscan, Greeks, Latins

-       Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the city-state known as Rome

-       The etruscan people, from the east, had settled in the north of Italy and were also 

-       Each year the Senate elected two rules, consuls, who each served a term of one year

-       as in the Greek City-States, the romans would appoint a single dictator in times on war or conflict

 - mixed government of patricians and plebeians had many of the checks and balances that modern democracies have today

Today in West Civilization we were given a project about Rome. My group partners are Sydney and Chris. I think this group is a much fit for my type of learning style. I think my grade if going to reflect this. Anyway we have great idea for this  project, it is going to take a lot of time and effort but it will all be worth it in the in. We have already figured out who is getting what supplies in one class period. This project is going to be awesome!!!

Today in class we watched a video called Allegory of the Cave. this video had a very deep meaning. This video basically foreshadowed what our generation is going to be like. We are being persuaded and told what to do by a box in our homes. Televisions causes this generation to not go out and make decisions on our own, but listen to people who are getting paid to tell us what the world is like and how we should live out life. This is also causing us to judge others because they have different opinions and different life styles than us as individuals.  So basically the moral of this video is to go put and make a like of your own, and make your own decisions based on your own experience. Do not live your life through a television.

Today in class we went over corrections in our papers and what they meant. Mr. Schick explained what all of the symbols meant and how to correctly write a paper, because we are going to need to bang out papers fast in college. In the long run this will help us.

Today in class we went over the test took before spring break and went around the room answering all the question correctly. Then we got our papers back on ancient Greece and met up with our group to look at it and talk about our grades.

so today we worked on our papers and here is a sneak peak of out thesis :

In Ancient Greece the Gods and Goddesses played an important role in the Greek society. Each Greek God and Goddess was in charge of a different job, they all had their own powers as well. There were the good Gods and Goddesses who stayed together but they also had enemies.If Greece did not have these Gods or Goddesses the world today would be very different.

I was not in class today because I was sick hope you are gonna have on your trip Mr.Schick!

In class  we went over how to write a correctly typed paper so we can correctly write our 1000 word essay on our Greek topics and it really helped

here is some of the notes i took today from all the power points that we presented in class  

greek life was centered around religion

frieze

- a  friezeis a long narrow band of sculptures that run along a boarder

Doric columns are very sturdy they are very plain

pantheon - temple for athen parthons

ionic - are much thinner and more elegant

erectheum ionic order built between 421 - 405 BC

 corinthian columns are seldomly used in ancient Greece

building began in the 6th century

The ancient Greeks built great temples and sanctuaries to their gods

They held festivals in their honour, with processions, sports, sacrifices and competitions

The picture to the right is called, Hephaisteion, it is temple in Athens that was built for the god Hephaistos and the goddess Athena 

• with Hippias gone, Isagoras and Cleisthenes (both were aristocrats - surprise!) engaged in a power struggle
• Isagoras had support from some fellow aristocrats, plus from Sparta
• Cleisthenes had support of the majority of Athenians

• Isagoras becomes archon eponymous (tyrant)
• He ostracizes Cleisthenes
• Cleisthenes’ supporters - and the ordinary Athenian citizens! - revolt against Isagoras’ tyranny
• they trap Isagoras on the acropolis for two days - on the third day he fled and was banished
• 508 BCE !  Yes

• Cleisthenes - definitely a member of the elite
• very rich
• insulated from the “hoi polloi”
• a crafty politician

tyrants seize control
- sometimes aristocrats who are on the outside would form alliances with hoplits (well armed soldiers) and set up a alternative form of government called tyranny
- tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polios
modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive   or oppressive ruler
- the Greek meaning of tyrant : someone who seized power on their own (usually hoplite help)

clash of the tyrants
- hippias as who ruled form 527 to 510 BCE
- his brother was murdered and his rule became harsh
eventually he was  (ostracized)

- in revenge he began working with the Persian king Darius, helping them invade marathon

Today in class and we worked on our project for the second day, I think things are going very well and we are going to do very well. My group is really keeping things together and doing really well on the project and working together well.

Today in class we went over the new project that we have a couple to weeks to do. the people in my group are Sammi  and Callie. Our topic is Greek Gods and Goddess. I think we will do very well on the project.

Today we took a quiz in Mr.Schick's class. it was a surprise, I did well I only got 2 wrong and it should help pull up my grade in his class.

we also took some notes:

• Greek oral traditions- stories passed on by word of mouth 
• homer lived at the end of the "Greek dark ages" 
• he composed stories of Trojan war C 750-700 BCE 
• the Iliad- probably one of the last conquest of the Mycenaean (the Trojan war)
• the odyssey - Odysseus attempt to return home, being thwarted by the angry God of the sea, P Poseidon  
• the odyssey was 12,110 lines of the dactylic hexameter 

the Homeric question 

• homer may have been mythical creation 
• a blind wandering minstrel; and heroic figure

Iliad and Odyssey maybe the culmination of many generations of story telling or... homer actually existed and was just that awesome 

• was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosophercredited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. 

• Socrates was born circa 470 BC, in Athens, Greece. We know of his life through the writings of his students, including Plato and Xenophon.
• Socrates married Xanthippe, a younger woman, who bore him three sons—Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus.
• Athenian law required all able bodied males serve as citizen soldiers, on call for duty from ages 18 until 60.
• ecause these writings had other purposes than reporting his life, it is likely none present a completely accurate picture. However, collectively, they provide a unique and vivid portrayal of Socrates's philosophy and personality.

The Acropolis 


Athens is known as the birth place of democracy when the people of Athens rose up and ruled out the tyrant who had ruled them around 500 BC. The Acropolis is not a single building but a number of temples build on a hill overlooking Athens



Temple of Olympian Zeus 


 Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD some 638 years after the project had begun.

Erechtheum
 
he Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple of Ionic style on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens. The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 407 BC. The temple is probably most famous for its distinctive porch supported by six female figures known as the Caryatids, who served at supporters. 

• Note the significance of Greece’s location  

Greece is a country located in Southern Europe, its mainland located at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula.

• Describe Greece’s topography

About four-fifths of Greece is mountainous, including most of the islands. The most important range is the Pindus, which runs down the center of the peninsula from north to south.

Look at Greece’s surroundings

• How would all this affect their culture?

The soil is not very good for growing things, there are a lot of mountains that make it hard to walk from one place to another, and there is never enough fresh water. Because of this, people did not settle in Greece as early as they moved to Egypt and the Fertile Crescent.

What bodies of water surround Greece?

Adriatic sea

Aegean sea

What large island is to the south/southeast?

(you may need to go online to find out)

Cyclades island  

Describe where Athens and Sparta are located relating to the sea, and to each other

Sparta is at the end of Adriatic sea right on the edge and Athens is right on the edge of Aegean sea

Mesopotamia - Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Egypt - Nile River

India - Indus River

China - Huang He River

I took the test today and it was not easy. I did not do well on the Pyramid Challenge questions on the test, they were difficult to me i did not do well on the test but I have a week of blogs and cyber day work that will bring up my grade.

1. What were scribes used for back in Egypt? -  scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry described anatomy and medical treatments 
2. What were the point of Pharaohs?-
the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people holding the titles: Lord of the two lands and high priest of every temple 

3. When did Cleopatra serve as a Pharaoh? -  (51-30 BC) 

4. What were the upper class called - "white kilt class"

5. Scribes wrote in 2 different languages what were they?
 (hieroglyphs and  hierarchic) hieroglyphs are pictures symbols that looked like more or less letters  

In Mr.Schick's class today we played a game and the rules were the first 2 people who finished the game got an a A and the last second 2 got a B. Then the rest got a C whoever finished in the class. my partner was Gabi and she finished in the B section so I got a B on the project. i didn't really like this game because it was a very unfair way of grading and really does not help the kids with a low grade in his class. I honestly lucked out when Gabi won, but I really could not afford to fail, the game was a real challenge, but it was fun!

An invention that was a huge part in Egyptian history was the invention of sun clocks and water clocks. The sun clock helped them indicate the if it was noon and helped them divide the day into two parts,  with the shadows that was on  the ground. the sun clock also indicated the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year, later, markers added around the base of the monument would indicate further time subdivisions. As for water clocks they were the oldest time keepers. they had a bowl shape with water being dropped in to indicate hours every time water dripped and once it hit a certain height in the bowl that indicated 1 hour.

When there was no obvious  illness, many Egypt doctors and priests believed that disease was caused by spiritual beings. When no-one could explain why someone had a disease, spells and potions were used to drive out the spirits. other than trying to use potions and other types if spells they used lots if surgeries. they had documents about each body parts here is an example:  "46 vessels go from the heart to every limb, if a doctor places his hand or fingers on the back of the head, hands, stomach, arms or feet then he hears the heart. The heart speaks out of every limb."

The papyrus continues:

"There are 4 vessels to his nostrils, 2 give mucus and 2 give blood; there are 4 vessels in his forehead; there are 6 vessels that lead to the arms; there are 6 vessels that lead to the feet; there are 2 vessels to his testicles (and) it is they which give semen; there are 2 vessels to the buttocks." 

The Egyptians were  aware that the year was about 365 days, and divided it into 12 months of 30 days, with five ceremonial. This calendar lost one day every four years, and they made little attempt to correct this. 

instead, they developed another calendar based around the star Sirius, which also consisted of 365 days but which included the extra quarter day. they also kept a 360 day ceremonial calendar, running with the others, and these calendars coincided every 1461 years, which was seen as a time of great celebration and the start of a new age. 

• scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry described anatomy and medical treatments 
• scribes wrote in 2 different languages (hieroglyphs and  hierarchic) hieroglyphs are pictures symbols that looked like more or less letters   
• soldiers used wooden weapons (bows and arrows, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots 

upper class known as the "white kilt class" priest, physicians engineers
 religious and political leader

pharaohs

• the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people holding the titles: Lord of the two lands and high priest of every temple 
• as lord of the two the pharaoh was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt he owed all land made laws. collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners 
• Hatsheput was a woman who served a pharaoh 

Cleopatra Vii also served as pharaoh much later (51-30 BC) more on her when we study Greece.    

• gods and goddesses 
• over 2000 god and goddesses they "controlled" the lives of the humans  

The Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people and held the titles 'Lord of the Two Lands’ and 'High Priest of Every Temple’. The word 'pharaoh’ is the Greek form of the Egyptian 'pero’ or 'per-a-a’, which was the designation for the royal residence. The name of the residence became associated with the ruler and, in time, was used exclusively for the leader of the people.
In 3000 BCE the first dynasties appeared in Egypt with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The rulers of these dynasties were equated with the gods and with the duties and obligations due those gods. As supreme ruler of the people, the pharaoh was considered a god on earth, the intermediary between the gods and the people, and when he died, he was thought to become Osiris, the god of the dead. As such, in his role of 'High Priest of Every Temple’, it was the pharaoh’s duty to build great temples and monuments celebrating his own achievements and paying homage to the gods of the land. Additionally, the pharaoh would officiate at religious ceremonies, choose the sites of temples and decree what work would be done (although he could not choose priests and very rarely took part in the design of a temple). As 'Lord of the Two Lands’ the pharaoh made the laws, owned all the land in Egypt, collected taxes and made war or defended the country against aggression.

Ancient Egypt


geography

• Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River 
• it flows from south to north 
• water for drinking for irrigating for bathing and for transportation 
• they were the first people to come up wit the sail
• every July it floods, every October it leaves behind rich soil
• the delta is a broad 
• marshy triangular area and fertile slit 
• managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation 

pyramids 

• the great sphinx of giza 
• built from 2555-2532 BC 
• a recumbent lion with a human head 
• oldest monumental statue in the world  

• slaves and servants helped the wealthy with the household and child raising duties 
• farmers raised wheat, barely lentils,onions, - benefited from irrigation of the Nile 
• artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the after life 
• money/barter system was used merchants might accept bags of grain for payment later coinage came about 

Today we took a test in Western Civilization. the test should really help my grade. I think the multiple choice was much easier than fill in the blank. today we also went over the quiz that we took last week, that also really helped me for when we take the final in June. i thought i did much better than what i got back. I think this test we took today should really help pull up my average in his class.

• Animal dung can be used as a fertilizer 
• goats and sheep were first animals to be domesticated 
• the best animals that you can domesticate after 1 to 2 years  

zebra's can not be domesticated

14 animals can only be domesticated
goats
sheep
pigs
cows
horse
donkey
bacteran camels
arabian camals water bufflo
llamas - south america
reindeer
yaks
mithans
bali cattles

the fertile people were geographically blessed
its very expensive to make a plaster house
making plaster from rhinestone was a new breakthrough

• Why do you white men have so much cargo and us white men have nothing
• The white men have this thought that they are just so much better because they came here with stuff they thought they were just better than them it was just in their genes
• Jarred diamond disagreed that the white people were better than these people
• These people can survive in any environment.
• There has to be an explanation as to why places are completely different than the other  

Civilization that have advanced have had

Advanced technology

Large population

Well organized worked force

An area where people were thriving was the middle east 

In papa genuine they were still living the hunter gathering way

Sego - the major part of what they eat. But there not very good for them and they can't store the food it takes 3-4 days to make 

Barley and wheat - really good for you and grows naturally

Draa - a Canadian archaeologist is working at

Grannry - a place to keep grain

Plant domestication

Today in western civilization class today, we took a test on all of the information we have learned throughout the week. I thought the test was fairly easy and it was very helpful to have my notes. I used my notes and I was very thankful to use my notes. I now have learned how life was in the prehistoric age, and the very strict rules the environment has to follow. I can tell that this class is going to make me really appreciate what like was back in earlier times. I am happy life has evolved from what life was back then.  

Fertile cresant

From prehistory to civilization 3000-1200 B.C

Before civilization the prehistoric era

• The origins and ages of human beings

• 200,00 years ago and human species emerged in south western Africa
• 14,00 years ago a worldwide human race existed
• Earliest prehistoric age is the Paleolithic age
• Neolithic age was marked by advanced tool making and the beginnings of agriculture
• Initially, humans were parts of migratory groups which hunted fished and gathered plants for food

• The agriculture revolution

• Also known as the Neolithic revolution this was a shift from itinerant hunting/gathering to more permanent settlements centered on agriculture (BEGINNING IN SOUTHWESTERN ASIA)
• Populations rose due to increased ability to care for young children
• Hierarchies appeared in village life the status of women was lowered as women we confined more domestic duties
• Invention of the wheel and plow made it possible to produce enough food for storage
• Villagers we polytheists worshipped multiple nature, human and animal gods

• Mesopotamia then… and now.

• The district known as Sumer occupied the land between

         the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

• Population increased dramatically due to the new irrigation techniques
• Cities and towns were founded, some with as many 40,000 inhabitants
• Better food storage allowed diversity in professions priest, tradesmen ,artisans Politian's farmers
• Kings emerged as did family dynasties and the concept of the city-state
• Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing known as cuneiform
• A pantheon of Sumerian gods and goddesses emerged with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world
• The world's first surviving epic was the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh which told of a great flood
• Sumerians first divided the hour into sixty minutes and the minute into sixty seconds; they also organized a calendar based on moon cycles
• The ziggurat was a Sumerian temple built on tip of a "mountain" of earth

a mess o' Mesopotamia

Civilization of Mesopotamia

• Wandering nomads drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas especially to the south of Sumer in Arabia
• King Hammurabi of Babylon created a series of laws known as Hammurabi's code - laws that include ""an eye for eye" and regulations of marriages, divorce, and punishments for all sorts of

The expansion

The expansions of Mesopotamian civilization

• Indo - Europeans were people from the grasslands of the Russians steppe who introduced the horse to the Near East
• The warlike Indo-European tribe known as the Hittites settled in Asia Minor
• The Hittites had a lucrative trade in metals and conquered  nearly all of their neighbors even threating Egypt

 Hammurabi Codes ( laws I find important)   

1. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.

2. If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.  

3. If any one steal a water-wheel from the field, he shall pay five shekels in money to its owner.

4. If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into the water.

5. If any one be guilty of incest with his mother after his father, both shall be burned

6. If a "sister of a god" open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink, then shall this woman be burned to death.