Mrs. Glinecki and TA Reilley

So today we reviewed the persecution of Diocletian (a ruler) and Constantine (ruler after Diocletian) who supported the Christians. Grace and Kelley reviewed that for us and they actually did a good job. Then we Mr. Schick took over and started talking about Constantine and his vision.

• Constantine had a vision of a sun with a cross above it with "Conquered by this" engraved into it before he went to battle. He prayed to God. 



Constantine's vision 

• Then the army painted the symbol on their shields, went into battle, and won
• This turned him into a Christian

• 

  Symbol they painted on  their shields

Notes from today- The Roman Empire...after Pax Romana

So today we got to class and got right to work on taking notes about "The Roman Empire....after Pax Romana." It was actually kind of interesting because we've been talking about Christianity in Rome...which is what I believe in...and how the Christians were persecuted for their belief. The Christians first started out almost like a cult but grew so large and is even very large today. So here are my notes from today:

• 99 Problems (here's just a few)
• In the 3rd Century A.D
• Epidemic disease spreads throughout the empire
•  Too hard to defend the frontier against the barbarians
• Emperors began to lose their hold on power
• Stayed in power for about 2 and a half years due to assassinations or war
•  Maintaining armies is expensive 
• Too many poverty stricken citizens
• Diocletian to the Rescue
• 284 A.D- Diocletian's reform
• Increases the size of the army to 400,000
• 1/3 larger than Augustus's time
• Recruited from the ranks of the barbarians (enemies they captured)
• Divide Roman territories into smaller providences  
• New government had 20,000 officials- 10 times larger than Augustus's time
• More efficient at collecting taxes which help provide a larger army 
• Time Marches on...
• 300 A.D
• 60 million people in the Roman empire
• Several million are Christians
• Christianity appealed o the poor....plenty of those!
• More Christians,more face-to-face contacts, more conversations, more offspring
• Christians gaining power, becoming the ruling elite
• Persecute or not to persecute?
• Diocletian (ruled 284-305) left Christians alone at first
• Then he undertook the most systematic persecution of all
• It was the last and most severe persecution 
• 284
• Varied across the empire ( weakest in Gaul and Britain, strongest in the Eastern empire) 
• Four different edicts
• Edicts: a decree, order, or ordinance issued by a sovereign, state, or any other holder of authority; any formal or authoritative command, proclamation, etc. 
• 1st- new church was razed; books burned and treasures taken 
• Wanted no bloodshed but those who refused to worship Jupiter were burned alive
• February 23, 303
•  The edict ordered the destruction of Christian scriptures, liturgical books, places of worship across the empire, and prohibit Christians from worshiping. Christians were not allowed to go to court about any of these things happening.  
• Christian senators, equestrians, decurions, veterans, and soldiers had the positions taken away and imperial freedmen were re-slaved. 
• 2nd- Arrest and imprisonment of all priests and bishops 
• Prisons filled with deacons, lectors, priests, bishops, and exorcists 
• summer of 303
• There was no logical necessity of this second edict.
• Diocletian said he did it because the first edict was not working as quickly as wanted
• 3rd-any imprisoned clergy man could now be freed as long as he agrees to make a sacrifice to the gods
•  November 20, 303
•  Some people were more willing than others to make a sacrifice sine it was considered unacceptable.
• 4th-All persons (men, women, and children) to father in a public space and offer a collective sacrifice. 
• 304
• If you refused, you were executed. This edict was not enforced at all of the domains of Maximilian and Constantine.
• Constantine ruled from 306-337
• He favored Christianity 
• Was against the persecution of Christians 
• On July 25, 306, he succeeded his father. 
• He immediately ended all ongoing persecution and returned property that had been stolen.
• Constantine was seen as a possible liberator of oppressed Christians everywhere.
• First Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, over the ago of 40.
• He issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed tolerance of all religions throughout the empire. 
• Throughout his rule, he supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy, and promoted Christians to high office. Made a law so that Jews could not have Christian slaves.
• Source for edict definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/edict 

Review of the Test

So we got to class and got a little distracted...once we got on track we got the test back and reviewed what the answers were. We got the Scranton back that had our grade on it....I got a 85 which isn't bad... once we reviewed the test we took notes which isn't that much fun....then he surprised us with a pop quiz which consisted of 5 questions, 2 points each....After the pop quiz ,which was shown on a power point,  we went over the correct answers...I'm pretty sure I got a 100 which is always good....The quiz was about Christianity in Rome...then we chilled for the rest of the class.

(POP) Test

So today we handed in the essays we wrote for Pax Romana which I think turned out well. My partner, Rachel, worked really hard and went above and beyond to finish the paper. After we finished turning everything in and getting a little distracted we found out that we had a test that was posted all the way at the bottom of his blog. It was planned but no body knew so for us it was a pop test. I think I did fairly well, it had 20 questions and was pretty easy. Once we finished the test we started reading our textbook which is sooooo much fun but it wasn't that long so i guess it wasn't tooo tooo bad.

Friday's Class

So Friday's class wasn't very accomplishing because we were supposed to work on our 500 words essay with our partners but we really got nothing done. My partner and I are really hard workers but we couldn't concentrate with all the other groups ,that didn't really care about it, talk non stop. So we just determined we would split the reading and write at least 250 words on what we read. In class we got about 100 words combined on what we read...which was little. We decided to use Google drive that way we wouldn't have to email back and forth all the work which is a hassle but instead just go on the document and type away....once we're finished we can chat that we are done and I can print it out after proof reading it. I think it is a very effective way to write a paper with a partner...Thanks Google!

Notes from Wednesday

So I kinda forgot to blog last night but it's only 9 hours late....In class we got out our notebooks and starting taking notes on the power point he made. Here is the link in case anyone needs it: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10GtwZLLRBXhBVzNRgyqhF4rPGdbU07RcaxVOzvLOsjI/edit#slide=id.p. Overall we knew most of the stuff because of the movie we watched so I just had to take a few notes that way it really stuck in my head and I would remember it. I find it easier to learn when I write things down and see stuff so I always take notes. After we took all the notes, we were assigned a partner project. We got to pick our partners thankfully and my partner is the amazing RACHEL! So yeah that's about all we did yesterday....yet another exciting day in the life of Sydney...

Movie and Review

We finished watching the movie about Rome and then had a debate about Tiberius Granicus. The Senate wanted to kill him because they believed Tiberius wanted to become king which is the worst possible thing a person could do since everyone was against dictatorship. We were debating if the few men with the most power told the Senate that Tiberius wanted to become king that way he wouldn't get any power and the people would turn against him or did Tiberius actually want complete (absolute) power. I believe that Tiberius wanted to truly help the people but once he got a taste of power he wanted more but not to the extent the Senate thought. Then we talked about North Korea and the life there and how strict it is there.