Roman Government

In the Ninth Century B.C. a tribe called the Etruscans moved into Italy and taught them ways to set up a beneficial government and empire. The Etruscans gave the Italians the skills that gave them the power to build their own unique government form. At first they followed the Etruscan government and ruled with powerful kings, which included actual Etruscans. The king was advised by the council of elders which was called the senate. When the King was choosing the senate he chose from a group called the patricians. These were High-Class citizens who belonged to the oldest and noblest Roman families. When a King dies the next king was chosen from senate by the senate. Basically the senate and the patricians ran the city. Around 500 B.C. the Romans overthrew the Etruscan leaders and the got rid of their monarchy. The Roman government was suddenly changed to "people's business" and established the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was developed slowly because of the influence between the aristocrats and common people. In the end the Roman's formed a government that was not the Greek Democracy nor an oligarchy but a mixture of the two. There were two sides of the government the aristocrats/patricians and the plebeians. The plebeians were the common Roman citizens that were farmers, workers and wealthy people who were not patricians.

March 27th

Today in Western Civilization we took our test on Ancient Greece. I studied and I think I did pretty well. Also it was an open blog test but you can see from my blogs that I didn't have anything useful. I am really confident in this quarter and I hope to do very well.

March 25th

Today in class we reviewed the video of Ancient Greece fro our test that is possibly tomorrow. As I am writing this the snow is coming down pretty hard so the delay or cancellation of school tomorrow is undetermined. I am going to stop this here because I have to study so See Ya!

March 24th

Today we started the new quarter aka the last quarter of freshman year. Its crazy how long ago it was that we were starting our first day and now were almost sophomores. Anyways today we went over our 58pt Greece worksheet and talk about ancient plays and people in history. It was weird to see that people over 2000 years ago an in present day have similarities. Anyway that's what we did today.

March 19th

Today we sorta had class. I don't know what you would call it. It was school but cyber day at the same time. I reviewed the quiz thing and the notes.

March 18th

Today in class we watched a few more presentations and they were really good. We also took a look at the quizlet that one of the students from past years made.

Cyber Day

1.     Mostly fertile land is not a characteristic of Greece.

2.     Approximately ¾ of Greece is covered by mountains.

3.     The word barbarian came from the Greek work “barbaro,” which originally meant “Non-Greek.”

4.     A megalithic structure are massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs.

5.     The term tribe refers to a social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship.

6.     Tribes were governed by warrior kings or queens, chieftains, or tribal leaders chosen by warriors.

7.     The first European barbarians to make contact with civilization were the Greeks.

8.     The United States would not be considered a member of “Western Civilization.”

9.     The Mediterranean Sea was located just west of the Greek Mainland.

10.                         The Mediterranean Sea was located just east of the Greek Mainland.

11.                         The major crops the Aegean people lived on were rice, vines, and olives.

12.                         The Minoan civilization arose on the island of Crete.

13.                         The Minoan civilization established settlements along the Greek mainland’s southern shore and on some islands.

14.                         The Mycenaean civilization built massive walls to protect themselves from attack.

15.                        A period of Greek history in which the population dropped, ships no longer sailed, and writing fell out of use, is called the Dark Ages.

16.                         Following this period, the Greeks joined Phoenicians as the leading commercial and seafaring nation of the Mediterranean.

17.                        In historical writing the, the letter “c” might appear before a date, as in “c. 1500 BC.” This “c” means around, about, or circa.

18.                        By 600 BC, Greek city-states dotted the coastlines around the Mediterranean Sea. These were called colonies.

19.                        Although they varied in size, ancient Greek city-states most closely resembled modern-day counties.

20.                         Oligarchy is a form of government in which small groups of citizens dominated, and the power of the majority was limited in various ways.

21.                        Democracy is a form of government in which decisions were made by the majority of adult male citizens.

22.                        Tyranny is a form of government in which a self-proclaimed dictator held power,

23.                         Monarchy is a form of government in which is held by a single ruler, and is often passed along from father to son.

24.                        Spartans used tyranny government system.

25.                        At the age of 7 the Spartan males begin their military training.

26.                         Corinth was the wealthiest city-state in the ancient Greek world.

27.                         A Parthenon was the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.

28.                        Peloponnesus was the name of the peninsula where Sparta was located.

29.                        Triremes were massive fighting ships with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships.

30.                         A hoplite was a heavily armed and armored citizen-soldier of ancient Greece.

Short Answer:

1.     The period in Greek history when population dropped, ships no longer sailed, and writing fell out of use lasted from c. 1100-800 BC.

2.     The Titles of Homer’s two epic poems were The Odyssey and The Iliad.

3.     The word “Mediterranean” originally meant middle ground or the middle of the earth.

4.     Prominent and long-established Athenian land-owners were called Aristocrats.

March 12th

Today in class we continued watching the videos. We watched some really cool ones that were very creative. also theyre were some funny ones but all in all they were really good.

Sparta Commerical

This is Kylie Wheeler and I's Sparta commercial. I hope you enjoy!

March 10th

Today in human geo we worked on our projects a little more. Mr. Schick was absent so that left us with two subs. JP put on a really long curly blonde wig. And Kylie and I's project is rocking!

March 7th

Today we continued the video about Greece's rise to Democracy. I think Greek history is cool and I would like to learn more about their mythology. Also Kylie and I have been working on our commercial for Sparta and I think its coming together really well. Our music really fits the theme of Sparta and I can't wait to finish it.

March 5th

Today we talked a little more about our tv commercials and got our due date extended to Monday. Also we continued watching the Greece video and talked about the aspects of Ancient Greece.

Liam Neeson Astonishing count: 1

March 4th

today in class we worked on a worksheet that we had to get answers for from a video. I also am keeping track of how many times Liam Neeson says 'astonishing' so far its one.

Cyber Day

Today we had a cyber day so we weren't really in school. We had to work on our tv commercials for Athens and Sparta. I picked Sparta.