Thursday's Blog 5/22/14

Germanic Kingdoms

Setting The Stage !

Middle Ages = Medieval Period

476 - 1453 AD

Medieval Europe is fragmented

(from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks)

This is a new society has roots in:

Classical heritage of Rome

Beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church

Customs of various Germanic tribes

5th Century Germanic invaders

Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire

causing:

disruption of trade

downfall of cities

population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

Decline of learning

Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin

Wednesday's Class 5/21/14

D. A European Empire Evolves
   1. Franks control  largest European kingdom
      a. The Roman province formerly known as Gaul
      b. Ruled by Clovis - the Merovingian Dynasty
   2. Major domo - mayor of the palace - ruled the kingdom
   3. Charles Martel - Charles the Hammer
      a. Extended the Frank's reign to the north, south, and east
      b. Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732 - historic battle
   4. Charles the Hammer's son -
      a. Possibly named for his unusual short haircut
      b. Working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombards
      c. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God" - beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751 -987 AD
      d. Pepin the Short had two sons: Carolman and Charles
      e. Carolman died leaving...
E. Charlemagne takes center stage
   1. Charlemagne - aka CHARLES THE GREAT
     a. Six foot four
     b. Built the greatest empire since Rome
     c. Fought the Muslims in Spain
    d. Fought Germanic tribes
    e. Spread Christianity
    f. Reunited Western Europe
    g. Became the most powerful king in western Europe
    h. Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly Roman mob
    i. This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire

Tuesday's Class 5/20/14

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne
Main Idea !
Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire.

Why It Matters Now !
Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from.

Setting The Stage !
Middle Ages = medieval period
500 - 1500 AD
medieval Europe is fragmented

A. Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
   1. Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
      a. Disruption of trade
        i. Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
       ii. Money is scarce
      b. Downfall of cities
        i. Cities are no longer centers of administration
      c. Population shifts
        i. Nobles retreat to the rural areas
       ii. Cities don't have strong leadership


A. Invasions trigger changes in western Europe (cont'd)
   2. Decline of learning
     a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
     b. Only priests and church officials could read and write
     c. Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
   3. Loss of a common language
     a. Dialects develope in different regions
     b. By the 800's, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving

B. Germanic kingdoms emerge
   1. The concept of government changes
      a. Roman society: loyal to public gov't
      b. Germanic society: loyal to family
        i. Germanic chief led warriors
       ii. During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
      iii. During wartime, warriors fought for the lord

Papacy = The Pope's office
Secular power = worldly power

Friday's Class 5/16/14

The term for Christianity was Christendom.  Taxes/tithing for the church were 10% of what you made yearly.  They are now speaking more Greek than Latin in the start of the middle ages.  Education is much less important, they didn't read much of anything.  The only people in the village who would know how to read was the priest and a small handful of people.  You learned how to do your job from a young age instead of going to school.  In the middle ages the Romans were finally after about 1,000 years second to everyone else.  Living in Europe in the middle ages was disgusting disease filled life.  They had issues such as the black plague, and small pox.

- Feudalism - A political, military and economic system based on landholding and protective alliances.
In other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you

RICH DUDE (LORD) - "I own land; I need people to help me work it and defend it."
TOUGH DUDE (VASSALS) - "There are alot of us, we can help the rich dudes hold on to their land."

The Feudal Pyramid goes:
King
Vassals, Nobles, and Bishops
Knights
Peasants, and Serfs

Manor: The lord's estate
- The lord's manor house
- A church
- Some workshops
- 15-30 families
- All on a few square miles

Good News:  It's a self-sufficient community
Bad News: It's harsh if you're a peasant

Peasants are poor and pay high taxes
- Tax on grain
- Tax on marriage
- Church tax (tithe = 10% of their income)
-They live in crowded cottages
- Live with animals and insects (ewww...)
- Eat very simply
- But don't worry - The Church says this is your lot in life
- God determines your place in society - so chill

Thursday's Class 5/15/14

      Today in class we got our Rome big tests back.  I didn't do so well to say the least.  Mr. Schick gave us class time today to get some homework done.  I did all of my math homework and some of Spanish.

Wednesday's Blog

       The end of the Rome was a very long and horrible ending.  This was not the end for western civilization though.  The renewal of western civilization is called the Middle Ages.  This all happened because Rome eventually became to big for its time and everything slowly and painfully fell apart.  But Missionary - Monks brought Christianity and Roman traditions to people who weren't apart of the empire.

The Baptism of Clovis - An ivory plaque made about A.D. 900 depicts the founding event of the Kingdom of the Franks four centuries earlier.  The conquering chieftain Clovis is humbly naked and up to his waist in water.  The Roman aristocrat Remigius, bishop of Reims, touches Clovis's head as he speaks the words of baptism.  Clotilde, Clovis's already Christian queen, looks on; the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, brings holy oil in token of God's blessing upon the fusion of Frank, Roman, and Christian.

Chronology

Fifth Century - Angles and Saxons invade Britain

486 - Clovis leads Frankish confederacy against Romans and rival Germanic invaders in Gaul

527 - 565 - Reign of Emperor Justinian in the Eastern Empire

542 - Plague hits Egypt, then spreads throughout the Mediterranean area and much of western Europe

568 - Lombards conquer most of northern Italy

570 - 632 - Life of Muhammad

595 - Missionaries sent by the pope began to convert the pagans of England

711 - Muslim invasion of Spain

800 - Slavs occupy almost all of eastern Europe

Tuesday's Class 5/13/14

Two Emperors

Diocletian
Diocletian was an emperor who ruled during 284 - 303
It's cool to persecute Christians
Rome needs a big army (400,000 Strong)
Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)

Constantine
Rules from 306 - 337
It's cool to BE a Christian
Conversion to Christianity via a cross in the sky
313 - His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
Built a new capital in the East
Built a new capital in the East
Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

The Struggle of the Peasants

Life in the Fourth Century
Country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection
New farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
Paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work
Landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
Foreshadowing feudalism

The Western Empire Crumbles

Romes Power Decreasing
Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
Western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
Vandals control Carthage and the Western Mediterranean

End of an Era

From the beginnings...
500 B.C. - The monarchy is abolished
450 B.C. - The Twelve Tables are established

...through the glory days...
44 B.C. - End of the line for Julius Caesar
27 B.C. - 180 A.D. - The Roman Peace (Pax Romana)

to the bitter end...
constant fifth century invasions by barbarians tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by  his father
barbarians deposed Romulus Augustalus without bothering to kill him

Friday's Class 5/9/14

Rise of Christianity

Jesus spends three years preaching, is killed by Roman leaders

Jesus' followers believe he is the Messiah and Savior who had risen from the dead

This religion conflicted with Roman beliefs

AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion

He issues the Edict of Milan

Not only no persecution, but actual approval of Christianity, eventually making it the official religion of Rome

The Decline of the Roman Empire

AD 180: Rome has problems

Economic (trade became risky; taxes were too high, food supply was dropping)

Military (frontiers were hard to patrol; Roman Generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)

Diocletian divided the empire into two

Greek-speaking East (had more resources)

Latin-speaking West (Rome, tradition)

AD 324 - Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire

Moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantinople), where Asia met Europe (now Turkey)

After his death, empire is divided again

This time, "Barbarian Invaders" (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks) overrun the empires frontiers

That's it for the Roman Empire (476 AD)

Thursdays Blog 5/8/14

Christ Victorious - This mosaic in a chapel in the Italian city of Ravenna dates from about A.D. 500, when Rome was beset by invaders and Christians were bitterly divided our belief.  Christ is shown as a youthful and steadfast Roman soldier, wearing the purple cloak of an emperor, and carrying his cross like a shouldered weapon.  His open Bible proclaims: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Gentiles - A term for non-Jews; Christians used it to refer to worshipers of the gods and goddesses

Chronology

63 B.C. - Jewish kingdom comes under Roman rule

CA. A.D. 30 - Death of Jesus

A.D. 50-60 - Paul's letters to Christian communities

A.D. 70 - Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by Romans

A.D. 235-284 - Series of short-reigning Roman emperors

A.D. 285 - Diocletian takes control, begins reforms

A.D. 313 - Edict of Milan formally ends persecution of Christians

A.D. 370 - Huns enter eastern Europe; barbarians forced from frontier into empire

A.D. 378 - Visigoths defeat Romans at the Battle of Adrianople

A.D. 410 - Alaric and the Visigoths loot Rome

A.D. 476 - Last Western Roman emperor deposed

Pre Test Notes

Rome Test Answers

1.) C, Latins

2.) D, Greek

3.) C, res publica 

4.) A, Washington, D.C.

5.) B, Tiber

6.) D, last King

7.) A, raping a respectable matron named Lucretia

8.) C, patricians

9.) A, plebeians

10.) C, consuls

11.) A, senators

12.) B, tribunes

13.) A, dictator

14.) B, one year

15.) C, three hundred

16.) C, president

17.) D, centuries

18.) B, Twelve Tables

19.) C, forum

20.) D, Sicily

21.) A, Hannibal

22.) C, Carthage

23.) B, latifundia

24.) A, Africa

25.) D, Chi Cago

- Caligula fought with the senate

- He claimed to be a god, and had statues displayed of himself in Jewish temples

- He was Assassinated by his own aides, AD 41(at age 28)

- The next emperor in line was Claudius

- Claudias had a bad limp and a speech impediment (His own family often made fun of him)

- He rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and adequates; he renovated the Circus Maximus

- Messalina, his wife often had affairs (and Messed around)

- She tried to kill Claudias and have her lover become emperor

- Claudias heard about this and killed Messalina and her lover

- Christianity was on the Rise in AD 66

- This conflicted with the Romans because the Romans (just like the Greeks) were Polytheistic and believed in many gods

- The western wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines

- When the Jews tried to rebel against the Romans about a half a million Jews died in the rebellion

- Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor

- Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)

- Often used for "Entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions, etc.)

- Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly - by AD 200, around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians

- Octavian - AKA Caesar Augustus

- August - Means to be honored

- He took over at the age of 18

- Augustus is the first to change it from a Republic to an Empire

- Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)

- Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service

- Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power to...

- Jesus was a Roman citizen and a practicing Jew

- At 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31-33), preaching to the poor (and there were lots of 'em) in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders

- Statements like "My kingdom is not of this world" made the Romans (and the Jews) nervous, and they began to plan his execution

- The governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

Friday's Blog 5/2/14

    Caesar apperared in the senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers.  Caesar's murder did not restore the republic; instead, his death produced yet another crop of warlords and yet more bouts of civil war

The main contenders were Mark Antony, once a commander under Caesar and now a consul; the leadinf assassins, Brutus and Cassuis; and Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, the youthful Octavian Caesar

Mark and Octavian were rival loyalists of Caesar, and each managed to attract some of caesar's legions, which they used to fight a brutal war against eachother in Italy.  The triumvirs declared that they intended to "restore the Republic", but they also had the Senate proclaim Julius Caesar a "Divine Being"- not quite a god like Jupiter, but far above any ordinary mortal.  The partners then divided the Roman world Octavian in rome, Lepidus in North africa, and mark in Alexndria.  Antony was one of the last descendants  to the Greeks for his love affair with Cleopatra.  Finally in 31 B.C. the rulers of the 2 halves of rome went to war, Octavians forces defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra in a decisive naval battle near Actium off the Western Coast.  

 ·        Augustus began a whole series of large-scale reforms 

·        brought the system of government appointments under his personal control

·        avoided breaking with tradition

·        showed respect for local institutions and encouraged provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibilities

·        reorganized the army to ensure the loyalty of the rank-and-file soldiers 

·        gradually brought that all soldiers were volunteers

This caused Augustus and his S uccessors to break with the Roman Tradition of citizen soldiers to create the world's 1st professional army 

 Augustus wanted his successor to come from his family 

- Augustus had no sons so he chose Tiberius 

- Augustus adopted Tiberius to give him hereditary standings

- Augustus dies in 14 A.D.

- Tiberius took over without a challenge

- Caesars last decedent was Nero

- Nero was overthrown after a tyrannical reign 

- No one thought to restore the government to a Republic  

Caeser - The imperial title given to the designated successor of a reigning emperor.

Augustus - The imperial title given to a reigning emperor.

Roman Peace - (Pax Roman) A term used to refer to the relative stability and prosperity that Roman rule brought to the Mediterranean world and much of the western Europe during the first and second centuries A.D.

Most of the earliest Latin literary works no longer exist, but many comedies staged in the third and second centuries B.C. by Platus and Terence are still performed today.  Their works  were based on Greek comedies of the Hellenistic era, adapted to the rough and tumble tastes of Roman Auidiences.

Tuesday's Class 4/29/14

      When Julius Caesar died it was like a crazy search for a leader.  People were looking all over the place for someone who take his spot as leader.  His grand nephew Octavian and he took over for Caesar.  This is the crucial moment in Roman history when it switches from being a three house form over government to an empire.

- Octavian - AKA Caesar Augustus

- August - Means to be honored

- He took over at the age of 18

- Augustus is the first to change it from a Republic to an Empire

- Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)

- Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service

- Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power to...

- Jesus was a Roman citizen and a practicing Jew

- At 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31-33), preaching to the poor (and there were lots of 'em) in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders

- Statements like "My kingdom is not of this world" made the Romans (and the Jews) nervous, and they began to plan his execution

- The governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

Friday's Class 4/25/14

     Caesar Augustus did not kill Jesus Christ.   Ancient Rome greatly influenced our American society.  Julius Caesar always fought with his own army because this showed the type of leader he was which was a great one.  The Romans won against gull and Caesar was victorious.  Julius Caesar was a smart guy and knew how to get everyone on his side.  He especially was good to the common people which ended up helping him.  The only problem was eventually the the rich people (people with power) ended up turning on him and that was the end of him.

Thursday's Class 4/24/14

     Today in class we talked about what it was like to be in the Roman army back in the day.  Mr. Schick basically told us how rewarding it was to be in the army back then rather than today.  Don't get me wrong being in the U.S. army would be a great honor to fight for this country but back in Rome it was different.  When you fought and won territory you got to divide it up and everybody got a little piece of victory.  I was told that if you were a generally you you all of the loot, had sex with all the women, made a good salary, and were rewarded land.  Now if you ask me that life doesn't sound too bad for an Ancient Roman general.

Wednesdays Class 4/23/14

     Today in class three other groups presented their project.  One group which is Jess, Paula, and Sarah made these ancient Roman cookies which were pretty good.  Another group that presented was Stephanie and Jasmine and they made the Roman Colosseum.  I felt like they had a put a lot of hard work into making it and they had a good presentation to go along with it.  The other group was Sam, Dom, and Logan and they make the pantheon building and they had a map of Rome along with a good presentation.

Today's Class 4/22/14

     Today in class we presented our group projects about ancient Rome.  The first group that presented was Hailey, Ellie, and Carly's group.  They had chosen the same thing as a and made an ancient roman dessert.  The made cookies.  My group was up next which is me, Zack, and Jevan.  We made an ancient roman honey cake dessert which by the way Mr. Schick liked alot.  I have a good feeling that we got a good grade on our project from Mr. Schick's reaction.

Thursday's Class 4/10/14

     Old Roman soldiers weren't just in the army for pay they were in it because they wanted to defend their civilization.  Infantry are the guys who marched on their feet, or ground troops.  The cavalry are the guys who marched on horseback.  First Punic war was fought over Sicily and Rome won.  Rome was the winner of all three Punic wars.  Every Punic war was fought between Rome and Carthage.  Roman war heroes weren't worshiped when they got home.  Latifundia is a Latin word for great estate.

Wednesday's Blog 4/9/14

     Today in class we went over the instructions for what we can do and what we should do for our project.  Jevan, Zack, and I are still deciding what were are doing and where we are going to do it so we are not exactly ready yet.  I think we are going to actually go to Zacks house.  

Tuesday's Class 4/8/14

     Today in class we reviewed what we have learned about Romans so that we will be ready for our test on Friday.  The plebeians are the very common people who were low in social status and did most of the work around the town.  The patricians are the more important people who don't have to do much work and are higher in social status.  They had twelve big tables of Laws that apply to EVERYONE.  The plebeians lacked their own branch in the government until the assembly came along.  The assembly was like the senate for plebeians.  I you are elected to the the house that represents the middle class or the lower class your a tribune.  Aristocracy - Rich people, Democracy - the people (lower citizens) have a say in things.  Monarchy - A government led by a king or one ruler.  You were only the dictator for about 6 months and then you went back to being in the senate or wherever else you were.

Punic wars
Punic War 1 - Fought between Roman and Carthage
Won by : Romans
Punic War 2 - Fought between Roman and Carthage
Won by : Romans
Punic War 3 - Fought between Roman and Carthage
Won : Romans

Friday's Class 4/4/14

     Today in class we found our groups that we are going to be in for our Rome projects.  I am going to be in a group with Jevan and Zack.  We are going to do some kind of honey dessert for our Rome project.  We spent all of class looking through different old Italian honey dessert recipes.  I think that we have decided on some kind of cake that will have honey on it.

Thursday's Class 4/3/14

      Today in class we brought our text books to class which is something we don't do very often.  We went over the important stuff in the chapter we are starting about the Romans and underlined it.  We probably did that most of class but we did also talk about two other things.  We talked about how our school is going to get air conditioning in all of the class rooms.  Which will happen while we are still at John Carroll.  We also talked about how we might change our schedule in two years.  I personally like the way the schedule is and don't want it to change but they are thinking about making our schedule into a block schedule.  We also have a few other options but the only one I would like would be the one with one big free mod every day where it would be an hour and ten minutes long.

Wednesday's Class 4/2/14

     Today in class we got our tests back and we went over them.  I personally think I did great on the test I got an 83.  I think that maybe the second highest grade I have gotten on one of Mr. Schick's tests all year.  Not that that is necessarily anything to brag about but it is good for me.  I hope this test starts a continuous trend of good test grades in your class Mr. Schick.

Tuesday's Class 4/1/14

     Today in class Mr. Schick was dressed up kind of like a white 90's rapper which was pretty funny.  He made a version of the song Low by Flo Rida and it was about Rome.  We all got to video him with are phones which is pretty great.  We are also getting ready to do a group project.  I am working with JP. I think.

Thursday's Class 3/27/14

     During Thursdays class we pretty much had open discussion.  I can't exactly remember though what we were disusing because today is Saturday and its been awhile.  Mr. Schick I hope to see that I got an A on my test.  Or something close to that.

Wednesday's Class 3/26/14

      Today in class we took a test on Ancient Greece.  I felt that i learned alot the the material in class and studied well for it.  I actually think this might be my best test grade in Mr. Schick's class all year.  We went over this topic much longer than how long we usually go over for the other tests.  I hope this test grade will start me off good for the fourth qusrter.

Tuesday's Class 3/25/14

      Today in class we watched the video again on Ancient Greece.  We have a test tomorrow that I really have to prepare for.  I need to study my notes heavily and re watch some of the video.

Fridays Class 3/21/14

     Aphasia a kind of prostitute but at the same time she wasn't.  Her job was basically like a dating service.  She and Pericles fell in love by accident and he left his wife for her.  Cleisthenes was an aristocrat who thought of himself as high up.  Cleisthenes was an aristocrat who wanted to share power would was amazing for his kind.  Being ostracized in Ancient Greece was the most humiliating thing even more so then being killed in front of the town.  If Greece hadn't stopped the Persian empire Europe would be totally different today.  Hubris means you are so confident and full of yourself and thinking that you can't go wrong at all.

Thursdays Class 3/20/14

     Today in class we decided to let Mr. Schick do some grading while we sat around and talked.  We then watched these crazy videos about near death moments.  Some of them are ridiculously close to like by inches.  They were all mainly to do with cars and trains.

Fridays Class 3/14/14

      During Friday's class we didn't have class in Mr. Schick's classroom because he wasn't there.  So we went to Mrs. Snouks room and had class there.  We continued watching the video about Athens and Sparta and filling out our study guide.

Thursday's Class 3/13/14

      Today in class we had a very unorganized class and we basically just went over our study guides that we were filling out that we worked on with Mr. Perry's the other day.  Mr. Schick I emailed you telling you that I did the Cyber day homework over.

Wednesday's Blog 3/12/14

     Athens had a great name for theater.  They had a big theater that they could fit about 5,000 people in the theater.  They would wear big masks on stage so people in the upper deck could see them acting down on stage.  They would attach small horns to there masks so that their voice would boomingly echo to the people of the upper deck.  When Athens was at its peak people from all over the world came to Athens to exchange ideas.  Athens came up with the idea of the Internet but in a non electronic way.  Athens didn't really have poor people if america all came together we have the resources to end poverty all together but we don't.

Tuesday's Class 3/11/14

       Today in class we presented our Athens project.  The project was to create a video for ancient Athens to get people to want to go to Athens to visit.    The people in my group  were Me, Phil, Zack, and Jevan.  I think we did a great job and we are waiting to hear how we did on it.  I kinda feel though that Mr. Schick was dissapointed since he left the class before the bell rang.

Friday's Class 3/7/14

     Fridays class we had a sub and our sub was Mr. Perry.  We worked more on watching the video and filling out our study guides.  I had an unexpected shadow show up that mod.  I didn't know i was going to have a shadow on Friday.

Wednesday's Class 3/5/14

       Today in class to start Mr. Schick was talking to us about how he was going away with the seniors for the senior retreat.  About four senior's walked in to get their books after their senior retreat meeting and Mr. Schick said the same thing to all of them which was pretty funny.  He would say "Hey where were you?" they would say "the senior retreat meeting" and then he would say "Oh, we were just talking about that" and then he would say bye.  Anyways we continued learning about Ancient Greece today by watching a history movie and following along in our study guides.  I think I will be prepared for this upcoming test since we have a study guide.

Tuesdays Class 3/4/14

     Today in class we watched a video on how Athens began.  The video explained how Athens started out as a really small town on a huge mountain.  Athens was run by Aristocrats who controlled the lower social status citizens.  Greece at the time was a really small country but they somehow always kept the Persian Empire from invading Greece.  Persia at the time was about ten times bigger than Greece.

Friday's Class 2/28/14

     Friday was the day Phil and I finally got to teach the class and if you ask me I think we did a pretty darn good job but we will see come the day of the test.  I thought we did a good job getting the points across and "dumbing" things down a little bit so it was easier to understand.

Wednesday's Blog 2/26/14

Acropolis - The high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.
Hoplite - A heavily armed and armored citizen-soldier of ancient Greece.
Phalanx - A unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy.
Monarchy - A state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually heredity ruler.
Oligarchy - In this form the minority of the citizens dominated government.
Democracy - Government decisions are were made by the majority of male citizens.
Tyranny - A self proclaimed dictatorship
Helots - Descendants of the earlier Greek immigrants who were bound to the land by the Spartan state and compelled to work for the landholding citizens.

Tuesday's Class 2/25/14

      Today in class we talked a little bit more about the culture of the ancient Greeks.  We especially got on the topic of the author of The Trojan War and The Odyssey.  The author was an old blind poet who wrote two stories in poem form which added up to about 12,110 lines in total!  It's crazy how this book was passed down by oral tradition too.  The Odyssey especially interests me because it just seems like a huge adventure story.  The Odyssey takes place by a man who is done fighting The Trojan War and upsets the god Poseiden and he trys to get Odysian killed many times throughout the story and make sure he never returns home.

Friday's Class 2/21/14

     The greeks invented Democracy.  Barbarian is a term used to describe the distinctive way of life based on farming.  Megaliths: Massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs.  Over three thousand years up to the time of the Persian Empire, civilization had spread from its Sumerian and Egyptian homelands right across southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa.  Why the Greeks rocked.  They had a lot of new ideas.  They had incredible art forms.  They had Democratic government with citizen participation.  They had many innovators in warfare.

4000 B.C. - Farming life, village life, communities, small cities, this kind of life spreaded from Egypt and Sumer.

3500 B.C. - They had the ability to make megaliths these are stones that they made into massive sculptures and art.

2500 B.C. - Their language was Greek and Latin.  Their lives centered around strength and courage, comradship and loyalty, contests and battle.

They were barbarian (from the Greek word barbaros non-Greek).  The distinctive civilization the Greeks developed is the first that counts as defidently "Western."

Geography of Greece:
Mountainous peninsula
- Mountains cover 3/4
Approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
Location shaped its culture
Skilled Sailors
Poor natural resources
Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small, independent communities
Approximately 20% of their land was suitable for farming
Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of a peninsula
Because of geography the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives
Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer

Thursday's Class 2/20/14

     Today in class we got our tests back.  Like usual i didn't get a ding.  Not a ding not even a half din or any ding.  This is probably because I was not well prepared for the test.  I was not well prepared because I only had one night to study.  I didn't realize we were having a test in Western Civ until Sunday Night when it was almost too late.  I still some how managed to get a 50% on the test not that that's an accomplishment or anything.  Anyway when we got our test back after all the dinging we went over the test.  I made a lot of stupid mistakes that I shouldn't have made.  I guess I just wasn't thinking or something.  Well anyway I hope to do better on the next one Mr. Schick.

Wednesday 2/19/14

      Today in class we played a game called pyramid challenge.  I was partners with Zack and we were one of two groups to actually finish the game.  Mr. Schick gave us an 18 out of 20.

Tuesday 2/18/14

     Barbarian - A term used to describe the distinctive way of life based on farming, warfare, and tribal organization that became widespread in Europe begging around 2500 B.C.
     Megaliths - Massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs.
     Tribe - A social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship.
     Chronology:
     3500 B.C. - Megalithic structures constructed in Europe
     2500 B.C. - Indo-European nomads from the steppes migrate into European; European barbarian way of life evolves
     2200 B.C. - Minoan civilization takes root in Crete; Greeks arrive in southeastern Europe
     1600 B.C. - Greek fortified settlements along the Aegean develop Mycenaean civilization
     1400 B.C. - Destruction of Minoan towns
     1200 B.C. - Mycenaean civilization falls; begging of "Dark Ages" of Greek History
      800  B.C. - Recovery in the Aegean; Greek city states from
494-445 B.C. - Persian Wars
460-430 B.C. - Golden Age of Athens

Friday's Blog 2/15/14

     The pyramid was a huge technological invention it is described as a monumental structure with a square or triangular base and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top, esp. one built of stone as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt.  They also had the first ox-drawn plow to farm.  They were the first civilization to really have organized labor too.

     In a pyramid there was always a maze of different channel’s and dead ends to prevent it from being robbed easily.  They all usually had a series of traps too.  A lot of pyramids had a square base.

Thursday's Blog 2/13/14

          The social hierarchy of ancient Egypt was used to rank people into social classes.  The Pharaoh was on the top of the hierarchical pyramid and political, jurisdictional, military, administrative and religious power was considered divine.   Egyptian pharaohs ruled by themselves without consulting with nobility or people who were despots, while the form of government was despotism. Pharaohs were viewed as divine or semi-divine and were worshiped like gods. Sometimes they married their sisters to protect the purity of royal family.

     Pharaoh’s orders were carried out by hierarchically organized administration on top of which were the viziers. Viziers were often pharaohs’ sons or members of the royal families who gave direct orders to the head of royal offices for the army, construction, navigation, trade, medicine, foreign relations, frontiers, tax collecting, crop supply, animals, and fields.

     Everything depended on the river in ancient times as it still does today to a large extent. It is quite simply Egypt's lifeblood. Even with all the modern progress attributed to today, Egypt's settlement pattern mirrors closely that of older times, in as far as viable habitation is, and was only possible within the Nile's floodplain; a narrow strip of land, limited to several miles each side of the riverHabitation was only possible within the Nile's floodplain, where all agrarian activity took place and where much depended on the river's behavior and the regularity of its inundation.

Wednesday 2/12/14

      Today in class we talked about whats happening with the snow and how we are going to have a cyber day and take all of our stuff home for the snow. I don't think all this cyber day stuff is going to work out.  But who am I to talk?  Anyway we watched a video today by some guy name John Green.  He explained ancient Egypt very well and I learned a lot more today about Egyptian life today.  He wen't into great detail about pyramid's which was interesting.  He was talking about King Tut and basically explained why he was never even important.  He made a mistake though because the Nile river flows south to north and not north to south.

Tuseday's Class 2/11/14

     Today in class we talked all about pyramids and the pyramid of life in ancient Egypt.  One particular thing about Egypt that stood out to me was that the slaves were nothing like american slaves and they actually lived good lives.  I like at them as butlers and maids that were forced to work because they did get treated well and they had a nice place to sleep.  The houses the slaves were living in also weren't exactly small.  Well with the social pyramid it goes like 

Fridays Class 2/7/14

     I was out sick on Friday so I was not in Friday's class.  I will read the the text of this chapter and get any notes that I missed from someone else in the class.  Thank you for understanding Mr. Schick.

Tuesday 2/4/14 LO3 Egypt

     The Narmer Palette:  This pallette was used for grinding make up for divine images in an Upper Egyptian temple about 3100 B.C.  The intertwined necks of two tethered beasts around the grinding area are believed to symbolize the union of the Two Lands.  Above them, a king wears the crown of Upper Egypt; in front of him, some of the earliest known heiroglyphs give his name-Narmer-an army parades, and beheaded corpses are lined up.  Evidently unification was not a peaceful process.  Pharaohs the rulers of ancient Egypt.

Friday's Blog 1/31/14

      Prehistory - The period before history was recorded through written documents.  "If we reduce the time since the first human-like species appeared (about 2.5 million years ago) to the period of a twenty-four-hour day, the five-thousand-year era of civilization takes up less than the last three minutes!"  Cave Paintings: These images of wild beasts were painted about 25,000 years ago deep in  a cave in southern France.  Nearer the entrance, people had their dwellings.  To judge from animal bones found in their garbage piles, they did not hunt these beasts; instead, perhaps they worshiped them.

Thursday 1/30/14 Hammurabi's Code

First Law: If any one find runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver. 

Description:  This law basically states that if you find another man's slave running free and you return the slave to the man he will repay you.

Second Law:  If any one break a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.

Description:  If someone try's to brake into your house you can kill them for trespassing your property and bury them right away.

Third Law:   If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.

Description:  If anyone falsely accuses another he the accuser will be put to death. 

Monday's Class 1/28/14

      Today in class I took incredible notes.  I think I copied just about every word down the Mr. Schick had put in his power-point.  We started the first chapter today talking about how early humans made civilization.  All these cities and great places we see today didn't just poof out of no where, it all came from something.  Well that something was the first people in the world who evolved from being a species of animals into what we know as of today as humans.  The first humans were hunters and gatherers and traveled in packs.  Then once they started making towns in Mesopotamia class started to be a factor.  Just like today with social classes its almost similar to how it used to be.  The strongest men hunted and were the most respected.  The other men who were skillful and made clothes and valuable items for the town came next.  Lastly women were all stay at home at this time and just cooked, cleaned, and watched the kids.

Friday's Class

On Friday we met first mod for our second class.  In class Mr. Schick had an open conversation with us about the movie our school watched called Girl Rising.  Girl Rising was about girls all around the world who live in countries where they do not have near as many rights as women in the United States do.  In fact in one of the countries the girls had to wear blue veils over their faces and they couldn't speak in public or they would be killed.  We talked with Mr. Schick for the whole class about this and everyone pretty much had the same view.  We all thought that it is wrong how other countries are treating women.  It's amazing how these eight girls have stood up to their governments and are changing the world for women.

The First Class of Western Civ

     In the first class of western civ we really didn't do anything.  We had a two hour delay this mourning and a two hour assembly at the end of the day.  So we had a few sixteen minute classes but mostly eight minute classes.  Western Civ happened to be one of those eight minute classes so we had no time to do anything but set up our blogs and email Mr. Schick the link to them.