Today in West Civ class we started our exam by writing three out of the five essay that were given. We had to explain each essay in full detail in order to get the best grade possible. I decided to write essay A, C, and D because I believed those were the ones I knew most about. For essay A, I had to explain how geographic luck applied to Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Egypt. For the second essay I had to explain the different social hierarchies of Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. For the last essay I had to compare and contrast the governments of Ancient Rome and The United States in year of 2015.

Today in West Civ class we used our knowledge while taking our Ancient Rome final test. Overall I thought the test was very easy, I really enjoy doing the big project on Ancient Rome and explaining it in front of the class because I feel like I really benefited from it . Our project got an A so I was very pleased with every ones work ethic in my group.

Today in West Civ class we reviewed for our upcoming Ancient Rome test on Wednesday. We went over the full power point and asked questions about it. We also talked about our exam and what we should be studying for it.

Today in west civ was our last day of presenting Rome projects, only two groups went today. Suki and Christina made a video, built a coliseum, and drew a picture of a pore and wealthy person. Then Katie's group went and they built something out of wine corks then made a huge poster board explaining it. Overall this was a very fun project and I enjoyed it very much, it was a great learning experience.

Today in class 3 more groups presented their projects. The first group was Nikki, Chris, and Sydney they built the coliseum and made a chocolate cake. The second group Nathan, Reece, and James and they reenacted a battle. The third group was Jack and Colin and they built this thing that launched things at castles or villages back in Ancient Rome. For example the used to throw cows, rocks, and huge things but today we launched a tennis ball, golf ball, and a ping pong ball.

Today in class we started to present our Ancient Rome projects, today three groups went. The first group was Megan and Gabby, they made Roman vaces and did a power point explaining them. The second group was Skylar, Gabi, and Immanuel and they made programs for everyone in the class talking about chariot racing. Then my group went last, overall I think we did really good and all of our hard work paid off. We will finish presenting on Wednesday.

Today in class we finished watching the movie on Rome and Tiberius. In conclusion, at then end of the movie Tiberius ended up getting killed because he was trying to declare himself king. Every time one of the senators put theirs hoods on their hand it meant they were going to kill some one or something, the first time it was the cow then the second time it was Tiberius.

Today in class we went over the power point, took a pop quiz I missed yesterday, and continued watching the movie. From the power point we talked about how do you keep the plebs happy or at least keep them from revolting? The poet Juvenal said the people "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses." Bread (free grain from the state), partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet. Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) A highly successful general, he conquered the huge territory of Gaul. He made folks happy, made friends in high places. Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine) Crassus (the richest man in Rome, and one of the richest men in all history) These 3 men formed the First Triumvirate "rule of three men."

I was not in class today because I was home with a concussion.

Today in class we watched a movie on Ancient Rome and about the Punic Wars. Tiberius Gracchus was the leader and took over after his father passed away. 146 BCE, Carthage was the end of the third Punic War. The movie was very interesting, I enjoyed watching how they used to live and how they fought in wars now a days compared to back then.

Today in West Civ today, Mr. Shick was not here so we had class in the art wing. We continued to work on our Ancient Greece projects.

Today in West Civ class we watched a movie all about ancient Rome. But I also learned the three wars were a total destruction; end of an empire. Marcus Portius Cato the elder was a politician who ended every speech by saying "Delenda Carthage est," which means "Carthage must be destroyed," and he got his wish. Slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,00 Greek POWs etc.) By the end of the second century BCE there were over a million slaves in Italy. Small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for a little or no money) if they could not pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles. Slaves did the wok on the farms for the rich. The big farms became massive estates called latifundia.

In West Civ we learned that 5,000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet), the Romans army's elite heavy in fantry, recruited exclusively from Roman citizens. Group of eighty's a century, on horseback is the cavalry, they used shields, swords, dagger, amour, and tunic. The Punic War was from 264-46 BCE, Roman vs. Carthage, there were three years. Two empires fighting for control, the First Punic War (264-241 BCE), naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily, Rome wins this one. The Carthaginian Empire Strikes back, the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE), 29-year-old Carthaginian general. Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome, attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps. Lays siege to much of the Peninsula for 15 years, but could never get back to Rome. Hannibal riding on elephant back crossing the Alps just to launch his attack. The Third and final Punic War (149-146 BCE), Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage. Scipio, Tiberius, Gracchus, and other mercilessly attacked the city. Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city walls and buildings were utterly destroyed. When the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery. The rest of Carthage's territories were annexed and made into the Roman province of Africa.

Today in class we continued going over the Rome powerpoint and I learned that the rule of the kinds is replaced by rule of two consuls. Consuls are elected officials, term of office is one year. Always artiocrats (patricians), they traced their descent from a famous ancestor or pater 'father' There duties were to deal with justice, make the laws, and command the army. One consul could veto the other, reducing the power of the individual. In the fifth century BCE, patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs, the people. Plebs were 98% of the population.

Today in Western Civilization class we took a class trip up to the main lobby to see Mr. Hollan's students dress up as some one from one of the old days and explain their stories to us. So we had to go around and press a sticker on their shoulders that said "push me to hear my story." I got around to almost everyone, all of their stories were very interesting. A lot of them sounded alike, for example most of them were alcoholics back then. Overall, I enjoyed this class experience, it was very educational but at the same time, a lot of fun. I would definitely consider going to it again and can't wait to do it when I am a junior.