Give three examples of Charlemagne's influence in the architecture or literature of the Early Middle Ages.

Charlemagne had a major influence on the architecture and literature of the Dark ages of the Roman Empire fell. "Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall (his height is well known to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects." (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard1.html)


 He made the biggest influence on the schools and education of children. "As soon as their years admitted, in accordance with the custom of the Franks, the boys had to learn horsemanship, and to practise war and the chase, and the girls to familiarize themselves with cloth-making, and to handle distaff and spindle, that they might not grow indolent through idleness, and he fostered in them every virtuous sentiment." (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard1.html) In this passage it shoes how he made it so the boys and girls would have the lives that the romans did. Each had their own path in life and they were both controlled by their father. He also never let them leave the house or leave his side for the fact the he never wanted to loose a child. It would cause him too much pain after he would loose a child. He only lost three of his kids but the loss of another would have been to hard for him to handle. 


Charles made most of his influences on the education systems and the literature of the time. He took a major role in the literature as he mainly influenced the school systems but he also influenced the art of the time. Although he wasn't the most hansom man at the time, he still made his life the best he could for him and his kids. He lived from 2 April 742 – 28 January 814 which is a long life. to be 72 years old at your death and to die with such an influence, that is all that you could want. although he left his children at death, they still lived a good life and they could now leave the house and enter the society. They had now officially came out of The Dark Ages.

Fordham.edu- "Medieval Sourcebook: Einhard: Life of Charlemagne." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 19 Mar. 2010. .

Did the Roman Empire 'Fall'?

How did the greatest empire fall? The Roman Empire was started in 27 BC by Gaius Julius Caesar know more commonly as Augustus, adopted son of Julius Caesar. (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roem/hd_roem.htm) At the height of the Empire it controlled approximately 6.5 million kilometers of land. Its military controlled over 60 legions, which roughly equals 4,200 legionaries. The demographics peaked between 60 and 100 million. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_empire)The city of Rome was destroyed and burned in 410 AD by barbarian invaders. (http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/history/fall2.htm) The Roman Empire finally fell in 476 AD when Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian. (http://www.allabouthistory.org/the-dark-ages.htm). The western part of the Roman Empire was systematically taken over by the Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Huns and other tribes of “barbarians”. With the fall of the Roman Empire, everything under its control was plunged into the Dark Ages. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was caused by a weakened economy, due to multiple factors, and by barbarian invasions and civil war.

The beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire took place an estimated 320 years be for the actual fall of the Roman Empire. The very rapid growth of the empire caused an economic inflation. The economic inflation was due to the continual increase in taxes, that slowly hurt the economy of Rome. The size of the empire caused Rome to have to pay a lot of money to maintain it. Rome had to take care of all of their roads, aqueducts, towns, and cities. It also would have cost a large amount of money to have and maintain a 30 legion army to defend the vast territories that Rome had conquered. These factors would have put a huge economic strain on the empire. This was a slow decline to one of the greatest empires of all time. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_roman_empire)

In 395, when the emperor, Theodsuis, left the Roman Empire to his two sons. The sons then split the empire into two parts, The Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. With the split of the two the Byzantine Empire became its own empire. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/fallofrome_article_01.shtml#three)The eastern part became known as the Byzantine empire Honorius, one of Theodsuis’ sons, got the western part of the Empire that included present day Italy, Spain, France, England, and the northern part of Africa. A civil revolt, that weakened Rome, was started when Constantine III declared himself emperor of York. When Constantine left to gather troops to attack, he left the whole area of England, Spain, and France open to Constantine was eventually killed, and his troops were taken to deal with the Visigoths in Italy. The Visigoths under the rule of Alaric sacked the city of Rome destroying the Western Roman Empire. (http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/history/fall.htm)

The Roman Empire did eventually fall and decline. Through gradual decline in the economy that ultimately lead to economic crises and barbarian invasion, one of the largest empires of the world fell. There are many other factors that may have played a part I the downfall of Rome, from lead poison to the rise of Christianity. However not a lot of evidence survives this period so these factors can only be theorized to contribute to the decline and fall of Rome, but the poor economic situation and invasions from barbarians were the main factors contributing to the fall of the Roman Empire. Scholars today describe it as a complex transformation, from the Ancient Era to the Middle Ages.

Sources:
Carr, Karen. "The Fall of Rome". historyforkids. 3/12/10http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/history/fall2.htm.

"Decline of the Roman Empire". Wikipedia. 3/12/10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_roman_empire.

Heather, Peter. "Dark ages". BBC Ancient history in-depth. 3/12/10http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/fallofrome_article_01.shtml.

"Roman Empire". Wikipedia. 3/12/10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_empire

"The Dark Ages". allabouthistory.org. 3/12/10http://www.allabouthistory.org/the-dark-ages.htm.

"The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–393 A.D.)". metmuseum. 3/12/10http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roem/hd_roem.htm.

Image:

"Theodosius I's empire". Wikimedia. 3/12/10 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Theodosius_I's_empire.png.

Games for my group (Jake Wade, Ryan Noone, and Eric Mcintyre)

http://www.candlelightstories.com/games/tomb-of-the-mummy/

This game is fairly exciting and is the best game I have played on mummies. This game has an abundant of information on mummies. This game is extremely challenging and you need everything to enter the mummies tomb and see what he has left behind. You need to make your way though the tomb with a series of puzzles and complications. The mummy doesn't want you to enter, so enter if you dare.

http://www.discovery.com/games/pyramid/pyramid.html

This game is an interactive building of a pyramid. This game lets you control your workers and build your very own pyramid for yourself. This pyramid can be build using any combinations of stones and you can use any kind of laborers to do this. It's your pyramid and your tomb. Make sure that you build it right and able to keep your remains safely in it.

What is so "Ancient" about Rome?

What is so "Ancient" About Rome?

By: Jake Wade

Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome) Ancient means, of or in time long past, esp. before the end of the Western Roman Empire A.D. 476: ancient history. Rome is an ancient empire that isn’t so ancient when you come to think of it. Rome has many things in its government and economic systems that we use to this day.

The Roman Government had an amazing impact on the way that the American government is run today. For example, the Roman Empire operated on the system of Checks and Balances, like how we do in America today. (http://www.fordham.edu) In the United States we have three branches of government just like the Romans did. We have the Legislative branch (The Congress), the judicial branch (The Supreme Court), and the executive branch (The President). The American system was based on powers/functions and the Roman system was based on balance of interests. (http://www.fordham.edu) The three branches of the Roman system were; The Monarchical branch (Two consuls plus other magistrates), The Aristocratic branch (Senate), and the Democratic branch (An assembly of tribes and tribunes. (http://www.fordham.edu) Both of these systems had individual sets of rules and regulations of the branches. In retrospect, each branch for every branch of the Roman Government, the United States has one exactly like it. First, the Democratic and Executive Branches are the same thing. Both of them have the ability to veto a bill and decide on war. Next, the Aristocratic and Legislative branches are also the same thing. They both control the state budget and pass laws. Finally, the Monarchical and Judicial Branches is the same thing. They both are judges and decided the main verdicts of criminal offenses. (http://www.fordham.edu) The setup of the Roman Empire was much like our own, but only done around 1500 years ago.

TABLE I	Procedure: for courts and trials
TABLE II	Trials, continued.
TABLE III	Debt
TABLE IV	Rights of fathers (paterfamilias) over the family
TABLE V	Legal guardianship and inheritance laws
TABLE VI	Acquisition and possession
TABLE VII	Land rights
TABLE VIII	Torts and delicts (Laws of injury)
TABLE IX	Public law
TABLE X	Sacred law
TABLE XI	Supplement I
TABLE XII	Supplement II (http://www.csun.edu)

The next matter on the Roman Government s that they have a set of laws that are to be followed, just like our constitution has laws we need to follow. These Laws are known as “The Twelve Tables.” Each law has a different meaning and each law has a different way of punishment. The Constitution also has theses indications of consequences and strict Law. These Tables noted to the left, is the first attempt of Roman law and the First recorded writing by the Romans. (http://www.csun.edu) Within these tables, it seems as though that the fathers have control over everything in the family, that the men have the only power in Rome. This was true. That is one of the only things that separate us from Rome, women have rights in America. At first the United States followed the rules of the Roman Empire, but as time progressed, they decided that every man should be treated equally. Within the U.S constitution there are 27 amendments.  All of these amendments state different rules and regulations that must be followed. If one were not to follow these rules. Then there would be serious consequences that would end up leading into years of jail time. Although we are not as cruel as the Roman law, we still have our ways of “Putting our foot down” and cracking down on those who break the law.

            The Roman Empire isn’t so ancient. The only thing that really makes the city ancient is the time period that it thrived in. Almost of our nation’s government and economic way of living is based on that of the Roman Empire. Without the Roman way of living the United States would have figured out an entirely new way to live their lives. Not only is The United States based on the Roman Empire but so are many other highly developed countries and societies of the world.

Citations:

• Wikipedia.org- "Ancient Rome -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
• Dictionary.com- "Ancient | Define Ancient at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
• Fordham.edu/ Twelve tables image- "Ancient History Sourcebook: The Roman Republic: Checks and Balances." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
•  Csun.edu- "THE TWELVE TABLES." California State University, Northridge. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
• Rome image- Concurring Opinions. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .
• Checks and Balances image- "Does the System of Checks and Balances Work -." Fashion Resources - Fashion Clothes, fashion Design, girls Clothing, women’s Clothing, women’s Dresses, fashion Photography Resources. Web. 06 Mar. 2010. .

What was the attitude of the Romans towards woman and children?

IV. 1 "A dreadfully deformed child shall be killed."

V. 1 "Our ancestors saw fit that "females, by reason of levity of disposition, shall remain in guardianship, even when they have attained their majority."

VI. 2 Marriage by `usage' (usus): If a man and woman live together continuously for a year, they are considered to be married; the woman legally is treated as the man's daughter.

X. 4 "Women must not tear cheeks or hold chorus of `Alas!' on account of a funeral."

The Roman Empire has a large dislike towards woman and children such that they have no rights and are pets to the fathers and husbands. Woman have no meaning in the Roman community other than to have kids and be the maids of the husbands and fathers.  IV. 1 "A dreadfully deformed child shall be killed."(The Twelve Tables) This shows that the female either has a perfect child or will have their pride and joy destroyed right in front of their eyes. Te Romans were cruel and grueling towards woman and children, their form of law has to be the most destructive form in the world.

"THE TWELVE TABLES." California State University, Northridge. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. <http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html>

Hannibal Biography

Hannibal was a Carthagian military commander and tactician who is popularly credited as one of the most talented commanders in history. His Father was the commander in the first Punic War and he had two brothers and a brother-in-law. When Hannibal was commander he attacked Rome and ended up creating the Second Punic War. He is famous for using elephants in his warfare and he ultimately overthrew Rome and ended up winning almost all of the battles.

Struggle of ancient Rome.

The struggle of orders was between the Patricians and the Plebeians. This struggle was between the poor and the rich. The main areas of conflict were political, economical, social and religious. This struggle of orders happened in the early 5th century. The Plebeians fought for the rights that the Patricians had. The Plebeians were angry and left the city. This hurt Rome and they were told to come back and received many more rights. This was influential for later Roman politics because the development helped transform the senate from just the Patricians to the Patricians and Plebeians. The Plebeians and the Patricians together formed a government that helped all the people and did not favor just the rich. This topic is a situation of rich vs. poor which was a problem in Ancient Rome.