Today in west civ we learned about Rome and how it came to be. We learned about the first people who colonized rome. The Etruscans, the greeks, and the Latins, were the first humans to settle there. The Latins were the first one of three to settle there. The Greeks were second and the Etruscans cam last. The Etruscans had a language that nobody could translate to this day.    

Today in west civ we started to work on our projects. My group is luke, sam, and callie. For our project we are going to build a scale model of the pantheon. Luke and I are going to build the model and callie and sam are going to do a tri-fold poster explaining the pantheon and its uses. We all will work equally on this project.

Facts about circus maximus, colosseum, aqueducts, and the roman forum.

The Circus Maximus - www.ancient.eu/Circus_Maximus/

• The Circus Maximus was a massive arena accommodate 250,000 spectators at one sitting which was about 5 times the number that could be accommodated in the Colosseum.
• The Circus Maximus was first built by Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth Etruscan ruler of Rome c530BC. Various improvements were made to the design of the massive arena which was magnificently adorned. 
• The Circus Maximus was located in a valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills in Rome. The design was oblong in shape, with a long barrier (spina) that ran down the middle of the track containing statues and monuments. 
• The Circus Maximus measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width. Its circumference was a mile.
•  The arena of the Circus Maximus was surrounded with a ditch or canal, called Euripus which was ten feet wide and ten feet deep.

The colosseum www.localnomad.com/.../10-interesting-facts-about-the-colosseum-in-ro...

• Built in 72 A.D, the colosseum has remained the largest amphitheater in the world and is considered to be Rome´s most popular tourist attraction.
• The Coliseum in Rome has over 80 entrances and can accommodate about 50,000 spectators.
• It is thought that over 500,000 people lost their lives and over a million wild animals were killed throughout the duration of the Colosseum hosted people vs. beast games.
• The last gladiatorial fights took place in 435 AD
• Many natural disasters devastated the structure of the Colosseum, but it was the earthquakes of 847 AD and 1231 AD that caused most of the damage you see today.

Aqueductswww.unrv.com/culture/roman-aqueducts.php

• The aqueducts were built from a combination of stone, brick and the special volcanic cement pozzuolana. While their visible remains leave a definite impression, the great bulk of the Roman waterway system ran below ground.
• When water reached Rome it flowed into enormous cisterns (castella) maintained on the highest ground. These large reservoirs held the water supply for the city and were connected to a vast network of lead pipes.
• The bulk of the Roman water system ran below the city, burrowed through 260 miles of rock, and about 30 miles of above ground bridges and crossways (the arches). 
• There are eleven such aqueducts that supplied the ancient city of Rome, dating as early as 140 B.C. and spanning five hundred years. Some emperors were especially interested in the engineering of these structures and their ability to bring water to the city and growing provinces of the empire.

The Roman Forumhttp   ://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/roman-forum.htm

• Forum is a Latin word meaning open space or market place. A Forum was the public space in the middle of a Roman city. Typical Ancient Roman forums might be surrounded by temples, shops, and basilicas.
• The Roman Forum was crossed by the Via Sacra, the Sacred Way, which led to Capitol Hill and the Temple of Jupiter. 
• The forum was initially a market-place in Rome and the site was also used for festivals and funerals. Justice was also administered here and it naturally became a place business, then for politics and popular assemblies, and later on for amusement. The Roman forum consisted of public buildings that were three times as long as they were broad. The Roman Forum was built by Romulus, and adorned with porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus.
• The original curia (senate house) consisted of a hall 25.20 metres by 17.61 metres, of brick-faced concrete, with a huge buttress at each angle; the lower part of the front wall was decorated with slabs of marble, while the upper part was covered with stucco in imitation of white marble blocks. 

Today in west civ we discussed our projects and decided what we are going to do. My group is callie, luke, and sammi. We are going to build a colleseum and then a poster board about the building itself.

Today in west civ mr schick had a power point ready for us. The information that was in it was from the rap that he mad about rome the day before. It was quite interesting but funny and educational at the same time.

Today in class, we worked on our Google document. We need about 300 more word. i hope the paper gets a good grade because i believe that we worked hard on this paper. I hope MR shick gets home safe and all of our class's papers do well and that its a good week overall. 

Today in west civ. we had our last class with Mr. Schick before he goes on his trip. I hope he travels safely, from now on we have subs which i'm happy about. In class we continued the powerpoint and here are some notes.

• Zeus- ruler of heaven and earth; father of Athena; god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice.
• Had a temper and was known to hurl thunderbolts.
• Athena
• Goddess of wisdom, skill, warfare (and peace), intelligence battle strategy, and handicrafts.
• She was born from Zeus' head fully formed and armored.
• Greeks were certainly a warlike people- especially the Spartans.
• Spartans were known for their tough ruthless infanrry who were soldiers who fought on land. 
• Spartan boys trained from the time they were 7 years of age
• Athens had a great infantry, too, but nothing could come compare with their navy.
• Their most effective weapon was the trireme.
• The Phalanx