Week 5: Daily, March 14th

Please take a picture of something in your own neighborhood or town that appears to have been influenced by Ancient Rome.


I am presenting several picture in the state of Maryland that I believed were influenced by Ancient Rome.


White House: several columns in the front, just like Roman Colosseum.

Lincoln Memorial: Once again, columns in front somewhat alike to the Roman Colosseum.

Francis Scott Key Bridge: Arches alike to the arches that the Romans introduced into architecture.

Baltimore Basilica: Circular roof is traced back to some of the famous buildings that were built in ancient Roman times.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/

Week 4b: Special Question, March 10th

          Was Alexander's adventure really worth it? In your body paragraphs, you must cite specific examples to back up your thesis -- examples must include one from each of the following: Egypt, Persepolis, Afghanistan, India.

  

            Alexander the Great’s tremendous journey was definitely worth it. He achieved so many goals and did so many remarkable things that it is nearly impossible to think that his journey was unsuccessful or not worth it. Alexander and his army conquered cities, countries, and even complete nations. He fought through everything that happened before he came into power. Even after his father died, Alexander was pushing his country through all of the tragedies. Alexander’s infamous battles and wars are still discussed today. Almost everyone in today’s world could name even a little fact about Alexander the Great. Alexander’s adventure was entirely worth it, even though several people disagree that he was just a power-hungry leader. Alexander was an amazing leader with several things to be remembered by.

            In the winter of 330 BC, there was a large battle between the Persian Empire and Greece at the gates of Persia (Badkhen, 1). When the Macedonian army went to invade, Persia was ready to fight. They threw boulders off of the northern slopes to Alexander’s army and started to fire their projectiles. The Macedonian army suffered at first, losing great amounts of men at a time. After realizing another way to break through the Persian defenses, Alexander encircled the Persian Gates and broke through them. He successfully had done something that had never been done before (Wikipedia, 1). Alexander had become once again in one of his uncountable battles.

            While in Afghanistan, Alexander was continually chasing someone he was meaning to punish and eventually kill. This man was named Bessus. After Alexander and his troops had won the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander intended to put their leader to death. Instead of this happening, Bessus stabbed Darius III and killed him before Alexander had the chance to. Because of this, Alexander was furious. Alexander started to go after Bessus in order to catch him and punish him for upsetting Alexander. The people who Darius lead believed that Alexander was going after Bessus to punish him for killing their leader. What Alexander was thinking though was that he was mad because he didn’t kill him. He planned on doing that part himself, not have someone do it for him. 

            After Alexander destroyed Tyre, a lot of the towns collapsed under Alexander and surrounded. All of them did this except for one. That town’s name was Gaza. They were determined to not back down to Alexander the Great, no matter how big his army was (Wikipedia, 2). It was during this unusually tough battle that Alexander suffered a shoulder wound. After the Macedonians finally defeated them, they killed Gaza’s men and enslaved the women and children. After defeating Gaza, Alexander basically marched into Egypt like a king. Egyptians greeted them because he was going to defeat the Persians. Egyptians did not like the Persians because the Persian Empire downgraded them like they were nothing to worry about (BBC, 1).  So after this great battle with an unwilling country, Alexander was welcomed into a town he was planning to defeat.

            In 322 B.C., Alexander set out to conquer Tyre, a city along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tyre was the only Persian port where they did not capitulate Alexander. They still posed a major threat to Alexander and his army. At first, Alexander wanted to go the high road and ask for a peace treaty so that they would not have to fight. Alexander sent envoys to show that they were serious, but the Tyrians thought of it as a trick so they killed the men in the envoys. After this battle going back and forth, it turns out that there was a fire set by the Tyrians. Alexander was convinced he could not beat them (Wikipedia, 3). In the end, Alexander was very successful with defeating Tyre and conquering their land.

            There is no doubt that Alexander the Great’s adventure was successful. He had everything that anyone needs for his journey to be eventful and successful. He defeated uncountable nations, trampled cities, devised great plans, and believed after everyone else gave up. Alexander should be commended for his great lifetime and successful journeys. 

Sources:

"Ancient History Sourcebook: Plutarch: Selections from the Life of Alexander."FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/plutarch-alexander1.html>.

"Wars of Alexander the Great." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Alexander_the_Great>.

Badkhen, Anna. "BBC - Search Results for Alexander the Great." BBC - Homepage. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/alexander_the_great>.

"Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Hellenistic World." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/asbook08.html#Alexander>.

Weekly: Week 4b, March 4th

Question: Does Power Corrupt? How or How Not? Why or Why Not? Do you think Alexander was corrupted? And who influenced whom the most: Did Persia become more Greek or did Alexander becoming more Persian? 

I believe that power does corrupt. It not only transforms people, but it can transform cities, citizens, and even entire countries. People what power and strive to be all powerful, when not everyone can. Many people can be directed in one way or another by this feeling of power, too. It can drive them to do unthinkable things. Alexander was a perfect example of this. He was driven by power to do anything and everything to become almighty. He even said he was immoral and he was never able to die. That part didn’t work out in his favor because he did end up dying. Oddly, he did not die in battle or from power, simply from a fever. Power indeed does corrupt; it can take over everything.

Power can corrupt people because it becomes everything they think about. All these people think about is how they can become more powerful and what else they can take over. These leaders that have this power become so obsessed with it. Once they find out what they can do with all this power that is all they want to do. They have so much power and rule over something and just want more of it. They get a tremendous amount of strength and have rule over land. Being in control brings great joy to some people. That’s why they become leaders. But some people become a little too overjoyed with power. They almost go insane. Power does some weird things to people, no matter if they are corrupted or not.

A great example of this would be Adolf Hitler. He was a leader in Germany from 1934 to 1945. When Hitler became president in Germany, all he wanted was total and complete power. First he completely took over Germany, ridding them of all Jewish people. He then attempted and succeeded in taking over other countries. His goal even was to take over the entire world. Even though he was stopped, Hitler was definitely a perfect example of someone being corrupted by power. All Hitler wanted was to be the only leader and for be in command of everything.

I think that Alexander was definitely corrupt by power. He became leader after his father’s death and then only focused on his power over everything. He started by taking out revenge on others for his father’s death. That could almost be understandable. Then he started basically becoming obsessed with defeating people and making himself more powerful.  That became his main focus, and at times, it was his only focus. He didn’t ever believe that he would lose or be defeated. He believed himself to be immoral and could never die. He let power get the best of him and became someone he never would’ve been before.

I think that Alexander became more Persian. He started being more like the Persian Empire was. He started making his army very big and mighty like the Persian’s army was. He modeled his empire after them, too. At one point, he even started to dress like a Persian and act like one too. His army was getting worried about him at this point and wanted him to come back with them. It ended up that he actually was doing this so that he could defeat them. HE was still being like the Persian Empire because he was deceiving and manipulative in his ways to gain all and complete power. Once again, power affected the way Alexander acted and lived. 

Week 4b: Daily, March 3rd

Based on what you know about Aristotle, do you think Alexander had listened carefully to his tutor?

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He was born in three hundred eighty four before the Common Era and died in three hundred twenty two before the Common Era.  Aristotle was trained and educated as a member of the aristocracy. He was the first philosopher to have writings that had the full method about Western philosophy. He had very strong beliefs and theories on the use of things. He only believed the theory that an object (such as a person, body part, animal, material, etc.) is only as good as its function. He believed people should be allowed freely to do amazing things with their lives. When Alexander’s father died, he did not really have a role model. Aristotle was kind of like his mentor. Even though Alexander was an incredible leader, he did not listen to his tutor, Aristotle. Alexander was always hungry for more power. He just wanted more and more after he won all of these battles. Basically, all Alexander ever wanted was more power. He was always ready to defeat another country and become more intimidating and powerful. Alexander and Aristotle had completely different morals and outlooks on life. 

Week 4b: Daily, March 2nd

Using Google Maps, create an illustration of Alexander's whole journey.

Week 4b: Daily, March 1st

How did Alexander create his own myth?           

 In Alexander’s time, there were many leaders that created their own mythos. A myth is a traditional story accepted as history. Alexander attempted to create his own myth. Alexander was very good at doing this. When Alexander came into Halicarnassus, there was a knot that was said to be tied by the gods. Whoever untied the knot was almost impossible because you could not find the ends of the rope. Alexander examined the knot over and over. The myth was that whoever untied the knot would rule Persia. Alexander came up with a brilliant idea. He decided there was nothing saying you could not cut the knot. So he took his sword and cut through the rope of the knot. It showed that Alexander could use his fighting sword in anything when he didn’t have the skill to figure out what else to do. Alexander the Great created his own myth by visiting the oracle Didyma. This meant that Alexander was a son of a god and he was immortal and could never die. After this, Alexander was kind of arrogant and cocky about battles. He went into them thinking he couldn’t die and he would win no matter what. Another win for alexander was when he won the small but important battle of Halicarnassus. After he won this, he made his way into the city of Halicarnassus. Alexander’s myth was completely made now. Even though these stories are based off of myth, many people still believe the mythos of Alexander the Great.