Could Rome have risen without slavery?

Slaves have been traded for many years in history. Many ancient civilizations relied on slavery to build their empire. The Romans were no exception. They used slaves for agriculture, labor in the form of building, and in some cases gladiators. (Plautus). The Romans would not be able to achieve these advances without slaves, because they didn’t have the manpower to do so. Between 200 B.C and 200 A.D in Rome, the population was about one-third slaves. (Bradley).    Rome would not have become so successful without the use of slaves.

Reasons- How did the slaves help the Romans?

I.                   The slaves helped with agriculture

II.                They were used in gladiator fights for entertainment.

"Ancient History Sourcebook: Slavery in the Roman Republic." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .

"BBC - History - Ancient History in Depth: Resisting Slavery in Ancient Rome." BBC - Homepage. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .

Comparing the Gettysburg Address and Pericles Funeral Oration

I.              Introduction Paragraph

a.     In history, funeral orations are speeches that leaders give to the people that remember and memorialize soldiers that died in battle.

b.    Pericles of Greece and one of our most remembered presidents, Abraham Lincoln; both gave funeral orations during their rule.

c.    Events leading up to both orations

                                          i.    Lincoln- the civil war just started, and many people already died. He wanted to assure the people that he was going to stop the war, and no one was ever going to forget the fallen people.

                                        ii.    Pericles-

d.    Thesis- Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address gave a stronger funeral oration then Pericles, because he appealed to patriotism, nation, honor

II.            Appeal to Patriotism

a.    Lincoln- “The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook27.html).

b.    Pericles- “the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us.” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pericles-funeralspeech.html).

c.    Lincoln’s appeal to patriotism really shows

III.           Appeal to Nation

a.    Lincoln- “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.” (http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/al16/speeches/gettys.htm).

b.    Pericles- “"In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas, while I doubt if the world can produce a man who, where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility, as the Athenian.”. (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pericles-funeralspeech.html).

IV.          Appeal to Honor

a.    Lincoln- “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”  (http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/al16/speeches/gettys.htm).

b.    Pericles- “ Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pericles-funeralspeech.html).

V.           Conclusion

Who's a Good Guy? Who's a Bad Guy?

           In the world, there are many good and bad guys. In stories, there is always a protagonist and an antagonist. Also, in history there have been good guys and bad guys, but what makes them good or bad? In my opinion, I think that if someone makes a difference that helps people, then they are a good person. If someone does something to harm another person, they are bad. In certain situations, I think that two people are neither bad nor good, for example, war. Both sides are fighting for their lives and the well-being of their country. In ancient times when the Vikings were dominating the world by sea and land, were they considered good or bad?  People are either good or bad, but it is sometimes spelled out for you, and other times we have to make our own judgments.

            In children’s stories, there is always a protagonist and an antagonist.  An antagonist is the force in the story that the protagonist struggles with. In short, the antagonist is the bad guy and the protagonist is the good guy. (http://www.roanestate.edu/owl&writingcenter/OWL/ElementsLit.html). In the story Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, Goldie Locks could be considered the bad guy because she broke into the bear’s house, broke things and ate their food. The bears struggle with the effects Goldie had on their house, and they had to work towards solving the problem. In Little Red Riding Hood, Red is simply walking to her grandmother’s house to give her some food. Red doesn’t do anything to hurt anyone, therefore she is the protagonist. The antagonist is the big fox who tries to harm Red. The fox scares her in the woods and then tricks her into thinking he’s her grandmother. The object of good guy and bad guy isn’t just in the world; it is evident in literature too.

            The Vikings were vicious fighters, and killed many people. In 793 AD the island of Lindesfarne was attacked by the Vikings. It was a surprise attack and there was no way for the people on the island to fight back. (http://early-middle-ages.suite101.com/article.cfm/viking_attack_on_lindisfarne_793ad). This violent raid would make people think these people were bad and only wanted to harm people. If you asked a Viking, they probably wouldn’t think they were bad people. Right now, we are at war in Afghanistan against terrorism. They might even say they were good people. One of the terrorism groups is called the Taliban. The Taliban used to control almost 90 percent of Afghanistan. “Though the group has been out of power for several years, it remains a cultural force in the region that operates parallel governance structures aimed at undermining the U.S.-backed central government”. The group might have been responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. (http://www.cfr.org/publication/10551/). This group is bad and evil to us, because they try to hurt the people of America. To them, they think they are doing good but attempting to take down the United States government. Regardless of what they do, and how many people the hurt, they probably still think they are doing well. Someone might think a group of people was bad, but if they asked that specific group it might be a different story.

            In some situations, it is easy to tell if someone is good or bad, for example literature. In short stories, who the author wants to be portrayed as bad, is basically spelled out. In real life, it can sometimes be hard to tell. The Vikings always seemed like bad people, but did they think that themselves? Also, we think the people of the Taliban are awful people who want to hurt us for no reason. If we asked them, do you think they would say they were good people getting us back for whatever we did? It is hard to tell whether someone is a protagonist or antagonist, but no matter what everyone is going to have their own opinions on good or bad, right or wrong.

"The Elements of Literature." Welcome - Roane State Community College. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. .

"The Taliban in Afghanistan -." Council on Foreign Relations. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. .

"Viking Attack on Lindisfarne, 793AD: The First Recorded Raid by Vikings in England, at Holy Island." Early Middle Ages. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. .

Picture From: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Red_Riding_Hood_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19993.jpg

The Viking Age Notes

Norwegian and Swedish Vikings

Norse Mythology

Two majors works or Norse literature

Elder (Poetic) and Younger Edda (Prose)

Tells of the myths of the Gods

Cosmology- your concept of the unvierse

Heimskringla

Written by Snorri Sturluson

Tells the legends of the kings

**AREN'T WRITTEN UNTIL AFTER THE VIKINGS

9 worlds

The one we live in is Midgard

To the north is Alfheimer (Elves)

To the south is Svartalfaheim (Black Elves)

To the east is Vanaheimr (world of the Vanir)

Muspellheim (world of fire)

Jotunheimr (Giants)

To the west is Niflheim (world of ice)

Up is Asgard (where the Gods are)

Below is Hel (world of the netherworld)

Very far away is Ginnunagagap

Ruins- pieces of wood that have symbols carved on them that tell something when you flip three over. They were used by soldiers before going into battle

Vikings become Christians

Regnarok- the battle that is going to happen at the end of the world. The entire world will be put up into fire and new lives will come out of the ashes

Vikings had no fear of death

Vikings were a blood kin

o    If they were raided and someone died. They were under blood honor so that they would go and kill that person that killed their Viking.

o    Born and bred as warriors

1888 in Norway

Archeologists found out information on how the Vikings lived

They found a ship filled with goods its owner would need in the afterlife

The Viking Ships were evolutionary. They had incredible design and construction.

793 AD: the first major Viking sea raid in northern England

Christians are the victims of the Vikings' plunders

Eric the Red and his son Leif Ericson

Great leaders of the Vikings

They conquer much of Europe

Link the Eastern and Western Hemisphere

A king asked Leif to go to Greenland and Christianize it

The Vikings were then Christians.

Becoming Christian helped the Vikings consolidate power 

Gearing Up For the Viking Raid!

The Viking in the back is getting to go raid the Lidensfarne monks. His wife and daughter are preparing for his departure. This warrior is bringing his shield for protection and his sword to attack. He also has knives stored in his belt. The Vikings were very scary and many people were afraid of them. 

Gibbon and Toynbee Views

             Edward Gibbon was a great historian. He lived in England was very smart. Gibbon is best known for writing The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/egibbon.htm). Arnold Toynbee was also a British historian who wrote about the rise and fall of civilizations. He was the author of the writing A Study of History. ( http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/history/toynbee_study_history.html). These men both looked at Rome differently and saw a different side from the fall of a great power.

            In Gibbon’s writing, he talked about thee many great things in Rome. He said, “The rise of a city, which swelled into an Empire, may deserve, as a singular prodigy, the reflection of a philosophic mind. But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness.” Gibbon talks very highly of the Roman Empire when he said that the state was immoderate greatness. The reason the Empire fell, according to Gibbon, is that it just became too big for what it could handle. He says that if we question why it fell, we should really be asking why it stayed so long.  Gibbon says that the Romans didn’t understand the “extent of the danger” that was out in the world, and the number of enemies they had. This also led to the many attempts at invasions that may have worn the army down. Gibbon doesn’t really say one specific reason as to why it fell; he just thinks it got too big. (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gibbon-fall.html).

            Arnold Toynbee’s view on the situation is completely different. He solely believes that Christianity is the blame for the collapse. He comes out directly and says that when he says, “Christianity rises as the empire sinks and the rise of Christianity is the fall of civilization.”   This observation is very true about Christianity but was it powerful enough at the time to destroy an entire empire? Toynbee believes so. He also says that the rise of Christianity was an accident and this wasn’t supposed to happen. Toynbee and Gibbon have completely different views on the fall of Rome, and it is interesting to compare the two ideas. (http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/toynbee.html).

"Arnold Toynbee Study of History." Spiritual Insights Quotations Faith Vs Reason Debate Mysticism in World Religions. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .

"Edward Gibbon." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Web. 19 Mar. 2010.   .

"Medieval Sourcebook: Gibbon: The Fall of the Roman Empire." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .

"A Toynbee Bibliography." The Toynbee Convector. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .

Picture From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_J._Toynbee

                        http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Gibbon.jpg

Norse Mythology