Questions about Antigone

The Second Punic War

Prologue

The Second Punic War was the ultimate fight for world supremacy in the history of man. The victor would have control over the entire Mediterranean Sea and all of the trade routes bringing land, pride, wealth, and dominance over their enemies. It took a 1,000-mile trek from New Carthage, Spain, through the Pyrenees, the Alps, Northern Italy, and finally to Carthage. Hannibal won almost all of his battles, but never got the reinforcement he needed to over take Rome. Still Rome won the ultimate battle for world supremacy.

Prelude to Combat

The First Punic War (264-241 BC) was fought over the little island of Sicily. Rome had besieged many of the Carthaginian cities on the island and the Carthaginians futilely attempted to rise against the Romans. The Carthaginians were utterly crushed and for the first time since the rise of the Carthaginian civilization, they had lost the sea routes. The fighting came to a cease with neither side claiming victory.

Carthage faced rebellions from their mercenaries and Rome seized the opportunity and took Corsica without opposition. The Romans now had two islands, Sicily, and Corsica for themselves. That act enraged the Carthaginians and sent Hamilcar and his son- in law, Hadsrubel to build colonies and an army in Spain to aid an attack on Rome in the future. Hadsrubel and Hamilcar built New Carthage near modern Barcelona at this time. Hamilcar brought his 9-year-old son, Hannibal, with him. That trip had an ever-lasting effect on him. From that point on he vowed everlasting hatred against Rome. They built up many Iberian recruits and their power and influence was catching up on Rome. A clash was inevitable.

The Showdown Commences

Both parties declared war involved; one of the premium civilizations in the history on mankind must fall. The only question left was, which giant would descend in to nothing first?

The assassination of Hamilcar left Carthage without a commander-in-chief. The polis made Hannibal their new military leader. He had a plan to surprise Rome with an assault from the north in the middle of winter. He left Spain at the age of 29, with an army of 90,000 foot soldiers, 12,000 horsemen and 60 elephants and set to cross the Alps in the dead of winter. Hannibal encountered unexpected resistance in the form of mountain tribes that used guerrilla warfare tactics. They rolled boulders and other enormous objects down the hills onto the army below. He had 12,000 Africans, 8,000 Spanish infantry, and 6,000 cavalry remaining after crossing the Alps. The 2nd Roman army attempted to hold him at bay at the Rhone River. It was overflowing from the spring thaw that had melted some of the snow. Miraculously he and his entire army managed to slip north and cross the Rhone River directly under Rome�s nose.

Most of the battles he used the infuriated elephants and they gored many Romans with ease. Hannibal, in victory, often took the Roman soldiers� armor and weapons to replace their own inadequate equipment. Hannibal marched through a swamp in Northern Italy and lost many men to infections in the 25-mile swamp to parasites, infections, and starvation. Hannibal lost an eye himself in the swamp. Hannibal knew once the Romans knew where he was they would attack. The swampy lake Trasemene was surrounded by hills; Hannibal sent a small number of men into the swamp to attract the Romans into the valley. The plan worked and the Romans walked into the trap and it sealed shut with Rome losing a grand battle. The clash wasn�t a total loss to Mother Rome. Hannibal lost enough manpower and supplies to deter him from marching on to Rome. He went ea st to the Adriatic Sea to recharge and heal their wounds. That would prove a poor judgment.

The Battle of Cannae

Rome elected it�s new consul yearly. In 216 BC Fabius Maximus was voted to the office of consul. With a promise of sure victory resulting from a direct fight, Rome�s sheer strength would ultimately crush the remaining Africans walking around the countryside. The Carthaginian army camped at Cannae near the mouth of the Aufidus River (now called the Ofanto River). Rome, hoping to catch Hannibal off guard advanced on him. A waiting Hannibal and his angry elephants met them.

The two forces met, the Carthaginian Infantry retreated, and the Roman Infantry followed in pursuit. The cavalry of Carthage forced the Roman cavalry backwards. The other Carthaginians flanked around the Romans and had them nearly encompassed.

The cavalry forced its way into the rear of the Roman infantry and was brutally slaughtered.

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The battle was the most lop-sided battle in ancient history. The Romans lost over 40,000 troops in a single morning.

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Rome retreated to their walled cities and planned to go on the offensive. The fate of the Romans rested upon the upstart recently named general: Scipio Africanus.

The War Goes to Carthage

The Roman war plan was to attack Carthage and New Carthage to force Hannibal to come to the rescue and the Romans would ambush him as he attempts to cross the Mediterranean. Scipio Africanus launched an attack on Africa from Spain. He defeated the Carthaginians near Utica and in 203 Carthage for Hannibal. This was just what Scipio had wanted.

Hannibal had now a considerably weaker cavalry for which he depended heavily on in his major victories. After his return, they rallied a new army under him. His new army had 45,000 infantrymen and 9,000 cavalry and no elephants. He was unable to use his favorite tactics and led the Romans to the desert of Zama. The Romans used his own form of fighting to slaughter. They used their superior cavalry to encircle him and then squeezed their grip and squished him. Hannibal escaped but 20,000 of his troops did not and 15,000 became prisoners. The Romans lost only 1,500. This brought to an end of one of the greatest military careers in history and brought Carthage to it�s knees.

Epilogue

With the defeat of Hannibal Rome had no opposition and took Carthage and forced it to pay it 10,000 talents over the next 50 years. Hannibal escaped and was plotting with one of the unfriendly eastern kings to revolt against Rome. He committed suicide by drinking poison so as to not be captured by Rome. During the second century, BC Carthage continued to be an irritation to Rome and was crushed by Scipio the Younger during the Third Punic War (149-146). Rome tore the entire city down and filled the soil with salt so there will never be any agriculture in the area, therefore preventing any such reemergence of a civilization.

The effects of Hannibal and his army were felt long after his death. The gap between the plebeians and patricians augmented. The rich aristocrats bough up all of the land at a low price. The former soldiers formed a new class of poor. They flooded the streets and because of them they Coliseum was built to keep them happy. That effect is still felt today in Rome. Without the farmers and soldiers, there was a need for more work, and the solution was more slaves.

Hannibal tried and failed to capture Rome, the great republic, He lost only a few battles, but lost the war. He spread his army over a too great of an area. He didn�t watch home and had to leave his battle station to save Carthage. This parallels the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler was fighting two fronts. One was against the Russians, the other the Americans. He eventually lost Berlin and his empire. He committed suicide much like Hannibal, running from his enemies. Good thing for us he didn�t learn from the past because he who does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it.

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The Ancient Etruscans

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Introduction

We will never know why they came to the area now called Tuscany, but we do know what they did when they came. There are numerous ruins that whisper of a great society that had roads, temples, and necropolises.

Their greatest accomplishment was a small town on the Tiber River called Latins. No one could have even perceived at the time, but that little town would be their lasting mark on history. That little village would eventually become the capital of the Roman Empire.

Origins

Language

"Etruscum est, non legitur". This phrase has been found repeatedly in Roman transcripts. In Latin it means "it is Etruscan, it cannot be read". Even in Ancient Rome Etruscan has baffled even the wisest men of the civilization.

It is written in Greek letters, but the grammar and sentence structure cannot be deciphered (look at the Etruscan alphabet on page 9). Scholars have identified few terms; puia means wife, clan means son, and the numbers 1-6 have been deciphered: thu, zal, ci, sa, mach and, huth. There have been nearly 10,000 short, redundant inscriptions on clay tablets. Some have been translated, but only a small percentage.

One example is a religious calendar that was just recently deciphered; the Tabula Capuana, dated to 470 BC, was deciphered in November 1995. It is the second longest Etruscan tablet to be translated.

The terra-cotta tablet, a religious calendar, tells of a land hungry people whose hunger for territory put them at odds with the neighboring Greeks. Their calendar is forged on the cycles of the moon, and consists of 10 months, rather than 12. This confirms the conception that the Romans used their own variation of the Etruscan calendar.

When you first see an Etruscan inscription you might think: this is not so hard, but as one Etruscanologist said, " Reading Etruscan is like trying to learn about a modern nation from centuries old tombstones".

Government

The main government institution in Etruria was the city-state. There were 12 in Etruria proper and an unknown number of colonies in what is now Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia.

The civilization became very affluent, partly from mining copper, gold, and silver, but mostly because they had control of the trade routes.

In the early times the city-states were ruled by a king, (the first kings of Rome were Etruscan). Later, after a bloody revolt, a Roman oligarchy replaced the Etruscan kings.

The city-states developed leagues, like the Greeks, though they were not as strong as the Delian League. The Etruscan league aided the Athenians in their losing clash against Syracuse.

Etruria suffered raids from their neighbors for centuries, the Gauls from the north, and the Romans from their south. The colonies descended in affluence when the trade routes fell under Roman control.

In the early third century, BC, Etruria fell to the more powerful Romans after they drove out the Etruscan kings that were ruling Rome.

Sulla, the great Roman general, devastated Etruria in 80 BC. The remaining Etruscans became Roman citizens and their culture vanished.

Influences

The Etruscans had great influence on both the modern civilizations and the ancient ones. The most important influence is the Roman Empire, but there are more subtle effects on western civilization.

The Etruscans were the first to make dentures. They were made out of stone or wood to put in the place of missing teeth. Whole sets of dentures did not appear until WWII. They were made out of gutta-percha. The first clothes pin was made in Etruria to hang garments up to dry.

The Etruscans also had a great deal of effect on northern Italy�s cuisine. The usual Etruscan meal consisted of green vegetables, fish stews, and wine. These have been passed down and are still used today in northern Italy.

Art

Etruscan life rotated around art. We can see the evidence from their numerous artifacts: terra-cotta vases, necropolises, architecture, tombs, and artifacts. They believed strongly in the afterlife. They made themselves astounding tombs in the numerous necropolises (dead cities.) They, as the Egyptians did, put things in their tombs so that the soul could live on, like food for the soul, jars, water, toys, and beauty enhancement tools. Money to use in the afterlife was placed in the tombs, so the soul could purchase things from the other souls if they needed anything.

Here is an example of an Etruscan tomb and a sarcophagus

discovered near Rome:

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If you were too poor to own a tomb, your kin would cremate you, and place your ashes in a terra-cotta urn as seen below:

The Etruscans also made outstanding wall murals and paintings. The murals and paintings depict happy and indulgent people who had a talent for partying. Here is an example of their brilliant work

On the clay tablets that they wrote on, they also made illustrations to go along with the words. Some illustrations are on clay tablets:

The Etruscans also were skilled at sculpture. When they migrated to Tuscany, there were some Greek settlements there. The Etruscans learned the fine art of sculpture from them. There are not many large sculptures. There are few remaining since the Romans captured Etruria in 80 BC. They took many marble statues and 8,000 bronze sculptures. A small sculpture was not carried away by the Romans is pictured below:

The Etruscans were not only artists, but also architects. Here is a picture of a temple that now lies in ruins:

Pottery was another skill that artisans of Etruria had. The pots and vases were terra cotta. There were two styles of pots and vases; red figured and black figured. Here are two examples of terra cotta vases and pots

Closing

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When people think of civilizations, the first names that pop into mind are usually Greece, Rome, Inca, Maya, Alexander�s Empire, Persia, England, and America. No one thinks of Etruria. Why? My hypothesis is the language. What makes a civilization famous? Architecture, literature, and famous people. The Etruscans have one, but the other two are lost because the language is unreadable.

Possibly, the Etruscans had the greatest influence on the modern world than any other of those on that list. I hope that some future civilization will put the Etruscans in their rightful place in history.

Ancient Newspaper

Tuscany- When the Roman Army captured Etruria today (see "Tuscany captured by Romans" on this page) they took with them over 8,000 bronze statues ranging from 1 foot high to 7 feet tall. It is unknown, at this early point, how much the stolen statues are valued at.

A group of Etruscan men reportedly captured a Roman convoy carrying some two dozen small statues taken from Veii. They crept in to their camp at night, held the leader hostage, and traded him for the statues.

No one knows what the Romans will do with the surviving Etruscans. It is probable that they will become Roman citizens.

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Tuscany - Veii, the last Etruscan city fell to the Roman General Sulla�s army today in Tuscany.

There was not much of a battle because the Etruscans had been under attack from the Gauls. Defending themselves from that army had drained most of their men, weapons, and military leaders.

The Etruscans had ruled Rome ever since their little town of shepherds, and merchants grew to a thriving town. The Etruscan kings marched in and controlled the trade routes that went past Rome.

When the town grew into a large metropolis, they had the military power to over-throw the kings. Ever since then, the Etruscan Empire had been taken over little by little until today when the great polis of Veii fell to General Sulla.

Research Procedures

I took many steps to produce this poster of ancient Greek art and architecture. When doing this poster I did a lot of research at the library, my computer encyclopedias, the Internet and AAA.

The first step I took when creating this poster was to think about the layout that I wished to have. I wanted a section with Greek architecture, a section dedicated to pottery, another to frescoes, and a section with bronze statues.

Then I found pictures of Greek art and architecture on the Internet. I found most of them at Pictures to Go. It looks through its archives for images that match your keywords in that picture search engine.

I then looked on the electronic encyclopedia. On the Encarta 98 CD I found pictures and descriptions of more works of art and buildings. I also found pictures and descriptions of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I used the wonders that had to do with Greece on my poster.

I also looked up famous architects, painters, sculptors, and potters. I will use them in my presentation. Most of their works are not existent at this time.

I then printed the descriptions and pictures and pasted the pictures them on my poster board as a final step.

I hope that this has enlightened you, and helped you understand the research and procedure steps that I took when completing this poster on ancient Greek art and architecture.

A Hero for the New Millennium

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A hero is usually someone who is looked upon as being someone who represents the good in all of us. A lot of times in our society sports figures seem to take the responsibility of heroes, but with lower sportsmanship in sports these days some times heroes don�t represent the good in all of us (i.e. Deion Sanders, Roberto Alamor, Claude Lemieux, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Abdul Raulf...). This causes a blurred image of a true hero. In this essay I will attempt to sift out the particles in the blurred image of a hero for the new millennium.

Heroes in the past were supernatural( i.e. Jason, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus...). They fight other supernatural beings for glory, fun, or punishment. They may encounter many different monsters throughout a long period of time(Hercules) or just one for a few minutes(Persues). They always win because if they had lost they wouldn�t be heroes. They always have help, Whether it is a god or a nymph they need someone to help them along their way but it is they alone who must vanquish the foe. That is what a hero of the past is.

Now with technology we have different heroes. We don�t sit around a campfire telling stories of the magical hat that helped Persues hide from the Gorgon. We see things happen a world away as they happen. We have athletes. These people have made more money since the time you started reading this essay until now than a week�s worth of pay for the average man. Yet we still look at them as our heroes. Day after day they push their bodied to the maximum to gain that extra step, to gain that extra jump. They face opponents day after day, they may not lose their life if they make a mistake, but they can lose their jobs and respect from their teammates. They also don�t fight alone(with the exception of boxing, golf, equestrian sports, NASCAR and swimming) but with other heroes, their teammates. They also fight other heroes in games to see which group of heroes is the better one. They have coaches to guide them along their way. They are just fighting for a championship and their job. that is what a hero of the present is.

A hero for the new millennium would be someone who has every odd stacked against them and they come out victorious. I think that the fine line between fact and fiction becoming more and more blurred with so much information pouring into our heads we don�t know what is the truth. We can�t tell whether the leader of the free world is telling the truth anymore. We have undermined every thing and made power worthless. Who in the country really thinks that Clinton can lead us across the " Bridge to the New Millennium" if we can�t tell whether his words mean what we think. We need heroes in our society and the television and Internet are the only place that we will be able to find them.

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Benjamin Franklin:

The Original American Hero

Benjamin Franklin was a man with destiny. He was a quiet man and very intelligent too. He was quick on his feet, and a good problem-solver. His story is about us. About our beginnings as a country and about the idea that gave birth to the United States of America: The idea that all men are created equal.

He began his life in a modest house in down-town Boston on November 17,1706. He was the second to last child in a family of seventeen children.

He was often over-looked by his parents though he was the smart one in the family. His oldest brother got most of the attention. When he was eight he became his brother's apprentice in the field of printing. He learned all the latest techniques and later became a proficient printer as well as a writer.

When his brother was sent to jail for writing an unpleasant article about the British government he took over the paper called the New England Courant. After his brother's release Ben's brother decided that if the paper was going to survive it would have to be run by his little brother. Under Benjamin's leadership, the paper became one of the leading daily newspapers in the Colonies.

Ben decided that he could not last in Boston with all of the British influence. He would have to go to Philadelphia to keep his paper running.

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Later Benjamin was sent over to England by the governor of Pennsylvania to purchase printing equipment when he realized that his ticket was one way. It had all been a cruel joke by the governor. He paid his way back to America by working under a master printer and learning all of the latest printing techniques.

Back home in his house in Philadelphia, Ben was working very hard on his inventions. Some of his most famous were bifocal lenses, the rocking chair, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. He also discovered that electricity has two different charges: positive and negative.

Some of his major accomplishments include being the ambassador to France during the Revolutionary war. He rallied them to our side. Another major feat was his pioneering of the first scientific society in the New World called The American Philosophical Society. They studied meteorology, ocean currents, and convection. (The study of transmitting electricity from one object to another)

He also discovered that lightning is electricity. He made that famous kite flight in a storm with a key tied onto the string. He was eighty-four when he died on April 17,1790. Benjamin Franklin truly was the original American hero.

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The stranger, Karen, was there because Peter had been planning on taking Amy back to the Congo. Karen's boss felt that Amy would be a valuable helper in finding the lost city that the other team tried to find.

In two days the whole team; Munro, Karen, Peter, Amy, Kahega and 3 porters leave the comforts of civilization to fly into the dark, cold expanse of the Congo Rain Forest. Each member of the team lands and takes off their parachute. The porters are already inflating the rafts that would take them to Muknenko and the Lost City of Zinj. The following morning the ERTS team comes within sight of the Great Volcano: Muknenko.

By afternoon they have to proceed on foot. After three days of walking they finally come to the base of Muknenko and the ancient civilization of Zinj.

For the first couple of days the city seems normal, with the Hieroglyphics and the occasional pottery and stone paddle that resembles a ping pong paddle.

The pictures on the wall tell stories of man training apes and using them for miners. The mine was so rich that even the slaves were decorated in rare jewels and diamonds. Only one thing troubles Peter. It was a picture of an ape chipping at a rock and making it into a paddle such as the one they had found earlier. On the third night the sensory equipment detects about four dozen ape-like creatures surrounding the camp.

That morning as they explore more of the city, Amy wanders off. When she doesn't come back that night Peter becomes worried.

The next morning they find a porter's body right outside of the camp. Munro examines the wounds. He tells the team that they were not caused by a man but by a gorilla.

The video equipment records many pictures of a new kind of gorilla. They are gray and lots smaller than the silver back of the rain forest. Clearly these are not any of the two known species of gorilla.

That night the team is attacked. Two other porters die. This time a gorilla dug a tunnel under the electrical fence and whacked them with the paddles.

The exploration that day proves fruitful. They discover the mine. After examining it the team decides that it would be best to set off carefully-timed explosive charges to "harvest" the diamonds. As the explosives go off they trigger the fault causing the volcano to erupt as the team flees.

As they run they discover a large cargo plane. It appears to have been shot down by General Mubutu's army and has crash-landed, killing everyone inside.

Munro discovers a hot air balloon and three propane tanks in the cargo area. As they fill up the balloon and set off for civilization, Peter sees that the entire City of Zinj is under several meters of lava. As the balloon floats off into the sunset, Peter catches a glimpse of Amy with a troop of about a dozen other silver-back gorillas.

Theme

The theme of Congo is a complicated one. I feel that the theme of Congo is that greed will lead to your destruction. If Karen hadn't set off the charges to get the diamonds the volcano wouldn't have gone off putting them in danger. If Karen's boss wasn't so greedy then Karen wouldn't have been in the Congo in the first place. Munro was there and he sold the diamonds he stole from the mine for millions of dollars. Later he was shot by a Russian mobster for his money. Greed will lead to your destruction.

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Character page

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Reaction Page

I noticed a large similarity between Ian Malcom from The Lost World and Karen Ross from Congo. These main characters both share the same ideas about evolution and Darwinism and the creation of the universe. Only one difference separates them. Ian believes that with the advent of cyberspace all of our ideas will eventually meld together causing us to succumb to uncivilization with no new inventions or ideas. Karen thinks that the only way to survive is to put all our faith into machines and let them think for us or we will all die from thinking too slowly in case of an attack.

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Author page

such as the Academy Award for his hit TV series ER and the Edgar Allen Poe award

for his short story Five Patients. His book Jurassic Park, and Twister have been made into a record breaking blockbuster hit. Seven other of his works have been made into movies such as Congo,The Great Train Robbery (which he directed), Rising Sun, Disclosure and the coming movie Sphere. He now has a computer game out that he programmed all by himself called Amazon. Mike also ran a short-lived computer software company based on Microsoft out of his home. He now resides in Southern California with his wife and children.

Science Test

Directions: Fill in the blank with a word that fits.

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Directions: Match a letter to the phrase that matches

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