Outline

How would have things been different if the persians had won the persian wars

1. If the Persians had won the Persian War, they would have erased all the history and great works written by such people as Herodotus, Aristotle, and Xenophon.

2. "What need have I to tell you of the deeds of Cyrus and Cambyses, and my own father Darius, how many nations they conquered, and added to our dominions? Ye know right well what great things they achieved. But for myself, I will say that, from the day on which I mounted the throne, I have not ceased to consider by what means I may rival those who have preceded me in this post of honour, and increase the power of Persia as much as any of them. And truly I have pondered upon this, until at last I have found out a way whereby we may at once win glory, and likewise get possession of a land which is as large and as rich as our own nay, which is even more varied in the fruits it bears- while at the same time we obtain satisfaction and revenge. For this cause I have now called you together, that I may make known to you what I design to do"
1. In this speech, Xerces, the leader of the Persian army, talks to his soldiers about the glory and honor that would come from conquering Greece. He says that he needs to follow in the foot steps of past kings by making Greece part of the Persian empire. Having said this, it is clear that Xerces had no intentions of saving anything previous written or owned by the Greeks.

3. "So Xerxes, thus instructed, proceeded on his way with great gladness of heart."
1. Here, Herodotus is talking about the joy Xerces will have conquering Greece. This could have led to a brighter Greek history.

Article 12

Is monarchy more or less effective than democracy?

The success of a nation depends on what type of government is run inside of the country. The two most successful types are monarchies and democracies. Both of them have advantages and disadvantages. Time has shown that democracies have come out to be longer lasting and more successful than monarchies.

According to dictionary.com, a democracy is a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy). What this basically means is that the people are indirectly in charge of what goes on in the government and the country. In a democracy, the people vote for governors, senators, congressmen, House representatives, and the president. Elected officials that hold these positions are in charge of passing and creating bills.

The Constitution states that congressmen have the following powers: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; to provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; to establish Post Offices and Post Roads; to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; to constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; to define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; to declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; to raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; to provide and maintain a Navy; to make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; to exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof” (The Constitution http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html).

Many of these powers are now useless, but the majority of them still give the congress the ability to have great influence on the country. With this kind of power, congressmen need to be selected carefully. When intelligent and experienced congressmen, senators, and representatives are chosen, a democracy is a much better form of government than a monarchy. If the majority of the house, senate, and congress is of one party or corrupt, major problems may arise in the country.

Dictionary.com defines monarchy as a “supreme power or sovereignty held by a single person” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/monarchy). This simple means that there is a sole ruler in charge of a country.

King Henry VIII was the king of England in the sixteenth century. He had one of the most controversial reigns over England out of all of the Tudor Kings. He had a total of eight wives, because none of them could produce a male heir. He had to change the official religion of England from Catholicism in order to divorce each of his wives. This put England through a time of great turmoil. The actions of one man changed the history of an entire country. In monarchies, the success depends on how intelligent the king or emperor is and how good of a ruler he or she is.

Monarchies are based on the readiness and leadership qualities of one person. This gives it a “hit or miss” trait. In a democracy, power is distributed throughout many people. This gives a larger range in the greatness of a person’s leadership qualities. Democracies are much more reliable because of the many people involved in the government, as opposed to the very few people involved the government of a monarchy.

"The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." Index Page - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net. Web. 14 May 2010. .

"Democracy | Define Democracy at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 14 May 2010. .

"Monarchy | Define Monarchy at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 15 May 2010.

"File:Henry VIII V2 BestLo.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 14 May 2010. .

Daily

Did Leonardo Da Vinci deserve the title "genius"?

Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant man with a brilliant mind. He began an apprenticeship at the age of twelve to another great artist of the Renaissance. In the journals he kept, he wrote in a code so that no one could steal his scientific and artistic ideas. The fact that he wrote in code was genius. Even more genius was what he was actually writing. He was thinking of technologies that people use today. Leonardo Da Vinci was truly a genius by his time's standards and modern standards.

Leonardo Da Vinci Writing

Leonardo Da Vinci

• Moved to Florence when he was 12.
• Began as an apprentice to Verrocchio
• Kept notebooks where he wrote down all of this ideas of science and art
• Inspired by Brunelleschi.
• Used his concepts of perspective
• 
  

Queen Elizabeth

• Queen Elizabeth ruled for 44 years.
• Henry VIII divorced Katherine of Aragon and married Anne Boelin.
• They had a girl together, and not a son.
• Anne miscarried a boy and was eventually killed. Elizabeth was declared a bastard, and not a lawful heir.
• Henry then married Jane. They had Edward.
• Jane died a few days later.
• Elizabeth grew up despised. This helped her later in life.
• When Henry died, Edward took over.

Recipe

Tarte of Strawberies.

Seson your Strawberyes with sugar, a very little Sinamon, a little ginger, and so cover them with a cover, and you must lay upon the cover a morsell of sweet Butter, Rosewater and Sugar, you may Ice the cover if you will, you must make your Ice with the white of an egge beaten, and Rosewater and Sugar.

Daily

How is the art of the Renaissance different from the art of the Middle Ages?

There are several differences between the art of the Middle Ages and the art of the Renaissance. In the Middle Ages, paintings were painted with no perspective. This means that everything looked flat, with no shape. Brunelleschi was the first person to paint with perspective. Also, the architecture was slightly different. Middle Age architects used two main styles, Gothic and Romanesque. During the Renaissance, architects started to go back to the classical style of building. They copied off of buildings like the Pantheon.

Italian Renaissance Notes

• cosimo medici http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosimo_Medici
• Michelangelo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo
• Galileo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo
• Brunelleschi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Brunelleschi
• Da Vinci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_vinci
• The achievements of the classics were unsurpassed
• Knowledge was brought back to Italy
• Florence was unlike any other city in Europe. It was a republic where rich families vied for power
• The Medici bank was originally very small, run in the back of a store.
• They valued profit but mainly loyalty
• The Medici's gambled their entire business, and it paid off. They got a man to become the Pope.
• When this happened, the Pope chose the Medici bank as his bank.
• They joined a powerful group of Florentines
• For over a hundred years, an unfinished cathedral remained in the city.
• This was a "mutilation" to the city. They tried to build the largest dome.
• The Medici family hired a self taught genius, Filippo Brunelleschi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Brunelleschi).
• They gambled again on his judgment.
• He used classical orders of architecture, which had not been done for a long time.
• This sparked an architecture revolution.
• It was only the beginning for the Medici's.
• The offered a large cash prize for a solution for the church's dome.
• Brunelleschi was hired to do this
• He had to rewrite the rules of architecture to do and there was no guarantee for success.
• He used ideas used for the Pantheon.
• Brunelleschi used sandstone rings to create enough support for the dome.
• Cosimo's father's health began to decline.
• Giovanni was buried in a church redone by Brunelleschi
• The Medici's were challenged by a rival family
• Brunelleschi tried to escape his age.
• Cosimo was at the mercy of his enemies. They locked him at the top room at the top floor.
• But the rival family had to have the consent of the people.
• He was accused of treason against the city and the people. He now faced execution
• His friends spared him death by paying them a bribe.
• Cosimo and his family were banished. None of his friends were safe.
• Brunelleschi was thrown in jail.
• They tried to attack the city in the church but were held off by the city guard.
• Agents of the Pope were sent to Florence. They had gone too far.
• Cosimo modestly accepted rule of the city.
• Revenge was selective but severe.
• Work on the church resumed.
• The Medici bank collected money from every archbishop in Europe.
• They were now the most profitable bank in Europe.
• He began to commission many artists. He was the most sought after patron.
• He had problems with Lipo following through with his job.
• Cosimo was highly tolerant with these kinds of artists.
• Brunelleschi continued to break boundaries. He unveiled a new technique called perspective.
• The Pope was invited to the church once it was finished.
• A story was painted at the top of the dome
• It proved that man could conquer the seemingly impossible
• "It touches the sky and casts a shadow over the whole of Tuscany."
• Brought together more artists and thinkers than ever before
• Cosimo remained a cautious man
• He had no one to follow in his footsteps

• The Medici's were in danger of losing control of the city to other rival families.
• The heirs to the city were Julio and Lorenzo
• They knew that they had to kill Cosimo to take over.
• The Medici's started to become vulnerable. They need to become allies with families outside of Florence.
• business had never been better since Lorenzo married the daughter of a Roman baron.
• Lorenzo takes over after Cosimo died
• He does not have the power that he exercises.
• Created a new type of art called the spring. It was pure fantasy and inspired by poetry and imagination.
• There is a mafia atmosphere during this time.
• The Pazzi were trying to kill the Medici's
• They had the support of the church.
• The Pazzi had to kill the younger and older brother
• On Easter day, The Medici's gathered in church to celebrate the holiest day of the year.
• Juliano died instantly, but Lorenzo was unaccounted for.
• The Medici's supported were enraged by this and killed the conspirators
• The Murder shook Lorenzo to the core.
• He found out that Pope had ordered the killing. He traveled to the south to talk to his enemies. The entire city was worried for his survival.
• He traveled for a month until he got to Naples. They made a deal and they are at peace.
• Lorenzo was hailed as the magnificent
• But his experiences changed him. He wanted to make sure the they did not lose power.
• He had as many kids as possible and took over the Florentine government.
• Lorenzo found Leonardo Da Vinci. His talent was impossible to ignore.
• He wanted to reflect the detail of the natural world.
• Leonardo's rival rose the stakes. Botticelli took his style to new extremes
• the birth of Venus was unlike any other painting of its time
• One monk believed Leonardo was leading Italy on a bad path.
• He turned his hate to Lorenzo
• Lorenzo's wife died of Tuberculosis
• He found solace in art and established the first art school in history. Here he found Michelangelo
• Lorenzo immediately takes him into his family and was given his own rooms in the palace.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola
• He was drawn to classical legends.
• Savonarola was strongly against Leonardo. Financially, things were at a breaking point.
• Lorenzo lost his grip on the family business
• Branches of the bank were forced to close.
• Savonarola's predictions were starting to become true.
• Lorenzo called Savonarola to his death bed. He damned Lorenzo instead of forgiving him.
• Lorenzo died at the age of 43.
• Savonarola wanted to create a kingdom of God on Earth. He organized a public burning.

Daily

Should we be trying to contact other life?

I do not think that we should be trying to contact other life. If we have been fine surviving for over 2,000 years without other life, we should not need to find them now. If there are other life forms, they could be hostile and try to take advantage of us and our supplies. It would be a bigger harm and threat to us, then it would be advantageous.

Daily

The 12th century Renaissance was a smaller version of the Italian Renaissance that took place in the Middle Ages. It was an artistic, social, and economic growth period that took place. It opened up the gates for the Italian Renaissance a few centuries later.

"File:Trotula of Salerno.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 03 May 2010. .