Today in class we really didn't do anything. We just hung around playing on our computers. We got to go to the Cafeteria and just relaxed

Ancient Rome

• Caesar is the grandnephew of Julius Caesar 
• Augustus was the first emperor
• Begins the Pax Romana-a period of peace and prosperity 
• Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the city)
• Set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supple, even a postal service
• Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power to Tiberius
• Jesus was a Roman  citizen and a practicing Jew
• At 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31-33), preaching to the poor
• 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 Roman province of Judaea, Pontious Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

• Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar-1st Triumvirate
• Rubicon- the river that marked the northern territory 
• Caesar conquered Gaul and even made forays into Britain and Germany
• By 50 B.C. most of western Europe was under Roman rule, and Caesar had built a powerful army personally devoted to himself 
• Crassus had led an army to crushing defeat by the neighboring empire of Parthia, while Pompey had stayed in Rome, growing increasingly jealous of Caesar's success. 
• Finally, with Pompey's support, the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome.
• Instead, he decided to come back with part of his army, in defiance of Roman Law. 
• It was the beginning of another round of far-flung civil wars.
• Pompey was hastily commissioned to defend the Senate, but his forces were no match for Caesar's veterans. 
• Forced to flee form Italy, Pompey was later defeated by Caesar in Greece and murdered in Egypt, where he had taken refuge.
• The Senate now hailed him, however reluctantly, the Father of the Fatherland-a title recently invented for the Republic's most admired statesmen.
• He had himself appointed to most of the leading magistracies, either simultaneously or in quick succession: tribune, supreme pontiff, consul, and dictator for a ten-year term.
• Caesar used his new powers to attack the grave problems facing Rome.
• He took care to keep the loyalty of the soldiers and prevent the rise of rival warlords, by resettling war veterans on Farmlands in Italy and the provinces. 
• He extended Roman citizenship to parts of Gaul and Spain and appointed citizens from the provinces to the Senate.
• He gave the Romans splendid public buildings and roads, and introduced, reforms into every department of administration.

• Rome's citizen-soldiers were now "semi-professionals" who fought largely in the hope of bettering themselves through pay, loot, promotion, and above all grants of land or money to provide them with a living when they are discharged. 
• Many Army commanders turned into what amounted to independent warlords. 
• But government by supreme warlords was bound to be brief and unstable unless one of them could turn military dictatorship into legitimate power.
• Julius Caesar came from an old patrician family that had come down in the world, and he entered the city's politics as a young man determined to regained the fame and power of his ancestors.
• But he was also a flexible patrician, and in 60 B.C. he began to collaborate with Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey), an officer promoted by Sulla who had conquered many eastern Mediterranean lands. The two allies formed a triumvirate ("Three-Man Board"), together with another former henchman of Sulla, Marcus Crassus, that was for a time the dominant political force in Rome.
• With the help of his new friends Caesar won an appointment as proconsul of a province that included the southern regions of Gaul, a territory stretching all the way from northern Italy and the Mediterranean coast to the Rhine River, and the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Gaulish tribes outside the Roman-ruled areas were powerful enough that they might one day become dangerous to Rome and were wealthy enough to be a tempting target.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we went through the presentation of the Rome projects. The projects so far are good a lot of them were excellence I thought I could have done better on my project.

Today in class we took a test on Rome. I did better than I though i was going to do. The test i thought would be harder but it was easier.

Roman Legion-arm forces
Legion-5000 men
Century-80 men
Infantry-foot soldiers
Calvary-horseback
Punic Wars
Rome vs. Carthage
Carthage is in North Africa
1. Control of Sicily
2. Hannibal
3. Sack Carthage
All won by Rome

Today in class we talked about what we learned over the past couple of days. We talked about Rome. We also talked about The Punic Wars which was between Rome and Carthage. We learned what happened and who won or lost

The Punic Wars

• Founded about 700 B.C. by Phoenician colonists, Carthage had become an oligarchic and empire-building republic similar to Rome and had spread its influences across North Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily.
• The Greek city-states of Sicily had for centuries been struggling with Carthage for control of the island, and the Romans had inherited the struggle when they took over responsibility for protecting their Greek allies.
• The Punic Wars (from Poeni, the Latin name for the Phoenicians) were waged on land and sea in three vicious rounds, between 264 and 146 B.C. 
• The first phase, Rome was able to force Carthage out of Sicily, but the North African city kept the rest of its empire.
• The second (and decisive) phase, the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy, defeated several Roman armies, and brought Rome to the brink of defeat. 
• Eventually, fearing a Carthaginian revival, Rome provoked a third war, and in 146 B.C., Carthage was captured after bitter fighting.
• Already in 202 B.C., Rome had won control of the western Mediterranean. 

How did geography affect the development of Rome?
Rome is next to the Mediterranean sea so they can trade. They had good land to grow food.

How did the Etruscans influence the development of Rome?
They made Rome into a wealthy and large city. The Romans would overthrow their Etruscan leaders and would declare to be a republic.

Which were the main groups that competed for power in the early Roman republic?
The main groups were the nobles and the common people.

What is the significance of the Twelve Tables in Roman law?
It said that all free citizens were to be protected by the law. It was posted in a public place for all to see.

How did Rome regain control of Italy after the sacking of the city by the Gauls?
They kept on attacking them until they finally defeated them.

• They arrived in a Mediterranean land with farming resources that were basically similar to those of Greece or Palestine.
• The Indo-European settlers formed various tribal groups, among them the Latin people of central Italy. Some of the Latins settled near the mouth of the Tiber River.
• The Etruscans were non-Indo-European immigrants who arrived in Italy from somewhere to the east about the ninth century B.C. 
• The Greek city-states had begun to plant colonies in southern Italy as early as the eighth century B.C. 
• The Latins first learned the alphabet and gained knowledge of the life of Greek city-states.
• The King was advised by a council of elders called the Senate (from the Latin senex, meaning "old man".
• Usually, he chose from among the patricians or "men with fathers".
• Around 500 B.C., Rome overthrew its Etruscan rulers, and the monarchy was also abolished. 
• Plebeians (from the Latin plebs, meaning "the common people").
• In the earliest times of the Republic, the "people's business" was in practice run by the Senate, an assembly of about three hundred heads of patrician families. Two among the senators functioned as consuls ("colleagues"), wielding for a year at a time the military and government power that had formerly belonged to the kings. 
• This slowed down government decisions and actions, but in time of emergency the councils, on the advice of the Senate, could appoint a dictator, with full power to give orders and make laws for a maximum period of sixth months.
• Among the chief complaints of the plebeians was that they lacked legal protection.
• About 450 B.C., in response to the plebeians' demand, the laws of Rome were set down in writing. The new code was said to have been engraved on twelve slabs of wood or bronze and mounted in the chief public square, the Forum, for all to see. 
• The other, in which farmers from outside the city had a larger say, began electing their own magistrates, called tribunes. The Tribunes eventually gained the power to initiate laws in their assembly and veto laws passed by the Senate.
• The separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution derives ultimately from the checks and balances between different branches of government in the Roman city-state. 

3 groups that lived in Rome are first the Latins, then the Etruscans and Greeks

Rome is in the middle of a peninsula and is next to the Tiber River

They drained out the swamps into a bigger river

Tarquin the Proud was the last kink of Italy or Rome

res publica is Latin for people's business 

Republic-1. democracy, 2. monarchy, 3. aristotracy-2 consuls 

U.S. government is based off of republic

congress is senate and house of representatives 

3 groups are plebeians-middle class, patriacians-had a lot of money, land and are aristocrats, and slaves

I am working on my project by myself and doing mine on the Colosseum. I am going to build a model of it

Today we talked about a project we are going to go. The project is about the life of Rome. I am doing my project on the coliseum. I am going to build a model of it. Hopefully, the project will be easy and won't be very long to complete.