My Last Blog // Letter to my future self

Dear old Gabby,

This year has been one of the most surpring and craziest years ever!!!(and it is only the beginning of the year). The beginning of the school year was pretty normal and fun. I made a lot of friends, played soccer, joined a few clubs, and more. Everything was going good until 2020 started. Everyone on social media said it was going to be the best year ever, but they were horribly wrong. First, corona virus started in Wuhan,China causing thousands of people to die. The Corona virus spread throughout the world and has infected thousands of people. It has effected millions and billions of people though by making countries lock-down and telling people to stay inside. It was also weird that our last day of school was Friday the 13th. We have been shut down for longer than summer break usually goes, so about more than 3 months. My first bizarre experience was going to a normal store and having to wear a mask while social distancing. Even three to four months in, it still feels surreal. I hope that we can still have a little bit of our summer because I really want to hang out with my friends and have fun. I also wanted to travel, but those travel plans might have to wait awhile. Online school is a lot more work than regualr school, and a lot more unhealthy. I have to sit in front of a screen for hours trying to finish my school work everyday. I hope summer is just fun and I can work out a lot more. Next year, I hope that things will calm down and I can go to physical school again, although that might not happen. I just want to have a fun and normal high school experience. Sports and other activites have also been cancelled for awhile and I hope I can play those again soon. There have also been other problems like murder hornets, protests, and fires so hopefully when you are reading this it is better. I just hope you stay safe and remember to have fun with people because you never know what will happen in the future☺☺☺☺.

emperor's groove

Last Blog, I talked about Caesar's rule and how the senators murdered him, but today I will talk about the aftermath. Caesar had a grandnephew and adopted son named Octavian who , at age 18, formed his own triumvirate with general Mark Antony and politician Lepidus. Ten years after this triumvirate defeated Brutus and Cassius's army, Octavian started to get power-hungry. Octavian starts gaining power by forcing Lepidus to retire, and then becoming rivals with Mark Antony. Octavian defeated Antony, who was partnered up with Cleopatra, in the battle of Actium. Mark and Cleopatra ended up both committing suicide. Octavian became ruler of Rome, and was re-named Augustus which means "exalted one". He was also given the title imperator which meant he was in charge of the military. The senators didn't know it, but their decision to kill Caesar still ended up in the republic falling. Rome became an empire. Augustus ruled for 40 years and started Pax Romana. Pax Romana is the era of peace and prosperity Rome had. This era lasted 207 years. This era started because of some of the great things Augustus did for Rome like: he Expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa, he set up civil service to run the government/empire, built a network of roads, collected taxes, established a postal service, administered the grain supply, built awesome public buildings & aqueducts, set up a police department, and ran a fire-fighting organization. After Octavian/Augustus's death, many emperors came after. Tiberius was an excellent general, but he did not take his emperor position seriously, After his sons death, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge. Another crazy emperor is Caligula who became emperor after he won a power struggle for Tiberius's power. He was an insane tyrant who ruled harshly. He only ruled for four years before he was assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court, trying to re-establish the Republic. The empire continued with Claudius who suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, and slobbering. Historians think this could've been because he had cerebral palsy. Claudius was forced to rule because he was the last adult male in his family, but he ruled well because he built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain. He soon poisoned by his wife because she wanted her son Nero to rule. Nero from 54 to 68 AD, and centered his rule around the arts. The was a huge fire in Rome around 64 AD, but Nero didn't give it much thought. He wanted to build Rome to be majestic, but he overspent and had to raid temples to pay for the building costs. If only the Senators had not killed Caesar....

Caesar salad

My class ,Honors 201, tests from 1:25-2:15 pm on Tue Jun 2. 

The Roman government appealed to the plebeians by giving them grain from the state and entertainment. The grain helped to keep them alive and somewhat happy, while the entertainment from the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum kept them alive, quiet, and distracted. Tiberius Gracchus was a ruler who saw the potential of plebeians, but did not win their favor. The plebeians started to join certain parts of the military and become loyal to their generals because the generals offered them some land and riches. Julius Caesar was a successful general and conquered all of Gaul. Julius Caesar formed the First Triumvirate with general Pompey and rich man Crassus. Caesar becoeme a consul for one year and then appointed himself govenor of Gual because he rightfully conqured it. Because of this, Pompey became his rival and Caesar’s armies clashed with Pompey’s in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. Caesar best Pompey and named himself dictator for a few months in 44 B.C., but later named himself dictator for life. Caesar made great reforms like granted citizenship to people in provinces, expanded the Senate, adding his friends, created jobs for the poor, especially through public works projects, increased pay for soldiers, and started colonies where those without land could own property. The senators thought that they would lose their political power because of Caesar so killed him by luring him to a room and stabbing him 23 times. The senators didn't know it yet, but they would soon truly be out of their jobs and face the new triumvirate.

Essay A

I will do essay A. Compare and contrast the government of ancient Rome with the government of the modern-day United States.

Rome Notes pg.160-165

• Main Idea: The creation of the Roman empire transformed Roman government, society, economy, and culture.
• Why it Matters Now: The Roman empire has served throughout history as a model of political organization and control

1. The Republic Collapses

• As Rome grew, the gap between the rich and the poor grew as the rich had more land and lots of slaves. By 100 B.C., slaves probably made up around 1/3 of Rome's population.
• Small farmers, some were past soldiers, couldn't compete with the large slave-run farms so they sold their land and became poor. This became a big problem, so the tribunes and brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus proposed reforms to give the poor some land. 
• Since Tiberius and Gaius made lots of enemies while pushing for reforms, Tiberius was violently killed in 133 B.C., and Gaius was violently killed in 121 B.C. This started a civil war, which is conflict between groups within the same country.
• As conflict started, military generals would rise up for more power and soldiers would only be loyal to their general because of the promise of land and pay. 
• In 60 B.C., a military leader named Julius Caesar, with the help of a rich man named Crassus and a general named Pompey, was elected consul and the three dominated Rome as a triumvirate, a group of three leaders.
• After his one year as a consul, Caesar named himself governor of Gaul and led a successful conquest to capture it all in 58-50 B.C. Pompey, his now political rival, saw he was getting popular and pushed for the Senate to tell Caesar to disband his legions.
• Caesar didn't listen and went back to Rome to defeat Pompey's army in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. In 46 B.C., the senate appointed Caesar dictator and two years later he was named dictator for life.
•  Even with absolute power, Caesar made reforms like giving more people Roman citizenship, adding more people to the Senate from different regions, and giving jobs to the poor, while increasing military pay. 
• On March 15th 44 B.C., Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius led a group of senators to stab Caesar because they thought he was becoming a tyrant. Because of this, there was another civil war between the new triumvirate, Caesar's adopted son Octavius, military general Mark Antony, and politician Lepidus; and Brutus and Cassius. The new triumvirate ruled for ten years, but then Octavius made Lepidus retire and he started war against Antony. Octavius beat Antony, because Antony may have been a little distracted by Cleopatra, and Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. 
• Octavius was re-named Augustus, which means "exalted one", and he was an unchallenged ruler.

2. A vast and powerful Empire

• Augustus started a period of peace in Rome known as "Pax Romana", and it lasted for 207 years because of the great government system Augustus implemented. Augustus was Rome's ablest ruler and he did many things like increased pay of civil workers, made public buildings, stabilized the frontier, and more. 
• The Romans managed to control an empire that reached from Spain to Mesopotamia, and North Africa to Britain. 90% of the population was agriculture, and it's population was diverse. Rome could trade by sea and by land with a silver coin called a Denarius. 

3. The Roman World

• The Romans had moral values and appreciated people with strength, usefulness, discipline, and loyalty. Most Romans lived on the country side farming, but the cities had a diverse culture of many different people and professions.
• Roman slaves took up 1/3 of the population and were use as property everywhere in Rome. Some were put to gladiator fights, while others were put to hard and tiring labor. Over a million slaves died trying to revolt and they were never successful. 
•  The earliest Romans worshipped spirits called numina , which were thought to be in everything. There were also spirits called the Lares who were specific to each family. Romans were expected to worship the gods publicly and in private. The most popular gods were Jupiter, father of gods; June, his wife, who watched over women; and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and arts.
• There were lots of poor people in the empire, so the government fed them and entertained them with gladiator fights to prevent revolts and conflicts. There later became 150 holidays were 50,000 people, rich and poor, would watch people and animals fight until one of them died. 
• During Pax Romana, the religion of Christianity started to emerge and people who believed in it faced lots of brutality until later when it became a dominant religion.

The Punic Wars: How, Where, Why, and Who?

The Punic Wars were three wars between Rome and Carthage that started on 246 BCE and ended on 146 BCE. The Romans separated their army into 5,000 men legions that did not fight for pay, and were Roman citizens. A group of eighty's s century and the men on horseback are the cavalry. Each Roman soldier had a shield, sword, dagger, armor, and a tunic. These wars happened because Rome and Carthage both wanted control of Sicily, so they could be able to trade more. The first Punic War started in 264 BCE. It was a naval battle for Sicily, and Rome beat Carthage for it in 241 BCE. The Second Punic War started in 218 BCE, and this battle was on land. A new, wise Carthaginian general named Hannibal wants to avenge Carthage from their loss of Sicily against Rome. Hannibal decides to cross Iberia and the Alps to attack northern Rome. Hannibal gains a lot of the Roman peninsula, but he never can get to Rome. This means that even though Hannibal took Roman land, the Romans were never defeated and technically still won. Hannibal stopped trying to invade Rome in 201 BCE. The last Punic War happened in 149 BCE when Rome became tired of Carthage and wanted them gone. Roman generals like Scipio and Tiberius Gracchus attacked Carthage and successfully invaded it. Carthage burned for 17 days and the whole city was basically left to ashes. All of Carthage's 50,000 citizens were sold into slavery and Roman made it into one of their providences. At the end of the second century BCE; over a million slaves, Carthaginian and Greek citizens, were in Italy. The Italian aristocrats took over and had large estates with slaves working on them called latifundia. The Punic Wars show the intense rivalry between Rome and Carthage just because they both wanted a little island named Sicily.

Tarquin and the Roman Republic

Tarquin the Proud had no reason to be proud of how he became king, and what happened afterwards. First, his father died so his mother made Servius Tullius the king. S.T's daughter (Tullia) killed her sister and her husband, so she could marry Tarquin. Tarquin then, with the influence of Tullia, seizes the throne by throwing S.T. out on the street to be assassinated. Tullia also ran over his dead body with her chariot. Years later, Tarquin's son Sextus forced a girl to sleep with him, and she told her family before killing herself. The people of Rome got angry at Tarquin and his family, so the Romans expelled them from Rome. The horrible family of Tarquin the Proud made the Romans not want another king, so they can up with a republic. To replace a kingly role, the Romans added two consuls who's duties were dealing justice, making law, and commanding the army. They could only hold office for one year, and they could veto each other. Of course these two powerful positions could only be help be patricians. In the fifth century B.C., the plebeians started to challenge the patrician dominance in their government. This makes sense because the plebeians made up 98% of the population and were forced to serve in the army, but they help no political power. The patricians usually could interpret the laws how they wanted too, but the plebeians refused to serve in the army until there were written laws that were posted in public and they had representatives in the government. The plebeians got what they wanted and it was The Twelve Tables and tribunes. The Roman republic model of government is used today by The United States of America, but also changed a bit. Although they aren't the exact same, both the USA and the ancient Romans have three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. They also both have a legal code. In the executive branch, the USA has a president with a vice president who has less power. The Roman executive branch has the two consuls who have the same power. Both the presidents and consuls have veto power, short terms, and command their armies. One difference is that consuls could appoint a dictator in time of crisis, but the American president stays in office in the time of crisis. The similarity of their legislative branches is both have a Senate and some kind of assembly, but the USA gives them limited time in office and more members than the Roman legislative branch has. The judicial branches of the two countries are different because the USA's is a Supreme Court with nine life-time members appointed by the president and the Senate. Ancient Rome's judicial branch is praetors chosen by the assembly and have one-year terms. The legal code for the ancient Romans is the Twelve Tables, and the legal code for the USA is the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Both give equal rights to its citizens, but American citizens can be all people instead of just free-born men.