Last blog

We didn't have class or school Friday so Thursday was officially the last class of western civ of freshman year! I had a great year with Mr. Schick as my teacher and I had a great class. I can't wait to get through exams and for the year to be over. This is also my last blog of freshman year! I'm so happy to have finished the year strong with great grades. I will try my best to prepare for my exams and study as best as I can so I get good grades on all of them. 

One more class

We only have one more class left for west civ in freshman year! Today we took our last test and tomorrow we will get reviewing one more time for the exam. I got a 73 on my test which I am not too happy about. Even though my grade wasn't the best, I am happy I passed. I'm going to need to study a lot for this exam because I am not that great in social studies. I came a long way this year with studying hard for my tests so if I just study as hard as I did for my tests I will do just fine. I am so excited for the summer and the end of the year so it will be kind of difficult buckling down to study. Tomorrow in class I hope we have a good review day and get to review a lot of our information for next week. I need to listen to everything my teachers say about our exams because I want to do the best I possibly can.

Review for test

- the warriors loyalty is to the LORD OF THE MANOR
- he provides them with food weapons and treasure 
- Romans languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian 
- Franks---> French
- in 496 Clovis had a battlefield conversion and his warriors became Christians 
- New roots:

• customs of various germanic tribes

- population shifts to rural areas 

- 511 franks were united into one kingdom

- in 520 Benedict writes rules for monks:

• vows of poverty- live in monasteries
• chastity- no martial relations 
• obedience- make copies of the bible 

- Benedict's sister Scholastica writes similar rules for the nuns 

- secular - Worldly power 

- church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads and raise armies

• this is a theocracy

- Christendom

•  extends from Italy to England Spain to Germany 
• a kingdom of Christians 

- most of the rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms (SEVEN IN ENGLAND)

- Charles the hammer defeats Muslims raiding party from Spain at the battle of tours in 732

- Charles Martel (charles the hammer) had a son named Pepin the Short 

-  Pepin the shorts son, Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great

CHARLEMAGNE 

- built the greatest empire

- 6 foot four

- fought Germanic tribes

- spread Christianity

- reunited western Europe 

- most powerful king in western Europe 

- fought muslims in SPAIN

- Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended  him form a roman mob

- just like JULIUS CAESAR

- visited every part of his kingdom 

- kept close watch on his huge estates

- encourages learning 

- had three sons 

• Lothair 
• charles the bald
• louis the german
• the sons split up the kingdom at the treaty of Verdun in AD 843

- his heirs were weak and ineffective

 

Review on notes

Since we had people absent yesterday we had a day to review everything we went over yesterday. I didn't have to take notes because I had everything in my notes! We reviewed Charlemagne and Charles the Hammer. We also reviewed Charles the Hammer's kids and when they died. We have a test on Wednesday and I want to get an A very badly! Since we already knew all of this stuff we have the rest of class to relax and study or talk. Mr. Schick took Jessica's headband and put it on and took a selfie. It was actually pretty funny! We also learned yesterday that Mr. Schick met Morgan Freeman and a bunch of other famous actors and actresses!! I never knew he met them and it was so cool! I had no idea that he did this and it was really cool to hear who he met and what he did.

Charlemagne notes

• Middle ages= medieval period
• 476-1453 AD
• (from the end of the roman empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks)
• medieval Europe is fragmented 

This is a new society 

this new society has roots in:

• classical heritage of Rome
• beliefs of the roman catholic church
• customs of various Germanic tribes

5th century Germanic invaders

overrun the western half of the roman empire

causing:

• disruption of trade
• downfall of cities
• population shits to rural areas 

Effects of invasion

declining of learning 

• romance languages evolve (french, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)

Germanic kingdoms emerge: AD 400-600

Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor 

he provides them w/ food, weapons, treasure 

result:

• no orderly government for large areas 
• small communities rule 

- pope Gregory I (Gregory the great) goes secular (worldly power)

- Church revenues are used to help to poor, build roads and raise armies

- this is a theocracy

- Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany 

- hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732 (if he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire

Powerpoint notes: continued : charles the hammer

D. A european empire evolves
     1. franks control largest european kingdom 
          a. the roman province formerly known as Gaul
          b. ruled by Clovis- the Merovingian Dynasty 
*one of the most pivotal, crucial turning point when Charles the hammer took on a Muslim army.... and won**
     2. major domo- mayor of the palace-ruled the kingdom
     3. charles martel- charles the hammer
         a. extended the Franks' reign to the north, south, and east
         b. defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732- historic battle- Christians beat Muslims 
     4. charles the hammer's son- Pepin the Short
         a. possibly named for his unusual short haircut
         b. working for and with the pope, Pepin fought the Lombards
         c. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God"- beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751-987 AD
         d. Pepin the short had two sons: Carolman and Charles
         e. Carolman died... leaving Charles to take over 
E. Charlemagne takes center stage
     1. Charlemagne - aka Charles the Great 
         a. six foot four
         b. built the greatest empire since rome
         c. fought the Muslims in Spain
         d. fought Germanic tribes
         e. spread Christianity
         f. reunited western Europe
         g. became the most powerful king in western Europe 
         h. pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly roman mob
         i. this signaled the joining of Germanic power, the church, and the heritage of the roman empire  
      2. Charlemagne's government 
         a. he limited the authority of the nobles
         b. he regularly visited every part of his kingdom
         c. kept close watch on his huge estates
      3. cultural revival 
         a. encouraging learning 
         b. ordered monasteries to open schools
         c. opened a palace school
      4. but, his heirs were weenies...
         a. his son- Louis the Pious was ineffective 
         b. Louis' three sons- Lothair, Charles the bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD 

Germanic Kingdoms Unit Under Charlemagne

MAIN IDEA

• many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire

WHY IT MATTERS NOW!

• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from

SETTING THE STAGE!

• middle ages= medieval period
• 500- 1500 AD
• medieval Europe is fragmented 

A. invasions trigger changes in western europe

 1. invasions and constant warfare spark new trends

     a. Disruption of trade 

          i. europe's cities are no longer economic centers

          ii. money is scarce 

     b. downfall of cities

          i. cities are no longer centers of administration

     c. population shifts

          i. nobles retreat to the rural areas 

          ii. cities don't have strong leadership 

 2. decline of learning

     a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition 

     b. only priests and church officials could read and write

     c. knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lose 

 *TEST QUESTION: what was the most common language: LATIN

 3. loss of a common language 

     a. dialects develop in different regions

     b. by the 800s, french, Spanish, and other roman-based languages are evolving from latin 

B. Germanic kingdom emerge

 1. the concept of government changes

     a. roman society: loyal to public government 

     b. germanic society: loyal to family

          i. germanic chief led warriors 

          ii. during peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)

          iii. during wartime, warriors fought for the lord

     c. "the king, who's that? you want to collect taxes from me? who the heck are you?"

     d. franks live in the roman province Gaul- their leader is Clovis

 2. the franks under Clovis 

     a. another battlefield conversion (just like Constantine!)

     b. Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop

     c. the church in rome approves of this "alliance"

     d. Clovis and the church begin to work together 

C. Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

 1. 511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom

 2. 600 AD- church+ Frankish rulers convert many 

 3. fear of Muslims in southern europe spur many to become Christians

 4. monasteries and convents

     a. 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rules from monks and monasteries

          i. poverty, chastity, obedience, study

     b. his sister scholastica did the same for nuns in convents

     c. 731 AD- the Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England

     d. Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (bibles, greek texts)

 5. (Pope) Gregory I expands papal power 

     a. papacy= pope's office

     b. secular power= worldly power

     c. so.... under Gregory the great...  

Papal power (power of the pope) is political power, presented from the pope's palace

     d. the church can use church money to:

         raise armies

         repair roads

         help the poor

     e. Gregory the great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthy kingdom (Christendom)

Textbook notes review/ powerpoint

THE MIDDLE AGES

Today in class we went over our notes that we took the other night. We talked about what we said and how we are supposed to put the notes in our own words. But, unfortunately, none of us did that. We talked about a few new vocabulary words also. We learned that Christendom- is a combination of Christianity and kingdom we also learned that taxes/ tithe is giving 10% of what you earned from work and giving it to the church. We also learned that the eastern roman empire is known as the Byzantine Empire. In the roman empire, we learned that they were speaking Greek instead of Latin. 

- Socrates

- Plato 

- play writes

• you need to know how to speak and read Greek in order to do what these people did in their time period. 
• if we (people from this age) were alive back in the middle ages:
• we would not be going to school 
• we would learn to become a butcher (for boys) a house wife or being able to to take care of a family (women)
• we would learn from our parents 
• in order to learn and progress in the middle ages:
• we would need to know how to read or write 
• romans were not in the center of trade or in social life
• life back then in the Middle Ages was a lot more civilized than we thought it was 
• had a lot cleaner civilization 

POWERPOINT

• feudalism: a political, military, and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances 
• in other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you
• RICH DUDE (LORD): "I own land; I need people to help me work it and defend it"
• TOUGH DUDES (VASSALS): "there are a lot of us, we can help the rich dudes hold on to their land"

THE FEUDAL PYRAMID 

                                            - king

          - the most powerful VASSALS (nobles and bishops)

       -knights- mounted warriors who received FIEFS for defending                                        their lord's lad 

                           - PEASANTS (mostly SERFS)

            landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-less just working the                                land for "the man" (their lord)

• MANOR- the lord's estate 
• the lord's manor house
• a church
• some workshops
• 15-30 families
• all on a few square miles
• good news: it's a self-sufficient community
• bad news: it's harsh if you're a peasant

HOW HARSH WAS IT?

• peasants are poor AND pay high taxes
• tax on grain
• tax on marriage
• church tax (tithe= 10% of their income)
• the live in crowded cottages
• live with animals and insects 
• eat VERY simply
• but don't worry- the church says this is your lot in life
• God determines your place in society- so chill

Test Returned

We got our tests back in class today and I am so happy I got an A! I got my first ding for this semester and I was so happy. It didn't seem like a lot of people got dings this time. Only a few of us did. I got a 94, Hailey got a 98 and Carly got a 100! We all reviewed together right before the test and we all seemed to know the information pretty well. I am so happy that I got a great grade on this test because I studied very hard. I made a quizlet with all the information from the past three tests so I was sure to get an A!! My next goal is to get a 100 and get a double ding! The year is winding down but Mr. Schick said that we will still have a few more tests before exams. I have to be sure to study very hard for all of my exams. Science and west civ are the classes that I am most worried about. I need to be sure to study a lot and to not cram it all in in the last couple days. If I do that I think that I will be okay! I did okay on my first semester exams so I want to be able to do even better this time!

text book notes: After Rome

AFTER ROME
 "The upheaval of the early middle ages ended not in a collapse of civilization but in its renewal. and the first two early medieval centuries set the patterns for how this renewal would later take place in western and eastern Europe."

• the two centuries after the fall of Rome were a time of turmoil in Europe that would continue for five hundred years- a half millennium that counts as the "early" part of the middle ages. 
• in the Germanic kingdoms that had taken over the western half of the roman empire
• roman institutions gradually stopped working
•  cities ceased to be centers if trade and social life
•  warfare became more important than education and culture in the lives of the upper classes 
• the roman empire's surviving eastern half contributed to western Europe's chaos by efforts at reconquest, and then itself came under attack by newly powerful neighbors 

medieval- refers to the distinctive civilization of the middle ages which developed in Europe after the disintegration of the roman empire and before the emergence of the modern west 

noble- a member of the warrior-landowner group that formed the elite of medieval Europe 

5th century - Angles and Saxons invade Britain

486- Clovis leads Frankish confederacy against Romans and rival Germanic invaders in Gaul

527-565- reign of emperor Justinian in the eastern empire

542- plague hits Egypt, then spreads throughout the Mediterranean area and much of western Europe

568- Lombard conquer most of northern Italy

570-632- life of Muhammad

595- missionaries sent by the pope begin to convert the pagans of England 

711- Muslim invasion of Spain

800- Slavs occupy almost all of eastern Europe 

Rome fades away

ROME FADES AWAY

TWO EMPERORS

Diocletian 

• he rules from 284-303
• he thinks it's cool to kill CHRISTIANS
• looked at Christianity as a real problem because they won't worship the Roman gods
• Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
• rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
• solution: take Roman empire and DIVIDE it in half
• east Roman empire- had all the money/ the better side
• west Roman empire- had all the trouble
• two completely different empires 

Constantine

• rules from 306-337
• he thinks its okay and cool to BE a Christian
• conversion to Christianity 

----via across in the sky (conquer by this!)----

• 313- his Edict of Milan proclaims
• edict: law/proclamation 

----freedom of worship----

• built a new capital in the East
• Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEASANTS

life in the fourth century:

• country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tax collection
• new farming systems: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
• peasants can avoid paying taxed, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
• paying off debts and being "allowed"to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work (such a deal!)
• landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power that the faraway empire
• foreshadowing feudalism 
• feudalism: whose the owner of the land/ system where one manner is owned by the rich and have servants to work for them and knights to guard them
• doesn't matter who is the leader or empire 

THE WESTERN EMPIRE CRUMBLES

• romes power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
• western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
• huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
• Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
• other barbarian tribes
• Ostrogoths- Italy
• Franks- Gaul
• Angles and Saxons- Britain 

END OF AN ERA

from the beginnings...

• 500 BC- the monarchy is abolished 
• 450 BC- the twelve tables are established 

through the glory days...

• 44 BC- end of the line for Julius Caesar
• 27 BC-180 AD- the Roman peace (Pax Romana)

to the bitter end...

• constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman empire shattered and crumbling
• the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

Decline of the Roman Empire

Rise of Christianity:

• Jesus spends three years preaching, is then killed by Roman leaders
• Jesus' followers think he's the messiah and the savior who has risen from the dead
• Saul (the persecutor) becomes Paul (the evangelist), spreading Jesus' message
• that there is one true God, not roman gods
• Christianity evolves from a cult status to an established official structure
• priest, bishops, pope (Bishop of Rome) 
• Christians and Jews are monotheistic (meaning they believe in one God)
• this conflicted with roman beliefs
• persecution against both groups was common 
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and since there were many poor people, their numbers grew
• as the numbers grew, even some Roman leaders embraced Christianity 
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• he issues the Edict of Milan
• a law passed that was the approval of Christianity
• made Christianity the official religion of Rome 
• not only persecution, but actual approval of Christianity, eventually making it the official religion of Rome
• the Roman Empire and Christianity are now linked in power and influence 

Decline of the Roman Empire:

AD 180: Rome has problems 

• economic (trade became risky; taxers were too high; food supply was dropping)
• military (frontiers were hard to patrol; roman generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantinople), where Asia met Europe (now Turkey)
• after his death, empire is divided again
• this time "barbarian invader" (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks) overrun the empire's frontiers
• that's it for the roman empire (AD 476) 

Diocletian divided the empire into two

• Greek-speaking East (had more resources(
• Latin-speaking West (rome, tradition) 

The changing world of Rome: Emperors, Christians, and Invaders

•  the greatest single change that began among the peoples of the empire during the era of the Roman Peace was the spread of a new form of monotheistic religion, Christianity
• the new religion began as a group within Judaism at a time of division and uncertainty among the Jews arising out of their encounter with the international civilization of Greece and Rome 
• the empire helped bring changes to peoples living outside as well as inside its borders
• The Germanic barbarians of northern Europe became wealthier, more highly organized, and military stronger as a result of living as Rome's neighbors during the era of the Roman Peace 
• roman peace: Pax Romana 
• barbarians grew stronger 
• from about 200 AD, they became such a formidable threat that the emperors could them off only by building up the army, replacing self-rule by centralized government, and openly ruling as absolute monarchs- changes that, in the long run, failed to hold the empire together
• but, these changes had lasting results for the future development of the West
• the empire was still strong enough to bring about the last and greatest of the changes in civilization and took place under its rule
• As long as Rome had prospered, the emperors had taken little notice of Christianity's growth and spread; in the empire's time of troubles, they sometimes harshly persecuted it and sometimes deliberately tolerated it 
• the rulers took Christianity into partnership as the official and majority religion

Roman Test

We took our test today on Rome and Caesar. I think I did really well! I made a quizlet a few nights before the test and added a few things to it last night. I added the test questions from the previous test we took before break. I knew more than half of the answers and I feel really strongly that I got a good grade. I hope Mr. Schick will grade ours in class because I'm anxious to know if I got an A. It would be the first A I got on a test this semester! Mr. Schick looked over my notes and quizlet I took in advisory and he said they looked great and that he thought I was good to go! We had a few minutes before the test to study so I studied with Carly and Hailey. Carly quizzed me and Hailey then we just looked over the quizlet one final time. I need to bring up my grade even more so I did the best I could to study for the test. Getting an A would be awesome but even if I didn't get an A I would still be so happy if I got a high B. I hope to find out my grade either in class or in the next day or two to see how I did. I studied a lot so I really hope it pays off.

Rome/ Caesar test

Who was the first emperor? Caesar Augustus

• began the period of peace and prosperity called Pax Romana
• after Augustus died (at age 76), they went to his grand-nephew OCTAVIAN in A.D. 14 to pass on the power to him 

CALIGULA

• he was Germanicus' son (28 years old when started being "in charge"
• he was Tiberius' adopted grand son and great-nephew 
• he started off well: granting bonuses to those in the military 
• he began to fight with the senate
• he claimed to be a god 
• when you start to claim yourself as a god as a very young age...it is starting to show your crazy
• he had many statues of him everywhere
• sacrilegious
• he was cruel and insane:
• he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it
• spent a lot of money (the empires money) 
• he tried to make his horse a consul and priest (that is what critics said)
• he was assassinated by his own government officials AD 41 (28 years old)

CLAUDIUS 

• a very miserable leader (but a great one)
• expanded the empire somewhat into Britain 
• conquered Britain; he built roads, canals and aqueducts; renovated the Circus Maximus 
• critics thought he had cerebral palsy or polio
• his own family used to make fun of him because of this 
• ostracized by his own family 
• married to a women named Messalina (who "messed" around a lot)
• she had a lover named Silius 
• she thought when Claudius died her lover could become emperor 
• Claudius heard about this and got Messalina and her lover (Silius) killed

RELIGIOUS TROUBLES

• Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
• romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
• AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for one wall)
• the western wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines
• half a million Jews died in the rebellion 

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

• Romans were harsh towards those who would not worship the emperor
• especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
• often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions ect.)
• despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200, around 10% of the people in the Roman empire were Christians  

Text book notes: assassination and another Caesar

Page 101: Assassination and another Caesar

- Pompey was hasitily commissioned to defend thee Senate, but his forces were no match for Caesar's veterans
- Forced to flee from Italy, Pompey was later defeated by Caesar in Greece and murdered in Egypt, where he had taken refuge 
- Caesar moved swiftly to make himself supreme ruler of the Republic 
- The people's assemblies continued to exist, but they did little more than endorse Caesar's proposals 
- Caesar extended Roman citizenship to parts of Gaul and Spain and appointed citizens from the provinces to the Senate 
- He gave the Romans splendid public buildings and rods, and introduced reforms into every department and administration

• this is where Rome changes from Republic to empire  

- romans at home and abroad applaud Caesar's deeds, but these remained a stubborn core pf senators who were disturbed by his successors 
- Caesar appeared in the senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers 
- his murder did not restore the republic; instead, his death produced yet another crop of warlords and yet more bouts of civil war 

Page 103 The Roman Peace

- Augustus's new system of government kept many features of the Roman Republic, allowed subject peoples a good deal of self-rule, and brought Rome's destabilizing expansion to a halt. The result was two hundred years of stability that modern scholars call the Roman peace. 

- within the empire, the roman version of Greco-Roman civilization prevailed in the western territories and the Greek version was dominant in the east

- in many ways, the dominant international civilization undermined the traditions of other peoples of the empire 

Pages 104-107 LO1: The rule of the emperors

princeps: "first citizen" a traditional roman name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensable to the republic that came to be used by Augustus and other early emperors

• soon after Octavian's triumph at Actinium, the senate conferred on him a new title, Augustus ("revered one"), the name under which he has gone down in history  

THE AUGUSTAN SETTLEMENT 

• at the time, Augustus did his best to make it seem as if no such historic change was under way

THE FIRST CITIZEN

• unlike Sulla and Caesar, Augustus refused to offer a long-term dictatorship and referred to himself simply as pinceps (first citizen), a traditional name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensable to the republic 

THE DIVINE BEING

• in spite of avoiding Caesar's open exercise of supreme power, Augustus followed the dictator's even more arrogant-seeming example of accepting religious worship of himself 
• augustus also acquired the title of father of the fatherland and took seriously the fatherly duty of supervising the behavior of his "household"-- especially of the upper classes in rome

REFORM, RECONSTRUCTION, AND THE END OF EXPANSION 

• ensuring peace and stability involve not only changing the way the roman city-state worked but also reorganizing the whole of Rome's empire 
• first he brought the system of government appointments under his personal control
• second, Augustus showed respect for local institutes and encouraging provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibilities  
• third, he reorganized the army to ensure the loyalty of the rank- and- file soldiers 
• then he gradually brought about his single most drastic reform 

THE END OF ROMAN EXPANSION

• even after Augustus's troop cuts, his army was still far larger than the forces that Rome has usually maintained in the past
• he kept part of his arms in rome guarded to back up his power at the empires center but moved most of his forces to the frontiers of the empire 

 PERMANENT MONARCHY

• augustus was convinced that if romes new peace and stability were to last, the changes he had made in its government system must continue after his death  

caesar- the imperial title given to the designated successor of a reigning emperor

augustus- the imperial title given to a reigning emperor

roman peace- a term used to refer to the relative stability and prosperity that roman rule brought to the Mediterranean world and much of western Europe during the first and second centuries (AD)

LO2 LITERATURE AND THOUGHT IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

- as rome's conquest brought it into closer contact with the Greek world, the romans began to share in the cultural traditions of Greece and Latin joined as a language of literature and thought 

Nero, a crazy man

Today in class we watched a movie about Nero Caesar. Nero was the ruler of Rome for a period of time. He was not what you would call a normal guy. Nero was crazy! After there was a huge fire in Rome he decided to re-build the city and change it completely. He killed dozens of people including his wife who was pregnant. The council wanted to kill him themselves but a slave who over heard them talking about their plan to attack him ran and told Nero before they could do it. Nero was confused and very scared but also furious. He called the men in and asked them if they were really planning to kill him. They lied and said they weren't planning on doing that but the slave interrupted and said that it was a lie and they were going to. Nero ended up killing many men in the council and also the slave. Everyone in Rome thought that Nero was crazy and all wanted to do something about it. But since he was the ruler, and was completely crazy, they were to afraid to actually do anything. They are currently planning on what they will do to Nero because they definitely need to get rid of him. He is crazy and an awful leader!