exams

our final will be on guns, germs, and steel(15), sumerians(10), egypt(10), greece(35 questions), Rome(20), the middle ages and feudalism(12). Papua New Guinea is in australia. Jared diamond had a theory based on geographic luck. It depended on animals and plants being domesticated. Plants had to be able to be stored. Used to be hunters and gatherers. Less time worrying about food allows specialized labor. Sego trees. cuneiform was sumerian writing. Prehistory was before written history. agricultural revolution, operating plows and allowed people to have villages and stuff. mesopatamia was located near tigris and euphrated which flowed south to north. Nile was center of egyptian life. pyramids were built for the pharaoh. sphinx was a cat thing. greece was once an oligarchy which was a group of men. spartans were more war like. Athens was into arts. athenians had a strong navy.

5/28/13

all we did today was take a test on feudalism.

5/24/13

this is what we did in class today:

Feudalism-  the legal and social system that evolved in W Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and were required to serve under them in war(relationship between landowners and warriors)

feudal compact- the agreement between the knight and lord in which the knight inherits a fief for pledging allegiance to the lord

fief- land granted to knights by the lords

vassal- servant of a lord who pledges loyalty

knight- one who pledges allegiance to a lord and defends his land

homage- the gratitude a knight pays to his lord

serf- a laborer of the land(bottom of social ladder)

baron-lord of a large territory who pays homage t o a king

peasantry- those who farmed the land of manors owned by the lords

estates- clergy, nobility, common people

manor-land owned by the lords

three-field-system- a system practiced in order to not over-use land by switching between three fields

internal colonization- cultivating and settling previously uninhabited land

suburb- the land outside of the wall

guild- a group of people who practiced a job

master- the highest ranking artisans of a practice

journeyman- the rank in a guild that gets payed to do their work but is not yet a master

apprentice- an artisan level below journeyman

masterpiece- a piece created by an journeyman approved by a master making him a master

water mill- a water powered mill that grinds flower or wheat

and yes, iron plow-were invented and water-powered grinding mills helped with agriculture

5/22/13

  Today in class we went over everything that we learned yesterday through maxwell and david. They were wonderful and now I understand everything completely because they opened my eyes to the meaning of life. Maxwell was getting frustrated with Mr. Schick because he wanted to take his position as teacher. then we had a discussion about pinky toes. We will have them forever luckily. thanks for clearing that up.

5/21/13

feudalism describes the governmental system and the relationship between landowners and warriors. Knights pledged allegiance and the Lord would give him land. The land given to the knight was called a fief (feudal compact). Knight was required to pay homage. If a knight dies, the land would revert to his son and the lord would take care of him if he was under-aged. Some clergy served as knights. Barons were lord of large territories who usually paid homage to a king. Baron's army could outnumber the king. Medieval society was divided into three estates the clergy, nobility, and the common people. Peasantry farmed on farms known as manors owned by lords or ladies. Iron plows were invented and water-powered grinding mills helped with agriculture. Three field system was used to not over-use land. Ladies ran house-hold operations, oversaw servants, entertained guests, etc. Most peasants were serfs. Serfs were bound to to the land. Most medieval towns and villages were surrounded by walls. Outside wall was suburbs. Town were dominated by church and a central market place. wealthiest families also lived in center of town. Townspeople had their own hierchy. Merchants at top, then skilled craftsmen and artisans, then skilled laborers and apprentices. guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals. Craftsmen were classified as masters.

5/20/13

Today in class all we really did was go over the test and surprisingly I did very well.

5/17/13

barbarians is a name for all of the non roman people living around Europe. Barbarian warlord became the "Nobles" or aristocrats. Germanic tribes were still the pagans. The angles and Saxons (from Denmark and Germany)  invaded Britain and adopted culture. most anglo-saxons converted to Christianity  Most powerful Germanic tribe was the Franks. They had the best trained best army. Power lay with the "mayors of the palace" who were royal officials and nobles. Eastern part of the empire continued on while the west was being divided by barbarian tribes. Emperor Justinian came to power in 527 and decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering  western territories. He succeeded for a time ,but soon barbarians took over again and massive plagues struck. Greek byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and head of the christian church. They preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture, philosophy, and writing. Justinian built massive domed Hagia Sophia in Constantinople  considered to be the most glorious church on earth at the time. Hagia Sophia translates to holy wisdom. Third version of this church was built in 537.

5/15/13

Diocletian ruled from 284-303. He persecuted Christians  Army expanded to 400,00 people.20,00 officials. Constantine riles from 306-337. Converted to Christianity when he had a vision of a cross in the sky. 313 his edict of Milan ended the persecution of christian. he then built a new capitol in the east. Byzantium soon to be known as Constantinople. Life in the fourth century(peasants): country dwellers became bankrupt due to many taxes. New farming system: peasants worked for elite landlords on large farms. When avoiding taxes they are getting hit just as hard by landlords. The landlords payed off debts making the "allowed" to live in the land in exchange for work. Christianity was becoming more established. Foreshadowed feudalism. Romes power was decreasing and the barbarians were running the frontiers and gaining power. Divided into the west and the east. money was in the East. Huns migrated from China to western Europe. Visigoths take over Spain. vandals control Carthage. Ostrogoths in Italy. franks in Gaul. angles and Saxons in Britain. CE stands for the common era. 500 B.C. monarchy was abolished.450 B.C. twelve tabled established. 44 B.C. end of Julius Caesar. Pax Romana (27-180). Romulus Augustulus was the last emperor and was 15.

5/14/13

Today we just took a test which I either did terrible on or pretty well. The first few questions were pretty easier other than  the question about the date pax romana began and ended. Also I am not sure what city was turned into Costantinople. Hopefully we will go over everything tomorrow. Also the short answer questions were hard because I was expecting something about Diocletion or Paul. My picture for the long answer part was pretty great though so i should be getting at least 20 out of 20. Personally I think I deserve extra credit for that.

5/13/13

Today in class we came up with questions for the test:

1.) In 284 what did diocletion's reform do to the army?

it increased the army size to 400,000

2.) The new government under diocletion had how many officials 

20,000

3.) How many of the Roman people in the year 300 were christian

several million

4.) who did christianity appeal to?

poor and disenfranchised 

5.) when did diocletian rule?

284-305

6.) what language is pax romana in?

latin

7.) after obtaining power Octavian was given what title?

Augustus, father of the fatherland

8.) What did the edict of the milan do?

issued by constantine, ended persecution
9.) what were three problems in the roman empire?
epidemic disease, not able to defend against barbarians, emperors lost power, maintaining armies was expensive

5/10/13

Constantine converted to Christianity when he has a vision of God before a major battle. he saw a cross in the sun that said conquer by this. All of his soldiers also witnessed this and converted, painting religious symbols on their shields. He sought divine assistance from God and prayed for help. He knew if God was on his side he would be invincible. knew many others before him believing in oracles and multitudes of gods did not succeed. He then went back home and liberated the Christians, giving them back what they had lost. This was a major turning point for the catholic religion. Going back to Diocletian, he was pushed by Gallerius to persecute Christians. Executions were done of the bishop, and many other Christians. Churches were knocked down, possessions were stolen, and they were not allowed to take these crimes to court.

5/8/13

The Diocletian persecution was the last major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In the 250's laws were passed against christian citizens. In 260 Gallineus issued an edict that regarded tolerance towards Christians resulting in peace for many years. Later, Diocletian began to persecute Christians after being urged by Galerius . the great persecution lasted form 303 to 311. Diocletian's goal was to wipe out the church. He thought they were causing a fire and wanted to end it. They were told by him to offer sacrifices to Jupiter. h was trying to convert them back to paganism. Some of the edicts he issued were:  1.) commanding that the churches Should be razed to the ground, the Scriptures destroyed by fire, those who held positions of honor degraded, and the household servants, if they persisted in the Christian profession, be deprived of their liberty. 2.) if they would sacrifice, but that those who refused should be tormented with countless tortures; 3.) all the people throughout the city should sacrifice and pour out libations to the idols. 4.)all the people should offer sacrifice and that the that the rulers of the city should see to this diligently and zealously. These were the main edicts that affected the Christians. Later, Constantine restored the Christians faith and rebuilt their churches.

5/7/13

Today in class we went over the test and I did pretty well. I only had 2 questions wrong and one was right so I got the points back. The question was about what Octavian was called. The original answer was Augustus, but he was also named father of the fatherland. Another question I got wrong was about the name for the lowest class of people. I thought it was plebeians but, plebeians can own land making them higher. Also I called my mom and we ever got Rita's. We did get Chick-fil-a.

5/6/13

Today we took a test and began reading a new chapter afterwards, here are the notes I took:

• Jesus lived during the period of Jewish conflict up until the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 
• His life was recorded in the gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John
• came not only to deliver the jews, but to fulfill the whole human race
• When he comes again he said he would judge the righteous and the sinners
• Claimed he was both human and divine
• The priests arrested Jesus and had him crucified
• he rose from the dead and sent out his apostles to fulfill his command
• Jesus' followers began to question what they were supposed to be teaching
• Paul of tarsus once was against Jesus and was a persecutor of christians
• later he had a passionate vision and converted
• Some of his letters were written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 60
• Greek was the international language of Jews and gentiles 
• Within the first churches their was no structured authority
• held church in homes 
• consisted of baptisms and the Eucharist
• The believers of Christ tried to find a way to balance their world with the coming kingdom of heaven 
• Paul was most likely beheaded in A.D. 60
• majority of new believers were gentiles
• Divided into the Christians, Jews, and gentiles
• Churches began to appoint bishops and priests to lead teachings and worship
• the laity were the christian community
• clergy were the priests and other chuch leaders
• The writings about Jesus along with Paul's letters became known as the New Testament 

5/4/13

On Friday we began working in groups on an essay about Pax Romana. I am working with Drew and we finished writing about 250 words out of 500. I will probably end up writing more than a 500 word essay, since Pax Romana includes so much about architecture, literature, and governmental changes. Just covering what lead to Pax Romana and the ruling of emperors can take up 500 words. hopefully this project will bring my grade up.

5/1/13

we talked about Julius Caesar today and are no longer watching the videos. I already forgot everything Mr. Schick said about him. I took notes but still don't remember. the videos helped me understand everything and retain it so i am sad we stopped watching them. My notes were about Julius and 3 other people taking over Rome which was a certain kind of government involving the prefix "tri". Anyway one was very rich, one had military experience, and the other was Julius. later Julius takes over a lot of territory and returns heroicly instead of listening to the other person running Rome with him.This practically starts a civil war and later Caesar kill him in Egypt. I wish I brought my notes home.

4/30/13

The next video we watched was number 6. this was about Tiberius and how once he was elected as tribune, he tries to pass laws so that the people could vote. Octavian then vetoed this causing Tiberius to rebel against him and veto every law that was attempted to be passed. This put the entire Roman government at a standstill. When Tiberius's term was up he went against the rules and ran again so he couldn't be executed, but this didn't work. The senate made up lies that he was a tyrant and killed him. Although, maybe he actually was a tyrant. The world will never know.

4/29/13

We began class by watching a video about Tiberius's son and how he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and fight against corruption and monarchy/dictatorship. He believed in the republic and wanted it to be less corrupted. When he was younger he recieved a gold crown for being the first over the walls of Carthage in the 3rd Punic war. Later in his military career he made an oath to spain when they were outnumbered, promising no conflict with them and Rome. He did this in order to save the men they had captured. The plebeian families of the saved men thought of him as a hero, but the senate didn't. They wanted to march him naked in chains back to Spain. Instead they let him go and he later ran to become a tribune, knowing that the plebeians would vote for him. He cared a lot about the plebes, and wanted to give them back what the patricians had taken. Also he had a jerk friend named Octavian who stole land and made a vineyard, Tiberius II showed his disapproval towards Octavian. Hopefully we will watch more of the videos tomorrow because they help me remember and understand the lesson.

3/27/13

On Friday we went over the test and I found out that I was the only person who got number 25 wrong. These were some of the questions and answers we went over: Rome was built on a swamp and so was Washington DC. Tarquin the proud is remembered as Rome's last king. Patricians were upper class. plebeians were everyone else. Consuls represent monarchy. Senators represent aristocracy. Tribunes represent democracy. A dictator can hold absolute power for 6 months in an emergency. A president represents modern day monarchy. Roman laws were displayed in the forum, Not agora. Carthage was located on modern day Africa. 300 people were members of the Roman senate.

2/24/13

We had our test-quiz today and I was doing pretty well until I came across the questions about government. I found out after that the senate has about 300 people. After the test we only had a few minutes left to do homework which is reading due Friday.

2/23/13

Today in western civ, we started out by watching a video of a chariot race. I didn't get to see it because Mr. Schick let me go print out some papers for science. When I got back we got our text books out and read to review for the test. We talked more about the Punic wars and how Carthage almost won for part of it, but then Rome came back and won the war. Hopefully tomorrow's tiz/quest will not be to hard.

4/22/13

We watched some more of the music video and the song is still really annoying, but helpful. Making the videos made it even more memorable because of the pictures associated with the lyrics. Grace, Julia, and I went and then Holly went again. we deserved a ten, but we are getting an eight or  even though it took us like 10 hours. Here are he notes I took in class today.

• Hannibal was a carthaginian general

• Rome won the second Punic war

• 3rd Punic war Rome attacked carthage

• Killed all of the males

• Had a massive amount of slaves

• Latifundia is when someone with alot of money housed their workers to take care of huge amount of land

• People moved to Rome to find opportunity

• Had one of the first government welfare system to keep people from revolting

• Had a lot of entertainment

•  Gracchus brothers tried to get rich to give land away and were killed

4/17/13

We went over the rap song and talked about what it actually meant. Some of the notes I got were that the Latins were he first to claim Rome. Tarquin was the last dictator. Rome used to be swampland but was drained. The government was a combination of democracy, monarchy, and aristocracy forming a republic. The consuls were people assigned to make decision. There were two and they could veto each other. Also a set of laws was made called the twelve tabled which empowered the people. The roman legion was their army. A century was a group of mobile soldier and there were usually about 80. Also cavalry were soldiers on horses. Then at the end of class we were talking about the three Punic wars over Sicily between Rome and Carthage ending in Rome winning. Carthage attempted to take over Sicily because it was a great area for trade and control of the area, but Rome didn't let them take it.

4/16/13

We continued to work on the rap song music video. No offense to you Mr. Schick bu after hearing it about 100 times it's getting pretty annoying. I can't believe you have to listen to it so many times when you grade them. Although it is annoying alot of the lyrics are starting to get stuck in my head which is probably a goood thing and will help me on the test. At the end of class we were doing final touches and just needed to finish up with the timings.

4/15/13

Today in western civ, we began making a video of your rap with pictures to it. For the first half of class the internet wasn't working and that was kind of annoying, but once it was up again we started working on it. Mr. Schick said he would probably let us do it again tomorrow because of this problem. I think I will do well on this test thanks to the rap helping me remember Rime's history. We should do this for every chapter.

4/13/1LO2 notes

Lo2 notes

• Created a network of settlers from Rome 
• allies provided infantry and cavalry Romans lacked
• Roman colonists shared the same citizenship with people who lived in Rome 
• Social Wars
• The Punic Wars 
• 250 BC all of Italy south of River Po was in Roman hand
• Rival State Carthage 
• Colony similar to Rome
• 246 and 146 BC The Punic Wars- land and sea 
• Forced Carthage out of Sicily 
• Second Punic War in 202 BC Carthage lost
• Rome third war in 146 BC 
• 202 BC Rome had control of the whole Mediterranean
• Conquering the Empire
• Proconsuls (governors) ruled lands 
• After 27 BC provinces shared benefits of Rome Order
• Local rulers became Client Kings 
• Tied by alliance and support 
• expansion 
• British Isles 
• Hellenistic Kingdoms were loosing their grip 
• 200 BC ambassadors from Greek city states came to Rome for aid 
• Romans sent an army 
• Conflicts with Hellenistic Kingdoms 
• Ruled all of Eastern Mediterranean 

4/12/13

Today we went on a website called pixton and made a comic strip about remus and romulus because Mr. Schick was absent. Grace and I worked together and made a wonderful comic strip.These are the scenes we depicted:  Remus and Romulus were abandoned in the Tiger River as children and taken in by a wolf. She raised them until one day hey were found by new parent. They then decided to build their own city. As they were building they got into a fight. Later, they stole women from the Sabine tribe because their men didn't have enough. Later the Sabine men came and fought the Romans for their women back. Because the women had grown to like the Roman men they begged for the fighting to stop. Then one of the brothers gets lost in a storm. Making the comic was fun but later we saw that there was a river background after we submitted ours of the island which was very disappointing.

4/10/13

I saw Mr. Schick walking around the hallways this morning with a weird hat and glasses on. Later I discovered that this was for his spontaneous rap song that he performed in front of our class today. Hope fully I will memorize this rap before the test which Mr. Schick said most people do better on than any other test, most likely because of the rap. After this we went on and talked more about the noted we took the other day and I once again updated the noted I took on my first blog of the Rome unit so I have no useful information to blog about other than what I already posted.

4/9/13

Today in class all we did was go over our notes we took for homework last night and hand tests back. I only had 1 ding :( After going over the tests, Mr. Schick also added on to what some of us already had. I already edited my last blog post in class with the notes Mr. Schick told us we should probably have so I don'r really have much to write about for this post.

4/8/13

Today in class we reviewed for the test, took the test, and then were told to view Mr. Schick's blog. He told us to take notes on the first chapter about Rome and these are my notes.In 500 b.c. Rome became a Greek styled city state no longer ruled by Kings and queens, but by Roman government systems

• romans loved the way Greeks did things and modelled warfare and government after them
• mediterranean land used for farming and raising more food allowing a larger population
• Latins were first to show up and settled at the Tiber River
• 3 groups of people to settle on Italy were the latins, etruscans, and also Greeks
• latins first learned alphabet and we modelled our alphabet after them
• Augustus Caesar turned military rule into a workable system of government
• Indo-European settlers formed various tribal groups 
• These settlements joined to form a single city-state, Rome
• 264-146 b.c. punic wars between Rome and Carthage
• Etruscans were non-Indo-European immigrants who arrived in Italy somewhere to the east
• Romans adopted plans for a gridiron street plan for cities, gladitorial combats, and masonry arch from Etruscans
• Romans borrowed directly from the Greeks
• Patricians are men with fathers and money(aristocrats and upper class)
• Rome became a republic
• Plebeians were common people inferior to patricians(farmers)
• The people's business was run by the senate(300 or so heads of patrician families)
• Two among the senators were consul(colleagues)
• Consuls on the advice of the senate could appoint dictators
• Tribunes were elected by farmers from outside the city to gain power
• Ultimate leadership of government rested in the senate
• They had a mixed government similar to athenian democracy and Spartan oligarchy
• Pontiffs were priests 
• instead of dedicated his life directly to the state, men now dedicated themselves to family and clans
• paterfamilias were the family fathers that held the family together
• matron was the name marries women who became mothers bore
• roles of mother and fatherhood were revered
• Romans were above all a military people and patriotic farmers/soldiers
• Rome was known for having a superior army
• Generous in their treatment of defeated enemies
• 500 b.c. monarchy was demolished (tarquin was the last)
• people's business is what they referred to their government as
• after 509 is when tarquin was no longer a dictator
• The twelve tables were a set of laws posted in Rome with the laws of the land on them
• Gave Plebeians power because they could now defend themselves
• Plebeians had their own consuls
• tribunes were there senators
• Firts the Latins came, then Etruscans, then Greeks

notttteeesssssss

King Phillip 2

• Born at pelia of Macedon
• youngest son of King Amyntas 2
• held hostage @ Thesbe- learned military skills & deplomatic info
• King of Macedon 359 BC- 336 BC
• assinated @ a wedding

Olympias

• originally a princess
• arranged marriage with King Phillip 2
• gave birth to Alexander
• divorced Phillip
• ordered Eurydice to kill Phillip 3 (king Phillip 2 son) to ensure Alexander got the throne
• claimed Zeus was Alexander's father

Alexander's Birth

• born in Pella region of Macedonia on September 20, 350 BC
• didn't see his father much as a child because King Phillip was with the military and affairs
• resented his father bc he was gone so much
• Olympia was a powerful role model

Bucephalus

• 344 BC- dealer from Tessalia offered a large, black horse to King Phillip
• Horse seemed unable to be tamed- King Phillip didn't want it
• Alexander wanted the horse and tried to tame it- he realised the horse was afraid of its shadow and tamed it
• King Phillip said about his ability "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee"

Education

• tutored by Leonidas- taught Math, Horsemanship, & Archery
• Alex was a rebellious student with relentless attention
• tutored by Lysimachus- used role play to teach
• 343 BC- tutored by Aristotle @ Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza (13 years old)- taught Philosophy, Drama, Science, Poetry, and Politics
• education ended at Meiza in 340 BC

Phillip's Assination

• Oct 336 BC in Aegea
• killed by his body guard- Pausanias of Oretis
• Reason unknown- possibilities include: Persians payed him off or Pausanias had relations with him then Phillip cheated on Pausania
• Alex had Pausania's body crucified

Family Relationship

• tension
• Alexander's step mom (Cleopatra)'s uncle told Alex he wasn't worthy of the throne

Alexander takes Power

• people doubted him because he was young
• people who doubted him were killed

Military Career 

• fought vs Persians bc he thought they might have been involved in his father's assassination
• 334 BC: fought NW Asia Minor (Battle of the Granicus River)
• 334 BC- siege of Halicarnassus 
• conquered Egypt @ Gaza
• Egyptains called Alexander a Pharaoh

Invasion of Egypt

• 327 BC- Punjab
• Indians fought with elephants
• Bucephalus died- named a city after him
• won & captured Porus

Revolt of Alex's Army

• revolted bc India had elephants & soldiers wanted to see their family
• Alex allowed them to return
• took Hydaspes & Indus river's home- fought Malion on their way 
• many died on the journey home bc of the Gerdosian desert

Death

• June 10/11 323 BC- 32 years old @ palace of Nebuchadnezzar 2 in Babylon
• reasons a mystery, possibilities: poison (by Aristotle or his son, Iollas), malaria, alcohol poisoning  
• people refused to believe he died

His Power/Rule

• empire was the largest of its time
• remained under Macondian rule for 200-300 years after Alex's death
• Alex encouraged people (Macedonian men) to marry Persian woman to maintain peace 
• tried to combine Greek and Persian cultures
• the passing of the ring symbolized the passing of power

3/26/13

    Today we finished up the slide shows about Alexander the Great. The last 3 groups went and spoke about his death and battle strategies. the exact way he died is not known but most believe someone poisoned his drink, alcohol poisoning, and also malaria. After finishing up with the rest of the project we began watching a video on Alexander the Great. We left of at the part where he was taming Bucephalus, a horse that no one else could tame. This was very inspirational and I now plan on buying a horse.

3/25/13

Today we missed class due to snow.

3/22/13

For the entire class we went over our slide shows on Alexander the great. He came into power at the age of 20 when his father was killed King Phillip, his father, was killed by his body guard named Pausanians. Many doubted him in the beginning and he ordered for those people to be killed showing he wasn't one to mess with. Originally Alexander was not even going to inherit the title of King when his father died because his mother was not born in Macedonia. King Phillip had another wife along with another child named Phillip III.  After hearing of King Phillip's plan to give the kingdom over to Phillip III she immediately had them executed. He was King of Macedon from 354B.B. until his assassination in 336 B.C. Alexander was also born in Macedonia and had a military background which would later play a role in the way he ruled.

3/20/13

Today we basically just talked more about Alexander the Great. We were assigned a project that will go on 3rd quarter that is worth 50 points which is awesome because I have been asking to do extra credit for a while and this is even better. My group consists of Grace, Alli, and I. We are group 2 and are in charge of covering his early life. I think we are pretty solid. I worked very hard on my part which was his birth and early years.

3/19/13

Today in class we talked about Athens losing the Peloponnesian war to Sparta and also the kingdom of Macedonia taking over Greece. Athens mainly lost because they became hubris after winning the war against Persia and thought they might as well go conquer Sparta like it was no big deal. They had many disadvantages such as shortages of people because they were still recovering from fighting with Persia. the main reason they lost was because of the spread of disease from contaminated grain that came over on a boat so it was partially bad luck I guess.Then, we talked a lot about Alexander the Great. He was given power over the Macedonian kingdom in his late teens. He conquered a huge amount of the world and died at age 32! His kingdom spread from Italy to Aphganistan, that is huge! He ruled in a hellenistic way by allowing all of the conquered people to become part of their empire. In this way he didn't just conquer this land to benefit himself, but also the people living their at the time by adapting to their ways of life and cultures in some respects. Although he may seem very nice he was not one to mess with. He showed this through torturing those who didn't like him or his ideas. He was a very amazing leader whose name definitely suited him very well. 

3/18/13

Hellenistic - refers to the "international" period of Greek history, when much of the Mediterranean and southwestern Asia was under Greek rule.("how the Macedonians ruled"-Mr.Schick)

 After the defeat of Xerxes in 480 BC, Sparta stopped the fighting. Athens formed an alliance with the city-states and  then decided to convince the members to contribute money for the construction of triremes which are navy ships. A different strategy should have been used. They were becoming hubris and thought they could easily take on Sparta.  In 445 BC, after the city-state of Anatolia  was free from Persian rule, Athens collected money. With this, Athens made these other cities practice democracy, even though most of them were oligarchies. All the other cities were upset with Athens demand and went to Sparta to complain. In the course of the war (431-404 BC), Athens took Sparta out by sea, knowing that they couldn't be defeated on land. This was a bad decision and Athens fell and  was defeated. In 359 BC, Phillip II of Macedonia becomes King of the Greeks. A main reason they should not have taken on Sparta was that they were still recovering from a previous war putting them at a disadvantage.

3/15/12

We pretty much just went over the test during this class. I was really mad because i got a 72 and it brought my grade down a lot. I thought we were suppose to answer 1 of the 4 short answer questions like usual but we were suppose to answer all of them. This is what ruined my test grade because I actually would have done well because my essay was pretty good and I Only got 5 multiple choice wrong. Hopefully I will do better on the next test and possibly be able to do some extra credit or something because if I don't I will have a C in this class and A's in everything else!

3/13/12

   We started class by watching the rest of the video. We were at the part when Socrates was being tried for spreading corrupting ideas. He was found guilty after a speech about how he did nothing wrong an should be rewarded. While in jail his friends came to break him out and the guards agreed. When they went to get him he said no and that he wanted to die and drink the poison. We then had a debate about same sex marriage. Most of us said that we didn't mind because it doesn't directly affect us but the Drew said he was against it. It was a good discussion and Mr. Schick made a wonderful Socrates.

3/12/13

Today in class we watched the video once again which today, centered mainly on the fall of Pericles and how he was hubris. This is a Greek term meaning that someone is so powerful that they become arrogant and think they can get away with anything. We learned about his stupid decision to invade Sparta because one day they could become a threat. The idea was to blockade them from importing and exporting goods resulting in their starvation. they thought it would take about 2 years but they held out for a very long time because they are Spartans. This didn't work out because the people of Athens had to live in a confined space because of the walls they built up. This resulting in disease when tainted grain came over on a boat. The disease spread rapidly because of the living conditions and 1 in 3 people died!  Even Pericles dies but he lasted for 6 months with the plague somehow. This was mainly because the water they were drinking became tainted by dead bodies washing into the supply. Yum.

3/11/13

Today in class we reviewed what was in the video shown on Friday. This was helpful because I was not in class on Friday and got caught up on notes. Some of the notes I took were about Athens and Persia fighting once again. They defeated the Persians by luring them into a strait where they had less of a disadvantage. They once again defeated the Persians who had the larger army. Although their city of Athens was still destroyed. Then a new ruler came to power who had hopes of restoring the city. Amazing structures such as the parthanon were constructed and the acropolis was restores.

3/8/13

I was not in class today and was on a field trip at the gallery of art in Washington.

3/5/13

Today we watched another video about Greece and the surrounding areas such as the Persian Empire which is wayyyyy bigger than Greece. The Persian Empire decided to invade Athens in attempt to gain more control of the seas. They arrived on Marathon beach in Athens. At this time a man named philidides ran all the way to Athens to warn everyone and then to Sparta in an attempt to get help which was not given even after running 140 miles. Almost all of the men of Athens were willing to go fight and defend their land. Along with a small army of hoplites and trained soldiers, they managed to defeat the Persians although they were outnumbered 2 to 1.

3/4/13

In western civ today we talked more about the tyrant who took over Athens by using a tall pretty girl to act as Helena. Also we learned about the revolution of the lower class. They rose up against the aristocrats and overthrew their rule. This happened in 508 B.C. and was the first revolution in history. This was also the first time democracy was used as a government system. The idea of the people making the decisions is attributed to Cleisthenes who was assigned by those who started the revolution to run the new government. Before this he was ostracized. this is when you are forced to leave where you live by those with power. This is considered worse than execution and is very shameful. Although as you can  see Cleisthenes overcame this and made a huge impact on the world then and today. Our current government is based on the ideas of democracy. we are a republic which differs from a democracy because we vote for those who will represent us and make the decisions while in a democracy the people directly make the decisions. Although, in some cases we are also a democracy when it comes to voting on a few things such as same sex marriage even though it says in the pledge of allegiance that we are a republic.

2/27/13

Today in western civ we watched a video about Greece. A lot of the stuff in the video we already knew because we are such a smart class but we still took notes. Later Mr Schick paused the video so we could make fun of the weird guys voice which was pretty funny. Farther into the video we learned about a guy named something beginning with a P that I was trying too write in my notes but missed the last few letters when Mr Schick was telling Holly. His story was really funny because he was a tyrant who took over by telling the people that the tall pretty woman he was with was Athena. she told them to make him their new leader and for some crazy reason they went along with it. Mr. Schick said he would tell everyone that a random guy with him is Jesus and that he needs to be the new pope. I think this is a great idea.

2/26/13

Today we worked on a timeline while Tona took the test that she missed. Before he assigned this Mr. Schick let me go to the bathroom. While I was out of the room he also let me get my stylus. When I came back I realized I forgot my stylus. Then I had to go all the way back to my locker to get it. Finally after all of this I started to work on the assignment. First i was just looking in the book because I didn't realize the link with some of the dates was right at the top of the paper. I ended up finishing all of the dates on the timeline in class today and barely started to work on the definitions at the bottom. I will probably finish them in class tomorrow because we were told we didn't have to finish it for homework.

2/25/13

Today all we did was take a test.

2/20/13

First we sang Mikhenzie happy birthday and the Mr. Schick showed us his very boring outline. Once he started explaining things it wasn't so bad though. Also I learned that I am suppose to read his blog everyday which I haven't been doing and I missed an assignment! Also Mr. Schick threatened to throw a chair at me for every time I disrupt class which is a lot so i will try to stop talking so much, today I was worse than usual because Grace decided to it next to me. During Mr. Schick's presentation of the outline we took notes for the test Monday. The information basically just summed up our powerpoints and covered the things that we didn't. This is the boring overview/outline that Mr. Schick showed us today in class. Definately could have added some color......

Chapter 3 Outline

 

I. The European Barbarians (LO1)
        A. The Earliest Europeans
                    1. by 4000BC, farming and village life had spread throughout the                                    continent
                    2. by 3500BC, increased population and wealth led to complex religious                          structures
                               
        B. The Barbarian Way of Life
                    1. common way  of life as result of migrations of Indo-European nomads                         (c.2500BC onward) from the steppes that bordered Europe on the east
                    2. languages
                                a. ancestor languages of Greek and Latin
                    3. elites of warriors
                    4. farming and village life
                    5. In this way, Europe came to be inhabited by peoples who spoke mostly                       Indo-European languages; who were skilled in farming, metalworking, trade, and warfare; and who were fairly well organized on the local level, but had no cities, written records, or fixed structures of government
                    6. c.2000BC-1000AD these barbarians came into contact with civilization
                    7. the first such European barbarian people to make contact with                                      civilization were the Greeks - their civilization, the first to emerge in Europe, was the first to definitively be labeled “Western”

II. The Aegean Encounter (LO2)
        A. Minoan Civilization
                    1. c.2200BC a distinct civilization known as Minoan arose on the Aegean                        island of Crete
                    2. Minoans drew wealth from control of the seas and trade with eastern                       Mediterranean lands, especially Egypt
        B. The Arrival of the Greeks: Mycenaean Civilization
                    1. when the Greeks made their way to the Aegean, they seem to have been                      a European barbarian people much like any other
                    2. eventually they came under the influence of nearby Crete
                    3. by c.1600BC Greek chieftains had established settlements along the                            mainland’s southern shore and on some islands
                    4. Mycenaean Greeks
                    5. struggles between Mycenaeans and Minoans for control of the                                     commerce of the eastern Mediterranean lasted until c.1400BC, with the                                destruction of Minoan towns, perhaps as a result of Mycenaean conquest
                               
        C. The “Dark Ages”
                    1. Mycenaean civilization lasted until shortly after 1200BC due to the conquest of the Sea Peoples
                    2. c.1150 BC Myceneae was sacked and all settlements deserted - in addition, the population dropped, and writing fell out of use
                    3. this led to the eclipse of civilization for almost 400 years, known as the                        Dark Ages (1150 - 750 BC)
                    4. but the Greeks themselves survived and even expanded their territory
                               
        D. The Renewal of Greek Civilization
                    1. c.800 BC the Aegean region recovered
                    2. population expansion led to founding of colonies, c.800-600 BC
                    3. the Greeks joined the Phoenicians as the leading commercial and                                  seafaring nation of the Mediterranean
                    4. a common religion
                    5. new developments
                                a. use of iron tools and weapons
                                b. coined money
                                c. borrowing of Phoenician shipbuilding and warfare techniques
                                d. writing and the alphabet formed the Greek language

III. Citizens and Communities: The Greek City-States (LO3)
        A. City-States and Citizens
                    1. notion of citizenship seems to have originated partly in geography
                    2. hoplites: Greek infantrymen equipped with bronze helmets and armor,                                    round shields, long spears, and short swords
                    3. city-state, citizens, tradition, and myth

        B. Monarchy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy
                    1. in the earliest times, communities were ruled by kings
                    2. monarchy then gave way to new forms of government that distributed                         power more widely among male citizens
                                a. oligarchy:  a minority of citizens dominated the government, and the                                                      power of the majority was limited in various ways
                    3. but other city-states gave more power to the majority (particularly those           that developed into large commercial centers)
                                a. in these city-states the common people were too numerous and                                 active to ignore,                                 
                                b. in these cities, social conflicts sometimes led to the emergence                                      of tyranny (rule by a dictator)
                                c. but tyranny was often only a passing phase on the way to                                         democracy (all government decisions were made by the majority                                      of male citizens)
                    4. although Greek city-states had many features in common, each was                             individual in character

        C. Sparta: The Military Ideal
                    1. Spartans were descendants of Greeks who had conquered part of the                           Southern mainland: Laconia
                    2. by 800BC they were a minority of landholders ruling over a majority of                       helots (noncitizens forced to work for landholders)
                    3. Messenian helots, however, frequently rebelled
                                a. this forced Spartans to accept a governmental system that put                                   them under almost total domination by a few among themselves
                    4. by 500BC, policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders
                    5. thus the Spartan government was a leading example of oligarchy
                    6. Spartan male life was dedicated entirely to the service of the state
                    7. the relative freedom of Spartan women aroused both admiration and                           disapproval among other Greeks
                    8. to protect this way of life, Spartans tried to seal off their city-state from                              outside influences

        D. Athens: Freedom and Power
                    1. c.800BC many old-established communities in the Attica peninsula                              merged to form a single city-state that was known by the name of the most              important community: Athens
                    2. over the next 300 years, Athens grew to become the wealthiest and one                       of the most powerful city-states, largely as a result of overseas trade
                                a. produced and exported wine and oil
                                b. workshops produced weapons, pottery, and articles of silver,                                    lead, and marble
                                c. these were trade overseas for metal, timber, and grain
                    3. with a rising population and greater wealth came social and political                             conflicts
                                a. usually between aristocrats and increasingly numerous dēmos
                                b. in conflicts with the aristocracy, the dēmos could generally find                               aristocrats to lead them whom they respected and who wanted their                                support
                    4. as a result, Athens passed through several stages of political growth,                            beginning with monarchy and including both oligarchy and tyranny
                                a. eventually political power was extended to all adult male                                          citizens, with aristocrats becoming leaders instead of rulers
                    5. The Persian Wars
                                a. in the sixth century BC, the Persians had conquered a realm that                               stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean
                                b. now the empire was within striking distance of the Greeks, and                                Persia conquered the Greek city-states in western Asia Minor
                                c. when Athens aided a rebellion by these city-states, Persian king                                Darius sought to extend his empire into mainland Greece, c.494BC
                                d. the Persians lost the decisive battle of Marathon in 490BC
                                e. then in 480BC, the Athenian navy crushed the Persians at                                         Salamis, and the Spartans faced the Persians on land at Thermopylae and            then at Platea
                    6. when final peace was made with Persia in 445 BC, Athens was the                              controlling power of the Aegean Sea
                    7. after Persia’s defeat, Athenian democracy entered a “Golden Age”
                    8. the workings of democracy
                                a. a Council of Five Hundred and roughly one thousand public                                     officials were chosen annually by lot
                                b. chief military officers, the Ten Generals, were chosen each year                                    by vote of the male citizens
                                   c. adult male citizens were a minority of the population of Athens
                                            i. the rest of the population was composed of adult female                                            citizens, adult noncitizens, and children
                                            ii. adult male citizens probably made up no more than one-                                            fifth of the total adult population
                                            iii. the remaining four-fifths had no say in government
                    9. men and women in  Athens
                                a. women were highly visible in religious affairs
                                b. not much is known of women’s life lower down the social scale                                    or outside the city
                    10. slaves
                                a. were a diverse group; not all of them lived lives of total                                             subjection and powerlessness
                                b. most slaves were non-Greeks, or the descendants of non-Greeks