Germanic kingdoms unite under charlemagne

- many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the roman empire were reunited under charlemagnes empire
- charlemagne spread christian civilization throughout northern europe, where many of us came from

Middle ages - midieval period
500 - 1500 AD
Midieval Europe fragmented

Invasions trigger changes in west europe
- invasions and constant warfare spark trends
- drisruption of trade
- europe no longer has control of economic center
- money scarce
- downfall of cities
- cities no longer centers of administration
- population shifts
- nobles retreat to rural areas
- cities dont have strong leadership

- decline of learning
- germanic invaders illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
- only priests and church officials could read and write
- knowledge of greek almost lost
- loss of common language
- dialects develop in different regions
- by 800s, french, spanish, other roman based languages evolving

Germanic kingdoms emerge
concept of government changing
- roman society: loyal to public government
- germanic society: loyal to family
- germanic chief led warriors
- during peace he provided food, weapons, treasure, place to live
- during wartime, warriors fought for lord
- franks live in roman province of Gaul - their leader clovis

- franks under clovis
- another battlefield conversion
- clovis and 300 of his warriors are baptized by bishop
- church in rome approves of alliance
- clovis and church work together

511 AD - clovis united franks into 1 kingdom
600 AD - church and frankish rulers convert many people

- fear of muslims in southern europe spur many to become christians

- monasteries and convents

520 AD - benedict wrote rules for monks and monasteries

- poverty, chastity, obedience, study
- sister scholastica did same thing for nuns in convents

731 AD - venerable bede wrote a killer history of england

- monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books

Feudalism: political, military, and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances
- based on loyalty to people who can help
Lord (rich) / vassals (helpers)

- kings
- vassals
- nobles bishops
- knights
- fiefs
- peasants (serfs)

Manor: lord's estate
- manor house
- church
- workshops
- 15-30 families
- few square miles

- self sufficient community
- harsh for peasant

differences between patricians and plebeians?:
patrician: upper class, landowning
plebes: lower class / middle class

senate: roman government
consuls: 2 people in government that share equal power
tribunes: leaders of plebeian assembly; at first powerless, but then gained power

- first time that laws were written down
- set up to protect plebeians
- publicly diplayed in forum
- 12 tables

senate / assemblies - US Senate / house of reps
consuls / dictator - president of the US
senate could act like judges - like supreme court

Rise of christianity:
- jesus spends 3 years preaching, and then is killed
- followers believe he is messiah and savior who has risen from dead
- saul (persecutor) becomes paul (evangelist) spreading jesus' message
- christianity goes from cult status to official religion
- priest, pope, bishop (bishop of rome)
- christian and jewish: monotheistic
- conflicted with roman beliefs
- persecution against both was common
- christianity appealed to the poor
- as it grew, roman leaders embraced chrstianity
- AD 313: constantine has battlefield conversion
- issues edict of milan
- not only no persecution, but actual approval of christianity, eventually making it the official religion of rome
- roman empire and christianity now linked in power and influence

May 5th blog cont.
Caligula:
- germanicus' son
- tiberuis' adopted grandson
- next in line for emperor
- started off well: granting bonuses to those in military, declared treason trials thing of past
- first 7 months of rule were "completely blissful"
- begins to fight with senate
- claimed to be a god
- made many statues in many places, including jewish temple
- bragged about adultery
- indulged in spending and sex
- tried to make his horse a consul and priest
- assassinated by his own aids
- AD 41 (28)

Claudius:
- ostracized by family due to disabilities
- was last adult male in his family when caligula was killed
- conquered britain; built roads, canals, aquaducts, renovated circus maximus
- awful marraige to messalina

Religious troubles:
- christianity and judaism: monotheistic
- romans - polytheistic, emperor viewed as god sometimes
- AD 66: jewish zealots try to rebel, but romans put them down and burn their temple
- half million jews die in rebellion
- western wall: holiest of jewish shrines

Persecution of Christians:
- harsh toward those who would not worship emperor
- viewed as a cult
- used as entertainment in colosseum
- despite oppression, christianity grew quickly - by AD 200, around 10 percent of people in roman empire were christian

Octavian - aka Caesar Augustus - first emperor:
- pax romana - period of peace and prosperity
- roads, aquaducts
- set up civil service, grain supply, even postal service
- died at age 76 in AD 14
- passed power to tiberius

Jesus:

-Roman citizen and practicing jew

- At 30, began his ministry preaching to poor and reach out to outsiders

- "my kingdom is not of this world" made the romans nervous, and planned execution

- Governor of Judaea- Pontius pilate sentenced him to crucifixion

Paul:

- paul had big influence on christianity 

- gets message while riding a horse to not condemn christians, but spread good news

- writes letters to those he spoke to

- if not for paul, jesus may not be as popular

Assassination of Caesar:
- Caesar was a great emperor, but senators did not like him because he decided to make himself a dictator, and Rome had not had one in over 400 years, so they thought it would mess up the system. Although Caesar was a great emperor, they still did not like him. When the Senate decided they had had enough of him, they called him into a meeting. Caesar was not armed. As Caesar entered the meeting, they grabbed him and stabbed him over 23 times. Each senator stabbed him, so none of them could be persecuted for the murder.

In west civ today, we started off class learning about the legend of Romulus and Remus. In the legend, there are two twin babies that were abandoned by their mother because male heirs had to be killed. The two twin brothers were adopted by a shewolf. The shewolf and a pecker fed and nurtured them during their infant years. After that they were raised by sheppards, they grew up and decided to start a city. The brothers fought over where and what to call the land. Eventually, Romulus kills Remus, and calls the city Rome, and that's how the legend of Rome started.

Today in west civ we talked more about Rome. Mr. Schick pulled up the song made by Chi Cago and we talked about lyrics. When broken down, the song lyrics make alot of sense and explain Rome perfectly. Also, we discussed the geography of Rome. Rome was (geographicaly) in a perfect spot. They could trade with almost anyone, had perfect fertile grounds, and a thriving city.

Family life in Ancient Rome was VERY important. Families were the center of everything. The center of the family was the father. The father was the head of the family and he was in control of the daughters (till they got married), sons, and his wife. He wielded unlimtied power. The father was 'worshipped' by his family, and had the power of the families life and death. The father held the title "paterfamilias", which meant "family father". Family was so important to the Romans, they worshipped the goddess Vesta. Vesta is the goddess of hearth and home. Since she was the goddess of hearth and home, they never put out the fire. Mothers in Rome were also respected very much. The mothers were called "matrons", or "lady mothers".

In today's west civ class, I almost got my first detention at John Carroll. I was playing a game in class, so I deserved it. After that Laura and Arri got into a fight, and used up some class time. Mr. Schick settled it and then got on with class. We all got to 'grade' each others projects. It was pretty fun to do, and Mr. Schick called Annie a crackhead. The whole class after that we were all convinced Annie was a crackhead.

The movie that we are watching in west civ is about chlysthenese's life in ancient greece. He was the son of a rich man. In the movie they talk about his life and how he came to power in athens. He came to athens with the "athenian god athena" who was really a girl from a neighboring village. They suprisingly believed him and then he took power. Like many great rulers before him, they thought he would be a great ruler since he was under the supervision of a "goddess". One of chlysthenese's goals was to pass down power to his son.

Geography of Greece:
Mountainous peninsula
- mountains cover 3/4
approximately 1400 islands in aegan and ionian seas
location shaped its culture
skilled sailors
poor natural resources
difficult to unite the ancient greeks because of terrain; developed small, independent communities
20% of land suitable for farming
fertile valleys cover 1/4 peninsula
because of geography the greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives
lack of resources most likely led to greek colonization
temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer

Mycenaeans
began around 2000 BC
mycenae locations is on rocky ridge and protected by 20 ft thick wall
mycenae kings dominated greece from 1600 - 1200 BC
- controlled trade in region
1400 BC mycenaeans invaded crete and absorbed minoan culture and language

culture in decline
around 1200 BC sea people began to invade mycenae and burnt palace after palace
dorians moved into war torn region
- far less advanced
- economy collapsed
- writing disappeared for 400 years

homer and myths
stories were passed by wird of mouth
homer lived at end of dark ages
recorded stories of trojan war in iliad and odyssey (750 - 700)
- trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of mycenaeans
- odyssey was 12 110 of dactylic hexameter

- "Classical" Greek civilization - 800 BC
- New ideas: art forms, types of government
- Citizen participation in government
- City states traded and colonized along northern coast lands of the Mediterranean

Earliest Europeans:
- 4000 BC: farming and village life spread throughout the continent
- Building out of large stone - megalithic
- Evidence of plow

Barbarian Way of Life:
- Movement of people
- Different languages starting to be spoken
- Soldiers and charioteers were buried with their goods, in hope to be comrades and ride along with the gods
- Wives were buried next to husbands, so that she, also, could fulfill her duties in the afterlife
- Women went to war with men so that they could heal their wounds, feed them, and also make sure that the man would not coward and run off
- Some women even battled with the men
- Main business in life was farming
- Tribes formed
- Root word for barbarian - barbaros "non greek"
- By AD 1000, most European barbarians came into contact with civilization

Minoan Civilization:
- 2200 BC - Minoan arose from Aegean island of Crete
- Trade controlled by rulers
- Business records written in script
- From evidence of elegant jewelry and other objects, we can ell they were a wealthy, loving society
- Women played prominent roles
- Activities resembling modern day bull-fighting

Arrival of Greeks: Mycenaean Civilization:
- Found to be European barbarians
- Came under influence of Crete
- First site to be excavated in modern times
- Warlike people
- Leading warriors rode into war on horse drawn chariots
- Protection from massive walls
- Buried rulers in elegant underground chambers

Cyber Day 2:

Short Answer A.)
3 Technological inventions/innovations are...
1.) Paper/papyrus. This allowed Egyptians to keep track and record things
2.) Makeup. This allowed pharaohs to be dolled up and look nice. To this day, almost all females still use this invention, and most are very thankful
3.) Farming plows. This made farming very easy and efficient because you could attach a strong animal and it will plow for you

Short Answer B.)
The pyramids in ancient Egypt were useful for many things. One thing it was useful for was hiding the pharaohs body. They made the inside of pyramids very tricky so no one could break in and take the pharaohs treasure. Another thing the pyramids were good for was praying. Egyptians found that they could go to the pyramids to pray to the gods. Also, the pyramids were good for the pharaohs because, when the pharaohs needed the pyramids built, they could give the building work to all the peasants.

West Civ. Cyber Day 1:

Essay 1.)
      The Social Hierarchy in Ancient Egypt was not very different from other early civilizations. It went (from top to bottom) Pharaoh, priests and nobles, traders artisans and scribes, farmers and herders, and unskilled workers. This shows that religion is at the top, which is similar to many places in the early world. The pharaohs wore stained white clothes, as well as the rich, nobles, and scribes. This showed their ranking.

Essay 2.)
      The Nile river was very important to early Egypt. The Nile was basically a source of life for them. This river provided food, fertilization to grow crops, water, bathing, and much more. Almost all of life's essentials were along or in the Nile. The Nile was also a way of transportation. With this transportation, you could buy and sell goods, or maybe just a way to get from place to place.

Today in west civ we watched a youtube video about mummification. they talked about the process and the importance of mummification. in ancient egypt, only pharaohs were mummified. when they were mummified, they took the bodies, poured salt on them and took out organs, let it sit there for about 40 days, then covered the body in layers of rezin and cloth. when they are finished, they write symbols on the top of the mummy. the symbols show signs of afterlife. egyptians mummified the bodies because they thought that the body should be preserved for afterlife.

Land of pharaohs: egypt

Nile and the "two lands"

- upper egypr was a 500 mile strip of fertile land along the nile; lower egypt was wide land of nile delta, emptying into meditteranean sea

- nile was major providere of life for egyptians and much revered in lore and writing

- C. 3100 BC, two lands were united under single king or "pharaoh"

Government by God King

- Pharaoh all powerful, worshipped as gods and intimately connected to other major egyptian gods and godesses

- egyptians relied on harmony and balance off universe, which was "maat"

- pharaohs had multiple wives, often their sisters, and routes to financial and social success were through palace

- women could inherit money, land, divorce husband, though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power

West Civ class today was hype. We didn't do anything because we got out at 10 and it was 9:35 when class started. The snow is really bad, that's why we're getting out early. while we were talking about the snow, Mr. Schick proposed the idea of everyone going to school in the snow. He said this would be good because then we could stay at night, and have class from 8pm to 2:40 am. This would be a good and bad idea because we would gain back the snow days, then we wouldn't have to makeup days in the summer. This would be bad because then we would all have to sleep at school, which is terrible because then I would get a terrible beauty slumber. My brother Arri Stakias is going off because hes so happy about the snow me and Arri are going to build a snowman. This snowman will not be an ordinary snowman. this snowman will be legendary. That's all for today. Pope out.

Earliest cities: Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia:
- wandering nomads drove herds of domestic animals, especially to southern sumer in arabia
- sumer conquered by akkadians c. 2350 BC
- akkadian gods took place of mesopotamia gods and were forced to worship them
- king hammurabi of babylon created series of laws knows as "hammurabi code"
- code included "eye for eye", it regulated marriage, divorce, and other common laws
Hammurabi Code:
1.) If a man has accused another of lying, a "nertu" (death spell) upon him but has not proved it, he shall be put to death - law 1
2.) If he has borne false witness in a civil law case, he shall pay the damages in that suit - law 4
3.) If the seller has in the meantime died, the buyer shall take from his estate five fold the value sued for
 - law 12

Prehistory to civilization

3000 - 1200 BC

Prehistoric era - 

- origins and ages of human beings

- first human around 200,000 years ago

- paleolithic age (old stone age)

- neolithic age (new stone age) - advanced tool making and beginning of agriculture

- initially, humans were part of migratory groups (hunted, fished)

Agricultural revolution - 

- neolithic revolution

- population rose - children could be cared for

- hierarchies appeared in village life; women lowered/confined to domestic duties

- invention of wheel and plow made it possible to produce food for storage

- villagers - polytheistic, worshiped nature, human, and animal gods

Sumer - 

- occupied land between tigris and euphrates 

- population increased drastically due to new irrigation systems

- cities and towns founded - up to 40,000 inhabitants 

- more adequate food storage allowed for diversity in professions: priests, tradesmen, artisans, farmers, politicians

- kings emerged / family dynasties / concept of "city state"

- sumerians invented earliest form of writing, known as "cuneiform"