May 5

3 governments
Rule of kings replaced by two consuls

• consuls are elected officials
• one year term
• always aristocrats
• duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding army
• one consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)

fifth century BCE - patrician dominance of the government was challenged by plebs

• 98% of the population was plebs

Patricians Dominate?

• plebs served in the army, could not serve in office
• plebs were threatened with debt slavery
• plebs had no legal rights

Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials

Rome had no actual laws, only unwritten customs

patricians could interpret these to their own advantage

Plebs refused to serve in the military until:

• laws were written out (Law of the Twelve Tables)
• these laws were publicly posted - 450 BCE
• tribunes were elected "tribal leaders"

SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanun

designates any decree or decision made by the "Roman Senate and People"

Res publica

brand new republic, ready to run

democracy (the people's assembly and tribunes)

aristocracy (Senate - approx. 300 members)

monarchy (consuls)

not a tyranny

Ancient Roman/US Government

originally, US modeled new government on Roman model

both have three branches

• executive
• legislative
• judicial

both have legal code

Executive

US

President and VP

4 year terms

can veto proposed laws

Commander-in-chief

Rome

could appoint 6 month dictator 

controls military

2 consuls

Legislative

Rome

Senate 300 people - aristocrats - members for life

assemblies - members for life

US

Senate - 100 senators - 6 year terms

House of Representatives - 435 members - 2 year terms

Judicial

US

Supreme Court

nine members

appointed by President

confirmed by Senate

lifetime terms

Rome

Praetors 

chosen by the Centuriate Assembly

one year term

Rome

Twelve Tables

publicly displayed

gave rights to plebeians

only protected free-born male citizens

US

Bill of Rights

First 10 Amendments to Constitution 

April 30

Etruscans
came from north-central part of Italian peninsula
metalworkers, artists, architects
2 foundation myths: Virgil's Aeneid and the story of Remus and Romolus

Greeks
had many colonies around Mediterranean Sea
Romans borrowed ideas from them

• religious beliefs
• alphabet
• much of their art
• military techniques and weaponry

Latins
settled first on banks of Tiber River
descendants of Indo-Europeans
situated trading ships - not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome
commercial port but not susceptible to attack
7 hills of Rome (Palatine)

April 21

Ninth century - Etruscans, Greeks, Latins settle into southern Italy
Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian Peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the sity-state Rome
Remus and Romolus


Etruscans settled into northern Italy
Romans were influenced by Greek settlements to their south (alphabet, city-state organization)
Originally, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders -"Senate"
C. 500 B>C., Romans overthrew monarchy and established a "Republic"
Since the Senate was populated only by patricians, plebeians fought for a vote in government
Each year the Senate elected two rulers, "consuls", who served a term of one year
As in the Greek city-states, Romans would appoint a single dictator in times of war
12 tables - listed all laws
Res publica - Latin means "people's business/affairs"
Democracy, Aristocracy, Monarchy - government "republic"
Romans saw fighting in war as a duty

April 17

Today in class we came up with an idea for our Roman project.  We might make something out of clay with this kit thing Jessica got for Christmas.  Chesca spilled her water bottle all over Jessica so she was really wet.  We are going to test the clay project first so if it doesn't work we can do something else.

April 16

Today in class we talked about our next unit.  We get to pick a project and pretty much decide what we want to do.  My group is Jessica, Chesca, and I.  We don't know what we are doing yet.

April 15

Today in class we watched a video of the Allegory of the Cave.  Mr. Schick couldn't get his laptop to load so he used someone else's.  The video was really weird.  Because it was an allegory, it stood for something else.  Mr. Schick said that the author of the allegory was Plato.  Plato was most likely portraying Socrates's death.

April 14

Today in class we went over the test.  I did not do well on it.  our class was shorter than usual because we had an assembly.  John O'Leary talked to us about his experience as a child.