root words

I was interested in the words that are mentioned (vandalism, chapels, hermits) and how they got their meaning today. First off, vandalism: the vandals were going around destroying and sacking all the towns. Chapels: the story of St. Martin tearing his cloak and giving half to the naked beggar. And then hermits: the desert dwellers which were considered holy men. Hermits have such a negative view today so it's interesting that hermits were admired people back then. I also was interested in how colonies, called 'coloni' back then, originally formed. The people were given land to farm, they couldn't be sold, they got protection from the land owner, and they couldn't be separated from their families. The rich noble got free slave labor. Pretty good deal for both sides. I kinda feel like the noble got the better deal though since the family could never leave and the son would have to follow in his father's footsteps. I wonder what happened if they ever tried to leave or if the son decided he didn't want to do what his father did. Are there any accounts or stories of this happening? I looked and couldn't find any.

Women in Rome

I seemed to be drawn a lot in this week's reading to the women in Rome. First off, I noticed that a couple times some very conniving women were placing their sons in power so that they could actually hold the reins. The first one was Julia Maesa and her 15 year old son, Elagabalus (a very colorful character and interesting to read about). At times I wondered if she actually had power over her son or not. At first she did, but then he took some matters into his own hands. His five marriages in three years were definitely his mother's doing though. The second one was called a "Vestal Virgin." I wasn't sure what that was so I looked it up. Here's where i found the info I was looking for:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:vestal+virgin&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
basically it's a chaste woman who spends her whole life tending to the sacred fire of the goddess vesta. How Elagabalus (or I guess his mother would have) scored that one, I don't know. The second mother\son ruling power was Julia Mamaea and her son Severus Alexander. It was mentioned that Julia Maesa helped put Severus into power too, but I thought she had been killed with her son... that was a little confusing. Does anybody have clarity on this? Women ruling through the face of their sons probably happened more than just these two times I mention here, though. For being such strong-willed, conniving women, they are a far cry from what Aristotle mentions in Oikonomikos on what a good wife should be. It reminded me a lot of what the bible says about what a virtuous women is. but, that part of the bible was written after Aristotle... I wonder if they influenced each other at all. It would be hard to know. Just as a closing little tidbit, I really liked the first poem by Sulpicia. I thought it was a beautiful love poem.

Romeo and Juliet

I'm studying Egyptian art in my Art History class right now so the story of Anthony and Cleopatra was of great interest to me. Egypt was a country extremely isolated by desert and water so it went a long time without much influence. For instance, Egyptian art didn't change in 3,000 years. That's amazing. Think of how much American art has changed just in the last 100 years. So I find it interesting that one small thing like a relationship their Pharaoh had with a Roman man would bring it all crashing down. What really freaked people out in Rome was when Anthony was going to name his children with Cleopatra heirs to Rome. She must have been quite the woman to have Anthony and Caesar all enthralled by her. So they run away together but commit suicide separately... I wonder why they didn't just keep running and run off together? The world kept going for all they knew. It wasn't as small as it seems today and a lot easier to hide in. And I wonder why they committed suicide separately? It's all very Romeo and Juliet and tragic but romantic.

Wikipedia Assignment #1

Alexander the Great
This was a very informative, LENGTHY article on Alexander the Great. It starts with a brief overview of his life for those who want basic information. then, it goes into detail. Starting with his early life, it gives us information on things such as his training under Leonidas and talks about the rumor that he was Zeus' son. It also details relationship issues among and with his family. The article then talks about his coming into power and his many conquests. This is the main chunk of the article. Then it talks of his death and goes over things such as his character, influence on the world, and testament.
1. article length: 11,303 words
2. searched for "Alexander the Great" and got article titled "Alexander the Great"
3. disambiguation link showed links to movies and songs written about him, sport players with nicknames of "Alexander the Great", a couple airports named after him, and even a board game based on him
4. discussion link had people claiming to be experts on "all things Alexander", debates on if he really never lost a battle, and talks about how his name was really pronounced in the day.
5. changes- 2,604, 1st change: 1/23/02, last change: 9/12/08
6. external links: 13
7. references: 8
8. further readings: 12

If anyone is as fascinated by Alexander as I am this would be a great read for them. Tons of juicy details and a few fun pictures. If you're looking for basic information, the whole article would be extremely overwhelming. But, conveniently, there's a brief overview at the top. so yes, I would recommend this article to both the interested reader and the bored fact-searcher on Alexander the Great

Rome Politics

As I was reading about the setup of Roman power and politics I was thinking about how much this sounded familiar. The patrician in power seemed to have a high level of power but it was such an illusion. Much like our president, the position was one of representation and symbolism but not true power. The senate was the true power behind the mask of the king. But really, where was the power in the senate? I admit being a little dizzy and confused by the long string of titles within the senate (consuls, proconsuls, quaestors, preator, etc, etc, and so on). In the end I found it to be amusing that the censors became some of the most powerful politicians. since the censors controlled taxes they were the most paid attention to, bribed, and corrupted. I guess taxes have always been a huge deal. :) Since I'm talking about taxes, I have an opinion I'd like to share: taxes are a LOT better to the alternative. The alternative being a place where you don't pay taxes. A place like South Africa where the law doesn't exist and everyone has their own ideas about how things should be run. If someone complains to me about taxes I'd like to send them off to live in a place like that for awhile. Then they'll be glad to write that check when the time rolls around. A little off topic, I know, just thought I'd share. I also had a question about Roman slaves: who were they? Were they people the Romans had conquered? Were they people of color? I find it appalling that humans feel they can judge themselves above another to the point of cruelty. It's barbaric.

contrast of characters

I must admit I was surprisingly intrigued by the story of the rise and fall of cities, leaders, and nations. Like others have mentioned, I too loved the movie 300 and was quite appalled to learn that the facts have been twisted. My thought was: if a story is worth telling, which this definitely is, why does Hollywood feel the need to change it? A good story is a good story and doesn't need to be "Hollyvised" Yes, I make up words to fit what I'm trying to explain. :) Even though I was frustrated by what I believed to be the story and what the story turned out to be, I was inspired by the courage those Spartans showed. To know that you're going to die and still fight with such a passion... As I read further on I was quite amused at the gall of Xerxes. He sits up on his big throne on top of a hill, gazing down at his vast army, expecting a victory. My first thought was "what pride and arrogance." But then my opinion (which wasn't a very good one in the first place) of him went to one of disgust. When he sees that his massive, "invincible" army is losing, he runs away, leaving his comrades to fight on their own. Such a contrast to the Spartans. The true character of a man is revealed when he is staring death in the face.