Parsing

Dico- present indicative passive 3rd person plural of "dico" meaning "to say"
Nasse- present infinitive active 2nd person plural of "nasso" meaning "to swim"
Lecti- perfect participle passive 3rd person plural of "lego" meaning "to gather"
Optantes- perfect participle present 3rd person plural of "opto" meaning "to choose"
Avertere- future indicative passive 2nd person plural of "averto" meaning "to turn away"
Vada- present indicative active 2nd person plural of "vado" meaning "to go"
Decurre- future indicative passive 3rd person plural of "decurro" meaning "to hasten"
Verrentes- "present participle 3rd person plural of "verro" meaning "to sweep"
Fecit- perfect indicative active 3rd person plural of "faco" meaning "to make"
Cursu- present indicative passive 3rd person plural of "corre" meaning "to run"
Imbuit- present indicative active 2nd person singular of "imbuo" meaning "to wet"
Tortaque- perfect participle passive 3rd person plural of "torto" meaning "to turn"
Incanduit- perfect indicative active 3rd person plural of "incandui" meaning "to grow"
Condeti- present participle passive 3rd person plural of "candeo" meaning "to be brilliant"
Admirantes- present participle passive 3rd person plural of "admiro" meaning "to admire"
Viderunt- perfect indicative active 3rd person plural of "video" meaning "to see"
Fertur- present indicative active 3rd person plural of "ferto" meaning "to bear"
Tene- present indicative passive 3rd person plural of "teneo" meaning "to hold"
Concessit- present indicative active 3rd person plural of "concedo" meaning "to withdraw"
Amplecititur- present indicative passive 3rd person plural of "ampleceotr" meaning "to combine"

Review

You do not question (our understanding is wrong) why me, why you say disgraceful things about the gods, Leuconoe, neither do the Babylonian numbers tempt you. It is better to endure anything at all! If it is the greatest valued thing on earth or if it is the greatest tribute to Jupiter, what does not oppose to weaken us dwarfs the Tyrrenhum sea, be wise, bring out the drink and briefly walk around as we retreat. Do not talk more than needed, and flee from insults: Seize the day, and have little trust in tomorrow.

edite: 2nd person plural present imperative active of "edito" meaning "to eat"
sunt: 3rd person plural present indicative active of "sum" meaning "to be"
metaque: 2nd person singular present imperative active of "meto" meaning "to reap"
evehit: 3rd person singular present indicative active of "eveho" meaning "to carry out"
certat: 3rd person singular present indicative active of "certo" meaning "to match"

The difference between Luke and Matthew in the second chapter of their books is that Luke focuses more on the annunciation to the common people whereas Matthew focuses more on the flight to Egypt and the Magi than the actual annunciation to the people. Luke shows his focus on the annunciation by talking about the angels coming to the shepherds in the field, as the shepherds were the lowest of the low in society and Matthew shows his focus of Jesus' regal person by showing that he was visited by the magi who were the more higher educated and wealthy of society. Luke constantly mentions that Jesus was born in the city of David as if to make up for what connections he did not make in his chapter one like Matthew did. Matthew also later shifts the focus to Egypt because he wants to show the Jews that Jesus is the second Israel by coming back from Egypt after being exiled their for a short while. Also in the beginning Matthew mentions Caesar while Luke mentions Augustus and Matthew also talks about the immaculate conception while Luke begins with the census by Augustus for Judea.

Horace: Horace Bio
Horace: Horace Bio
Livy: Livy Bio
Livy: Livy Bio
Ovid: Ovid Bio
Ovid: Ovid Bio

Gregorian Chants

Pope Gregory the Great invented Gregorian Chants between 590 and 680AD. The chant used a single line of melody and were said in Latin by a group of voices in unison called monophony. The chants were learned orally during a priests monastic life and it took a very long time to learn. The chants were spread by Charlemagne during his reign as Holy Roman Emperor and he threatened by penalty of death if the congregations did not sing the chants. The chants soon became part of the liturgy, and coordinated with the lesson of the day. The congregation, of course, did not understand the chants as they were said in Latin and the masses did not speak or learn to speak such a difficult language, or any other language other than the one that they spoke.

http://www.musicoutfitters.com/gregorianchants.htm

Roman Weapons and Armor

The basic equipment of a Roman soldier during the peak of the Roman Empire included the following:
- Cassis- The Helmet
- Lorica Segmentata- The segmented armor which was for fitting and made it easier for the soldier to move around in.
-Gladius- Sword, 18-24 inches long and was used for short thrusts and stabbing.
- Pilium- The medium height throwing spear which was used for harassing the enemy before they attacked.
- Scutum- The shield which was used for such formations as the testudo or the tortoise formation.
- Red Battle Cloak- Use to represent the colors of their country and republic.
- Sandals- Used so that their feet didn't hurt too bad after those long marches.

http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Romans/weapons/weapons.html

Bagpipes

When one thinks of bagpipes they think of Scots with their kilts and tassels on playing in such movies such as Braveheart before a major battle. This would lead one to believe that it was in fact the Scots who invented the bagpipes, but this is wrong. It was, in fact, the Romans who invented or at least brought over the bagpipes to Briton during the conquest of Britannia. We know this because in Suetonius account of the Fire of Rome he says that Nero was playing tibia utricularis which is basically the Latin word for what we know today as the bagpipes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A748208

Nero's Fire

When many people think of the Great Fire of Rome during the reign of Nero, they often conjure up the picture of Nero himself playing the violin. There were,though, in fact no violins during this time period. Anyhow he burned the city down on July 18 64AD and then blamed it on the Christians. This is what then started the persecution of the Christians in Rome, and after this Nero began to rebuild the old part of the city with his new Golden Palace called the Domus Aurea. This is what many believe to be the reason why Nero burned down the city.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2009/07/18/neros-fire-in-rome.htm

The Huns

The exact origin of the Huns is unknown. Legend has it that they were driven out after the death of Xiong Nu or some time after the death of Xiong Nu. Either way their culture was very diverse and they were by far the most fearsome of the barbarians in the Roman Western Empire. Their use of horse riding in combat was like nothing ever seen before, and their mastery of the bow was remarkable. The Romans had no way of stopping them, so they had to pay a fee to get them to stop attacking them. They eventually invaded Gaul but some time after that collapsed.

http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=huns

Greece to Restore Birthplace of Classical Theatre

The ruined theater under the acropolis in which Euripides and other playwrights performed their work for over 2000 years will be restored over a period of 6 years. The 9 million dollar program will be complete in 2015 and will include the modern additions to the surviving stone seats in the theater of Dionysus. The theater first saw action in the 6th century BC and witnessed plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, as well as Aristophanes.

http://blog.taragana.com/e/2009/11/25/greek-authorities-to-restore-ancient-athens-theater-where-classical-plays-were-first-performed-64473/

Demotic Script

Demotic Script lasted for about 1000 years and belongs to the last period of Egyptian history. even after demotic script was introduced the hieratic script was still used, mainly for religious purposes. Demotic did, however, win out on being used in business and everyday use because it was a lot easier to write and but not as easy to read. This is because most of the forms of the characters were almost exactly alike. 660BCE was the first example of Demotic writing, while 425AD was the last known example of its use.

http://i-cias.com/e.o/demotic.htm

Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is a stone found by Napoleon on his expedition in Egypt which had three writings including Greek, Demotic, and Hieroglyphic. It used three languages because the hieroglyphs were religious, Demotic was the common script of Egypt, and Greek was the language of the rulers at the time. It was carved i n196BC and found in 1799. With this discovery they were able to translate the hieroglyphs and solve the lifelong mystery of what the tombs were saying. It is currently on display at the British Museum of art.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html

Nova Vikings

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/village.html

This PBS run program enables one to explore a Viking village from the 9th to 11th century as if it were still standing today. It allows you to explore the construction from archeologists sketches, the design of the houses fit for view from a walking standpoint, equipment used by Vikings such as the weapons and boats they used on their raids, the design of the harbors, and the clothing of the people from the time period.

Lombards (Part 1/5)

This video is once again from the series Barbarians II and the Lombardi tribe was another German tribe from across the Danube during the decline of the Roman Empire. They ruled a kingdom in Italy from 568 to 774 AD, but was taken away after the Pope sought Charlemagne king of the Franks to retake the Peninsula on which the Vatican sat. The Lombards ruled in an almost Feudalistic system in which there was the king and the dukes with their serfs and other workers under the protection of them in their province.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346673/Lombard

The Franks (Part 1/5)

This video is from a part of a series called Barbarians II from the History channel, and is actually quite good. The Franks themselves were the first Royal family of France, and are originally from across the Rhine and a part of the Germanic tribes that invaded during the fall of the Roman Empire. During the fighting with other German tribes the leader, Clovis, converted to Roman Catholic Christianity and this helped save the Roman Empire from declining any faster. They defeated the Alamanni and the Arian Visigoths.

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab74

Vikings (1/5)

This is a part of the History Channel's Barbarian series and it talks about the history of the Viking people, who were from Scandinavia and continuously raided wide areas of Europe from 9-11AD.the word Viking comes from the Scandinavian work Vikingr which means pirate. The vikings seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of man power as they could get together any men that they want to go on a raid or destroy an army.

Who Should Own The Rosetta Stone

As of the current conditions, the British Museum owns the Rosetta Stone, which Napoleon found in Egypt; so the question remains which country should keep the Rosetta Stone? The argument is that the nation on which the artifact was found is the one that should keep it, but why shouldn't everyone especially those over seas not be able to enjoy it because of a nations greed. On the side of Egypts argument though, this was a major find that linked them to their past so that they were able to once again read the hieroglyphs on the inside of the many pyramids and tombs in Egypt. Each side has a solid argument, so should a law be made to solve this problem once and for all.

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/who-should-own-the-rosetta-stone/

Cleopatra

In 51 BC Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy Auletes, died and left the kingdom to her and her brother of twelve years Ptolemy XIII. At the funeral Pompey of Rome was left in charge of the children. Cleopatra marred Ptolemy XIII when he turned twelve, but soo dropped the documents saying so and basically ruled the kingdom herself as she printed her own coins and many other things. She soon had an affair with Caesar to help restore her to her position in 48BC after she was removed by a war with her younger brother. Later she had an affair with Antony in 41BC and they made a pact to join their militaries together against Octavian. Ultimately this alliance failed and Cleaopatra killed herself by snakebite and antony died by his own blade in 30BC.

http://www.touregypt.net/cleopatr.htm

Horace