May 14

Today was an hour late bell, so the times of the mods where different. Mr. Schick must have forgot what bell we were on because Dylan and Parker had to go to his room and get him. So that basically took up a whole. Then the second mod we continued the powerpoint:

Poor Plebs

How do you keep the plebs happy?

• The poet Juvenal said the people "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses"
• bread (free grains from the state) and entertainment (Circus Maximus, Colosseum)
• the government gave this to them partly to keep them alive, but more to distract them, while the government took their land 

A Change in Rule

• Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was eventually killed by the Senate) 
• military generals worked that angle- lead an army that conquers land, then gives them a share in spoils 
• soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not to Rome or the Republic (in it for the money) 

Nobody Did That Better Than Caesar 

• Julius Caesar (100- 44 BCE) 
• highly successful- conquered the huge territory of Gaul (France)  
• fought with his own soldiers in battle 

He Could Play the Game of Politics

• made the common folks happy 
• made friends in high places 

- Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine) 

- Crassus  (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest man in history)

• these three men formed the First Triumvirate- "rule of three men" 
• made this to rule and gain power 

Jessica, Alyssa, and I glazed the pot today with a clear shinny coat. The glaze will make the pot darker too. Once the pot is fired, it will be done.