Roman Emperors

Even though the people of Rome did not want a dictator or king, Augustus and the emperors that followed him were just that. Augustus learned many things from Caesar's mistakes, and knew that the people wanted a republic. To satisfy the people he made decisions along with the senate, so it respected him. Even though he cooperated with the senate, he and the emperors that followed him were actually the ones with all the power. They controlled most of the military troops, and chose the people that governed the provinces of Rome. Even though they were kings, they never called themselves that so that the people would not become angry, and rebel. Augustus started a practice that all of the other emperors then did after him. Augustus wanted his stepson Tiberius to become the next emperor, so he shared power with him to make sure it would happen. This was then done by all of the emperors that followed. When Caesar was killed, part of the reason was so that his descendants would not become rulers, and that the senate would have no role in choosing the next emperor. However, now all of the emperors were doing exactly that and the senate had no role there, but they were not unsatisfied since the emperors still cooperated with them, unlike Caesar who made decisions on his own.

Roman Genius

The ancient people of the Roman civilization were very smart, and they used their intelligence to help them in expanding and improving their living quality. First, they were great inverters when it came to architecture. Numerous things that they invented include roads, cement, aquifers, arches, sewers, arenas like coliseums, and other structures. These have been perfected over time however they are still in use, like roads for example. The roads used by the romans were paved out of stone, but nowadays they are cemented. Secondly, the Romans invented a new system of justice which was based upon the one from Athens. Instead of having a jury vote on the problem in a court, they brought in a judge which would make the decision himself. This system is used today everywhere around the world just it has been a bit modified. In conclusion, the Romans have had numerous benefits on the world even though the civilization existed a very long time ago.

Reflection on Ancient Greece

After studying about ancient Greece, I learned many things which I find very interesting. For example, when we studied the Spartans and the Athenians, there was a huge difference between them, even though they were located in the same region. Sparta was more focused on its military so it had a very strong army. This meant that from a very young age, children had to be prepared to go to the army. When children were born, only the healthy babies were kept, while the other ones were left to die. This is like the opposite of Athens, which was focused mainly on education. Although it had a strong navy, its army was weak, since it was made up of citizens that went to war only when needed. Athens focused on democracy, philosophy, literature and art. Another thing that I learned is that the people of ancient Greece were religious believing in many Gods which according to them lived on Mt. Olympus. They often held many festivals and ceremonies in their honor, such as the Olympics which honored Zeus, the leader of the gods. All in all, I really enjoyed this unite and I learned many new things like about the Greek gods.

Biased Biography

Simeon Stakic

October 11, 2010

Alexander the Great

                One of the greatest conquerors and most well-known people of the past is Alexander III of Macedon, or Alexander the Great, as he later came to be known because of his great achievements. Recently many discussions have begun about whether Alexander really deserved that title and that he did many negative things. Some people say that he was an alcoholic or that he was ruthless killer. However, I believe that Alexander had many great achievements that shadow the few negative things he did. To me a person who has the title the “Great” has to be a courageous leader, who is both interested in conquering and in

                First of all, Alexander was a great military leader. When he was only 16, he was left in charge of the entire throne of Macedonia while his father, Philip left on a conquest. During that time, Alexander put down a very large rebellion with a swift reaction. This was one of the first signs that he would be a great military leader. Even at a young age, Alexander had great ambitions to become the leader of the largest empire of all time. He was also devoted to building his army and making it even stronger. Alexander was so devoted to his conquest that he gave all his land to the army to make it even stronger. “What” he was asked, “do you have left?” “My hopes,” Alexander replied (from the “Decline and Fall of Ancient Greece” by Don Nardo page 66). Alexander also had outstanding military tactics with which he defeated every enemy that he fought against. His army included very long spears with which the army could reach the enemy from a distance. As he conquered many civilizations, he included many of their soldiers as well. So, his army included Macedonian, Greek and Persian soldiers, which is how his army strengthened each time it conquered a civilization. Using all of his skill and knowledge Alexander managed to conquer the entire known world at the time, including Macedonia, Greece, Persia, Egypt, and India.

                Another major aspect that contributed o his success as a conqueror was the fact that he respected his army. He was a very courageous man that fought alongside his army in every battle, sometimes even without armor. He would often go through the same harsh struggles as them, as they went on the 20,000 mile conquest through very rough and harsh terrain. There is a story that when the army went through a desert with no water, a few soldiers found some water that collected in a helmet, and gave it to Alexander. He poured the water onto the desert sand refusing to drink if his men couldn’t. Alexander was also an excellent motivator to his army and managed to influence them to go into any battle. He managed to persuade them to go through harsh terrains and into hard battles when the men had barely enough strength to walk. There was one instance where he persuaded them to go through a long trek of 70 days through heavy monsoon rains and managed to keep their morals high. However, Alexander also knew when to listen to his people. After many years of conquering, his men became tired and longed to see their families. Alexander respected their decision and decided to go back when they reached the Ganges River.

                The last component that made Alexander so highly respected, was his love and respect of education and culture. When he was young his father Philip brought a Greek teacher, Aristotle to teach Alexander about life. Alexander would often say how his father gave him life, but Aristotle taught him how to live. Aristotle taught Alexander about science, philosophy and literature, and that is when Alexander’s love for these subjects began. Alexander gained a great respect for Greek culture, and decided to make it the foundation and to include it in the numerous civilizations he built. Wherever he would build new cities, they would be based on the cities in Greece. He would also bring in Greek aspects of life into cities that already existed. He would build many temples and building based on the ones in Greece. He also left Greek people in charge of the conquered cities which also lead to the Greek being adopted. However, he also had a respect for the cultures he conquered, adapting many aspects so the new way of life would seem less alien. For example, after conquering Persia he wore Persian cloths and included many Persian troops into his army.

                Overall, I believe that Alexander the Great had many very important achievements which earned him the name “the Great”. Even though there probably were some negative things about him, like his great ambition that sometimes got the better of him, he was overall an excellent leader, with the respect for literature and cultures. Since he managed to balance out keeping a large empire together, but also spreading literature and culture, I believe that he does deserve the title “the Great”.

                 

                

Greek Myth

Simeon Stakic 8A

September 19, 2010

Greek Myth

On Mount Olympus lived all the gods that controlled all things of both the human and natural world. But there was one god more powerful than any of the others, and that was Zeus, the god of the sky and lightning. He would command all the gods and they would listen to him, and there was no person on Earth dared to challenge him, that is until Basil came.

At the time that Zeus ruled, a young but courageous man named Basil became the king and ruler of Greece. With his extraordinary leadership skills and tactics, Greece conquered one civilization after another. No nation dared to stand in his path, and soon Basil became the greatest ruler of all. But as time passed he was no longer satisfied with being the greatest ruler of Earth, he wanted to become the ruler of the gods as well. But there was one big problem standing in his way, and that was Zeus. Zeus was known to cruelly punish those that either oppose or disobey him, but Basil was not afraid. He was so convinced that there was nobody greater than him that he openly challenged Zeus in public. Word quickly spread about the challenge as people were worried about the faith of the entire Greek empire. Many feared that Zeus would simply cast a huge lighting storm that would destroy everything in its path.   In terror, many fled to neighboring civilizations in fear for their lives. When word finally got to Zeus, he laughed and said “This must be a joke. Surely no mortal would dare challenge me.” But when he realized it wasn’t a joke he became furious. “How dare this foolish mortal challenge me and my authority?!” roared Zeus as the sky turned dark and a storm began. “If we allow this one mortal to challenge us”, he spoke to the other gods, “They will all challenge us and we will lose our authority over these humans”. The gods agreed that something must be done and Zeus had an idea.

Back at Basil’s kingdom, he grew anxious of waiting for an answer from Zeus. When he couldn’t wait any more, he went outside to tell all the people that the gods were afraid of him. Basil looked up to the sky and saw a cloud shaped as a lightning bolt. He thought he was imagining things so he rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the cloud was still there and it seemed to get bigger and bigger. When the cloud came close to the ground, Basil saw a figure of a man standing on it with a lightning bolt in his hand. Basil was stricken with fear when he realized the consequences of his boasting. As Zeus stepped off the cloud, everyone watched in both amazement and in fear. “Are you the one that dared challenge me?” roared Zeus. “Well…I…”stuttered Basil. As soon as Zeus heard that he threw the lightning bolt from his hand at Basil, making him drop to the floor. Zeus then waved his hand at Basil, and then turned into an eagle, proudly spreading his wings. And in an instant he took off and flew towards the sky. As he did so Basil was on the floor. His hands turned into paws, his fingernails into claws, a tail grew from his back, and brown fur grew all over his body. As he stood on all four legs he roared and ran off cowardly. Even though Basil challenged Zeus, he had pity on him and recognized a good ruler. Although Zeus turned Basil into a lion, he allowed him to be the ruler of the animal kingdom, roaming the grassy plains of the world. Basil would proudly roar, letting everyone know that he is the ruler and ordering everyone to fear him.