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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 conquer...

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 addi...

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 Dio...