Julius Caesar or Augustus?

Who do you think was a more important leader, Caesar or Augustus? Explain your
answer using details and relevant facts to support your opinion.

Both Julius Caesar and Augustus were important leaders. However, there had to be one leader who was more important, which was Augustus, in my opinion. Firstly, I thought about how they died- did one of them die because they were too old, or was one of them murdered? Julius Caesar died because he was murdered by the Senate. Augustus lived for a long time. This already tells us who might have been better. Julius Caesar was a military man, he preferred to ignore the Senate, but rule them. He was powerful, but not so political, in contrast to Augustus Octavian. Augustus was astonishing. He refused to gain power, because he gave the Senators the power they needed. Augustus controlled the Senate, but he didn’t show it, he had rather help them. He also kept the military business busy from Italy, other rulers who didn’t do this were overthrown. They both knew that the Roman Empire no longer existed. Augustus tried to retain it, to bring it back and to build another one, while Julius Caesar didn’t care and moved on to ruling the Senate.
As a result, Caesar was selfish and only wanted his life to be great, he wanted to be the ruler of the Senate and other military businesses, in contrast to Augustus, who was caring and tried his best to help the Senate and other political businesses.

Julius Caesar: A Reformer or a Dictator?

                                                              

                                                               JULIUS CAESAR: REFORMER
I am a poor Plebian man who doesn't own a farm like the rich ones do, the Patricians. I find this quite unfair and I hope to have a better future with my wife, five kids and an uncle who has two sons. Some say our future will be better, some say it won’t, but who knows, I guess I’ll just have to find out. One day, I was surprised. The great Julius Caesar arrived! At first I didn’t know who he was, or what he did, or even what he was meant to do. So, this is what I found out. Julius Caesar is a famous writer, speaker, politic and philosopher now-a-days. He was born in 100 BCE and loves sport. A few days later, I found out some local news. I was fascinated. This is my thought of him: Caesar is a legend. He started public job programs to aid us! Also, instead of being against the Patricians and other citizens, he granted the Roman citizenship to people from many other foreign countries and city-sates. I am very grateful for the Reformer Caesar. People say that he became an enemy when he refused to follow the Senate's order to return to Rome, and he also increased the number of senators to add up to his supporters list. I do not believe this, at all! This is why I have absolute right to vote on Caesar as a reformer! He helped us more than ever! Caesar was also very ambitious and always wished for the best for himself- fame and power, of course. He has finally led us, the poorer, farm our own farms and set free from slavery to the Patricians. I am so happy! My family and friends are finally able to do whatever we want.

The Legend of Rome

                                                           THE LEGEND OF ROME

There are two legends that describe the foundation of Rome. The two legends include twin brothers, Romulus and Remus. The twins grew up in Tiber River. If it wasn’t for the female wolf that saved them from their death there, they would have died. Romulus and Remus decided to build a city when they grew slitely a bit older. However, they were selfish and greedy and worked on it in two different sites. They argued over who’s vultures were better and bigger, one had 6 and the other had 12. Once Remus made fun of Romulus’s city, he snapped and decided to kill his twin brother. At last, Remulus took over and became the king/leader of Rome. He also named Rome after his own name. In reality, no historians or archaeologists know the exact date of when Rome was founded because it dated back a long time ago, but some say it was found in 753 BC.  As time went by, everything has improved in Rome. A form of government; republic and monarchy was formed, isolated settlements on seven hills united together to establish Rome, and the city was extended and agricultural & trade industries were developed. However, the Latins were also part of something. The Latins were local people, and they became Legions- in order to protect themselves from invaders. This is where real Rome has started as a political country. All in all, there were many, many, myths that tell who founded Rome, and how it was founded, but this one is one of the most reliable legend of the two twin brothers.

Alexander the Great

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

"The Romans had a reason to visit the tomb of Alexander the Macedonian, who’s middle name was Megas, or Great. If he barely received in his twelve years between his twentieth years and before his death in the 33rd year (335-323) the most of the known world, Rome would hardly have nowhere to expand. "
(Alexandar Ciric, winner and god)

Alexander of Macedonia, called the Great, was the inspiration for many rulers throughout history. Many stories and legends about him are written. He was born on 356th BC. His father was King Philip Macedonian, and his mother was the princess of Epirus Olympics. When he was 19 years old, his father died and he inherited the throne. He was a brilliant military leader and his state was greater than any state which previously existed. Greece and Persia became his countries, but then he and his soldiers visited India. He came back because his soldiers refused to go further; this was because they believed that they arrived in the end of the world. Alexander died young, in his 33rd year, the 323rd BC.

Many think he is called the way he is (Alexander the Great) because he won a lot in battles like the Battle of Issus, Granicus, Hydaspes, and many more. However, his government fell apart when he died. But, he is also great for other things. He helped people and culture of his time become closer and more familiar to each other. He established new towns and changed their form of government and thus helped the country prosper and be enriched. Thanks to Alexander, people from Europe have arrived in areas where they previously haven’t been to, and they got a chance to meet new plants and animal species. In all these ways Alexander's conquests changed the history and influence what was happening later. That is why Alexander is Great, even though his large state quickly disappeared.

My story of an Ancient Athenian Woman

               A day in the Life of an Ancient Athenian Woman.

"I'm so happy! I'm very delighted that I have to do the chores and the cleaning around the house! This is a miracle!" Mera seemed quite excited to start off her new life as a 14 year old woman in the early morning. "When is it going to happen? When am I getting married!?" Not only was she excited to be cleaning the house, but she was also getting married. That is, to a very rich and brave man. This means that she would be living in a huge household, where she can bring in her large dowry, which would then be managed by her future husband, eventhough he never owned it, and had to return it in its entirety in case they would divorce, but this is unlikely for Mera because she is a great civilized young women ready to do anything told.
"Come downstairs, Mera, someone is waiting for you!" Mera was so pleased she was about to faint. She rushed downstars and saw her future husband- He was very short and bald, and ugly. "But pappa, why do you choose him? I know much better men than him!" Mera complained. "I'm sorry, Mera. But I had to make this decision because I know he would make a great husband and my son-in-law, and he is also very rich!" Mera didn't seem to look like she loves him, but loving was not very important in Athenian marriages. The important thing is that marriages were based on the prospect of a good relationship for the future. Mera was sure that love and respect between them were going to develop as time went by, she hoped and hoped. "Hello there, my name is Karl, are you my bride?" "Yes I am." Mera replied in an awefuly quiet voice. About half an hour later, they finally got married and settled in their house.

Both of them were observing, until Karl called for Mera. "Mera! Where are you, my wife!?" "I'm coming, my husband!" Mera replied to Karl's urgent call. "I must go sail and hunt some animals for food! After that I will go trade some of our belongings with other people!" Karl had alarmed her. "Good, my husband." Mera replied. "I will see you at the end of the day." Karl rushed out the door leaving Mera along at home. "This is great! Now I get to run the house!" Mera thought. She sent one of her slaves in the house to the market to buy some food, because she wasn't allowed to get out of the house. The slave bought milk bread, rye bread, wheaten bread, and brown bread. She also asked him to take some farmhouse bread from their garden full of crops. That was enough bread for three meals today.

In the meantime, when Mera had nothing to do after her work of cleaning and sewing, she decided to go upstairs and make herself a new shirt- she was indeed running out of clothes. Her new shirt was made out of wool and linen. She thought that it would be nice to have a bright green shirt, so she decided to dye it out of a plant. When she was satisfied with her new shirt, she moved on to making her hair look good. Firstly, Mera took her long hair and braided it, and then put it on top of her head using headbands called  cecryphalaes. She used waxes and lotions in order for her hair to smell good and pleasant.

A couple of hours later, Karl had arrived home. He had started a fire outside in order to bake the meet he had hunted in the forest. Of course, he invited some visitors in the house so that he wouldn't eat all by himself. When Karl finished baking the meat, he went to the hallway (andron) with his visitors and Mera went to eat in the living room (aule) by herself. When they had finished eating, the visitors left and the two couples went to bed and fell asleep peacefully.

The Spartan Way

"One visitor remarked that after eating the Spartan's food, he understood why they were so willing to die in the battle."
What did you think about when you first read this, lets say, quote? You can immediately imagine how they lived way back then, how they were treated, and especially how they ate. It doesn't seem very delightful according to the quote, right?

This article is about the way Spartans lived, their education, the way women lived, and of course how Sparta came to a decline.
Sparta was the most powerful city-state in ancient Greece for more than 200 years! This is because the warriors trained a billion times more than we do today for certain sports, and they were much more successful than any other city-state because they usually won in battles and wars. Spata was a secretive place run by olygarchy of rich families.The families in Sparta were very, very brave, they had strength, and they were fearlessness of death. This is what made them accomplish their goal. A perfect example of this would be the story of the boy and the fox cub. This indicates how the boy had lied that he didn't steal the fox cub, even if it meant he was going to die if they found out the truth.

The Spartan men had little time to spend on education and learning, unlike Athens who were aming to become scholars. It was certainly much more difficult for warriors to live because they didn't get to eat with their families; instead, they ate in the hallways with other warriors. And what's worse is that they had to walk barefoot instead of wearing shoes like we do today. Warriors spend almost all their time practicing for battles in gyms and other big places. However, Spartan men did lots of things during their free time. All their time was taken by choral, dances, festivals, feasts, hunting expeditions, physical excersize, and conversation. They had neighbors and slaves who were two groups of conquere people. Their free time was basically possible by those two groups.

The women, however, lived differently from the men. While the main job for men was to become soldiers, the main job for women was to have children. They say that only wealthy and stable women could give birth to strong babies. They were more free than other women in acient Greece. However, they did have to stay in homes, unless they had to go to special occasions of festivals. They couldn't wear jewlery, nice clothes, perfrume of any of that "overreactive fancy" stuff (That's how I call it).

After years and years, Sparta crashed Athens and became the leader of ancient Greece, while even later Thebes took over Sparta, which was kind of sad, if you had noticed how hard they worked and how much effort they put into everything.
By the time the Romans took over, Sparta had become a tourist attraction, where visitors came to see the site and the buildings and everything else.

All in all, Sparta was a very powerful city-state, one to remember for ages.

"Price, Sean. "The Spartan Way." The Spartan Way. Junior Scholastic, 2010. 174-79. Print"

The Ancient Olympics

                                                      

                                   The Ancient Olympics

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
Knight, Theodore. The Ancient Olympics. The Ancient Olympics. Vol. 2010. New York.

My first thought when I took a look at this quote was that people don't need to win in everything and be perfect, the important thing is that they take part in it; because sometimes people may lose and then feel depressed while they have no idea how much more improtant it is to take part in something. The second part of a quote is just the same but in different words with a different example.


The article that I was assigned to read was fairly interesting. It talks about the Ancient Olympics, and how it developed over time until it was finally gone and destroyed by the Ancient Romans.


The Olympics was placed on a very sacred site- in a valley in western Greece at a place called Olympia (you can immediately guess it from the actually word: Olimpic).
Corobeus, the first to win a race in Olympia in 776 BC, was rewarded with a wreath of olive branches. Isn't that cool? Corobeous is very famous because he was the first runner starting at the Ancient Olympics.
Competitions at Olympus were very strict/serious- only wealthy people could take part in it. They had to swear that they had been training for 10 months otherwise they wouldn't be able to participate. They were also strict because women were barred not only as competitors but also as spectators, and if they didn't follow this rule, they could die. For example, one story tells how a mother of a young runner named Pisidorus was teaching him how to run and win when his father died. When he won, she was so happy, that she was screaming very loudly. So, of course, she got noticed by others. At this moment, I was thinking of how they would kill her, but when I found out that she has not been killed, I was surprised. Nobody knows why she had not been killed. Anyway, as time passed by later, the rules changed and women were allowed to compete and watch games as well.


As years proggresed even more, Olympic events increased more and more, but we still don't know when each event happens. Some of the events in the Olympics include Boxing, Pancratium, Wrestling, Running,  Pentathlon, Chariot races, Pancratium (a brutal sport), biting, kicking, gouging, and strangling. In the penthalam, people got injured quite a lot because contestants threw discus and javelin at. Records indicate that wrestling, boxing, and pancratium competitors had a lot of impatient and enthusiastic crowds. This is why they were most dangerous.


1. Wrestling: Wrestling back then was just like today, including three successful throws to win a match. Biting and genital holds were illegal though.

2. Boxing: Unlike today's boxing, there were no rounds and no rules against hitting an opponent on the ground. They fought until a man was knocked down, or when one man gives up.

3. Pancratium: This was a comnination of boxing and wrestling, because they were allowed to punch, but not too seriously like for examples using your nails to scratch, or hitting the opponenet's eyes or stomach was illegal.



Finally, when the Olympics came to a decline by the Romans in 100 B.C, Roman culture and belief replaced the Greek way of life. This is how it ended.

Greek Values

In the begginning, I thought that all of the Greek values that we studied are very important. When I first looked at them in my notebook, I was thinking of our school values, and I thought that they were exactly the same. But then again, they had different names, but almost same meanings.

What values were most important to early Greeks and why were they considered important?

The most important Greek values are Hospitality, Respect, Justice (fairness), Loyalty, Intuition, Ingenuity (which appeared to be on 4 excerpts out of 8), Teamwork, and Athletitism. The most important Greek values FROM the excerpts ware Ingenuity, Teamwork, and Athletitism.

• Ingenuity means skill or cleverness. This means that Oddyssey was extremely clever in each excert, he found his way to accomplish his goal, which was returning to Penelope. For example, in "Odysseus and the Cyclops," he killed the cyclops with his men, by shooting a branch into his big eye. After this, they headed back to the boat.

• Teamwork means working in team to survive and succeed. One example of how Odysseus and his men showed teamwork was in the excert "Odysseus and the Sirens." Stories tell that the sirens attract men each time they sing. Once the men get close to them, the sirens kill them. Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens sing so much, that he decided to make a plan with his team mates. He asked them to tie him strongly to a spot, so he wouldn't be able to get close to the sirens. This shows teamwork.

• Athletitism, means having the strength to do anything, because you have a sturdy and well proportioned body. Some examples of athletitism would be in the excert "The Archery Contest." When Odysseus arives from his 'long journey' he comes back to his home and finds out that there is an Arhcery contest. The suitors forced Penelope to marry the man that can string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow from it. Nobody could do this, so when Odysseus had arrived, he did it, and of course, he succeeded. This is where he became king. Athletitism in this excert was used when the men used bow and arrow.

In what ways are early Greeks values found in modern society?

There are a lot of examples of how Greek values are used in modern society today. And some values are even very similar to todays values.
 For instance, Ingenuity is used in schools and jobs. In schools, you have to be extremely clever and find your way through in tests, essays and projects. This goes to jobs as well. Another example of ingenuity in modern society would be while playing a fun game. You're supposed to reach your goal and win. You have to be skillfull in order do this task.
Athletitism today is used all over the world. For example, sports. Everybody trains something, right? Volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer, hockey etc... are all part of athletitism. Washing your clothes, running to the bathroom, writing intentionally fast, throwing a ball into someone's face, are also some examples of athletitism, because you use your strong muscles to cooperate with other things.
Teamwork is very important in modern society. It applies to everything that I mentioned above. ou can't succeed in a lot of things without teamwork. For example, working in a team sport allows you to pass a ball to your team mate, and win. Working with a partner to finish up a project also requires working in a team. However, a different kind of teamwork also exists. For example, if you want somebody to help you complete a task, you gather up and they help you.
Teamwork is the most common value we have today. However, athletitism and ingenuity don't really seem right if you were to use them today. However, in my oppinion, the meaning of those words are similar to today's.


So as you can see, the Greek values existed a VERY long time ago and still exists today. People use these values in many different ways- and every different way makes a difference in the world.

Civilizations

                                          BRIEFLY DESCRIBE BOTH CIVILIZATIONS:
Minoan:

Looking back at the Neolithic times (in 3000 B.C.E), some people began settling in Crete.  We don't know which people and how they came. Since the Mycenaeans were the most civilized at that time, they wanted to conquere Crete, but they couldn't because they didn't know how to sail boats, and so they never conquered Crete. As time passed, Cretans (Minoans) were building palace murals, they painted pottery, and they depicted boats to fish so they could live. They were master seafarers and they set up long distance Trade Routes (in Spain, Egypt and Asia Minor- which is in Turkey today).
 In 1700 BC, a terrible earthquake shook the island of Crete, and all of their palaces were destroyed. But the Cretans rebuilt even bigger and better palaces. Their biggest palace was called 'Knossos' which had hundres of rooms. Think of a shopping mall these days! They had even painted pictures showing plants and animals and people in fancy clothes. There were also bathtubs and running water (But this was only for the king and queen). By 1450 BC, Crete has been destroyed by fire. But luckily Knossos was still safe. However, it was destroyed too later. This time, Palaces were'nt rebuilt, and Crete became a much poorer place. Finally, the Mycenaeans were the most powerful, and it seemed that they destroyed Crete.

Mycenaean:

As I said, when the Minoan civilization disappeared, the Mycenaean civilization came to power on the Greek land. The Mycenaeans believed themselves to be great warriors. This is why most myths about heroes and famous battles come from Mycenaeans. They fought with whoever came in contact with them. This is why people think that they destroyed the Minoan civilization and their island. However, this is not the only reason they destroyed these the island of these peaceful neighbors... The first reason why they destroyed it is because they needed more supplies of copper and other ores found in Crete for weaponery, and could no longer defend against other cultures/groups of people on mainland Greece!
The Mycenaeans spoke an early form of Greek back then. They also developed an agricultural economy based on grapes, grains, and olives, and traded with Egypt, and Asia Minor (Turkey).

We know that they fought with stone weapons. The Mycenaean age is sometimes called the Heroic age or the Age of Heroes because their art includes warriors performing heroic feats, sometimes with other people in war and sometimes killing animals. Here are some facts about the Mycenaeans:

- They worshipped many gods
- They prayed to their gods when they needed help
- They expected their gods to take care of them
- They say the right words in a right way

The Mycenaeans built their palaces on hill tops. The reason why they decided to build their palaces on hilltops because there is a bigger chance of getting fresh rainwater up there. The Mycenaeans learned from experience that if you drank dirty water, you can get sick and even die. Clean water was very important to them, and it's important to people today too, right!? However, when they couldn't find a clean source of water to drink, they prayed to their gods to make any water safe.

WHAT ASPECTS OF BOTH CIVILIZATIONS WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SURVIVE IN LATER PERIODS OF GREEK HISTORY?

I believe that art and pottery would survive in later periods of Greek History because art never goes away, people admire it. It would be a pitty if other civilizations wouldn't copy their art, especially the Mycenaeans' because they had art which showed heroes fighting in battles and wars, and winning. I also think that  small figurenes will survive in later periods of Greek History because they are also admiring.