Barak Obama

Obama's speech was not one meant for the ages, but for confronting the problems of today. Instead though, his speech will surely be remembered throughout history.In his speech he firs affirmed and confronted the crisis we are all now in, and have been in for months. Obama then went on to offer and reaffirm the prospect of peace that our nation stands for, but has been destroyed over the past eight years. Obama then concluded that the fate of the nation was truly in our hands. Obama's day started out in St. John's Episcopal Church, and continued as he was introduced and sworn in to a record breaking crowd of a couple million people. As soon as his speech was over the 21 gun salute was given, and a new age began.

Ancient Greek & Roman Wedding Traditions

Here are some of the traditions I found from the site listed at the bottom:

• Greek & Roman Tradition: If the bride wore a viel on her wedding day over her face, then hse would be protected from evil spirits.
  
• Roman Traditions: The Ancient Roman brides dressed in blue because it stood for love, fidelity, and modesty. The blue part was picked up by Christians of the ancient Catholic religion, so they dressed her in blue to represent purity like a bride would be on her wedding day.
• Ancient Medicine Beliefs: The ring is worn on the left finger of the left hand because it was believed that the vein in that finger ran all the way up to your heart.

http://erstarnews.com/content/view/5785/26/

Ancient Toilet Still in Use Today

An Ancient Roman toilet has been restored in Tralleis, Aydin. The latrina, which was one of the biggest toilets ever recovered from digging, served as the primary bathroom for which Byzantine ceramic workshop workers could go to do their business. The sad part of the story is that parts of the modern city today still do not have access to sewage at all. The governor says that he hopes that this will serve as an example of inspiration for the donations to start coming in for the building of modern day sewage systems. The archeologists also recovered 67 pieces of Byzantium gold which are now on display. Digging will continue later this year.

The First Fire Codes

The first fire codes were put into affect by Emperor Nero. He made the streets wider and buildings that would have front porches that could be pulled down in case of emergency. The first fire fighters were formed in 268 AD by Emperor Gallienus. He put General Florian in charge of 7,000 Roman soldiers, who would constantly be on call for putting out the fires. The emperor also ordered that these men persecute any Christians who would not denounce their faith. Florian was one of these who was not spared and was beaten by his own men. He demanded they build a bigger fire to throw them into, but they could not build a big enough one no matter how they tried. They later threw him into the river and he drowned. His body washed ashore some days later and an eagle guarded his body till he received a proper Christian burial. Florian was later made a saint, and firefighters where the Florian Eagle today on their uniforms.

http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2009/0115/opinion/024.html

New Rome Show

A new show called Rome:Rise & Fall of an Empire is coming to TV One. The new show will show will start in 146 B.C., the fall of Carthage. The show will then move onto the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, crazy Nero, the Jewish revolt, Constantine's bringing of Christianity to the empire, and the fall of the empire to the barbarians. The whole show is entirely factually (unlike HBO's Rome) based and will show show how the real Roman life is.

Celebrating the Role of Women in Ancient Greece

A new show has been opened in New York showing the role that women played in Ancient Greece. The 155 pieces from Ancient Athens show how the women of today are much like the women of Ancient Greece. They would go to the temple of Dionysis and celebrated in their righted ritual in which they could get away from the strife of home and talk it over with other women. The men didn't like this so they gave it a bad name saying that it was always just one giant orgi. The pottery even shows that the non important women even played a part in society.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/25/DDMU14V211.DTL

New Fresh Artifacts Recovered

Archeologists have found new artifacts well preserved in the bath houses and villa located in Villa delle Vignace south of Rome's Ciampino airport. The first artifacts were recovered in 1780 and have been shown in the Vatican since. The new artifacts that were recovered were a marble head of a Greek god and a colored glass mosaic of leaves. The artifacts were present in this bath house and latrine system which once belonged to Quintus Sevilius Pudens, a rich freind of the emperor Hadrian. The artifacts remained intact because they were below the first floor undergound. The villa is also located near a 6th century barbarian camp, and thebties between the two are still under study.

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Well+known+baths+awash+hidden+artifacts+rare+finds/1086776/story.html

Huge Stash of Boudicca Gold Found

The biggest modern find of old gold in Britain has been found. The gold, which dates back to about 40BC-15AD, was made during the Queen of Britannia, Boudicca, as she led her fellow Britains against the Roman oppressors. The gold, which weigh in at about 5g each, has been estimated at the modern worth of about 500,000-1,000,000 Euros. The site of the discovery has not been announced for obvious reasons.

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED18%20Jan%202009%2013%3A38%3A52%3A643

The Earliest Use of Chemical Warfare

New evidence from the Roman city of Dura-Europos. The city was under siege in the later years of the empire by the Sassanians. The archeologists there found twenty Romans dead with their weapons still clasped in their hands in a small tunnel or mine. What they think happened was that the Romans established a counter mine underneath the city, to counter the Sassainian mine that was being dug under the walls to collapse them. The Sassainians then released a gas made up of sulfur crystals and bitumen. This would and did immediately render the Romans unconcious and kill them within  minutes.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090116_chemical.htm

Roman Statue Restored

A statue in Herculaneum that was partially destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius has been restored. The statue that depicted a wounded woman Amazon warrior, was restored by the use of digital imaging technology. The paint on the hair and eyes were preserved by the ash of the eruption, so the researches knew how to remodel it after the original. Once the team finalized what the rest of the statue would have looked they went back to Britain and remodeled the whole entire thing. 

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=3.0.2903527263

837 Plates of Egypt

When Napoleon Bonaparte went to Egypt he expected to just be annexing another part of territory for his growing empire. What he didn't expect though was to come out with 837 engravings by one of his scholars of what Egypt was like at the time. Since Napoleon didn't conquer Egypt, one can say that this was one of the best parts of his campaign including the Rosetta Stone. These engravings and the Rosetta Stone will be exhibited at Princeton on the 200th anniversary of the findings. 

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1229927112243340.xml&coll=1

Midterm Exam Part II

We are going on a tour of the Mediterranean, and will be following the route of the Great Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca. Though the journey was not planned out by Hannibal himself but by his brother-in-law Hansdrubal, it was carried out gloriously by Hannibal himself. Our three week journey will start in Cartagena, Spain which was called New Carthage at the time of Hannibal's departure. This city is located in southern Spain and is full of Ancient Roman and Carthaginian culture. We will take the first 3 days of our trip to explore the cities Roman theaters, Roman Collonade, House of Fortune, Decumanus, Augusteum and the old Santa Maria la Vieja Cathedral. These visits will be followed with visits to the archaeological dig sites that are scattered around the city, and even a crypt which contains a Roman house from the first century B.C. After visiting all of the sites in this area we will move on to the next step of our journey are crossing through the alps after taking about a days worth of riding to get there.
We will be taking a quick two day journey through the alps stopping at some of the old towns on the way. One we reach the other side we will travel to the river Trebia, at which Hannibal scored one of his major victories. We will spend about another day here exploring with a guide how Scipio was humiliatingly defeated here and how Hannibal used the superiority of his cavalry to defeat the Romans. We will also explore some of the digs and findings from the battle. Next after a days rest we will travel to the next of Hannibal's victories, Lake Trasimene. Here we will spen about a day, once again discovering how Hannibal easily defeated Rome once again. Here we will also explore some Roman ruins which include some of the oldest Roman streets today. Here we will rest another day and then travel to our next destination Cannae. Here we will spend about two days finding out about one of the bloodiest battles in human history. It is estimated that about 70,000 Romans alone were killed on the plain of Cannae, and that it made the Romans fight a war of attricion instead of battles on open ground. We will discover some of the ancient ruins here brought up by digs.
After about another day of rest and travel we will travel to Rome. Here we will spend about five days exploring the city itself. We will also visit the spot at which Hannibal and his army were encamped for so long, not moving in to destroy the undergarrisoned city. This will bring on a discussion, most likely, about why Hannibal did not move in to destroy it. After visiting some of the more important sites such as the Roman forums, the palantine, the Pantheon, and other important must see sites we will move on once again. We will then travel to the port city of Tarentum at which Hannibal tried to make his escape back to Carthage. Here we will spend about another two days. We will visit the ancient Roman meuseums her and visit the port city which Hannibal could not keep control of. After finishing up here, we will move onto the city of Carthage, or what is now modern day Tunis. Here we will be spending the rest of our time looking at the different meuseums of the Roman Phoenecian art and artifacts. We will also travel to different dig sites of the old buildings that were either destroyed in WWII or in the razing of the city by Scipio Africanus. I hoped you enjoyed my planned trip of the Medditerranean by way of Hannibal Barca.

Midterm Exam

1. laudem
   laudes
   laudet
   laudetemus
   laudetis
   laudent


2. moneam
   moneas
   moneat
   moneamus
   moneatis
   moneant


3. agam
   agas
   agat
   agamus
   agatis
   agant


4. audiam
   audias
   audiat
   audiamus
   audiatis
   audiant


5. capiam
   capias
   capiat
   capiamus
   capiatis
   capiant


6. sim
   sis
   sit
   simus
   sitis
   sint


7. possim
   possis
   posstit
   possimus
   possitis
   possint


8. possem
   posses
   posset
   possemus
   possetis
   possent


9. agam
   ages
   aget
   agemus
   agetis
   agent


10. egi
    egis
    egit
    egimus
    egistis
    egerunt


11. audivi
    audivisti
    audivit
    audivimus
    audivistis
    audiverunt


12. ceperam
    ceperas
    ceperat
    ceperamus
    cerperatis
    ceperant


13. laudavero
    laudaveris
    laudaverit
    laudaverimus
    laudaveritis
    laudaverint
14. porta
    portae
    portae
    portam
    porta
    
    portae
    portarum
    portis
    portas
    portis
15. amicus
    amici
    amico
    amicum
    amico
    
    amici
    amicorum
    amicis
    amicos
    amicis
16. puer
    pueri
    puero
    puerum
    puero
    
    pueri
    puerorum
    pueris
    pueros
    pueris
17. donum
    doni
    dono
    donum
    dono
    
    dona
    donorum
    donis
    donos
    donis
18. rex
    regis
    regi
    regem
    rege
    
    reges
    regum
    regibus
    reges
    regibus
19. corpus
    corporis
    corpori
    corpus
    corpore
    corpora
    corporum
    corporibus
    corpora
    corporibus
20. civis
    civis
    civi
    civem
    cive
    
    cives
    civium
    civibus
    cives
    civibus
21. urbs
    urbis
    ubi
    urbem
    urbe
    
    urbes
    urbium
    urbibus
    urbes
    urbibus
22. mare
    maris
    mari
    marem
    mare
    
    maria
    marium
    maribus
    maria
    maribus
23. fructus
    fructus
    fructui
    fructum
    fructu
    
    fructus
    fructuum
    fructibus
    fructus
    fructibus
24. dies
    diei
    diei
    diem
    die
    
    dies
    dierum
    diebus
    dies
    diebus
25. hic haec hoc
    huis huis huis
    huic huic huic
    hunc hanc hoc
    hoc hac hoc
    
    hi hae haec
    horum harum harum
    his his his
    hos has haec
    his his his
26. moenia- walls
27. osculum-eye
28. respondeo- to respond
29. cedo- to withdraw
30. stella- star
31. expleo- to fill up
32. luna- moon
33. princeps- chief
34. superus- to be above
35. sol- sun
36. mensa- city
37. nox- night
38. caput- head
39. nemo- no one
40. capio- to capture
41. dico- to teach
42. fugio- to flee
43. sapiens- wise
44. ferox- fierce
45. duco-to lead
46. credo-to believe
47. expello-to expell
48. labor-labor
49. neco- to kill
50. discipula- student
51. tollo- to raise
52. remaneo- to remain
53. otium- liesure
54. sapientiae- wisdom
55. vir- man
56. hodie- today
57. antiqaue- ancient
58. pecunia- money
59. cogito- to think
60. senatus- senate
61. Can it be that Phillip, king of the Macedonians, had an heir Alexander, joined his son, sent the first letter to Aristotle, someone who was a philosopher, however that it led him to do the best of his duty, it was pertainent that he stay to his studies and that the credit of his wisdom came from his father?
62. None of the cursed things that he commited against the people made him see and the our legeslator called him out to be expelled.
63. With Asia conquered, the leader of the Romans took many of the slaves back to Italy.
64. Let us live my Lesbia, and let us love,
    and let us consider all of the severe rumors
    of old men to be worth one penny!
    Only to let us fall and bring back:
    with this timethat is short,
    the night is everlasting under the sky.
    You give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,
    then another thousand, then a second hundred,
    then even a thousand more, then a hundred.
    Then, with many thousands on our faces,
    we will count them up, and not knowing the number,
    however and they will look at us with evil,
    with only the the number of kisses to be.
    
    

The Return of the Roman Forum

The Roman Forum, which has been slowly degraded as it is surrounded by rusted fencing, scaffolding, and open digs. These unpleasing sights will be done away with along with the construction of an underpass linking the two forums and a new walkway up Palatine Hill. All of this should be finished by spring 2011. Wouldn't be a bad idea for a future class trip......

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2009-01-07_107311661.html

The Age of the Modern Day Gladiator

Gladiators are going to have their comeback this year. According to Umberto Broccoli, the new Colosseum will begin an age of new interest that will draw tourists in from all over to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of Ancient Rome. The fights will take place in the evening accompanied by latin poetry readings.


http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/travel-resources/travel-news/general-travel/gladiators-to-make-a-comeback-in-rome/a-3-143-1524/

Rewriting Roman History

It was once thought that the Romans had stopped fighting the Germans around 10 years after Christ, but now all that has changed. The accidental discovery was made when some people were illegally scavenging for some artifacts from another era. What came to the surface, though, was a complete and utter surprise. What they found has rewritten history to make the Romans stay in Germania last 250 years longer. Over 650 artifacts were recovered from the site of hanover that let the archeoligist be abe to retrace the battle lines and ultimately the strategy used in battles. 

Wisdom

What is wisdom to me? The word wisdom has been passed along as a sort of givings of life's examples to help better ourselves in the future to make the right decisions. Since the beginning of civilization, it was the elders of the tribes or nations that were the most respected because of the amount of wisdom they had gained by just living life. The younger generations of the civilizations were taught to try and receive and understand the wisdom that was passed on from the elder of the tribes.  There are, though, forces that drive wisdom to be passed on and without them, wisdom may not exist. The two things that drive wisdom to exist are respect and zeal.

Respect is the component that keeps wisdom to be passed on from generation to generation. The earliest of civilizations taught respect to the younger generations in hope that they would gain any knowledge that they could from the elders or the gods that told stories of lessons they learned from their earlier life experiences. Ancient Greek philosophers were always older in their years, and as a result had more life experiences to pass on to the younger generations. Examples of rules of respect are everywhere including in the Jewish Pentateuch or any other  tribes rules of having to respect the elders. With respect, people have gained the first step in making an effort to gain knowledge.

Zeal is wisdom. Zeal is the eagerness to do things while wisdom is the product. Without zeal wisdom could not ultimately exist, as no one would have the drive to get up and do experience some of the life experiences that will help present and future generations get to where they can be better. Zeal is the main thing of wisdom.