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Following the conclusion of our most recent tests', the Honors Western Civilization class was instructed to formulate some thoughts regarding our current position in life, to of course be read at a later date. Being the meticulous writer I am, or at least strive to be, I likely compose thoughts now that my future self would find absurd. For starters, I (as well as 600 other students) have been implementing online learning, in hopes that the Coronavirus will leave only a small burden on our education. And although our school tried really hard to devise a plan that would fit our lifestyle, no one was prepared for the magnitude they needed to be. As for my own thoughts, I'm continuously comparing my summer last year (which was quite good) to that of today. Rather than parties to attend, it's now masses that I fear in concern over getting sick. Nevertheless, our nation will persevere as it has many times in the past, likely returning with a greater punch than it ever has.

Similar to our most recent classes, we were directed to take a closer look at life in Ancient Rome following Julius Ceasar's death. In doing so, we read the final few slides (nine to be exact) to conclude our Roman studies, the notes as well as a personal analyst are listed below. The Roman Government Following Julius Ceasar's Murder In the aftermath of  Julius' vicious murder, his adopted son, Octavian, of only eighteen years of age forms a new triumvirate. Just as Julius' triumvirate, Octavian's included experienced leaders in both military and in politics. More specifically, his Triumvirate consisted of himself, Mark Antony, and Lepidus.  Though similar to the fate of Julius' Triumvirate, Octavian turns hostile towards his own partners, forcing Lepidus to retire. leading to a fierce rivalry between himself and Mark Antony. In typical Western fashion, Mark Antony joins forces after defecting from Rome and joins Cleopatra of Egypt. This partnership wa

In accordance with the designated testing time, I will be taking my Ancient Rome test on Tuesday, June 2nd from 1:25 to 2:15  PM. Besides stating our knowledge of the assessment's time, we were instructed to write notes on the slideshow regarding the rise and fall of Julius Ceasar. More specifically, notes on the Slides 32-42, of which can be found below as well as a Personal Reflection:  The Rise and Fall of Julius Ceasar In an effort to please the plebs, Juvenal, a Roman Poet, stated that Rome desired two things: bread and circuses. These two things came in the literal form of grain (bread) from the state and entertainment compliments of the Colosseum. In having both, it was expected that the plebs would remain quiet, distracted, and docile. Although not successful, Tiberius Gracchus noticed that courting the plebians could reap sizable rewards. To which military generals would court plebians and allow them to indulge in certain Roman riches, of course not until they conquered th

As our class has become aware, we have an upcoming test and essay for our ancient Rome studies. To better prepare ourselves for this assessment, we as a class are taking steps now to ensure that come June 1st-June 2nd, we are well prepared to ace this. For today, we were directed to select one of three questions to answer for the essay portion of our test. My selection, as well as my reasoning, is listed below:  For my essay section on my ancient Rome test, I have opted to answer the following question: A.)   Compare and contrast the government of ancient Rome with the government of the modern-day United States. In my answer, I'll likely touch on numerous aspects of the two governments including their system (democracy, republic, etc.), laws, terms, philosophy, roles of power, and possibly even the criminal justice system. The latter of which would be focused on because of the severe treatment our class has heard ancient Rome (and Greece for that matter) had practiced. In addition

Today, unlike other classes, we were instructed to take notes on our textbooks, which were photographed and posted to Mr. Schick's blog. Although I'm yet to take notes through my blog (I typically take notes in my own notebook), I feel this may be useful in terms of studying. More specifically, being able to transfer my notes in text straight to Quizlet for a better grasp of the textbook. This content, located on pages 160 through 165 of our "online textbook" focuses even further on the Roman Empire. My notes, as well as a Personal Analysis, are listed below:  The Roman Empire   The Republic Collapses: Along with growing dominance, money, and land, Rome faced the issue of properly ruling all of it, a problem that would lead to the Republic's Demise. Economic Inequality grew as Rome progressed in all aspects of society, meaning a clear disconnect in competitiveness among farmers. These small-time farmers would usually end up selling their farmland to bigger farms w

Today as we took extensive notes on slides 23-31, we were also informed to keep several questions in mind. Those being where, how, why, and who fought in the Punic Wars, the focal point of today's lesson. Further, as our slides had discussed, Hannibal was to be mentioned as he had a large impact upon these dreadful wars. As I'll be focusing more on the Punic Wars as a whole, I will be breaking down the wars into the following categories: How, Where, Why, and Who. Also, there will be a personal analysis category. These categories and their respective content is listed below:  How? The first of three Punic Wars was ignited after the Romans had interfered with their intimidating navy around the Carthaginian held island of Sicily. This initial war was won by Rome, though neither side was likely prepared for the future consequences of such conflict. Carthage then attacked with the help of Hannibal from the north side of Rome even though Carthage lied off the coast of Northern Africa

Rather than a normal note-taking class, our Cyber-Class today consisted of us summarizing two predominant topics that are covered in Mr. Schick's (Chi Cago's) Study Guide Presentation. Similar to life in Greece, social classes were very evident (as described in my previous blog posts) in Rome, impacting the way of life to an extreme point. That's what the majority of the slides (9-22) discussed today, though we broke it into two main points. Firstly, we were to explain the horrors of living under a terrible ruler, which will likely be easy, as nearly every ruler in that age treated the population harshly. Secondly, we were to research and examine the Roman government, predominately it's structure, which is located in our slideshow (13-22). The notes which I took as well as a personal analysis are listed below:  Life Under Harsh Rule:  Just as in Greece, Rome had its fair share of classes that prevailed, most notably tyrants. Among the tyrants lied what we would now cons

As for today's blog, we were directed to take notes on the first eight slides of the Rome slideshow. This comes at a time in which we are still emotionally recovering from the hit "Rome" by Chi Cago. By watching this slideshow, I'm reminded at what I believe everyone misses about Western Civilization and really all of our classes, the interaction. In being able to ask questions with little to no effort, our learning was seemingly unlimited; but now, we struggle to formulate questions because we don't have that interaction which all classes used to have. Regardless, I'm going to utilize these notes to the best of my abilities. The notes on the first eight slides are right below (ordered by slides):  Chi Cago's Guide to Ancient Rome Who settled Rome?  Simply put, The Etruscans settled in Rome, They came from the north-central part of the peninsula and were known to be Metalworkers, artists, and architects. Additionally, they are responsible for two (of many)

Today our Honors Western Civilization class was given an abnormal assignment, that is listening to an education rap song about Rome, by Chi Cago (secretly Mr. Schick). In his email, Mr. Schick sounded very enthusiastic about this piece of music, which makes the fact we that were not in class much harder to grasp. That said, I originally thought it was going to be "Rome" by the B-52's, though that theory was greatly proven wrong after reading further into his email, possibly for the better. As for our blog posts, we were directed to discuss our reaction to Chi Cago's Rome , a feat that will be hardened by the limitations of Blog writing ( it's hard to convey my emotions here). This veracious review is listed below:  My Comprehensive Review of Chi Cago's Rome: As Mr. Schick (who will now be referred to as Chi Cago) explained in his email, a wide array of emotions have been expressed throughout each of his Western Civilization sections in the past years. This con

Today, in addition to watching a YouTube video on Law and Order within Ancient Rome, we were instructed to describe the Twelve Tables. Of course, these aren't actually tables, rather they're a reference to the tablets on which the laws were written. Listed below is an in-depth analysis as well as some personal reflection on how this Roman implementation may have affected our world today (especially in the Western Hemisphere):  The Twelve Tables For starters, The Twelve Tables were written by a group of ten officials after the Plebians had forced the Patricians to write out their laws. The Twelve Tables included numerous laws on, you guessed it, twelve tables (or stone tablets). These laws were formulated and finally written after Patricians began interpreting laws as they wished, almost always leaving the Plebians in the dark with massive issues. They were first constructed starting in the year 451 B.C. and hung in the Forum where they would eventually be utilized for

After a deep analysis of the social classes within Rome, as well as a comparison to those of Greece, we were directed to research Roman Architecture, one of my favorite subjects within our Ancient Studies. More specifically, we were to find one image of a Roman Structure then describe it. Mr. Schick made it clear that it shouldn't be the Roman Colosseum, something in which many classmates would likely post.  In the following work, there will be a photo, use, location, history, and personal analysis of a specific Roman Structure, The Baths of Diocletian:  Photo: Shown above is The Baths of Diocletian.  Location: The Baths of Diocletian is located on the Viminal, the lowest of Rome's seven hills within that region in Rome. It was important that it could be accessible (more on that soon); hence, it was to be placed in between two very populous groups of Rome, the Esquilines and the Quirinals.  Usage:  As the name implies, The Baths of Diocletian were exa

Following my post in which I defined 10 terms regarding Rome, we took a deeper look at two of them in order to create a comparison in culture. More specifically, we were instructed to write about the differences between Roman patricians and the Roman plebians . Further, we were to make a correlation between these two "social classes" of Rome and those of Greece. This discussion and comparison are listed below:  Firstly, let's define patricians and plebians in regards to Rome: Patrician: Wealthy landowners who held most of the power. (Personally, they seem to be the aristocrats of Rome). Plebians: A group dominated by the common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the Roman population. Now that we have our definitions, a deeper analysis should be done on these classes, both of which were explained to have been struggling for power reign over Rome . Regarding power, Patricians seemed to have a distinct advantage over that of the Ple

After a considerably successful test and essay, we relaxed yesterday to catch up on our new chapter, Rome . While at first, I wouldn't be able to tell a difference between the two, after studying Greece I believe that has changed. As for today, we were simply instructed to define terms that we found within the chapters. The terms were briefly explained in Mr. Schick's blog to be vital to our understanding of Ancient Rome. And if they're anything like the terms which we reviewed for Greece, they will be utilized in numerous tests and papers throughout the upcoming weeks. The 10 terms are listed and defined below:  Republic- A form of government in which the power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders. Patrician- Wealthy landowners who held most of the power. (Personally, they seem to be the aristocrats of Rome). Plebians- A group dominated by the common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the Roman population. Trib

As discussed yesterday, we were instructed to write an essay question which would be used on the upcoming test. As a matter of fact, we were informed that our test (or at least part of it) is going to be during our class time this Thursday. Meaning we have a fair amount of time to study still; though, we expect to receive more information regarding the format of the test soon. My essay question and explanation is as follows: As we discussed in class, Socrates was a man of austere philosophy and even gave his life for his beliefs. With that said, write a five-paragraph essay explaining the life Socrates, how, and why he was put to death. Starting with your first paragraph, describe the Socratic Method and some possible ways we see it reflected in our world today. For your second paragraph, describe Socrates' nature (personality) based upon how he thought, acted, taught others. And In your third paragraph, give a general overview of Socrates' crimes and how they contradict

After we were informed that a test is on the horizon, we were instructed to not only consider a possible essay question; but, to compose 5 objective questions. This test will likely cover a majority of the content that was covered prior to our departure from normal classes.  That means a quick visit back to my notes from class as well as a visit to my past blogs, both of which will surely assist me in creating an essay question (mentally) and 5 objective questions. Those questions are listed below as well as a brief explanation of their validity:  Question 1.)   Alexander the Great tamed a horse which was said to be untamable by his father and his peers, what was that horse's name? a. Achilleus b. Bucephalus (Correct Answer) c. Hercules d. Phillip Explanation: While ensuring students know Alexander the Great's horse's name, the question also causes the test-taker to double-guess that it's not Phillip (II), another name familiarized in that lesson.

Today, after plenty of time to reflect on our prior Western Civilization studies, we watched a relatively short clip into Plato's life and philosophy. While watching the video, we were instructed to keep in mind several questions that highlight the main points of the video. For instance, in the video, there's plenty of discussion of " The Forms ", from Plato's view to modern correlations. Now, what exactly were The Forms ? Well, that was the first question which we had to consider while watching.  How did Plato define The Forms ?  The Forms , as defined by Plato, were the ideal frameworks in which things would exist, their ideal form . As a result of this idealogy, Plato roused his fellow Philosophers to ponder the groundwork of each perfect form so that they may be continuously taught as is, easily understood,  rather than pushing a false narrative that will complicate matters. It became more apparent that this form idealogy was one of the founding prin

After a long (and much appreciated) Easter Break, we returned yesterday to a post which instructed us to brainstorm the responsibility which we have as citizens to ensure the safety for ourselves and others. This means remaining adamant of the social distancing measures which have already been taken. And while this has seemed to flatten the "curve" a little, some medicines have shown to be promising in helping the sick. With the assistance of private companies (such as GM and Tesla), our nation and others have been making ground on the supplies which we now have to fight Coronavirus (these supplies include Masks and Ventilators).  With that said, we were instructed to write a poem today which relates to our studies in Greece. This came after I was informed that April is National Poetry Day, so all the more fitting. I was surprised by the extent of the freedom we have in writing this poem as well. Mr. Schick made it clear to have fun and to be creative with not only our s

Today, rather than a deep analysis of a new subject, we were instead instructed to find two images of classical Greece Architecture. A subject which I truly enjoy learning about. Those images are posted directly below:  First Image: The Parthenon, Acropolis of Athens Likely one of the most recognizable structures in Greece would be the massive structure located on the hill of Acropolis, The Parthenon. This structure was likely created over an eleven-year span (447 BC - 438 BC) and was dedicated to the goddess Athena. The structure, incredibly after over 2,000 years still remains intact; though somewhat damaged from the years of exposure it's been put through. It is also important to realize that this structure stood as a symbol for the religions which the Greeks practiced since it represented one of their goddesses'. Through the wars, fires, looters, weather, and use it has undergone, it is a true culmination of the Greek's strong engineering ability that the