Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Final post 10

      I learned a lot of things this semester. Out off all the topics we learned the thing i most got out of this course is how to find very good sources very quickly and easily. I understand how important it is to have valid sources and that if you dont your entire argument can fall apart. I also learned about a lot new websites to use as sources that i had never used before like infotrac and bbc. That is the most memorable thing i got out of this course

Final Post 9

      Leonardo Davincci bes represents the idea of the renaissance man.The illegitimate son of a 25-year-old notary, Ser Piero, and a peasant girl, Caterina, Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. His father took custody of the little fellow shortly after his birth, while his mother married someone else and moved to a neighboring town. They kept on having kids, although not with each other, and they eventually supplied him with a total of 17 half sisters and brothers (http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html). 
        Leoonardo was a great artist and inventor. Many of his paintings are still world famous such as his classic painting, the mona lisa. He was also the first person to dream up certain invention that were way ahead of his time. In his studies they have found drawing of tanks and airplanes. Leonardo was the spitting image of the Renaissance and whenever i think of who made the biggest contribution to that time period i will always think of him.

Final Post 8

      The style of Romanesque and  Gothic Cathedrals varies grealty. Romanesque Cathedrals were built more like massive forts or castles. They were able to defend themselves better because they were built in a period accustomed to a lot of war. There were towers with arrow slits and baracaded doors. Cathedrals were able to defend themselves.
     Gothic Cathedrals were more artsy and were not very strong. They had glass windows and since there were not many wars people did not need to use them to defend themselves. These Cathedrals were much more pretty.









Picture Bibliography

(figure one) Cathedral of Salmanca, facade, 11th century Shttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Cathedral_of_Salamanca_Romanesque.jpg/750px-Cathedral_of_Salamanca_Romanesque.jpg, 15 October, 2006 

(figure two) San Zeno, facade, 13th century http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/San_Zeno1.JPG/800px-San_Zeno1.JPG, 21 january 2006

(figure three) Rose Window, Inside, 13th century, http://www.visitingdc.com/images/rose-window.jpg, 13 June, 2000

(figure four) Gothic Cathedral, facade, 14th century http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/P-Gothic-cathedral.png, 9 june 2009

(figure five) Situacio catedral romanica, floorplan, 14th century
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Situaci%C3%B3_catedral_rom%C3%A0nica_Barcelona.png/567px-Situaci%C3%B3_catedral_rom%C3%A0nica_Barcelona.png, 30 october 2007

(figure six) Gothic Cathedral Parts, overview, 12th centuryhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Gothic-Cathedral-parts002.jpg/517px-Gothic-Cathedral-parts002.jpg, 7 February 2010

Final Post 7

       The black death stared when diseased rats aboard trade ships first entered
Europe. These rats were infected with disease fleas. When the ships landed the rats would run thought the town and by trade and travel quickly infected all of Europe. This meant extreme disease for all of Europe. The black death appears as massive black bruises and zits all over the body. It causes the victim extreme pain and exhaustion. if i were a midevel physician i would first clean the body and get all the fleas off of the person and shave their heads. Then i would pop the zits and drain all the infected puss out of the body. Then i would help sterilize the open wounds and hope that the body can remain disease free long enough to fully heal. If a plague like this were to hit contemporary america would first go to hospitals but our doctors and scientist would quickly be able to find a cure and we would be able to fight the spread by limiting our travel. 

Final Post 6

http://samwiki1.wikispaces.com/

     These Crusade are unjust! We have had control over Jerusalem first and these English dogs have no reason to invade us. This is our land and i would like other countries to help us destroy these English armies! 
      If the English offered to compromise i would be more than willing to oblige. Our religions are very similar and we would allow Christian pilgrims to worship in our holy city unharmed. However if they try to start a war than we shall finish it.
                                                                                                                                     Sincerely,
                                                                                                                                        Salidin.

Final Post 5

“Is it fair to say the United States is the modern day equivalent of the Roman Empire?”




The United States is the modern day equivalent of the Roman Empire. The United states and the Roman Empire had many similar issues such as inflation, starvation, and unemployment.
Both the United States and the Roman empire needed money. As you can see in this article http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_BN&ref_pge=gal&b_pge=1 that the US relies on Federal funding. The United States, however is in a massive debt already to China and simply does not have enough money to pay for everything to function as well as it could. As a result the United States prints out more money and inflation occurs. The romans had this problem as well. Whenever the romans needed more money the simply made more coins. Then inflation occurred and the romans money became almost worthless as well. 
       The romans and the Americans also struggled with their farms. Almost all of our food comes from farms. In this article you can read about a farmer expanding his farm http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_AS&ref_pge=gal&b_pge=1. Farmers in the United States are the core to our civilization and yet we disregard them so highly. Without farms we could not survive but yet we over tax them and a result drive farms out of business. This results in a lack of food and people go hungrier easier. People cant afford to buy healthy food and turn to less healthy alternatists such as cheep McDonald food. The Romans also had a lack of food. Rome had these massive armies that needed to eat constantly. As a result Rome gave almost all of their food to them and many of their civiliians went hungry. Both Rome and the United states struggle to keep all of their citizens fully fed and healthy. 
       Romans and Americans also struggled with unemployment and jobs. As you can see from this article America has many unemployed workers. http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_OAN&ref_pge=gal&b_pge=1 Ever since the stock market crashed in the US mainly Americans don't have jobs. Rome's main job was a solder. The problem was after you became a soldier and you returned to your land you would see that there would be somebody new living there since you were away and could not deffend your property. This resulted in many homeless people. Both the Romans and the Americans sufferd from unemployed homeless people.
      The united states and rome had to deal with many similiar problems such as inflation, starvation, and unemployment. Because each of our great civilizations have similar issues i agree that it would be fare to classify them as the modern day equivalent of the Roman Empire. 



 Rugaber, Christopher S. "Nation Should Not Panic." Newseum | Newseum Home. Opelika-Auburn News, 08 June 2011. Web. 08 June 2011. <http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_OAN>.
Newspaper ArticleTagsEditDelete
 Walton, Val. "More Federal Money Coming." Newseum | Newseum Home. He Birmingham News, 08 June 2011. Web. 08 June 2011. <http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_BN>.
McCrelles, Patrick. "Bigger Is Better." Newseum | Newseum Home. The Anniston Star, 08 June 2011. Web. 08 June 2011. <http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=AL_AS>.

Final post 4

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sept_11_2001/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=September%2011&st=cse


this article helps demonstrate Herodotus style because it is strictly fact based. There are no opinions in this article and tells you exactly what happed. 


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/opinion/10iht-edcohen10.html?_r=1&ref=sept112001


This article is based of Thucydides point of view because it is mainly about this guys personal beliefs and opinion. There are some facts but it is very unique to the author.

Final Post 3

      The ancient Greeks and Romans had very different views on the afterlife. They both believed there was life after death but they had many different theories on what it was like.
       The ancient Greek views on the afterlife were very unique. There underworld, our version of hell, was deep beneath the earth where hades and his wife reined over all the damned people. The underworld was a  very awful place. The greeks beleived that when you died your sould left the body as a little breath.
       The Egyptians were very diffrent. If an Egyptian died they would burry them with all of their possessions in a massive tomb. They would remove all the organs and put them in jars becuase the beleived they were weighing the body down. Then the sould would enter a room and if the dead persons soul's hear is lighter than a feather they got into heaven but if it wasnt they had to keep trying before they could enter heaven.

Department of Greek and Roman Art. "Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece". InHeilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm (October 2003)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/

Final post 2

      The agriculture revolution helped develop cities. Since people did not have to follow animals everywhere to hunt. People were able to create housing and then more people would settle in one are around the farms. All of these farms opened up jobs and a stable way of living devolved. People could grow their own food themselves and civilizations started to form.  


<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;spn=39.780156,79.013672&amp;t=h&amp;msid=203253398899320816548.0004a53489eba671c5a7b&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;spn=39.780156,79.013672&amp;t=h&amp;msid=203253398899320816548.0004a53489eba671c5a7b&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Untitled</a> in a larger map</small>


Agriculture System Crashed!
       Due to some major national disasters the agriculture system has crashed! Massive flooding and hurricanes have wiped out all of our farms. There is a sever famine and people are raiding for food. Supermarkets have been raided and there is almost no food left. People are attempting to restart farms but the ground is so soaked nothing will grow. There are many riots and the president has gone into hiding. Since there is also no corn many other products that involve corn are also gone.
        Society is officially borken down. People are starting to form tribes and roam the land looking for certain types of food. Yes we have indeed gone back to the old days of hunter gather type lifestyles. If you have food i recommend you hide it as best you can because people will find it. These are indeed dark times for all of the World. 

View Untitled in a larger map

Final Post 1

http://todaysmeet.com/brainhumangeo

Monday, May 23, 2011

Worst Job

The job i would least want to have in middle ages would be a leach collector. If you were a leach collector you would walk  into a leach infested pond and allow leaches to grab onto your leg. You would have a leaches grab onto you and then you would take them off put them in water and sell them. Leaches were one of the most commonly used method of curing. The leaches would suck the "bad blood" out of the body leaving only the good healthy blood. The though of walking through a pond trying to get leaches  to attach to you would be awful and that is the job  i would least want to have in the middle ages.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Essay 9 final

      The black death really affected life in the Middle Ages. It affected the ecenomics, style, religion, and social structure. The black death was estimated to kill almost one third of  of Europe's population. It is important in understanding the culture of the Middle Ages to understand the black death. 
       The black death, or bubonic plague, greatly effected the economics of the Middle Ages  One of the main things this plague did was kill of many necessary workers. "The death of many workers created a labor shortage and a rise in wages. Many landowners commuted labor services to money rents in order to keep their tenants." (Dickerman, E.H.). Since the plague had killed many people they could not do their jobs. Since there were no people to work the jobs would not get done. Since these jobs weren't getting done the countries were loosing money in trade, and the cleanliness of their cities also became very poor. This effected many countries very negatively with their economics.
         The black death also greatly affected religion. Since many holy mad were dying also people lost their faith in god. This left churches understaffed, necessitated hasty recruiting of inferior priests, and accelerated the abuses of pluralism and nonresidence (wikipedia). If a holy man died of a plague that god sent then you might loose faith in your religion. It wouldn't make sense that someone who was so close to god would be punished. They were not aware that the plague was being transmitted by ticks that arrived from trade with infected countries. Many people turned away form Christian Healings and started using the old black magic or family remedies to try and rid themselves of the disease.
       The black death also affected the social structure of every country that became infected.  it is estimated that somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of Europe's population died in the years 1347–1350 (James, Tom). It is impossible to know exactly how many people died during the time of the plague. However, it is known that the plague killed many people and effected almost all of Medieval Europe of its time. Streets were littered with diseased body and people fleeing from the disease ended up carrying it and spreading it even more. If you lived in the time of this plague your chances of surviving were very slim.
         The black death, or bubonic plague, killed about one third of Europe's population. This effected almost all of Europe economically, religiously, and socially. The Bubonic plague completely changed Middle Ages culture of its time. It is important in understanding the effects of the black death if you are trying to understand the culture of the Middle Ages.




Sources:

Dickerman, E. H. (2011). Black Death. Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0049040-00
James, Professor Tom. "BBC - History - British History in Depth: Overview: The Middle Ages, 1154 - 1485." BBC - Homepage. BBC History, 2011. Web. 04 May 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/overview_middleages_01.shtml>.
"Black Death." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 May 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death>.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Essay 9 rough draft

        The black death really affected life in the Middle Ages. It affected the ecenomics, style, religion, and social structure. The black The black death was estimated to kill almost one thirds of  of Europe's population. It is important in understanding the culture of the Middle Ages to understand the black death. The black death is not important and dose not chand the culture of the Middle Ages.
       The black death, or bubonic plague, greatly effected the economics of the Middle Ages  One of the main things this plague did was kill of many necessary workers. "The death of many workers created a labor shortage and a rise in wages. Many landowners commuted labor services to money rents in order to keep their tenants." (Dickerman, E.H.). Since the plague had killed many people they could not do their jobs. Since there were no people to work the jobs would not get done. Since these jobs weren't getting done the countries were loosing money in trade, and the cleanliness of their cities also became very poor. This effected many countries very negatively with their economics. 
         The black death also greatly affected religion. Since many holy mad were dying also people lost their faith in god. This left churches understaffed, necessitated hasty recruiting of inferior priests, and accelerated the abuses of pluralism and nonresidence (wikipedia). If a holy man died of a plague that god sent then you might loose faith in your religion. It wouldn't make sense that someone who was so close to god would be punished. They were not aware that the plague was being transmitted by ticks that arrived from trade with infected countries. Many people turned away form Christian Healings and started using the old black magic or family remedies to try and rid themselves of the disease.
       The black death also affected the social structure of every country that became infected.  it is estimated that somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of Europe's population died in the years 1347–1350 (James, Tom). It is impossible to know exactly how many people died during the time of the plague. However, it is known that the plague killed many people and effected almost all of Medieval Europe of its time. Streets were littered with diseased body and people fleeing from the disease ended up carrying it and spreading it even more. If you lived in the time of this plague your chances of surviving were very slim.
         The black death, or bubonic plague, killed about one third of Europe's population. This effected almost all of Europe economically, religiously, and socially. The Bubonic plague completely changed Middle Ages culture of its time. It is important in understanding the effects of the black death if you are trying to understand the culture of the Middle Ages.




Sources:

Dickerman, E. H. (2011). Black Death. Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0049040-00
James, Professor Tom. "BBC - History - British History in Depth: Overview: The Middle Ages, 1154 - 1485." BBC - Homepage. BBC History, 2011. Web. 04 May 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/overview_middleages_01.shtml>.
"Black Death." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 May 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death>.


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Essay 2 Final Copy

        Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals are very different styles of architecture. Romanesque cathedrals and Gothic cathedrals expressed different understandings about religious theology. Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals did not express anything about religious theology.
        Romanesque Cathedrals expressed the fortitude of the Christian Religion. Their Cathedrals were designed as places as worship but were also almost like castles. If there were a state of emergency they could easily gather in the Cathedral and be defended. The walls of these Cathedrals were thick and made of stone so that they could withstand battery by fire and other attacks (figure 1). The cathedrals also had towers sits bells that could be rung but were also equipped with slits for archers (figure 2). These cathedrals were heavily protected because they were built in a time of war.
        Gothic Cathedrals were more arty. They were designed to "let the light in". They had big glass windows and the walls were not as thick (figure 4). They were very big as well but do not look as strong as many of the Roman Cathedrals.They had glass windows on all sides. That made the walls very thin and could easily be destroyed if someone tried too. These cathedrals were built at a time of peace and there was not need for the cathedrals to be able to withstand an attack.
          Romanesque Cathedrals floor plans are a lot less complicated (figure 5). They are designed like a cross but there are not many entrances or windows and would be easy to hold of attackers. A Gothic cathedral's floor plan (figure 6) is a lot more complex. There are windows everywhere and if someone was attempting to break in it would be a lot easier than trying to break into an old Romanesque Cathedral.
          Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals express many diffrent understandings of religious theology. Romanesque cathedrals are built for more safety and less artistic appeal because they were constructed in times of war. Gothic cathedrals have a lot of architecture and even though are not very defensive looking they did not have to be because they were not constructed while wars were raging.




Picture Bibliography

(figure one) Cathedral of Salmanca, facade, 11th century Shttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Cathedral_of_Salamanca_Romanesque.jpg/750px-Cathedral_of_Salamanca_Romanesque.jpg, 15 October, 2006 

(figure two) San Zeno, facade, 13th century http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/San_Zeno1.JPG/800px-San_Zeno1.JPG, 21 january 2006

(figure three) Rose Window, Inside, 13th century, http://www.visitingdc.com/images/rose-window.jpg, 13 June, 2000

(figure four) Gothic Cathedral, facade, 14th century http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/P-Gothic-cathedral.png, 9 june 2009

(figure five) Situacio catedral romanica, floorplan, 14th century
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Situaci%C3%B3_catedral_rom%C3%A0nica_Barcelona.png/567px-Situaci%C3%B3_catedral_rom%C3%A0nica_Barcelona.png, 30 october 2007

(figure six) Gothic Cathedral Parts, overview, 12th centuryhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Gothic-Cathedral-parts002.jpg/517px-Gothic-Cathedral-parts002.jpg, 7 February 2010

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Essay 2 rough draft

        Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals are very different styles of architecture. This is because these Cathedrals were built  Romanesque cathedrals and Gothic cathedrals expressed different understandings about religious theology. Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals did not express anything about religious theology.
        Romanesque Cathedrals expressed the fortitude of the Christian Religion. Their Cathedrals were designed as places as worship but were also almost like castles. If there were a state of emergency they could easily gather in the Cathedral and be defended. The cathedrals also had towers sits bells that could be rung but were also equipped with slits for archers (figure 2). These cathedrals were heavily protected because they were built in a time of war.
        Gothic Cathedrals were more arty. They were designed to "let the light in". They had big glass windows and the walls were not as thick (figure 4). They were very big as well but do not look as strong as many of the Roman Cathedrals. These cathedrals were built at a time of peace and there was not need for the cathedrals to be able to withstand an attack.
          Romanesque Cathedrals floor plans are a lot less complicated (figure 5). They are designed like a cross but there are not many entrances or windows and would be easy to hold of attackers. A Gothic cathedral's floor plan (figure 6) is a lot more complex. There are windows everywhere and if someone was attempting to break in it would be a lot easier than trying to break into an old Romanesque Cathedral.
          Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals express many diffrent understandings of religious theology. Romanesque cathedrals are built for more safety and less artistic appeal because they were constructed in times of war. Gothic cathedrals have a lot of architecture and even though are not very defensive looking they did not have to be because they were not constructed while wars were raging.





Picture Bibliography


(figure one) http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/513475855_f678b4ccf1.jpg
(figure two) http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/tupungato tupungato1002/tupungato100200149/6388945-romanesque-bell-tower-of-prato-cathedral-tuscany-italy.jpg
(figure three) http://jcolen.com/GothicCathedralKoln1.jpg
(figure four) http://www.visitingdc.com/images/rose-window.jpg
(figure five) http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSkEv9z5mYldzOfNABlNhgRzNRyGphPPl4somQrhWm0 661Z Ky8u&t=19
(figure six) http//www.thephylaxis.org/Images/williams/cathedral%20floor%20plan.
bmp

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Essay 1 Final Draft

         The roman empire was one of if not the greatest empire of all time. It had conquered almost all of the know world back during its time. However soon the empire started to do very badly. The Roman empire experienced many political and military problems which resulted in the fall of the Roman Empire. The roman empire evolved from its disaster into a new different type of empire during the end of its time.
        The great Roman empire had slowly started to decline. "This slow decline occurred over a period of approximately 320 years, culminating on September 4, 476, when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain. " (Wikipedia). This shows that the empire did slowly fall. It considers the main point of its collapse was the roman emperor Romulus Augustus was killed by a Germanic chief. This was considered the final collapsing point for the roman empire. They could never recover after that loss.
        The Roman empire fell due to many different factors. "There are adherents to single factors, but more people think a combination of such factors as Christianity, decadence, lead, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the Fall of Rome" (Gill, N.S.). This means that the empire fell due to a lot of small things put together. Such small problems such as these together completely undermined the Roman Empire. Especially their military problems since they could no longer defend themselves. There was no way they could defend all of their territories when they had little military power and whatever they conquered just got retaken over.
       The main reason the Roman Empire fell were, "military overreach, invasion by emboldened tribes of Huns and Visigoths from northern and central Europe, inflation, corruption and political incompetence." (Squires, Nick). This explains how another contributing factor to the fall was political incompetence. The romans were unable to govern all of their land after they conquered it from various regions. Once an opposing force came in to reconquer the land there was nothing they could do about it. The romans lost all of their land as easily as they had conquered it.
        The Roman empire experienced many political and military problems which resulted in the fall of the Roman Empire. There were many small things that went wrong with the roman empire from political insecurities, lack of wealth, there were many wars going on within the empire, and corruption amongst their leaders. The Roman empire declined and fell, transforming from one of the most large and strongest empires to one of the weakest.







Works cited in APA Format
Decline of the Roman Empire." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Apr.-May 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire>.
Gill, N.s. "Fall of Rome - Why Did Rome Fall." Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/romefallarticles/a/fallofrome.htm>.
Squires, Nick. "What Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire? - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Apr.-May 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8438599/What-led-to-the-fall-of-the-Roman-Empire.html>.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Essay 1 rough draft

Question: Did the Roman Empire 'decline and fall' or did it evolve into something new?



           The roman empire was one of if not the greatest empire of all time. It had conquered almost all of the know world back during its time. However soon the empire started to do very badly. The roman empire experience many problems and fell. Another commonly debate theory, however, is that the roman empire did not fall but just transformed into something else.
        The great Roman empire had slowly started to decline. "This slow decline occurred over a period of approximately 320 years, culminating on September 4, 476, when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain. " (Wikipedia). This shows that the empire did slowly fall. It considers the main point of its collapse was the roman emperor Romulus Augustus was killed by a Germanic chief. This was considered the final collapsing point for the roman empire. They could never recover after that loss.
        The Roman empire fell due to many different factors. "There are adherents to single factors, but more people think a combination of such factors as Christianity, decadence, lead, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the Fall of Rome" (Gill, N.S.). This means that the empire fell due to a lot of small things put together. Such small problems such as these together completely undermined the Roman Empire. Especially their military problems since they could no longer defend themselves. There was no way they could defend all of their territories when they had little military power and whatever they conquered just got retaken over.
       The main reason the Roman Empire fell were, "military overreach, invasion by emboldened tribes of Huns and Visigoths from northern and central Europe, inflation, corruption and political incompetence." (Squires, Nick). This explains how another contributing factor to the fall was political incompetence. The romans were unable to govern all of their land after they conquered it from various regions. Once an opposing force came in to reconquer the land there was nothing they could do about it. The romans lost all of their land as easily as they had conquered it.
       The roman empire fell, however others believe that it did not fall but actually just became something else. There were many small things that went wrong with the roman empire from political insecurities to lack of an army to defend its territory the roman empire was easily re taken from the people who had lost their land and the empire itself simply fell.
Works cited in APA Format
Decline of the Roman Empire." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Apr.-May 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire>.
Gill, N.s. "Fall of Rome - Why Did Rome Fall." Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/romefallarticles/a/fallofrome.htm>.
Squires, Nick. "What Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire? - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Apr.-May 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8438599/What-led-to-the-fall-of-the-Roman-Empire.html>.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Eleven-Point Critique (for peer reviews and grading of final drafts)

1. 5 paragraphs -- 5 to 7 sentences per paragraph.

2 Clear, coherent thesis statement expressing an opinion to be argued in the paper.

3. One quote or piece of sourcable evidence properly cited in APA format per body paragraph / proper in-text citation format

(author, date). APA format bibliography at end of paper. Use top-notch sources (BBC, Met Museum, Nat Geo, Internet History

Sourcebook, school-library based databases, etc.)

4. Four sentences per body paragraph analysis. This is your own analysis demonstrating how the evidence supports your thesis.

5. Solid conclusion demonstrating the validity of the argument.

6. Emphasis: Put strongest evidence in the fourth paragraph.

7. No 1st or 2nd person personal pronouns (I, we, us, me, my, myself, you, etc.)

8. Academic Tone: No slang, no contractions, make it coherent and readable.

9. Avoid generalizations -- give specific information; I'm not looking for you to write an "encyclopedia" article. I'm looking for

your ability to construct an academic argument.

10. Avoid unnecessary information: "more" quotes doesn't mean a "better" paper.

11. Original and honest writing voice and a creative and remarkable take on the subject.


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Stoicism Essay

      Seneca was a very close friend of Nero and Nero trusted him. Seneca showed great Stoicism even when he knew he was going to die. Stoicism is the ability to endure pain and hardship while retaining the ability to control one’s emotions. The death of sennaca is a good example of this.
           One of the last quotes that is a good example of this is. "Worn out by cruel anguish, afraid too that his sufferings might break his wife's spirit, and that, as he looked on her tortures, he might himself sink into irresolution, he persuaded her to retire into another chamber." (Tacitus). This showed that Seneca was tiering and he asked if he could die in another room. He did not want his wife to see him die. He acted like he was fine and was ready to accept death. This was very Stoic of him. 
      Another quote is, "Having spoken these and like words, meant, so to say, for all, he embraced his wife; then softening awhile from the stern resolution of the hour, he begged and implored her to spare herself the burden of perpetual sorrow, and, in the contemplation of a life virtuously spent, to endure a husband's loss with honourable consolations." (Tacitus). This shows that he was very Stoic as well. He also shows that he did not want his family to be sad either. He told them to be stoic. He told her to not be sorry. He showed a moment of weakness when he embraced her but he did not want her to mourn over him.
  One quote that demonstrates this is "Seneca, quite unmoved, asked for tablets on which to inscribe his will, and, on the centurion's refusal, turned to his friends, protesting that as he was forbidden to requite them, he bequeathed to them the only, but still the noblest possession yet remaining to him, the pattern of his life, which, if they remembered, they would win a name for moral worth and steadfast friendship” (Tacitus). This quote shows you how strong Seneca is even when he knows he is going to die. Seneca did not one the people around him to know that he was scared of death. He kept his composure and didn't show any change at all. This is a very good example of somebody being Stoic. 
       These quotes demonstrate how the death of Seneca was very stoic. Seneca showed a side of himself that was very noble and Stoic. Seneca bottled up all of his feelings and didnn't show any emotion at all. He just accepeted his punishment and moved on. Seneca accepted his punishment and did not yell out or disagree. Most people would be terrefied when faced with death. Seneca is a great example of stoicism. 


 Work Cited in APA Format

Tacitus, (1998). In Tacitus: The Death of Seneca, 65 CE. Retrieved Apr. 4, 2011, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/tacitus-ann15a.html 



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Week 6 Daily 1

Read Tacitus' description of the Death of Seneca and Book One of M. Aurelius' Meditations. Find quotes within those two texts that help explain what Stoicism is all about.


"Seneca, quite unmoved, asked for tablets on which to inscribe his will, and, on the centurion's refusal, turned to his friends, protesting that as he was forbidden to requite them, he bequeathed to them the only, but still the noblest possession yet remaining to him, the pattern of his life, which, if they remembered, they would win a name for moral worth and steadfast friendship. At the same time he called them back from their tears to manly resolution, now with friendly talk, and now with the sterner language of rebuke. 'Where,' he asked again and again, "are your maxims of philosophy, or the preparation of so many years' study against evils to come? Who knew not Nero's cruelty? After a mother's and a brother's murder, nothing remains but to add the destruction of a guardian and a tutor.'"

"Having spoken these and like words, meant, so to say, for all, he embraced his wife; then softening awhile from the stern resolution of the hour, he begged and implored her to spare herself the burden of perpetual sorrow, and, in the contemplation of a life virtuously spent, to endure a husband's loss with honourable consolations. She declared, in answer, that she too had decided to die, and claimed for herself the blow of the executioner. There upon Seneca, not to thwart her noble ambition . . ."

"Nero meanwhile, having no personal hatred against Paulina and not wishing to heighten the odium of his cruelty, forbade her death. At the soldiers' prompting, her slaves and freedmen bound up her arms, and stanched the bleeding, whether with her knowledge is doubtful."

"Worn out by cruel anguish, afraid too that his sufferings might break his wife's spirit, and that, as he looked on her tortures, he might himself sink into irresolution, he persuaded her to retire into another chamber."



Sources:
Bunson, Matthew, A Dictionary of the Roman Empirepage 382
Fitch, John (2008). Seneca. City: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 32