Blog Day Forty-Six: Patricians Vs. Plebeians

Today for class we were asked to answer two questions. Here are my answers.

What were the main differences between Roman plebeians and patricians?
Roman plebeians were the common people of Rome, they were the farmers, artisans, and merchants that made up most of the Roman population. Whereas, Roman patricians were the upper class citizens of Rome, the wealthy landowners who held most of the political power in Rome. One main difference between these two groups in Rome was their roles in the Republic. The patricians held all the major leadership roles and also made laws so that plebeians were unqualified for those positions. Plebeians were allowed to make their own assembly so that they were protected against unfair laws that the patricians made against them. Another difference would be the amount of money each group had. As the upper class citizens, the patricians had more money and usually money equals power, which would explain why they were allowed to have so uhc of it in the Republic. The plebeians would money, but not as much as the patricians would have. The difference between these two group can still be seen in today's culture.
What were the Greek versions of patricians and plebeians?
The Greek versions of the patricians were the aristocrats in Greek society. The aristocrats were the rich and elite members of society. They were also the members of the ruling class. The plebeians of Greek society were called non-aristocratic, or middle class Athenians. Those that were included in that title were free male property owners, only 1/5 of the population. Like the plebeians, the non-aristocratic citizens in Greece had to follow all the laws that the aristocrats made. The aristocrats and middle class citizens of Greece were very similar to the patricians and plebeians of Rome.

Blog Day Forty-Five: Rome Vocab Words

Today we were asked to type out the definitions for the chapter we read yesterday. Thankfully I already wrote out these definitions in my notebook yesterday, so all I have to do today is type them out!

Republic- a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders.
Patrician- wealthy landowners who held the most power and leadership roles in the republic, the "1st class citizens."
Plebeian- the farmers, artisans, and merchants that made up most of the population, the "Commoners."
Tribune- assemblies elected by the plebeians to protect the rights of plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials.
Consul- an official that commanded the army and directed the government, would rule in pairs.
Senate- aristocratic branch in ROme's government that had both legislative and administrative functions in the republic.
Dictator- a leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army.
Legions- made of 5,000 heavily armed infantry and behind was a group of calvary, they were split into smaller groups called centuries.
Punic Wars- Rome vs. Carthage, fought three wars, lasted from 264-146 B.C.E.
Hannibal- a brilliant military strategist who wanted to avenge Carthage's earlier defeat from Rome.

Happy Tuesday!

Blog Day Forty-Four: My Greece Test Essay Question

For today's assignment we were asked to create our own essay prompt and essay outline.
Prompt: Explain how the Athenian Plague affected Pericles' war plan for Athens.
Outline:
First Paragraph- I would explain Pericles' plan. He wanted to keep Athens on lock down and all the citizens inside of the Athenian walls. The city-state would recive shipments of the supplies they needed to survive inside the walls.
Second Paragraph- I would explain how the plague got to Athens. The fleets were the only contact Athens had with the outside world at the time. I would explain how the fleets brought Athens the plague.
Third Paragraph-  I would explain what the plague's symptoms were. How 1/3 of Athens population died from it.
Fourth Paragraph- I would explain how Pericles was infected. I would explain how even citizens who didn't like Pericles realized that he was holding Athens together, and after his death Athens was left with unrest.
Final Paragraph- Explain how Pericles had a good plan to protect Athens, only he could not have predicted a plague like this to ruin his plan.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Blog Day Forty-Three: Objective Test Questions

Today for our class work we were asked to create five objective test questions, because if we were in school our test on Greece would being coming up soon. Here are my questions:

1. What was not one of Pericles' three goals of Athens?
A. Hold and strengthen Athens' empire
B. Dominate the world
C. Strengthen Athens democracy
D. Glorify Athens
2. What Greek god was the god of music, arts, and knowledge?
A. Aphrodite
B. Poseidon
C. Demeter
D. Apollo
3. What was the technological marvel, rowed by 170 men on 3 levels, being one of the fastest ships at the time named?
A. The Trireme
B. The Phalanx
C. The Titanic
D. The Cavalry
4. Fill in the blank:         was the first Great Philosopher who taught         , who then taught        .
A. Plato, Alexander, Aristotle
B. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato
C. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
D. Alexander, Plato, Socrates
5. Who was the ruler who continually conquered the known world during his rule, but never pushed his beliefs on his conquered cities?
A. Darius III
B. Alexander the Great
C. Xerxes
D. Philip II

Those are my objective questions for my Greece test. Have a great weekend!

Blog Day Forty-Two: Plato's Worst Ideas

Today we were asked to answer a few questions about the video we watched today. The video was about Plato's best and worst ideas. It was a nice short video, but filled with tons of information.

1. How did Plato define The Forms?

Plato define The Forms as the ideal versions of the things and concepts we see around us. They serve as an instruction manual to our own world. In my eyes, The Forms are everyone's perspective of the things around us. It is how we see world. One example in the video was the ideal tree. Everyone has a different image of the ideal tree in our minds, but finding the true perfect tree is the whole ideas of Plato's Forms. 

2. Who are the three groups in Plato's ideal Society? 

In Plato's perfect utopia, there are three groups; the producers, the military, and the rulers. Back In Plato's day these groupings may have been acceptable, but today I think there are too many jobs in the world to categorize people in these three groups. I also think the groups are biased. Since Plato believed in philosopher rulers, he set them in a separate group, along with the military, a.k.a. the people who will protect him/ all the rulers. Then Plato categorized all the common people as producers, when potentially all their jobs didn't always produce something. 

3. What were Plato's thoughts on women?

Plato believed that women could rule the perfect society he was imagining. But he also compared woman to children in some of his philosophies. Plato thought that women's womb was a live-animal in their bodies that could move around the body and cause illness. As the video said, sadly this philosophy was used by many European medicine traditions for hundreds of years after. Although I am glad he believed women could rule in his ideal society, it disappoints me that he compared women to children and thought our womb was a live-animal. 

4. What was the Noble Lie that Plato proposed? 

The Noble Lie was that we were all born with gold, silver, and a mixture of brass and iron in our souls. Plato believed that the amount of each element we had in our soul determined our roles in life. I found it interesting that many people credit this idea to propaganda and Plato's thought of philosopher kings to the dictators that use propaganda. I understand why people would believe this because we all would want our souls to be filled with the "good" elements like gold and silver. I wonder if Plato used this philosophy to convince people to do things for him, or to convince them to be a better version of themselves. 

It was really cool to learn about all the different ideas Plato had, good and bad. And I miss our class time discussing these ideas!

Blog Day Forty-One: Alex and Bucephalus, the Poem

For today's assignment we were asked to write a poem. I choose to *attempt* to write an iambic pentameter about Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus. Enjoy!

Only Alex could ride the horse into
Battle Bucephalus was hard to tame
Alex realize he could tame the creature
Turning the horse away from his shadow
Towards the sun Alex mounted and rode
The horse away from the assembly
Bucephalus was the moment in the
young Alexander's life where the boy be
Came the king to rule for life with the horse
By his side in every battle fought by
Alex and with his united kingdom
Alex rode on his horse until the steed
Passed on to a better new world where the
Horse with a star on his head could relax
Respect was paid by naming a city
Bucephala after the great war horse
Alex the Great and his war horse could not
Have lived without the other and were truly
Made to live and serve each other for life

Blog Day Fourty! Happy Spring Break

We were not required to write a blog today. But I hope everyone has a great break and I will be keeping in mind what Mr. Schick wrote about on his blog today over the break. Happy Easter!

Blog Day Thirty-Nine: Classical Greek Architecture

Today our assignment is to find two pictures of classic Greek Architecture and write a few sentences about them.

This is an image of the Temple of Hera. It was dedicated to in the 5th century BCE. You can tell it was built well because most of the temple is still standing. The temple was planned out well because most of the supports are still standing, which shows that the builders built the temple to last a long time.

This is an image of a Corinthian capital. Just by looking at the stone, you can tell it took a lot of time to make. All the detail in the stone, makes it pleasing to the eye. This type of stone would be put at the top of a column for better support of the roof.

Sources

Cartwright, Mark. "Corinthian Capital." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 26 Apr 2012. Web. 02 Apr 2020. 

Cartwright, Mark. "Temple of Hera, Selinus." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 29 Apr 2014. Web. 01 Apr 2020.

Blog Day Thirty-Eight: Ancient Greek Drama

Today in (cyber) class we were told to answer three questions.

• Describe the types of dramas that were performed in the theaters of Ancient Greece.  

There were two main type of drama performed in Greek theaters. One was a type as a tragedy. A tragic play is a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, and betrayal. These types of plays would feature a main character that often had a tragic flaw. That flaw would eventually lead to the character's downfall, and a tragic ending to the play. The other type of drama was a comedy. A comedic play was filled with scenes of slapstick situations and crude humor. The storylines often made fun of Greek politics and respected people, along with ideas of the time. Comedies and Tragedies were the two types of drama performed in the theaters of Ancient Greece.  

• Describe the ways your production resembled ancient Greek productions. 

I performed in the dance recital, in December, for JCS. As written in the text, we had elaborate costumes and dramatized dancing. Each dance had its own separate message/ theme, kind of like the separate scenes in the plays performed in Greece. Just like a drama, we performed to showcase our artform and present it to others. We performed up on stage, like a drama would in ancient Greece. Also we performed for others entertainment, just like Greek citizens did for the wealthy members of their society. 

• Describe an image of an Ancient Greek theatre. 
   

The theatre looks like a huge amphitheatre. Unlike the JCS stage, the audience sits above the performers in this theatre. The theatre seems like it is big enough to fit the entire population of Greece. It is open to nature, so plays could occur in  nice weather.