Day 22

The Punic War was a set of three wars fought from 264 - 146 BCE. These wars were fought between the people of Rome and the people of Carthage. The First Punic War lasted from 264 - 241 BCE and Rome won. The Second Punic War was fought from 218 - 201 BCE. The Carthaginian general, Hannibal ordered attacks on Rome from the North. Hannibal gained control of much of the peninsula but never got to Rome so Rome wins again. The Final Punic War was fought from 149 - 146 BCE. Rome wanted to finally take out Carthage and attacked them many times. Carthage ended up burning to the ground in a matter of 17 days. Everyone left from the city was sold into slavery.

Day 21

Tarquin seizes the throne after the heirs die. He has Servius Tullius' father killed and refused to bury the body. He killed anyone who disagreed with his actions. Sometime later Tarquin's son, Sextus basically rapes a girl by blackmailing her and saying he caught her with a slave. She gives in and then eventually tells her family. She proceeds to kill herself and Tarquin tries to cover it up. People eventually notice and expelled the family from Rome. People never wanted kings in Rome after this so they implemented a rule of two consuls. Consuls were elected aristocrats that had a one year term. They would make laws, command the army, and dealt with the legal system. This is when the Twelve Tables come into play. The common people of Rome demanded that they be heard and refused to work with the military until they had some representation. This was the brand new republic of Rome. The United States based its government on ideas from the Roman republic. They both share the three branches of government and both have a legal code.

Day 20

Settlers in Rome:

• Etruscans-
• Came from the central northern part of the peninsula
• Were metalworkers, artists, and architects
• Greeks-
• Had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
• Romans borrowed ideas from the Greeks such as:
• religious beliefs
• alphabet
• art
• weapons and military techniques 
• Latins-
• Descendants from the Indo-Europeans
• Settled in the Tiber
• Could navigate to Rome at the furthest 
• ports were not susceptible to attack 
• built on 7 hills 

Draining a swamp:

• Many streams flowed into the Tiber
• The Forum was a marshy area between Palatine and Capitoline Hills
• Tarquin the Proud's grandfather built the largest ancient drain called Cloaca Maxima 
• Cloaca Maxima channeled water into the Tiber 

Tarquin the Proud:

• Full name was Lucius Tarquinias Superbus 
• The 7th and last king of Rome
• Had other names such as Tarquin the Proud and Tarquin the Arrogant
• Seized power as a tyrant

Day 19

Today we had to listen to Mr. Schicks rap. At first, I thought it was going to be bad but it actually was pretty good. The lyrics were well written out and made sense. It was very easy to understand and covered a bunch of stuff. It was fun and something different from what we usually do so that was nice.

Day 18

The Twelve Tables were a set of laws that were written on twelve tables and hung in the Forum. The Plebians had a public protest where they refused to take up arms as their enemies closed in. This gave the Patricians no choice other than to adjust their laws. They were given representatives known as the Tribunes of the Plebs. These representatives were specifically for the Pleabians and they had the power to propose legislation, intervene in legal matters, and veto the actions of others. They then demanded that the laws be written down permanently. They were then used as the basis of the Roman laws later on.  

Day 17

This is the Pantheon. It was formerly known as a Roman temple but is now a Catholic church. It has a rectangular entryway but the body of the church is a circle.  It has stone pillars with intricate designs at the top. Above the pillars, it says "M. AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT." This roughly translates to "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, having been consul three times, made it" This means that the original builder, Marcus Agrippa, constructed this while being consul for the third time. The Pantheon was rebuilt after Agrippa's death by Emporer Hadrian. 

Day 16

Roman Patricians were the rich landowners; they had the power. The Plebeians were the common people like farmers, artisans, and merchants; they were the majority of Roman society but had little to no power. The Patricians were similar to the aristocrats and the Plebeians were similar to the middle class in Greece.