Roman Government

Today we spent class with Mr. Schick scaring us with tornado stories, had the lights flicker, and loud thunder. The main part of class though was talking about the Roman government and how it is similar and different to ours  in America.

Spread of Power

consul: either of the two chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic.
veto: The power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc.
senate: an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation.
assembly: a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.
dictator: a person invested with supreme authority during a crisis, the regular magistracy being subordinated to him until the crisis was met.
mercenary: working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal. Hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
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Roma

How did geography help Rome?- The Alps in the north, separate Italy from the rest of Europe.

Why was each of the following groups important to Rome's development?

(a)Latin's- Rome began as a settlement of Latin shepherds

(b) Greeks- Established colonies in the southern part of Italy.

[c] Etruscans- Northern Italy, had a writing system, roman buildings

What were the values of early Roman society?- Family ties, formed a republic, borrowed religious ideas, society was divided into classes 

(a) How was the Roman household organized?- The eldest man was in charge, he could sell/ kill anyone in the family without penalty.  

(b) What freedoms did women have in the family and in the society?- Ran the household, was a citizen. 

How was the army linked to Roman society?- Constant threat of war made the men have two jobs; farming and warriors. 

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Gravitas: Virtue on disipline, strength, and loyalty 
Republic: a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.
Pater familias: Father of the house 
toga: cloak, clothing
patrician: a member of the original senatorial aristocracy in ancient Rome.
plebeian: belonging or pertaining to the common people.
legion: a division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 soldiers. 
century: A fighting unit with 80 people. 

Testing our Knowledge

On Wednesday, before break, we took our test on Ancient Greece. I thought the test was pretty easy.

Test Ideas

In class today we reviewed all of our Greek topics and made up questions to put on the test.

Alexander the Great

Today in class we watched a movie on possibly the greatest fighter known, Alexander of Macedonia. We saw Alexander's childhood when his father purchases Bucephalus, Alexander's horse. He was only aloud to have the horse if he could tame it. Which he did in no time at all. It is thought that Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, was jealous of his son because Aristotle taught Alexander. Aristotle is one of the greatest minds ever. He learned about Greek culture, language, history, and battle tactics. Alexander became captain of the Macedonian army at the age of 16 after his father died. He also became ruler of Macedonia after his father died. The most significant battle Gaugamela was the bloodiest ever fought. It was against Darius III of Persia. Darius was said to have been responsible for Alexander's father's assassination and Alexander wanted revenge for it.  

Socrates/Pericles/Sparta

SOCRATES:

Unbelievably ugly

Didn't care about anything but the mind

Babylon was where everything (i.e. gods) started

The Greeks took the gods and made them reason

The birth of science: Thales  

Wrote about how to sail a boat at night by using the stars

Socrates used reason and logic to study people

He cares about the individual

Spent his days in conversation and walking

"The unexamined life is not worth living"

PERICLES:

One year into the war plague struck

Spread like wildfire

Redness and heat

Bodily fluids  

Pericles died in 429 B.C. from the plague

Linchpin

High profile people now scrambled to find a new leader

SPARTA:

Athenians win a navel battle

Navel leaders were put into jail

Didn't pick up the warriors after falling off of the boat during the war

They were to be tried and executed

The generals were condemned to death by drinking poisonous hemlock 

416 B.C.

A small Greek colony in Sicily asked for Athens help

They sent word back to Athens that they needed reinforcements then no news at all

A soldier returned to Athens and told people what had happened

One of greatest defeats in ancient history

Over 15,000 men had either been killed or taken prisoner

Pointless campaign

Athens enemies began to close in

• Persia
• Spartans

Egypt and other convoys couldn't get through to Athens so people started to starve

They turned to Athena  

404 B.C. Athens surrenders to Lysander, the Spartan leader

The walls were to be torn down and their fleet to be destroyed

Only 12 ships remained

Socrates was arrested for disrupting the religion

People cried when he was taking the poison

He was dying because of his principals

Athens was never a great Imperial power

The city became a place of intellectual study