Letter to Future Brenna

Dear Brenna (Me),
As I write this letter I am told that forty-fifty year old me would be reading it. That's pretty cool and I bet I am just as awesome. Right now we are currently experiencing a global pandemic and the USA is leading the world in cases. We account for 1/6, almost 2/6, of the world's cases of COVID-19. I feel like everyday I hear about someone new that I know who tested positive. It is scary not only because of how much of an impact it has had, but also because I feel as though I have no knowledge of what the future may hold. Just this time last year I was hanging out with my friends, I would have never ever guessed this scenario. It makes me worried for what even the next few months could hold for me. I feel very uncertain in almost everything that I deal with now. It took me out of school which significantly affected my work ethic and grades. It has caused so much stress in my life. I am hoping that everything will be back to normal soon. I think next school year will be weird because we will probably have to wear masks. I wonder if next year, on snow days, we will do online learning instead. I would like doing online learning for snow days because it means less time taken from summer. I'm not really sure what is going to happen, but I have a certain hope and positiveness in my gut. I think everything will turn out nice and maybe even better than before. I think great things are coming for our country and its people. I hope that I will be able to look back on these words and agree. Hopefully our country and world grows from all that is happening currently and it becomes a greater place for our children and so on.

43 - 52 Slides

Caesar's grandnephew, and adopted son, takes over his place at age 18 with another triumvirate of his own. His allies are Mark Antony, an experienced general, and Lepidus, who was a powerful politician. This is Rome's second triumvirate. Octavian forces Lepidus, who is now weak, to retire. Octavian and Mark Antony become massive rivals and Mark Antony begins a relationship with Cleopatra both personally, militarily, politically, and economically. Octavian inevitably defeats them in a battle at Actium. Octavian becomes the unchallenged ruler of Rome, he was given the title of "Augustus" which meant exalted one. He also was given the title of "imperator" which meant supreme military commander and from that is where we got the word emperor. Rome now becomes an empire and is no longer a republic. He ruled for 40 years from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D., his reign become the start to a stable era for Rome. This period of peace and prosperity known as Pax Romona,  and it lasted for 207 years from 27 B.C. to 180 A.D.. He expanded Roman territory into Africa, he made it so civil service ran the government: building network roads, collecting taxes, establishing a postal service, administering the grain supply, building awesome public facilities such as buildings and aqueducts, setting up a police department, and running a fire-fighting organization. After all this he finally passed away due to natural causes. After Octavian's death power begun to be passed down through emperors. Tiberius ruled from 14 A.D. to 37 A.D., he was an incredible general, but a reluctant emperor. When his died he exiled himself from Rome and left his perfects in charge, he then died at age 77. Caligula ruled from 37 A.D. to 41 A.D., he took charge after winning a power struggle   to succeed Tiberius, he was known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity. He was assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and imperial court who were trying to reinstate the Roman Republic. Their efforts did not work and Claudius took over from 41 A.D. to 54 A.D.. He suffered many disabilities including: a limp, stammering, shaking, and slobbering. This could have possibly been a result of cerebral palsy. He took over because he was the last adult male in the family, he ruled well. He had roads, aqueducts, and canals built, he also started a conquest of Britain. He was sadly poisoned by his wife so that her son Nero could take over the throne. Nero ruled from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D., he emphasized the arts and wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic. Rome suffered a huge fire in 64 A.D. while under his rule even though he didn't fiddle. He overspent Roman money and even raided temples in an effort to collect more. He is not to popular with historians.

More Slides

I will be taking the test from 8:00 A.M. to 8:50 A.M. on June 2.

The government kept the plebeians alive and distracted by feeding them bread and by giving them circuses, or entertainment. Tiberius Gracchus was able to see how pleasing the plebeians could help him, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. Military generals ended up using this idea though, they had an army that would conquer the lands and share in their riches. This kept the soldiers more loyal to their commanders however, and not the Roman Republic. Julius Cesar was a highly successful general who lived from 100 - 44 B.C., he conquered lots of Gaul. He appeased the commoners while also forming alliances in high places, such as Crassus and Pompey, they went on to form the first triumvirate. Cesar began to gain more and more power, he served on consul for one year and then appointed himself as governor of Gaul. Pompey then became very jealous, to the point that they became enemies, and their armies fought in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt with Cesar eventually winning. In 44 B.C. he was named dictator for six months and then for life. His reforms included granting citizenship ship to people living in provinces, expanding the senate (adding friends), creating  jobs for the poor mainly through public work projects, increased soldiers pays, and made colonies where people without land could own land. He was then assassinated because the senators felt that his rising power was a huge threat,  they killed him by luring him into the senate and stabbing him 23 times. Evan Brute orchestrated it and none of the guilty party were punished for their crimes. Octavian was named his sole heir and this essentially marked the end of the Roman republic.

Four Day Weekend!! WOOHOO

For my essay I decided to write about option A because it seems most interesting and comprehensible to me. I think it will be fun to research and write about!

Tuesday's Blog

The Roman Empire

Main Idea: The creation of the Roman Empire transformed by Roman government, society, economy, and culture.
Why it Matters: The Roman Empire has served throughout history as a model of political organization and control.
Terms & Names: 
Civil War - conflict between groups within the same country.
Julius Caesar - military leader from 60 B.C..
Triumvirate - a group of three rulers.
Augustus - Octavian eventually accepted this name meaning "exalted one".
Pax Romana - period of peace and prosperity meaning "Roman peace".

General Notes:
When Rome began to grow economically the gap between rich and poor also began to grow larger and larger. The rich often had large farmlands and huge estates that they lived on, people they had captured and enslaved from war were forced to work on these lands. By 100 B.C. slaves made up 1/3 of Roman population. Small farmers struggled competing with the rich and a good number of them were forced to sell their land to the wealthy, a lot of these small farmers were former soldiers as well. Many of them ended up becoming jobless and homeless. Tiberius and Gaius Garcchus tried to help the poor by proposing reforms that limited the sizes of estates and gave extra back to the poor. They made some powerful enemies with senators who felt threatened by their new ideas and they both met violent deaths, Tiberius in 133 B.C. and Gaius in 121 B.C.. A period of civil war followed soon after their deaths. Including the growing problems within the republic the once extremely loyal military began to break down and uprise. As their republic began to fall apart generals started taking land for themselves. They recruited soldiers by promising the homeless land and they worked for pay. These soldiers only had loyalty to their commander, they started to replace the soldiers how fought out of loyalty to their republic. It became possible for a military leader supported by his troops to take up power. Julius Cesar comes in around 60 B.C. and joins forces with two others, Crassus and Pompey. Crassus was a wealthy Roman and Pompey was a popular general. Caesar was elected in 59 B.C. with their help and for the next ten years they ruled as a triumvirate. Caesar was a very strong leader and genius military strategist, following consul tradition he only served for one, but then appointed himself as governor of Gaul, now France. This lasted from 58 B.C. to 50 B.C. Caesar led his legion to a grueling, but ultimately successful campaign to conquer all of Gaul. His men were loyal and devoted because Caesar understood and shared in their struggles during war. As Caesar became more popular with the people Rome, his now rival Pompey became worried of all his ambitions and began urging the senate to disband Caesars legions and order him to come home. In 50 B.C. they followed his pleas and order Caesar to disband and come home. Caesar deciding to go against this, marched into Rome on the night of January 10th, 59 B.C. causing Pompey to flee and he later defeated Pompey's troops in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. In 46 B.C. Caesar returned to Rome and with large support from the military and the masses he was elected dictator and in 44 B.C. elected dictator for life. Caesar governed as one absolute leader, he started many reforms, such as granting Roman citizenship to many people from the provinces, he expanded the senate adding friends and representatives from Italy etc., he created more jobs especially by construction of many buildings, he made colonies for people without land so they could own property, and he put more money into the pay of soldiers. Nobles and senators expressed fear in Caesar's growing popularity because they believed that this would take away power from them. Some senators led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius plotted his assassination, on March 15th, 44 B.C. Julius was stabbed to death in the senate chamber. Another civil war broke out following Caesar's death which essentially destroyed the remains of the Roman Republic. Octavian, Caesar's grandnephew, took control with two others and became the second triumvirate, ruling Rome for ten years. They ended in rivalry however, with Octavian forcing Lepidus to retire and becoming enemies with Mark Antony. Octavian accused Mark Antony of trying to rule Rome from Egypt after he followed his love Cleopatra there. A civil war broke out and Octavian defeated both Mark Antony's and Cleopatra's combined forces and becomes the unchallenged ruler of Rome. Cleopatra and Mark Antony later committed suicide. Octavian accepts the title of "Augustus" and "imperator" as well which means supreme military ruler. Rome met its peak at the beginning of Augustus' rule from 27 B.C. to 180 A.D.. For 207 years Rome had a peaceful reign except for small discretions among tribes along the border. They were able to hold their peace through a stable government and able rulers. Augustus was their most able leader, he glorified Rome by expanding their frontier and building magnificent buildings. After Augustus' death the government he placed helped keep the empire stable for many years. About 90% of the population of the Roman Empire was engaged in agriculture. Most Romans survived on local produce. Rome had a large trading network which stemmed from the mediterranean to China and India. Slavery was a big part of the economy in ancient Rome and it was heavily relied on. Most of their slaves came from conquering different nations and bringing their people back with them. Their masters had complete control over their slaves and they could punish or reward as they saw fit. The slaves were treated poorly and worked hard and intensive days. Slaves of more wealthy owners were treated better than others. Early Romans worshipped divine spirits called numina. In Rome their government and religions were linked to one another. The rich and poor classes were very different during these times, they lived almost nothing alike. The rich lived extravagant and wasteful lives whereas the poor were living day to day on rations of grains from the government and the rich were spending loads of money on new houses. To distract people from the corruption the government held games, mock battles, and various forms of entertainment for its people. During the Pax Romana the religion of Christianity began to pop up in their culture.

Doing My Blog Before Midnight!!!!

Today I am taking notes on slides 23-31!

A Roman legion was an heavy elite infantry with 5,000 soldiers, all exclusively being Roman citizens. They were not init for the pay and they had a sword, a dagger, and  armor with a tunic. A group of eighty soldiers was a century and if they rode on horseback it was called a calvary. The Punic Wars was Rome vs. Carthage, it lasted from 264 B.C. to 146 B.C., and consisted of three wars. The First Punic War started in 264 B.C. and luted until 241 B.C.. It was a series of naval battles over the control of the island of Sicily, Rome was the victor. The Second Punic War started in 218 B.C. and went until 201 B.C.. Carthaginian general Hannibal, who was 29 years old at the time, and almost did what was considered impossible, taking over Rome. He attacked from the north after crossing Iberia, AKA Spain, and the Alps. He invaded the peninsula and laid siege for 15 years, but was never able to get to Rome. The Third, and final, Punic War lasted from 149 B.C. to 146 B.C. when Rome finally decided they wanted to remove the threat that Carthage posed. Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others brutally attacked the city. Carthage burned for 17 days and the city walls and buildings were obliterated. When they ended the war they sold the last 50,000 citizens into slavery. The rest of Carthage's land was annexed and made into Roman provinces of Africa. Slaves came flooding into Rome, the 50,000 Carthaginians and 150,000 Greek POWs, and by the end of the second century B.C. there were over a million slaves in Italy. Small farmers would lose their land to the aristocrats for little or no money when they couldn't pay off their debts, sometimes they took it because the owners were off fighting battles. Slaves worked on the farms of the rich and the big farms became massive estates that were called latifundia. Basically the rich were just becoming more and more wealthy.

Chi Cago 9-12

Tarquin seized power like a tyrant, the story is that Tarquin's Grandfather dies and his widow likes Servius Tulias a lot and names him as king. He has two daughters one of which marry Tarquin and the other his brother. One of the sisters, Tullia, murder both her sister and his brother and is free to marry Tarquin. Tullia persuades Tarquin into stealing the throne from her father. Tarquin sits on the throne and declared himself king. S. T. tried to object, but was thrown down the stairs into the street and inevitably assassinated by Tarquin. Tullia hails Tarquin, but he sends her home for safety. As Tullia is riding home she spots her father's body in the street, takes the reigns of her carriage and runs over his body. Tarquin refused to ever dispose of or bury S. T.'s and would murder and senators who objected. Later on Tarquin's son, Sextus, tried to force himself onto a girl, Lucretia, and when she rejects his advances he threatens to kill her and cover it up by saying she was found in the arms of a slave. She gave into the threats, and afterwards confesses everything to his family and commits suicide. Tarquin originally tried to hide it and keep it away from public eye, but this didn't go over well as the people of Rome began to rebel and had the family expelled from Rome. The people's surprise at the family's awful behavior shaped the Roman's into the belief that they shall never be subject to a harsh king's rule ever again. They were able to maintain this for many centuries.