Thu, 10-6: Roman--and American--Republics

In Class: The Flaws of Republican Government, Past and Present


Practice Seminar: 

• What were the main causes of the failure of Republican democracy in ancient Rome?
• List them by category > specific examples
• Are there parallels to the USA today?
• Case study: Warren Buffett's "Buffett Rule"
  

Roman Republic Podcast is done.  You don't have to watch it now, but remember it when it comes test-review time. It includes many connections between past and present, and occasional analysis and insight that our boring textbook tragically lacks.

I did my best to squeeze the entire 500 years of the Republic into about 30 minutes. Download it here. Again: if you use iTunes to watch it, you can jump around to the chapters that you want to review quickly and easily. (Subscribe to the podcast channel in iTunes by going here.)

Here's the YouTube version. It has no chapter navigation, so iTunes is really a smarter choice.

Tue, Oct. 4: DBQ in Class, Roman Republic and Empire HW

In Class: 
DBQ.

After you finish/HW: Prep for Next Week's Socratic Seminar

Next week (date to be announced), we're having a seminar on the questions below. Start preparing now.

The most important instructions:

1. Start preparing now. You have a lot of research and note-taking to do between now and next week. You won't be able to do it all the night before.
2. As you gather evidence, record your sources. In the seminar, you have to back up your evidence with where you got it. 
1. "How do I do that?"
• Take notes, and after each note, write where it came from (Book or Website name, Article title):
3. Organize your evidence under the questions below.

Seminar Questions: 

1. Are there any strong parallels between modern America and the Decline of the Roman Republic after the Punic Wars?

• Required by Thursday: Read World History: Patterns of Interaction, pp. 155-62 on the Roman Republic's Rise and Fall. (I'll have a podcast ready on this subject soon, but this is a decent overview.) Focus on:
• Social issues after the Punic Wars
• Economic issues after the Punic Wars
• Political breakdown after the Punic Wars (especially the Gracchus brothers)

• Not required, but good TV for better understanding: For a really good dramatization of Rome at the time of the assassination of Tiberius Gracchus, watch the series starting below. (The rest of the series is on a "Rome" playlist on my World History Youtube Channel.)

• Required by Thursday: For a current events controversy about the wealth gap in the United States, read this New York Times article by billionaire Warren Buffett (remember, take notes as you read), and then watch Jon Stewart discuss it (and notice he features opposing points of view in the video, though he's obviously biased against them):

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

2. Using the Roman Empire as our model, in what ways is the United States today an empire?

• Required for Mon., Oct 10 : Read pp. 162-5 for the Roman Empire background. Read weblinks (coming soon) on USA.

3. Are there any strong parallels between contemporary America and the Roman Empire during its decline?

• Required for Mon., Oct 10: Read textbook pp. 173-77 for background on Rome. Read weblinks (coming soon) on USA.

4. In what ways can it be argued that 9-11 was or was not the result of "imperial" US foreign policy?

• Required for Mon., Oct 10: For starters, watch the first ten minutes (required) of this video on the background of US policy over the last 50 years in the Middle East: