4/30/15

Notes on Rome:

Etruscans

• Came from the north-central part of the peninsula
• Metalworkers, artist, architects
• Two foundation myths: Virgil's Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy), plus the story of Remus and Romulus

Greeks

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

• Religious beliefs
• Alphabet
• Much of their art
• Military techniques and weaponry

Latins

• First to settle in Rome
• Descendants of Indo-Europeans
• 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
• Built on seven hills (esp. Palatine)

• Remus wanted Aventine
• Romulus wanted Palatine

Swamp

• Many streams flowed into the Tiber
• There was a marshy are called the Forum, between Palatine and Capitoline Hills
• Tarquin the Proud's grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber

Tarquin the Proud

• Lucius Tarquinias Superbus
• The seventh and final king of Rome
• Known as Tarquin the Proud
• A true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word
• Tarquin seized power like an old school tyrant

4/29/15

I was unable to blog becauase I was at track

4/28/15

Today in class we talked about the riots that are going on in Baltimore. We spent the whole class talking about this. I think that both sides did wrong. I think that the white cops shouldn't have killed the black man, but I also think that the people of Baltimore shouldn't we burning down buildings and cars and robbing places. I just hope the whole situation gets better.

4/24/15

Today Mr.Schick gave us the whole class to work on our projects.

4/23/15

Rome

- centered around Tiber River 

- located near the sea 

- on top of a hill- they could see their enemies coming 

- took years to drain the swamp before building 

- had somewhat of a sanitary system

Tarquin the Proud 

- ruled from 534-510 BC

- last king of Rome

- is thought to have killed a family member 

- his son raped a women who is highly respected

- she later committed suicide because she felt guilty

- Tarquin did not punish his son  

- was later kicked out of Rome for this 

- influenced their type of government- didn't want another cruel king 

- democracy, aristocracy, monarchy: combination of these became their new government 

- first step towards plebeians having rights was when the list of laws became public

4/22/15

I was unable to blog because I was at a track meet.

4/21/15

Today in class we starting talking about Ancient Rome. Here are the notes I took:

Ancient Rome:

• Ninth Century- Etrusans, Greeks & Latins made settlements near Tiber River
• The Latins first

City State and Empire:

• Italy and its peoples
• Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the city-state known as Rome
• Romulus and Remus (How Rome came to be)
• Etruscan settled in north part of Italy
• Rome is set up as a city-state
• Romans influenced by Greeks 
• Originally, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders called the "Senate"
• 500 B.C. the Romans overthrew their monarchy and established a "Republic"
• Since the Senate was populated only by patricians and plebians fought for a vote in Rome's government
• Each year the Senate elected two rulers, "consuls", who each served a term of one year
• As in the Greek city-states, The Romans would appoint a single dictator in times of war or conflict
• 12 Tables
• Respublica- latin for "peoples affairs"
• Saw fighting for homeland as a duty
• 476 B.C. Roman Empire came to an end 

4/17/15

Today in west civ class, Mr.Schick gave us the day to catch up on work since our class was a day ahead of the other ones. We were aloud to do homework we had from another class, talk about our upcoming project, or just do whatever. Since i was done all of my homework, my group and I discussed what we were doing for our project. After that I just played games on my laptop.

4/16/15

Today in class we brainstormed project ideas for our Ancient Rome unit. I think that there were a few good ideas, some ideas ideas seemed a little crazy but overall I think we came up with some good ones.

4/15/15

Today in West Civ class we watched a video on one of Plato's writings. At first I found the video relly confusing but after we finished watching it and discussed it in class i started to get it. We spent half of the class watching the video and the other half discussing it.

4/14/15

Today was our first West Civ class since break. During class we took the time to go over the test that we took on the last day before break. I got a 86 on the test which im pretty happy about. I thought that a few of the questions were a little hard. Each person read a question and then gave the answer to it. I like when we go over the tests in class so i know the right answers and can study for finals.