Long Live..

Appropriate MLA Citations: Mlambo, Obert Bernard, and Wesley Mwatwara. “Moral arguments for land redistribution in contemporary Zimbabwe and Gracchan Rome: a comparative and critical analysis.” Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, 2016, p. 81+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA461127690&asid=89b9c2dfe34f821a995436f5c38004eb. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.

The primary intended audience of this publication are those interested in the moral arguments for land redistribution mobilised and deployed by politicians in contemporary Zimbabwe and Gracchi Rome. I find this quote from our readings “Although the legends surrounding the beginnings of Rome are ancient, they are broadly unhistorical, but certain details, like the location of early settlements, are consistent with the physical remains.” to be very relevant to this publication. “Early settlements” remind me of the readings of the Roman republic. Both writings talk about early stages of development and beginnings of Ancient Rome.

 

Ishmeal James

Team Artimis 7

History of Slaves in Sicily

Blake, William O. The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient and Modern: The Forms of Slavery That Prevailed in Ancient Nations, Particularly in Greece and Rome. The African Slave Trade and the Political History of Slavery in the United States. To Which Is Added the History of the Great Rebellion. Gilmore & Brush, 1864. Web.

The targeted audience of this article is mostly historians that are curious about the history of slaves. Also to those, who wants to know how slavery have originated and used in the past. This is a academic research paper, so it’s main target are historians. The history of slaves can target abolitionist as an audience because of the atrocities committed in the past.

“Prevalence of the two extremes, immense wealth and abject poverty. Immense number of slaves in Sicily.”

“They revolt. Eunus, their leader. Their arms. Horrible atrocities committed by them.”

These short quote shows the author connection to the search term, Sicily Rome Slave Rebellion United States.  In the quote it tells us that the city of slave was Sicily and according to the quote it says Sicily. Also in the second quote it said, “They Revolt…”, meaning the rebellion of the slaves. Both quote illustrates the idea of slavery in Sicily and the rebellion of the slaves. So there is a connection between the quote and search term.

The quote, I selected from the homework text is, “Therefore, meeting together from time to time as they had opportunity, they consulted how to free themselves from the yoke of servitude they lay under, until at length they really accomplished what they had previously agreed upon.” This quote is relevant to the selected publication because it tells us that the slaves could not handle the stress they are under. The slaves plans to consulting from time to time about becoming free. Both the homework text and publication explains that the slaves wanted to be free from the atrocities that they are feeling in Sicily. According to the homework text, slaves were unable to live properly and had to rely on thievery and other crimes in order to survive. The government could not do anything against the slaves because of their rich and powerful master. So Sicily had many robberies that could not be stopped. Slaves had to suffer the many hardships under their master because it was their only way of living. So both the homework text and publication was able to identify the corruption of those master. They used their power not for good but for selfish reason.

-Jia Gao, Team Athena

Sicily, Slave, Rome, and Haiti

The term that I search for is Sicily Slave Rome Haiti. The article that I choose is “War and conflict”. The correct citation format should be: Ferguson, Rebecca. “War and conflict.” The Handy History Answer Book, 2nd ed., Visible Ink Press, 2006, p. 105+. The Handy Answer Book Series. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA199685516&it=r&asid=59946bba0d5bf85e5f90b7ffed0b93a6. Accessed 26 Nov. 2017., accessed 26 November. 2017. In this article author did write about Sicily, Rome, Haiti, and slave. Author mention that in Rome republic time, there was a war called Punic War happen between Carthage and Rome in Sicily, and Rome won the war. Where the author mention slave, was in American Civil War section. He talked a lot about how did the American Civil War happen and how it goes. For Haiti, it was only mentioned in world war one section: “Before the war ended in 1918, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua all became supporters of the Allies”. The author somehow connected these term into wars, since they all somehow representing conflict.

I believe this article is for the people who would like to learn about the wars on different time periods and countries.

The most connected part of the article and homework reading will be the Punic war. “Rome’s first overseas war, the First Punic War (264–241), despite initial heavy losses, led to the establishment of the first province, Sicily.” In the article I found did also wrote about Punic War. “the Romans, who had girded their navy for the battle, arrived and drove the Carthaginians out (241 B.C.), conquering Sicily”. This is where the article and homework text related, they both said that Roman defeated Carthaginians and took over the province Sicily at 241 B.C.

 

 

Haolin, Team Hephaestus

The Power of Land Reform

Enggass, Peter M. “Economic Geography.” Economic Geography, vol. 55, no. 4, 1979, pp. 357–358. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/143169

This article, written by Peter Enggass, discusses the book Land Reform: A World Survey, by Russell King. This article discusses the themes and overall discussions in King’s book. Enggass explains that within his book, King gives a general overview of what land reform is.  And in addition he explains how King’s intended readers are people who want to have a better and deeper understanding of land reform and what difficulties that agrarians faced. In his book King states,“The historical evolution of land reform, from classical Greece and Rome [including the] Gracchi reforms of 121 BC”. He also states that “Africa consists of a chapter devoted to Kenya and one to the poverty and inequality because systems of land tenure to be regarded as the primary obstacle to economic development”.  And like stated in the reading “Gracchus in his speeches to the people urged them to overthrow the aristocracy and establish a democratic government; and after winning the favour of all classes, he had them not only as supporters, but even as instigators of his bold objectives”. This meaning that Gracchus would use his words to convince the people to follow his rule and with the help of land reform he would break the harmony that existed previously between the senate and the equites, and make the populace a serious rival to both these classes.

~Ashley G., Team Juno

SLAVES, REVOLT!

  I searched the term “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti” and was overwhelmed with the amount of options that I was presented with. The article that I found is titled, ” Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in the New Testament Studies.” I believe that the intended audience for this article are college students and scholars because of its dense language and research studies. It is written by J Albert Harrill from The Ohio State University in America.

The article addresses slavery and how it has changed throughout the years. He talks about the brutality of slavery in Rome and how it relates to slavery in more recent times. “By expanding Roman studies into the larger history of world slavery, Bradley corrects that methodological mistake. The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily and one led by Spartacus in ancient Italy.” (Harrill,509)

The author address slave revolts throughout history by exploring the intensity and rarity of the biggest slave revolts and what caused them. He connects each of the terms and shows the revolts in relation to each other, focusing on the revolts in Sicily, Haiti and Rome.

“The animalization ofthe slave in Roman culture suggests Roman slavery to have been more brutal than other forms in world history, precisely because the Romans lacked a biological or racial ideology for their institution. Roman slavery did not involve justifications from nature or racial theory.” (Harrill, 511)  He discusses further why he thinks that Roman slavery was probably the worst slavery in the world, because it lacked racial justification and allowed for tyrants to treat slaves unfairly without any sense of justification.

“The overseas conquests not only supplied the capital to purchase large estates, but also the slave labour needed to introduce new methods of farming, designed to provide absentee landlords with an income from cash crops. The new methods gave rise to further problems in the shape of a series of slave revolts, most notable in Sicily (132 and 103-101). Furthermore, the property qualification for army service made the impoverished peasants ineligible for recruitment. The result was a manpower crisis, as well as growing social tension, which increasingly threatened political consensus.”( Roman Imperialism and Its Consequences.) This quote is taken from the Past in Present Tense Reading and it addresses slave labour in the Roman army. It explores the conditions that shaped the slave revolts relating to the previous article by Alber Harrill who says that the cause of slave revolts are very important because they are so rare, and explores the severity in which slaves were treated poorly.

Citations

Harrill, Albert. “Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in the New Testament Studies.” Biblical Interpretation 21-4-5 (2013) 506-514 

-Mckensi Pascall, Aphrodite.

Gracchi “land reform” “United States”

I did the research about the Gracchi “land reform” “United States” on the online Brooklyn College Library, and here is one of the result I saw, the title of this text is the Antebellum American Textbook Authors’ populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers  and if I want to cite this text, the appropriate MLA citation will be — McInnis, Edward. “The Antebellum American Textbook Authors’ Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers.” Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 25–50.  In MLA format citation it should include authors’ name, the title of the text, the date of published and the location of the text

This text is definitely a scholarly article, not a popular article because of the scholarly article, which also been called as peer-reviewed article uses academic or technical language, it’s often a longe research articles (see, University of Arizona Libraries). The primary intended audience of the publication will be those who have a high interest about this thing and want to learned deeper.

“Worcester’s description also offers greater detail than pre-1830
American accounts.” (see: McInnis, Edward,2015) In this article, the author focused on the history of ancient Greece and Rome, instead of the history of the United States. In the article He argued the textbooks after 18030 were strengthened the United States reform of the land and the anti-slavery movement by creating a favorable relationship between Tiberius and Caius Gracchus. which was a new way to think about the things that happened in the past and give another claim about the thing.

 

Yao, team Zeus

Citation:

McInnis, Edward. “The Antebellum American Textbook Authors’ Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers.” Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 25–50.

The university of Arizona Libraries, “Popular vs. Scholarly tutorial”, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcHL97twKA-hLmw-CWCa6b4vAYxOFAxo58iA_ZILyy5ihpgg/viewform

Same Slave Different Land

1. Citation for article:

Sara Forsdyke. (2015). SLAVES, STORIES, AND CULTS Conflict Resolution between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece. Common Knowledge, 21(1), 19-43.

2. This article is apart of a scholarly journal, Duke University Press. It’s intended audience is college students or professors interested in the history Slavery in ancient Greece and its resolution.

3. This article “Spoke to me” because of its title and that I had trouble finding whether the author ever mentions Sicily. I read it twice! Thankfully, adobe reader has a useful tool called “find” (control + “F”).The author explains in greater depths how ancient people thought of slavery as “natural and inevitable”  (Forsdyke,2015). She writes: “One of the most colorful and explicit of the didactic stories on this theme is told about a Sicilian slave owner named Damophilos whose abuse of his many slaves was viewed as a
contributing cause of the First Sicilian Slave War of 135 to 132 BCE.” (Forsdyke,2015). As the story goes, a slave owner, Damophilos, and his wife, Megallis competed in horrific ways to torture their slaves. The slaves were tortured so much they grew hate toward their sadistic masters and rebelled, killing them both in the sadistic ways they had been punished. The story was written to explain that if slaves were treated as human they would behave and arrogant owners are the reason the “slaves were reduced to
the level of wild beasts” (Forsdyke, 2015). The tale of this slave rebellion highly relates to the slave rebellion of the united states by implying that if slaves were treated as human, not abused and given care then they would have no reason to rebel or feel less than. The author offers a reason the term “slavery” is considered bad because of the treatment of the slaves and not the labor they had to do.

 

Economic Problems

The proper citation of my search return is:

Rukeyser, Louis. “Finally getting their recession, demagogues want a return to ’70s.” Caribbean Business, 5 Dec. 1991, p. 48. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA11705103&it=r&asid=92cd6b384bd6e7ce709a0c7f526c95df. Accessed 9 Nov. 2017.

The primary audience of this article is the government and the American people back in the 1990s because of the economic problems the country was facing then.

“Finally getting their recession, demagogues want a return to ’70s” this quote illustrates how the author believes the government is doing a poor job at handling the economy.

“But conquest had unforeseen effects on the economy and society of Italy,” this wuote from the reading conveys how the economy was doing poorly in Italy because the men were too busy in the military they couldn’t tend to their farms leding to decrease in proft and revolt of slaves.

Shakiba, Team Vesta

Gracchi France

Search Term:

Gracchi France

 

MLA Citation:

Alp, Al. “The Redemption of the Gracchi and the Class Nature of the Republic.” Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 25, no. 3, 1995, pp. 397–413.

Primary Intended Audience:

I believe the intended audience is anyone who would like to know more about the essay that discusses the redemption of the Gracchi and the nature of the Republic. This could range from historians to those generally interested in the leader of the peasant revolts in France.

Search Term Connection:

The author makes the connection between his work and Gracchus Babeuf by clearly establishing distinctions throughout the journal that refer to Marcuse’s essay, as well as Babeuf’s actions. An example of this includes ” Marcuse tries to turn Babeuf’s sober realism into messianic voluntarism. He depicts Babeuf as creating a tiny conspiracy with support neither in the left vanguard nor amongst the broad masses (TD, 100). In fact, Marcuse was only echoing the reactionary ideas of the prosecution.” What this quote shows is the relationship between Marcuse, as the author and Babeuf as a revolt leader.

Assigned Reading & Journal Similarity: 

One quote that struck me as relevant/similar to the journal i read, was “Gracchus in his speeches to the people urged them to overthrow the aristocracy and establish a democratic government; and after winning the favour of all classes, he had them not only as supporters, but even as instigators of his bold objectives.” Not only does this directly show the heroic ways of Gracchi but it also relates to how he lead the revolts.

 

Mariana, Team Athena

Long live the republic!

The search I made using the OneSearch feature was “Gracchi demagogues Russia”. The search result gave me the review ” Contemporary Populism: A Controversial Concept and it’s Diverse Forms.”

The book was in correct MLA format when I found it under the search results. The primary audience is any audience who wants to be informed about populism. The author does include some sort of connection but it isn’t direct. It is only mentioned once where populism is given as an example in history.

Citation:

Gherghina, S., & Micoiu, Sergiu Soare, Sorina. (2013). Contemporary Populism : A Controversial Concept and Its Diverse Forms (1). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Joseph Rosendo

Mercury

Did Anything Really Change?

A Distant Elite: How Meritocracy Went Wrong

Wilfred M. McClay

 

McClay, Wilfred M. “A distant elite: how meritocracy went wrong.” The Hedgehog Review, vol. 18, no. 2, 2016, p. 36+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?

 

The primary audience of this publication can be historians. People who study the constitution, Thomas Jefferson, or even the effects of how America tired to make an aristocracy and it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to.

 

Adams, on the other hand, regarded the emergence of an aristocracy as something both inevitable and inherently dangerous. He feared the influence of any such aristoi, and sought to restrain their influence by means of the classical constitutional model, as articulated by Polybius, of a “mixed government,” in which aristocracy’s distinctive political voice would be recognized as such and then confined to a senate-like body.

Paragraph 3, lines 8- 13

 

Consequently this peculiar form of constitution possesses an irresistible power of attaining every object upon which it is resolved. 5 When again they are freed from external menace, and reap the harvest of good fortune and affluence which is the result of their success, and in the enjoyment of this prosperity are corrupted by flattery and idleness and wax insolent and overbearing, as indeed happens often enough, 6 it is then especially that we see the state providing itself a remedy for the evil from which it suffers.

Polybius, Fragments of Book 6

 

The writer makes a mention of Polybius when he talks about Adams’s fear of a rising aristocracy. Jefferson believed in a natural aristocracy with the idea idea that they should be separated from the general public and groomed for public office. Adams on the other hand thought that though it is inevitable it can be contained because they fought a revolution against a King who didn’t rule them well and they are trying to avoid another monarchy. With a new government one has to let go of everything that they fought against. He wanted what Polybius suggested as a government. One that took one certain aspects of other governments while still making it something new. Looking at the success of the Roman Republic one could agree that something similar to Rome could easily work.

Re-examining the Constitution

MLA Format:

Jost, Kenneth, Background, Re-examining the Constitution, History of the United States Constitution, Sept 7, 2012, Vol.22(31), p.750(6), Brooklyn College Library, CUNY OneSearch, ISSN: 1056-2036

The target audience for this are for people who into politics and understand the constitution. The author connects the search term by implying that the constitution is outdated and the constitution has let some people down. The article states, “the Constitution’s faults as among the causes of the growing discontent with politics generally and the declining public confidence in all three branches of the federal government.” This shows that the constitution negatively affects the government in multiple ways. According to the reading it states, “Sulla took the dictatorship in 81, purged his opponents by means of proscriptions, and attempted to reform the constitution, strengthening the senate and abolishing most of the powers of the tribunes.” This relates to the article by showing action towards the flaws of the constitution.

– Adam Allan, Team Ares

Roman imperialism to Modern Imperialism and their relationship

Return

ROMAN AND MODERN IMPERIALISM

What is the appropriate MLA citation of your search return?

Mile, Gary B. “Roman and Modern Imperialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct., 1990), pp. 629-659

Who is the primary intended audience of the publication?

I think the primary intended audience of the publication is those who have knowledge of    imperialism.

How (if at all) does the author connect the search terms one to another?  Use one to two short quotes to illustrate your point.

The author connect the search terms “rebellion” from both Rome and modern imperialism” by  writing the article primary about the Ancient Rome imperial power and compared it with the modern world imperialism. It states in the text “Even if the idea of national rebellion had been avail subjects, they would not have had the kind of leader that concept in action. A central aspect of modern imperialism was the creation in the colonies of a distinct class of Westernized administrative officers and professionals who identified with their European rulers but were excluded by Europeans from full participation and professional advancement in the life of the metropole.”

At the modern imperialism happened, the European will concurred foreign lands and educated the native in their European languages and tries to Europeanize them. Similarly, the Roman were willingly and freely incorporated newly conquered people into their own society, freely giving them citizenship and tried to Romanize them. By supporting this idea, the author wrote “From this perspective, the difference between Roman and non-Roman was unimportant. The Romans thought of themselves not as a single ethnic group but as embracing all people.”

Select a quote from the ancient texts assigned as home work that seems relevant to your selected publication.  Insert the quotation and explain its relevance.

In the paragraph above, it said that Roman imperialism have great impact to the Modern Imperialism. In the ancient texts it states that ” The revolts of the 140s in Macedonia and Greece were crushed and provinces established. Dominance became equated with ruthlessness – Corinth and Carthage were razed in 146. Rome now took provinces in Africa , Asia (133), Cilicia (101), and Cyrene (96).   The Romans are thus replacing the rule and influence of the Hellenistic kings .” In here, you can tell that the Roman Empire was powerful to be dominance through the Mediterranean.

• YongQi Li, Team Minerva

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Urge of Courageous Selflessness

The search term I used was Gracchi France and the article that I used was “The redemption of the Gracchi and the class nature of the republic.”

The primary intended audience seems to be those desiring to be informed of the intricacies of Gracchus Babeuf’s writing and how he attempted to defend himself from being disdained as someone attempting to overthrow the government. It heavily focuses on governmental social aspects that fixate on the middle class and its impact on revolution. Due to all this, it’s safe to assume that it’s certainly meant for an audience yearning to be informed rather than persuaded.

The words of “It is now no longer a question of making a revolution in men’s minds; this is not the area where we should anticipate further success. This aspect of the work has already been carried through successfully as all France knows.” directly tie not only the search terms Gracchi and France together since Gracchus’s intricate involvement is inexorable linked together, but also the concept of revolution which this writing focuses on.

The quote of “Furious opposition led to his murder. Ten years later his brother, C. Sempronius Gracchus suffered the same fate, when he attempted to bring in a wide-ranging series of reforms, embracing provincial administration, the corn supply, judicial reform, and the status of the Italian allies.” from the Roman Revolution connects to the peer reviewed that I selected as it relates to Gracchus fighting for his own beliefs and for revolution via reforms of varying types. This is a basic fact about Gracchus but it can’t be denies that his willingness and action to promote revolution are demonstrated here as well.

The MLA Citation is as follows

Alp, Al. “The Redemption of the Gracchi and the Class Nature of the Republic.” Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 25, no. 3, 1995, pp. 397–413.

Bailey Seemangal, Team 5, Hephaestus

Gracci demogauges Russia

The return I chose for my search “Gracci demagogues Russia” was an academic book called Contemporary Populism: A Controversial Concept and its Diverse Forms

The intended audience of this text is most likely scholars studying populism as a phenomenon. It lends theoretical and empirical perspective and serves as a good reference for scholars in this field.

Connection:

There is little connection between this book and the search term.

“From the Gracci brothers in Ancient Rome to the Peruvian Raul Victor Raya de la Torre during the inter-war period, populists can be regarded as tribunes who held the power (sometimes considered to be magical) of catalyzing the will and actions of the masses through words.”

“This boils down to promoting the pleasureable at the expense of the good or, in other words, to promising monetary wealth and comfort to the detriment of good, which amounts to an elevation of the being in time. Demoguages evince this facile complacent behaviour or indulge in the spontaneous expression of desire.”

Gherghina, Sergiu, et al. Contemporary Populism: A Controversial Concept and its Diverse Forms. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Modern Ideas from Antiquity

MLA citation:

Walbank, Frank W.. Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections, Cambridge University Press, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=217900.

The search word that I used is “Polybius “United States” constitution” and the article that I chose is Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections by Frank W. Walbank. This book discusses various works of Polybius related to historical problems and his views as it relates to modern times.

The primary intended audience for this publication is scholars since it is a scholarly article. It goes in depth about Polybius both as a historian and as a historical figure and expects the audience to know information regarding the Polybius and the historical circumstances related to him.

The author connects search terms by discussing how Polybius influenced the Founding Fathers and the United States Constitution. He discusses Polybius’s books and relates “interest in Polybius occurred at the time of the American revolution when his sixth book came up in discussion among the founding fathers of the Republic…classical inheritance in the thought of John Adams, especially in relation to Polybius’ remarks on the mixed constitution and on federalism” (Welbank, 2002).

This classical inheritance in thoughts of the Founding Fathers was what Polybius described as “it is the people who bestow office on the deserving, noblest regard of virtue in a state, the people have the power of approving or rejecting laws…they deliberate on the question of war and peace…one might plausibly say that the people’s share in the government is the greatest and that constitution is a democratic one” (the Roman Republic, pg 9). This extract from Polybius explains the basis of a democratic government and this idea from antiquity influenced many modern governmental constitutions such as the United States as discussed in the article by Welbank, Frank. W.

Masuma, Team Mercury.

 

The Americanized Checks and Balances

MLA Citation:

Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/stable/2707009sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. Date accessed: 11/05/2017.

(I couldn’t indent lines two and three above)

In his article, “Polybius and the American Constitution,” Gilbert Chinard reviews the ideals of Polybius on the forms of government. Polybius declared that there are three main types of constitutions: aristocracy, oligarchy and democracy. He believed each form to be truly unstable and criticized the ongoing cycle. This cycle, as Polybius describes, is in which a country will go from aristocracy to oligarchy to democracy. Once this part is completed, the rich begin to influence the state through bribes followed by a civic cohesion and violence when a mob rule takes over the state. A tyrant arises from the mob, and the cycle begins again. Chinard writes that Polybius preferred a mixed constitution which includes all three in its rule. One much like the US Constitution. Chinard states:

The system Polybius outlined was not perfect, though the principles under which he rested were excellent: for the executive was never sufficiently separated from the legislative, nor had these powers a control upon each other defined with sufficient accuracy. This precedent made very clear the task of the American legislators: it was to preserve the principle of checks and balances.

In other words, Chinard is expressing how heavily the creation of the US Constitution was influenced by Polybius and his beliefs. Even though the founding fathers may not have known the philosopher, his ideas held a great deal of popularity amongst them and other nations. They favored his idea of having a mixed form of government when each part is balanced and none too powerful. The intended audience for this type of work would be anyone who is interested in the history of US constitution, its creation and influences. It does not seem to be general public but rather historians.

 

Khilola, Team Juno

 

It is Time to Remember our Constitution

When I search the term ” Polybius ‘United States’ constitution “, the article that most caught my attention was “The Constitution, by Hand”. After reading it through, I found out that it is not an article related to Polybius, but it is so interesting that I would like to talk about it for this assignment. The author, Morgan O’Hara, he is an artist and he had a thought by the beginning of 2017 when our Mr. president Donald Trump inaugurated. He started an artistic protest for minorities who have been attacked due to racist discrimination, he hand-copied the constitution in public places. The public followed what was he doing, more and more people joined him to copy the constitution fragments. The primary audience that O’Hara intended to motive in this article is to all the people in the United States, as he mentions: “It is important for us to become more intensely aware of our rights as citizens of the United States, so that as the current government tries to take them away….” O’Hara wants to be an example to let people think about how is our constitution protect all the United States citizen and non-citizen and how is our Mr. president being racist to immigrants. In the ancient texts that we read, it presents:” Thus here again one might plausibly say that the people’s share in the government is the greatest and that the constitution is a democratic one. ” It states that the democracy with the constitution is the best government form. This was the reason of why O’Hara started his artistic protest and wrote it down in words form “The Constitution, by Hand”, he also believed that the constitution is the document that supports the democratic government and it protects our right.

 

O’Hara, Morgan. “The Constitution, by Hand.” New York Times, 2 July 2017, p. 2(L). Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA497526732&it=r&asid=f9d2059b0052ddb6ec700a769d83eed1. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

 

Qiyi, Team Vesta

Present Generation Government And Its Effect On African Land Reform.

For my blog this week, I researched the term: Gracchi “Land Reform” Africa and came across an article titled “South Africa’s Land Reform Crisis: Eliminating the Legacy of Apartheid.” Written and published by Bernadette Atuahene, the article brings light to the issues post-apartheid South Africa has had on the topic of land reform.

When apartheid ended, the new regime in South Africa promised to redistribute land that whites had stolen from blacks. Yet nearly two decades later, it has largely failed to do so—and the patience of the dispossessed is running out. According to the article in regards to “Section 25 of the new African constitution, promulgated in 1994, existing property owners (who were primarily white) would receive valid legal title to property acquired under prior regimes, despite the potentially dubious circumstances of its acquisition. In exchange, blacks (in South Africa, considered to include people of mixed racial descent and Indians) were Promised Land reform. “ (P121) “However the new government upheld only one side of the liberation bargain: South African whites kept their property, but blacks still have not received theirs. Political apartheid may have ended, but economic apartheid lives on.” (P122)

Select a quote from the ancient texts that is relevant to your selected publication.

Similarly, Gracchi’s ideas of land reform, and solving tensions between the Romans and the slaves also lead to blood boiling tensions. According to the text, the land reforms of Gracchi meant that the rich Romans “collected in groups, and made lamentation, and accused the poor of appropriating the results of their tillage, their vineyards, and their dwellings… and were angry that they should be robbed of their share of the common property. “The unfair land distribution by the South African government and its natives connects to the Roman’s opinions on land reform in Appian. The Roman public argued that they had the earned the rights to their land from military services, ancestors, or loans just as South Africans argued that “they are the natives of their land, and that land must be returned to blacks in South Africa, no matter what the consequences are for the current owners and for political stability in the country” (P122).

The author highlights how the social status and economic status of many citizens have influenced what land is divided and what land is not. The rich and more fortunate of the Romans controlled and had a great majority of the land in ancient times: as is the case in South Africa with the wealthy 10% wealthy whites and the large population of natives (black, colored and Indian) thus the idea of who had the original rights to the land is presented in both times.

Who is the primary intended audience of the publication?

Originally published in a Foreign Affairs Magazine, the article seems to be directed towards a younger generation. One that is proactive and ready to make change. Constantly throughout the article, I see the author reference the economic divide as a result to the corruption the government has in this generation. I see this article as motivation to the next generation in helping making it fair and equal.

How does the author connect the search terms one to another?

Only some of the terms I used linked together. Gracchi didn’t appear anywhere in the article but “Africa” and “land reform” were mentioned a lot in the article. Examples like these further help the author make the connection stated above (Roman and South African revolt for foreign reform.) The use of these words and how they reappear in today’s text after so long just reaffirms the concept of history repeating itself as a world of an endless recycle of information.

The appropriate MLA citation.

Atuahene, Bernadette. “South Africa’s Land Reform Crisis: Eliminating the Legacy of Apartheid.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no. 4, 2011, pp. 121–129. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23039612.

Shamiso Tunduwani – Team Jupiter

Seen As Property, Treated as Trash.

MLA format of this article:

Ford, Charles Howard. “Slave Trades.” 2005, pp. 1717–1722.

Now, this is very much talking about the Atlantic Slave Trades during the Colonization of America in the 1600s. The trading consisted of African tribes capturing other tribe members, and giving them to the settlers to use on their fields. This would go on for two centuries, where the slaves from Africa would be owned by different hands as their life went on.

The intended audience seemed to be other scholars at that time. The article in question is part of a scholarly encyclopedia, something that the general populace wouldn’t understand as much as a “popular” article.

This was also the first search I found upon searching up “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti”. There seems to have been a greater emphasis placed on the term “Slave” rather than the whole sentence itself, as the “Slave Trades” had nothing to do with Sicily, Rome, or Haiti, rather, discussing the topics about the Atlantic Slave Trade. The barbaric treatment of slaves by their owners has spanned multiple centuries across many continents.

It is discussed in one of my homework readings, the section called “The Roman Revolution”, under the heading “Plutarch, Life of Cato the elder, 21”. Here, I read how the owner decides let his male slaves have sexual intercourse with the females, but “at a fixed price”. This implies that the owner is taking advantage of the sex drive of male slaves, and will squeeze out any currency they have in order to benefit from this. In the next paragraph, he then mentions how the owner is cautious of slaves cooperate more than usual, and will discourage any form of union. This is eerily similar to the Southern plantation owners and their slaves. Upon seeing any slaves beginning to rebel, such as can be seen from Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, they immediately quench this thirst for freedom through severe punishments or death. After learning what slaves are capable of, will even pose stricter rules and regulation over slaves to prevent another rebellion from happening again.

Fernando, Team Cronos

The Ass That Was A Slave !

Harrill, J. Albert. “Slavery and Inhumanity.” Biblical Interpretation, vol. 21, no. 4-5, 2013, pp. 506–514., doi:10.1163/15685152-2145P0005.

This article entitled, “Slavery and Inhumanity:Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies”, was written for a mature audience, and inparticularly well accomplished historians or a person interesed in history . The author J.A Harrill, mentions a historian/ writer ( Bradley) who he admires, for his determination in finding the truth. He discusses the widespread myth among historians that slavery in Rome wasn’t so bad compared to slavery elsewhere. These historians argued that slavery wasn’t that horrible because they weren’t many revolts recorded. Harrill ,however, states, “In contrast to the slavery-and-humanity research agenda of the Mainz Academy, Bradley’s career has revealed the very painful and often overlooked brutality in the history of Roman slavery. Bradley’s study of the Roman slave revolts, in particular, clearly shows how previous scholars had uncritically accepted the ancient slaveholders’ ideology in such sources, which believed that slaves became disgruntled only under violent abuse.” Harrill addresses that assumption, by saying,  “The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily, and one led by Spartacus in ancient Italy.” He also mentioned a book that spoke of ass that embodied a slave. Harrill wrote, ” The transformation of the protagonist Lucius into a donkey recreates three key elements in the Roman enslavement process: (1) becoming a beast of burden; (2) suffering repeated beatings and randomly inflicted violence, including sexual violence; and (3) being sold and resold numerous times as a passive commodity.” The ass represented a slave in that he was abused heavily from its master and constantly being sold . He states that Bradley references this book to solidify his claims that slaves like asses during those times in Rome, were severely punished .

In Extracts from Ancient Texts Polybius, fragments from book – chapter 91, Polybius speaks about the unity of slaves. He writes, “For whenever anyone who has noticed the jealousy and hatred with which you are regarded by the citizens, has the courage to speak or act against the chiefs of the state he has the whole mass of the people ready to back him.”  Polybius was among many leaders that had been taken from Greece to Rome. However, e was able  to make connections with high officals. The statement he made shows how he also as a slave, empathized with the other  slaves and understood the need for a revolt among them.  Although I can’t tell from this statement how cruel the slaves were treated in Rome, its fair to think that slavery in Rome, wasn’t as subdued and as easy going, as some historians portray it to be.

Sharifa, Team Hestia

Prevent All War ‼️

Ishmeal James
Team Artemis

MLA Citation: Verdirame, Guglielmo. “The ‘Sinews of Peace’: International Law, Strategy, and the Prevention of War.” The British Year Book of International Law, vol. 77, no. 1, 2007, pp. 83–162.

The primary audience intended by this author are readers who are interested in world peace and nonviolence.

My search term of “Polybius “United States” constitution” was not evident in my return. The quotes “Dominance became equated with ruthlessness” and “…Macedonia and Greece were crushed and provinces established.” both show reason for the push for a prevention law against wars. These quotes illustrate the negative outlooks and aftermaths of war, just like the author of the return.

The Right To Be Forgotten

(1) MLA Citation: Byrum, Kristie. “The European right to be forgotten: A challenge to the United States Constitution’s First Amendment and to professional public relations ethics.” ScienceDirect, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania , Mar. 2017, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036381111630409X.

(2) This journal entry’s intended audience appears to be scholars focused on Europe’s “right to be forgotten” and its clash with the U.S Bill of Rights’ first amendment,  and possibly lawyers dealing with the first amendment and the right of free speech, and one’s privacy on the internet.

(3)The author does not directly connect the search terms

 

(4) “Then as long as some of those survive who experienced the evils of oligarchical dominion, they are well pleased with the present form of government, and set a high value on equality and freedom of speech. But when a new generation arises and the democracy falls into the hands of the grandchildren of its founders, they have become so accustomed to freedom and equality that they no longer value them”

In todays modern age and the ease of accessibility of information on the internet on an individuals background brings up the question as to whether or not this violates a human’s right to privacy. A right that is taken for granted until it jeopardizes that individual’s future. As shown in this quote as we become more accustomed to these freedoms we begin to neglect them and as a result they no longer get the attention they deserve.

Oliver, Team Hestia

Decreased Power for the Republicans

MLA Citation:

European Journal of Political Theory

Vol 8, Issue 3, pp. 313 – 338

First Published June 11, 2009

https://doi-org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/10.1177/1474885109103833

In the article I chose by Geoff Kennedy, it’s main intended audiences are Republicans or those that were interested in the worries or issues of the Republicans when they began to lose power and imperium increased. The article mainly discusses the vast changes of Republicanism and how it affected the peoples in that time.

The author has mentioned the term”Gracchi” very briefly at the beginning of this article but didn’t connect it to the term “France.”

Quote mentioning Gracchi: “Insofar as populists like the Gracchi and Caesar sought to redistribute land to the lower classes, territorial accumulation as a form of agrarian policy became linked to the populist threat to the rule of an Optimatedominated senatorial republic: in a word, tyranny.” He explains how these specific people, Gracchi and Ceaser wanted to fix land distribution for those at the Lower Classes. This became a conflict for those in power as they saw it as a threat.

This can connect to the Roman Conquest of Italy as after its winning against a powerful king, it resulted in many positives to the Roman lands, such as growth in land and power for the peoples. But the growth had many downfalls later on that caused many issues for the Roman people. This can be related to the Republicans. They had many areas of growth in their power and people, but negative issues arose and began to damage the power of the Republicans as a whole.

Quote: “This growth vastly increased the wealth of the elite, securing the dominance of the patrician-plebeian nobility. Through the influence of Greek culture rich Romans adopted the leisure style of the Hellenistic world. The plebs and the Italian allies acquiesced as long as they benefited from the proceeds of military conquest. But conquest had unforeseen effects on the economy and society of Italy. The peasant proprietors who formed the backbone of the Roman army could not maintain their farms due to prolonged military service and in the face of pressure from the land-hungry elite. The overseas conquests not only supplied the capital to purchase large estates, but also the slave labor needed to introduce new methods of farming, designed to provide absentee landlords with an income from cash crops. The new methods gave rise to further problems in the shape of a series of slave revolts, most notable in Sicily (132 and 103-101).”

-Michelle Z, Team Zeus

Slaves, History and the Reality of the Present

Return:

Black Catholic Theology: A Historical Perspective.

What is the appropriate MLA citation of your search return?

DAVIS, CYPRIAN. “BLACK CATHOLIC THEOLOGY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.” Theological Studies, vol. 61, no. 4, 2000, p. 656. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA69059037&it=r&asid=41c36844627223272fe5e76ba535e681. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Who is the primary intended audience of the publication?

All people that are not aware of the Black Catholics’ community. In particular of the Black Catholic theology.

How does the author connect the search terms one to another?

•  ”Our general conclusion from a look at the scriptural basis for Black Catholic theology is that our slavery is the foundation of our liberation”.
  Interpretation: The author uses the word ” slavery ” to show that the slavery lived by blacks is the basis of their liberation. In the text the author explains that Christ suffered slavery as blacks have suffered, and that by sharing their suffering they also share his mercy and glorification.
• ”Roman Catholics, they sought their roots in the early martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity; they identified with the African theologian, St. Augustine and his mother; they knew of St. Cyril of Alexandria in Egypt; and they mention St. Benedict the Moor, not a saint of the early Church but a son of African slaves in Sicily, a contemporary of Martin Luther”.
• The only word that the author does not use of my search is ”Haiti” because the author talks about the black community in general, without reference to a country in specific, with the exception of the United States, which is mentioned.

Quote from the ancient texts relevant to my selected publication. 

”Not only in political life should the powerful behave humanely towards those who are of humble condition, but also in private life the right-minded should not be too harsh
on their slaves.”

 I can connect this sentence with the article because the class reading talks in great detail about the situation that the slaves experienced during those times. In the article that I chose it also referrers to the situations lived by the slaves. In the article it says: ” it is good to remember that freedom in the historical context is not to uni-vocal term either in the Ancient world or in the Middle Ages. Only the kings and their nobles were truly in a condition of freedom.” then explaining that for that reason all blacks are blessed, because after having suffered as much as Christ did on earth, they are protected and special to God. The article says that they who were slaves have a different and special mission on earth.

Jamilex Dominguez. Team Mercury.

Gracias Gracchi

It was during the 18th century France that he came to be, the leader of the peasants revolt, Gracchi Babeuf. Although it has been many years since his death his words and actions carry on through his ideas. In the article I chose to read a writer was examining an essay written about Gracchi Babeuf during the time he was on trial. Based on Babeuf’s circumstance, I would say that this article was written with the lower class in mind because the article mainly focuses on how Gracchi was accused of going against the Constitution of 1793 and how when he went in front of the High Court of Vendome his defense was not made like in silence like his partner but in logic. He had a revolutionary idea he thought would benefit the people and to see through he relied on the support of the peasants but was sentenced to death. The tone of the article seems to be supporting or in favor of having a superior argument to overthrow the government. The quote, “Babeuf pretends to be no more than an idealist dreamer, yet the inner nature of his speech is based on class conflicts and the practicalities of revolutionary organization,” I believe connects the two search terms “Gracchi” and “France” because during this time period France was going through changes that might have been the result of Gracchi’s attempt at a revolution.  The assigned reading relates to this topic because Babeuf was referred to as a “revolutionary communist” which if he had succeeded would have decreased the class barrier between the peasants and the rich. Which is what the Plebeians of Rome achieved, “with a series of legislation between 367 and c.287, plebeians gained access to the higher magistracies, entrance into the major priestly colleges, and finally their plebiscites became equivalent to laws”.

Sherique, Team Artemis

MLA : Alp, Al. “The redemption of the Gracchi and the class nature of the republic.” Journal of Contemporary Asia; Vol. 25 Issues 3, p 397-413, 17 p (1995). Web. 28 Nov. 2017.

Land Reform in Africa (Zimbabwe) and Gracchan Rome

1. Mlambo, Obert Bernard; Mwatwara, Wesley. Moral Arguments for Land Distribution in Contemporary Zimbabwe and Gracchan Rome: A Comparative and Critical Analysis. Journal of Pan African Studies. 9.2 (Apr. 2016): p81. From Literature Resource Center. http://go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?&id=GALE|A461127690&v=2.1&u=cuny_broo39667&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&authCount=1
2. The primary intended audience of this article is mainly for politicians and policy makers in Zimbabwe so that they could understand the errors of using Gracchan land reform, which has lead to corruption in the country.
3. The search terms “Gracchi, land reform, Africa” are connected several times throughout the article, though the article mainly mentions Zimbabwe more than it does the whole continent of Africa. To summarize, Mlambo and Mwatwara point out how the Gracchan agrarian law that was used in Rome, now being used in Zimbabwe, was an inefficient land reform for the country and additionally is just morally incorrect. They claim “The period of the Gracchi in ancient European classical history reveals some of the pitfalls and dangers of human action, even when the action is intended to correct gross injustices.”
4. A relevant quote might be “By taking control of the courts away from the senators and setting up the equites as judges, Gracchus gave the lower classes power over the nobles, and by breaking the harmony that existed previously between the senate and the equites, he made the populace a serious rival to both those classes” (Tiberius Gracchus 25). This is because this was the intention, to give more power and distribute land to those who were poorer in Zimbabwe, despite the fact that it did not work out in the end.

 

Stacy, Team Minerva

An Unoriginal Experiment

In the scholarly article “Polybius and the American Constitution”, Gilbert Chinard tells of how America’s Founding Fathers used the writing of the Greeks and Romans in framing the Constitution. This is a story he tells to other experts in classical histories, evident in his use of uncommon Latin phrases. He connects my search terms “Polybius” and “United States Constitution” by commenting directly on the Founders’ (Madison and Adams) use and knowledge of Polybius’s writings. Chinard even goes so far as to include a direct quote from Polybius:  “such being the power of each order to hurt and assist each other, their union is adapted to all contingencies, and it is not possible to invent a more perfect system.” He continues to explain how they agreed and disagreed with Polybius’s ideas about the optimal constitution. Polybius says: “For it is evident that we must regard as the best constitution a combination of all these three varieties.” It is this reverence for the Roman constitution, the balance of the different types of constitution, that is the main focus of Chinard’s article. In short, Madison and other founders used Polybius’s writing and the writing of other ancient historians to make arguments in favor of ratifying the Constitution in 1787.

 

Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” Journal of the History of Ideas Vol. 1, No. 1 (1940) Pages 38-58.

How to Create A Strong Country In Only Fifty-Three Years: A Guide

“II: Political Thinkers and Ideas/Penseurs et Idées Politiques.” International Political Science Abstracts, 10 May 2012, Vol.62(2), pp.160-164.

This article gives abstracts of political science articles, including:

Eidujiene, Dalia. “Polibijus: apie valstybes kilme ir dinami ka jos formu morfologija (Polybius on the origin of the state and the dynamic morphology of its forms).” Filosofija. Sociologija 22(3), 2011 : 272-277.

Light, Paul C. “Federalist No. 1: How Would Publius Define Good Government Today?” Public Administration Review 71, Suppl. 1, Dec. 2011 : 7-14.

The article that came up when I searched for the terms “Polybius” and “Thomas Jefferson” was intended to help political-science students find the appropriate article, but the Eidujiene article explains Polybius’ attempt to explain the political circumstances that allowed Rome to grow so strong so quickly, and the Light article is about the Federalist Papers (written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the pseudonym Publius, to defend the new United States Constitution) and how the Founding Fathers (including Hamilton and Jefferson) built the framework for the country we live in today.

Since this article was meant to aid with location of sources, it doesn’t really draw connections between these other articles, but their relation is clear. Polybius spoke about how the Roman empire grew in power, and the founders of America wanted to build a country that could become its own independent power. Both of these articles therefore discuss how best to set up and strengthen a political entity like a country or empire.

Light’s abstract demonstrates the desire to make a strong country by saying:

 [The first of the Federalist Papers] contains an implied definition of “good government” that occupied the founders as they built a stronger national government.

The class reading by Polybius says in the very beginning,

…the best and most valuable result I aim at is that readers of my work may gain a knowledge how it was […] that in less than fifty-three years nearly the whole world was overcome and fell under the single dominion of Rome…

Polybius wanted to teach people how Rome became so powerful in such a relatively short time. The Founding Fathers likely drew upon sources like this when deciding how to draw up the United States constitution, since they relied heavily on European philosophy and history to guide them.

-Chaya Ovits, team Venus

Democracy Lives On

When looking up articles for my blog I used the search terms
Polybius “United States” constitution
I found an article called “The Commandments The Constitution and its worshippers.”
After reading the article I realize that this is a perfect article for what we are learning. The article talks about how the constitution should be conceived today with today’s language and how it used to be conceived differently when it was first made. I thought this tied in well with our class because we learned not to take the readings from class literally in some cases. Besides that it speaks of the Constitution and its power today, and ties in with Polybius, one of the readings we did for class.

MLA Citation
Lepore, Jill. “The Commandments (United States Constitution).” Https://Www.newyorker.com/Magazine/2011/01/17/the-Commandments, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2011,

The target audience for this article is for people or historians that enjoy reading about the constitution

The author talks about democracy and how it plays a role in the way we perceive the constitution today in this quote from the article
“with an emphasis on contemporary controversies, which he frames as battles between “judge-made law” and the proper workings of democracy; the right to privacy, for instance, is an example of judge-made law”

In Polybius
line 5 “Most of those whose object it has been to instruct us methodically concerning such matters, distinguish three kinds of constitutions, which they call kingship, aristocracy, and democracy.”
This shows thats the United States Constitution still follows the words that were mentioned in Polybius. Polybius talks of having one of three constitutions, and in the article it is mentioned that the constitution is a democratic document. They tie in together because it is still relevant in our government and documents that we read from history. The way things were run when Polybius was written is still talked about today.

-Aiden Ferris

Team Artemis

Land Reform But To What End?

Appropriate Citation:

McInnis, Edward. “The Antebellum American Textbook Authors’ Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers.” Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society; Oxford, Vol. 7, Iss. 1,  2015, https://search-proquest-com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/docview/1768236623?accountid=7286&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo. 6 November 2017.

The main audience for this essay is anyone who is a student that needs to accurately learn about the Grachi land reform policy and its connection to the modern day American political system. We see the author merge the two topics after he briefly gives a backstory to the history of the Grachus brothers and then brings to the attention of the reader behind the reason the topics are connected “2,000 years later, American political leaders and commentators would resurrect parts of the history of the Gracchan reform effort to promote their own causes and agendas.”(26)

“What Gracchus had in his mind in proposing the measure was not money, but men. Inspired greatly by the usefulness of the work, and believing that nothing more advantageous or admirable could ever happen to Italy, he took no account of the difficulties surrounding it.”(Pg 25, Readings) An example showing that Grachus the originator of the theory that land reform would be beneficial to all was just like all the current power seeking American politicians who are ironically just seeking power and glory like Grachus

Bedirhan Gonul, Team Aphrodite

The Founding Fathers and their “Founding Father”… It’s Polybius

Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 1, no. 1, 1940, pp. 38–58.

The intended audience for this journal is an intellectual person, interested in the history of the American Constitution, and how Polybius’ ideas related to the ideas drafted to forming it.

The terms, “United States Constitution” & “Polybius” are interconnected in the journal in the explanation of how certain ideas the Founding Fathers used to write the Constitution.
For example, “the best government is that which consists of three forms, regis, optimatium et populi imperitum.” Cicero had expressed the same idea almost in the same words when he asserted: “Statuo esse optime constitutam rempublicam, quae ex tri bus generi bus illis, regali, optimo, et populari, modice confusa,” and Adams, as well as his contemporaries, was familiar with it, but nowhere had this “fu- sion” of the three orders balancing one another been expressed so clearly and so perfectly as in the Greek historian of Rome” (Chinard 43).
The ideas expressed here are what Adams used in conjuring a sufficient government.

“There have also been several oligarchical constitutions which seem to bear some likeness to aristocratic ones, though the divergence is, generally, as wide as possible. The same holds good about democracies.  The truth of what I say is evident from the following considerations. It is by no means every monarchy which we can call straight off a kingship, but only that which is voluntarily accepted by the subjects and where they are governed rather by an appeal to their reason than by fear and force.” (From The Preface)

Sean Reilly, Team Artemis 7

What We Learn When We Go To The Grave

                             

      In the article “The Grave” (1825) the author who is unidentified targets he/she’s  primary audience as scholars who are adverse or knowledgeable of the Doctrine of Modern Universalism , additionally any history experts looking for a controversial piece on certain greek figures. The author amalgamates the terms “Gracchi” and “France” to show the change in Europe’ leaders  from the greek era to the Napoleonic era, Napoleon being used as the representation of France. These names are used to represent the great figures who impacted the ancient world . This is seen when the author says “ Fair names too have been strung upon a list… creatures who were once the grace and beauty of the Earth…Antigone and Sappho- Corinna and the mother of Gracchi -Porchia and Agripine … And the story might be ended with him who died an exile on his sea surrounded rock,the first Emperor of France, the king and conqueror of Italy, the Corsican soldier, Napoleon.” In other words the author is listing icons of ancient Europe , the terms are connected because Gracchi ‘ mother and  Napoleon who is from France are considered part of these iconic figures. This is related to the ancient text assigned reading due to the understanding that both illuminate some important individuals or concepts in ancient Europe. For example in the Roman constitution it is stated that “One might say that nearly all authors have handed down to us the reputation for excellence enjoyed by the Constitutions” . This means that they believed that there are figures who have lived before that significantly affected the way they live in their present being, which is a paraphrased version of what “The Grave” was informing us about.

 

Samantha, Team Minerva

 

MLA CITATION
THE GRAVE. (1825). The UniversalDoctrine of Modern Universalismist, Consisting of Essays, Lectures, Extracts and Miscellaneous Pieces; Tending to Explain and Defend the Doctrine of Modern Universalism (1825-1826), 1(9), 144.

 

IMAGE CITATION

ANCIENT PEOPLE YOU KNOW( August ,2017) https://www.thoughtco.com/ancient-people-you-should-know-117290

 

The Evolution of Land Reform

The article I found is a review of Russell King’s “Land Reform: A World Survey” by Peter M. Enggass.

The proper MLA citation for this article is:

Enggass, Peter M. “Economic Geography.” Economic Geography, vol. 55, no. 4, 1979, pp. 357–358. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/143169.

The intended audience of this article includes those who are interested in intricacies and ramifications of land reform and those who are looking to clarify what the phrases “land reform” and “agrarian reform” mean.

The author of this review (Peter M. Enggass) only briefly mentions and connects the two terms “Gracci” and “France” when he states, “The reader leaps from the Gracchi reforms of 121 BC to the French Revolution to John Stuart Mill in two pages.” The author of this review is trying to point out that the book “Land Reform: A World Survey” only briefly covers these terms in its chapter titled “Evolution of the Concept”, and thus, the chapter is a “misnomer”.

The “Gracchi reforms” mentioned in this publication refers to text from “The Civil Wars”, by Appian, about Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and his attempt to enforce the legislation in which aristocratic land was to be redistributed to the poor. It states, “But he added a provision to the former law, that the sons of the occupiers might each hold one-half of that amount, and that the remainder should be divided among the poor by three elected commissioners, who should be changed annually.”

This quote is relevant because it connects to the term “Gracchi reform” Peter Engglass refers to in his article. It describes that the “Gracchi reform” was the attempts of the Gracchus brothers to redistribute the surplus of aristocratic land to the poor.

 

-Isra, Team Minerva

Miserable Slave life

I searched up Sicily Rome “Slave Rebellion” “United States” on the website and the name of the article is “Slavery and Slave Rebellions before 1500” By Slave Revolts. The primary intended audience of the publication are people who interesting in the process of slavery and want to know why slaves rebelled.

The author connected the search terms “slave” and describes the miserable life of slaves. For example, the author said “that slaves were property; that they were outsiders who were alien by origin or who had been denied their heritage through judicial or other sanctions; that coercion could be used at will; that their labor power was at the complete disposal of a master; that they did not have the right to their own sexuality and, by extension, to their own reproductive capacities; and that the slave status was inherited unless provision was made to ameliorate that status.” This illustrates, in the past, slaves were regarded as property. They were trafficked and forced to perform menial tasks. Their lives were spent in slavery and trafficking. They have no right to decide their own life, or even their offspring. It was pathetic.

This article is seems relevant to the text Diodorus. For examples, “bought up an abundance of slaves; who being driven in droves like so many herds of cattle from the different places where they were bred and brought up, were branded with certain marks burnt on their bodies.” “so that most of them were forced to rob and steal, to get these necessities: so that all places were full of slaughters and murders, as if an army of thieves and robbers had been dispersed all over the island.” This shows, the environment of slave life is so hard. They are not taken seriously, and live a life of hunger and toil every day.

-ShuLinTan, Team Venus

South Africa’s Government Major Impact on Citizens

The value of ownership in an individual’s land were significant not only currently but also hundreds or years ago. Today, in South Africa, the government are not allowing a fair share of land owned by the rights of its citizens. More so, the government and high class(Whites) are taking smallholders ownership. This alludes to the article, “Livelihoods after Land Reform in South Africa” in which it tells the immense control by the power by containing and manipulating its people by property. I was able to find this article under Onesearch in the Brooklyn College Library website: Gracchi “Land Reform” Africa.

The intended audience of this publications is for ignorant individuals or people who are unaware of what is happening now in South Africa specifically. The economic cost of such low growth is the government. Issues underlining the qualities and support of a smallholder agriculture by LSCF, who does not accept or make changes in their system. For example, as stated, “… the fundamental problem is the South African state’s stubborn commitment to the LSCF model of agriculture, notwithstanding the rhetorical embrace of smallholder agriculture in some policy documents”. This statement applies in unequal share of money distribution within their country.

The author does not connect the search terms one to another. More so it encompasses the link between power officials vs the lower class and its significant role in the economy. We can see such unbalance in government power in the article, ” South Africa’s ‘dualistic’ agrarian structure comprises around 35,000 large-scale, mostly white-owned commercial farms, occupying the majority of the country’s agricultural land”. As the majority of the owners were white, there was a lack of ownership and even culture. Comparing such culture, in Rome, the power of the people were limited but that didn’t stop in a systematic change. Unlike South Africa, going against the government would have caused serious issues.

Unlike South Africa, Roman plebeians could help the poor because they suffered the most. They have accomplished a lot that benefited the lower class as shown, “Other gains included the abolishment of debt-bondage in 326, access to public land, and allotments of conquered territory for the poorer citizens. The alleviation of the burdens of the poor ended the plebeian struggle as a radical movement.” The government did not make a change but rather it was the people who did. In South Africa, the government and high class took many positions of the smallholders.

Aliber, Michael. “Livelihoods after Land Reform in South Africa.” N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/doi/10.1111/joac.12012/full&gt;

 

Slavery in Chios

You’ve probably never heard of a place named Chios. You probably have no clue about it’s history and stories. Sara Forsdyke can help give you an idea. In Forsdyke’s article “SLAVES, STORIES, AND CULTS Conflict Resolution between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece”, she writes of a runaway slave, Drimakos. Drimakos had left behind his life as a slave and led other slaves to do the same. With some military experience, Drimakos fought against the Chian slave masters and was often victorious. Seeing the weak opponent, Drimakos developed a treaty with the Chian masters. Drimakos could take what he wanted from the Chians and in return, he would send back any runaway slaves without reasonable cause to leave. Drimakos, through time, had grown into a cruel authoritarian. So much so that runaway slaves would prefer to stay with their Chian masters rather than stay under Drimakos’ rule. Eventually, the city of Chios placed a bounty on Drimakos’ head. Drimakos was now old and allowed his young boyfriend to kill him and collect the bounty. The Chians eventually placed a shrine for Drimakos in the countryside, where runaway slaves would sacrifice things that they stole. Many Chians can sometimes see Drimakos in their sleep, where he warns them of their slaves’ plots. Forsdyke follows this story up with great analysis of other myths and historical events including slave rebellions.

The proper MLA citation of this article is as follows:

Forsdyke, Sara. “SLAVES, STORIES, AND CULTS: Conflict Resolution between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece.” Common Knowledge, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 19–43., doi:10.1215/0961754x-2818001.

Forsdyke’s audience for this article would be anybody interested in the history and themes of slave rebellions. Many myths and stories, including the story of Drimakos, have come about from communities of either slaves or their masters. These stories help us connect with previous history and understand how life was for slaves or their masters.

Diodorus writes in “The Library, fragments from books 34/35″ of the first Sicilian slave revolt. “The rich men of Sicily rivalled the Italians in pride, greed, and wickedness; for many of the Italians who had great numbers of slaves had driven their shepherds to such a degree of villainy, that they allowed them to rob and steal, rather than provide them with any necessary subsistence.” (27). The evil behind the slave masters of Sicily can be compared to that of the Chians. Both slave masters allowed their slaves to steal in order to survive, rather than to properly feed them. The cruelty behind their actions helps us to understand the life and community of a slave master, similar to Forsdyke’s article.

-Ahmad B. Khan, Team Mars

By Them, for The People

As I read the article, “ The Commandments” by Jill Lepore, it seems like the intended audience are people interested in the history of the constitution of the United States. The original paper copy of the constitution itself. I feel like the author is constantly making connections with the search terms. It is very easy for her to make those connections since the words “Constitution” and “ United States” usually go hand in hand. Especially, in regards to the topic at hand. One Example of that is when the author states, “In 1875, the Constitution found a home in a tin box in the bottom of a closet in a new building that housed the Departments of State, War, and Navy.” In this phrase, the author obviously mentions the word constitution as she does in many other sentences in the article, but she does not tell us the location of the constitution directly. Yes, she is not saying it instantly, but as the reader, I know that the Department of State, war, and Navy is located in the U.S. One quote from the ancient text that seems to be relevant to the selected publication is, “Monarchy first changes into its vicious allied form, tyranny…” I find this relevant because before the United States turned into a democracy, it was being ruled by a Monarchy which eventually took advantage of their power and changed into a tyrant rule. Which is exactly why it became more than crucial for the United States to remake its government that abides an inclusive constitution, hence the phrase, “We the people”.  

-Izadora, team aphrodite

Citation: Lepore, Jill. “The Commandments.” The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2011, p. 70. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA246875296&it=r&asid=09fa84985772c1939902c76300dd370d. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Great land reformer!

For this blog I was looking for “Gracchi “land reform” “United States” and I was curious how Gracchi could be related to the US or vice versa?

In the article “The Antebellum American Textbook Authors’ Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers”, author  McInnis, Edward points out how American books showed Tiberius Gracchus in different lights depending on a period of time. While during 18-19th centuries our country had slavery and Gracchi was a reformer who supposed to stop a free labor in Rome: “After 1830, these textbooks featured modified and abridged versions of the Gracchi episode for nineteenth-century readers, which cast Tiberius and Caius Gracchus in a favorable light…the Gracchi brothers as concerned with the rise of wealthy slaveholding patricians throughout Rome and the decline of small freeholders. Authors describe the Gracchi as individuals who wanted to provide land to poor Romans and support Rome’s “middle class” even though the patricians opposed this idea. They never characterize the Gracchi as demagogues.”

 

The audience for this article are American people, historians and of course, classics students in Brooklyn college)))

Correct MLA citation: 

Mcinnis, Edward. “The Antebellum American Textbook Authors Populist History of Roman Land Reform and the Gracchi Brothers.” Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 2015.

Authors wanted to alert readers to threats to republicanism such as inequality and slavery, even if their history divided Americans.They reinforced the nineteenth-century idea of a republic founded on a middle class rather than the eighteenth-century idea of a republic reliant on elite citizens.

If to compare this article to the reading to fragments on Tiberius Gracchus, we can see that there are some similarities. At first, people thought about Gracchi as a good reformer: “The people showed favor to him {Gracchus}, not only when he took up the office, but when he was a candidate, and even before then. Upon his return from Sardinia, the people went out to meet him, and his landing from the boat was greeted with blessings and applause.  [25] Gracchus in his speeches to the people urged them to overthrow the aristocracy and establish a democratic government; and after winning the favor of all classes, he had them not only as supporters but even as instigators of his bold objectives. For every citizen, lured by the hope that the proposed laws would be in his own interests, was ready to risk any danger to ensure that they were adopted.”

But later everything changed when he started to lose supporters. People realize that he is a demagogue and half of the tribes turned against him: “Gracchus gave the lower classes power over the nobles, and by breaking the harmony that existed previously between the Senate and the equities, he made the populace a serious rival to both those classes. By setting all the classes at variance, he built up personal power for himself;” And in the article, it says: “TheUnited States president John Adams, for example, regarded Tiberius and Caius Gracchus as demagogues seeking to stir up the Roman masses in a bid to increase their own power in republican Rome.” which shows how American president as many other people were against Gracchi reforms and his ideas

 

 

The US Constitution and the Roman Republic

The title of the chosen search return is “Founding of the American Political System” by Richard J. Hardy.  The article primarily focuses on how the American Constitution shaped the United States government and politics.

MLA Citation:
Hardy, Richard J. “Founding of the American Political System” Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Vol 2, 2011, pp 685-698. 21st Century Reference Series.
http://go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?
p=GVRL&u=cuny_broo39667&id=GALE|CX1701100096&v=2.1&it=
              r&sid=exlibris&authCount=1

For this publication, the intended audience would be most likely anyone and everyone who is interested in information regarding the United States Constitution as well as professional insight on what the American political system is. Students intending to write a research paper for educational purposes might find this publication useful, and teachers who are teaching a course related to the constitution might want to share this with his/her students.

The author is able to connect the search terms to one another by successfully transitioning into another paragraph and further expanding into a new search term that follows the theme of the first. For example, the first paragraph ends with “The following is a brief description of each of these landmark documents and how they influenced subsequent American political documents” this transition sentence informs the audience that another topic is going to be discussed in the following paragraph, which it is as the author begins to explain the Magna Carta.

“The three kinds of government that I spoke of above all shared in the control of the Roman state. And such fairness and propriety in all respects was shown in the use of these three elements for drawing up the constitution and in its subsequent administration that it was impossible even for a native to pronounce with certainty whether the whole system was aristocratic, democratic, or monarchical.” (ancient text from readings on the Roman Republic p 8) This lengthy quote is the most relevant to the publication chosen because in this section, the Roman Constitution is explained, so the author writes about the types of government that has control over the Roman State. Additionally, in the Roman Republic, the constitution is written for things to be fair  which is relevant to the publication given that it mentions the the US constitution and how it makes our government fair.

Sunzida, Team Athena

Slavery Has Always Been Brutal And Always Will Be

                                        
Article Title – Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies
MLA Citation:

Harrill, J. Albert. “Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies.” Biblical Interpretation, vol. 21, no. 4/5, Oct. 2013, pp. 506-514. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/15685152-2145P0005.

Saying that ‘Slavery has always been brutal and always will be’ is a statement that could not be proven truer in the scope of Professor Keith Bradley’s analysis of slavery throughout the ages in the article, Slavery and Inhumanity . Regarding slavery in Rome, a common perception is that slavery was ‘better’ there than it had been in any other parts of the world that practiced slavery. This is known as the Mainz Academy analysis. Though really, when someone is a slave, how could that kind of reality ever be something that is ‘good’? Bradley bases his research against refuting this widespread claim. In actuality, slavery in Rome was no better than o any tother part of the world and it laid the groundwork of slavery in come. Contrary to popular belief, slaves in Rome were not treated ‘nicely’ but beaten and described as being property, just like any other place that practiced slavery. In other words, the audience of this article, is anyone who dared to claim that slavery in Rome was better than any other part of the world. Just like any other group who took part in that sort of systematic slavery, demoting humans to the level of mere animals, Rome was terribly inhumane and increadibly cruel.

When making my search, I chose the words, ‘Sicily, Slave, Rome and Haiti‘. In the backdrop of the article, these words all interlock  perfectly. According to the article, ” The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily, and one led by Sparatcus in ancient Italy “. Notice that both Sicily and Haiti are both named as sites for slave revolts. The comparison between the two gives of cleare picture of the state of slavery in Rome. Anyone versed in history to some competent degreee knows of the slave revolts in Haiti, led by Toussaint L’Overture, and in turn the horror of slavery in Haiti, which led to said revolt. Such a comparison being made between Haiti and Sicily demonstrates that slavery was indeed a much hated thing in Rome – a cruel and disgusting thing – forcing slaves there to revolt in one the few slave revolts ever recored in history.

In the beginning of Diodorus, The Library, fragments from books 34/35, it is said ” But their masters (the slaves), were very strict and severe with them, and took no care to provide either necessary food or clothing for them, so that most of. Them were forced to rob and steal , to get these necessities; so that all places were full of slaughters and murders…” This quote refers to one of the roles of slaves in Sicily of Rome. Slaves were made to act as shepherds for large herds of cattle and practice ‘Latfundia’, in other words, Plantation Farming. This was a part of a contract of sorts that was established, in which the slaves would gain their freedom after a certain amount of time from their masters. However, the reality being that slave masters often lived far away from the sites of herding and farming, in combination with the growing realization on the part of slaves, that they would never gain their freedom because of this reason, led the slaves to start to revolt. This connects directly to the examples of slave reovlts given in Bradley’s assertions. It only strengthens his claim, that Rome was no different from other slave capitals – slavery has always been brutal, and always will be.

Skaie Cooper, Team Ares

Mitochondria

The author wrote this article for people who are interested in the Gracchi in general because his article is about contrasting the differences between Babeuf’s case. In different translations of the case, Babeuf is portrayed in a different light. The purpose of the article is to compare and contrast the two translations. The author connects the search terms to one another by talking about Marcuse’s publications in regards to Babeuf. The terms Gracchi and France are related in the article because Marcuse’s publication occurred during a time with multiple revolts in France against a corrupt leader. The author shows this relation many times throughout the article. For example, in the article, the author writes, “Marcuse recreated the thought of Babeuf in the image of Marcuse’s own Kantian abstractions and yet, revealingly, disparaged it all as primitive.” The author explains that Babeuf’s rebellion against the French leader was considered to be savage because of the way it was conducted. Babeuf’s trial showcased in a negative light because it was probably translated by someone who is against him. This shows the relation between the two search terms because the revolt occurred in France against the Gracchi, who was the leader at the time. Another example is that in the article, the author states, “Babeuf is forced to argue on a more philosophical plane than was his habit, obeying certain rules of legalistic form, but in so doing he concedes nothing to bourgeois ideology, he does not resort to a game of sterile abstractions.” Babeuf is shown as a philosophical man in contrast to what was just said about him in the other translation. He is seen as a wise man in contrast to a primitive savage. This shows the relation between the search terms because of his rebellion against the person in power. In actuality, the Gracchi is a powerhouse duo of Roman brothers that were in charge. However, Gracchi is used as a reference to those brothers in the article to show the power of the leader in France. From the readings, the excerpt states, “What then are the beginnings I speak of and what is the first origin of political societies?” (Readings for CLAS 1110 on the Roman Republic, page 5) this quote is relevant to the article because it questions the political system. Similarly to Babeuf, the excerpt challenges the way the way the society has been run by politics. Despite whether Babeuf is considered to be savage or wise, he was against the way France was ruled, and he revolted against the leader.

Alp, Al. “The Redemption of the Gracchi and the Class Nature of the Republic.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 25.3 (1995): 397-413. Web.

– Rebecca Lee, Team Jupiter

The Fall of Democracy

Return

“Democratization and development”

What is the appropriate MLA citation of your search return?

Barsh, Russel Lawrence. “Democratization and Development.” Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 1, 1992, pp. 120–134.

Who is the primary intended audience of the publication?

The primary intended audience seems to be politicians.

How (if at all) does the author connect the search terms one to another?  Use one to two short quotes to illustrate your point.

This article whole article speaks of specifically the democracy and constitution in the United States, examples being

“New democracies have succeeded in imposing macroeconomic measures on their constituents.(54) Remmer interprets this as proof of the vitality and resilience of democracy as a political system.(55) She ignores another possibility, however: that transitional regimes are still largely authoritarian in practice, and that this very fact illustrates their macroeconomic dilemma.(56)

A microcosm of this problem can be found within the United States, where indigenous peoples have enjoyed a degree of autonomy since 1934. ” The Greek historian, Polybius, who witnessed the erosion of the Republic, concluded that democracy is born as a response to oligarchy but eventually tends to collapse back into oligarchy due to increasing wealth, inequality, and social conflict.”

Now this isn’t the only connection as the author uses Polybius in their argument, in the section labeled “De-Democratization” where they write,

“The Greek historian, Polybius, who witnessed the erosion of the Republic, concluded that democracy is born as a response to oligarchy but eventually tends to collapse back into oligarchy due to increasing wealth, inequality, and social conflict.”

 

Select a quote from the ancient texts assigned as home work that seems relevant to your selected publication.  Insert the quotation and explain its relevance.

As mentioned above, there is a section in the article that mentions the fall of democracy, mentioned topics similar to what Polybuis had brought up, even using his words in the text.  This is very similar to what we were going over in class when we discussed just this kind of topic, oligarchy (or mob-rule). An exact quote in full representing this would be “But when a new generation arises and the democracy falls into the hands of the grandchidren of its founders, they have become so accustomed to freedom and equality that they no longer value them, and begin to aim at pre-eminence; and it is chiefly those of ample fortune who fall into this error. So when they begin to lust for power and cannot attain it through themselves or their own good qualities, they ruin their estates, tempting and corrupting the people in every possible way.”

• Yekaterina Ignatyeva , Team Cronos

Your Republic, My Republic

 

The intended audience for this article are people who have a combined interest in both politics and history because it speaks about the founding of the roman republic and how the term “republic” evolved into what we know it as today. Its target audience may also be modern day republicans who are interested in the history of the label of their party.

The article does not connect the search terms “France” and “Gracchi” but rather briefly mentions the economic policy of the Gracchi and later on heavily discusses the different types of republics in European history. It states that the Gracchi “sought to redistribute land to the lower classes, territorial accumulation as a form of agrarian policy became linked to the populist threat to the rule of an Optimatedominated senatorial republic: in a word, tyranny.” (Kennedy 2). The goal of the Gracchi was to give land to lower classes and seize control over the senatorial republic. The article later discusses the various differences in economic policies of European nations and how the policies molded the term “republic” into what we understand it as today. The article states that “French mercantilism was clearly embedded within the political theory of absolutism and the social relations of French feudalism. As a consequence of these social, political and economic differences, a classical republicanism of virtue persisted in France right up to the Revolution France’s commercial empires in the Americas or, further back, with Rome’s military-political empire” (Kennedy 329). In other words, Frances economic attitude affected their political stances as well, and vice versa.

“When owing to floods, famines, failure of crops or other such causes there occurs
such a destruction of the human race as tradition tells us has more than once happened, and as we must believe will often happen again…it is a necessary consequence that the man who excels in bodily strength and in courage will lead and rule over the rest.” (Polybius 5). Just like Frances economic policy had a lot to do with it’s politics, polybeos’ theory describes what he deems to be a natural occurrence to the political status of a group of people who’s economic status changes (due to natural disasters). Both writings support the idea that a nation’s economic status weighs heavily on its political status.

Gabriella, Team Hestia

MLA citation:

Kennedy, Geoff. “The ‘Republican Dilemma’ and the Changing Social Context of Republicanism in the Early Modern Period.” European Journal of Political Theory, SAGE Journals, 11 June 2009, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1474885109103833#articleCitationDownloadContainer.

 

The Unmasked

The article I found is titled “Unmasker Unmasked,” by James H. Hutson. It is a review of the book Nature’s God by Mathew Stewart.

The proper MLA citation is:

Hutson, James H. “Unmasker unmasked.” Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015, p. 68+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA436695497&it=r&asid=dfba9fc3bec8680c183e81aded188407. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

The primary intended audience of this article are subscribers to the Claremont Review of Books. They also may be people interested in the topics covered in Nature’s God – mostly about the conceptual ideas behind America’s founding. The author, James H. Hutson, only mentions Polybius once, in the quote (I have underlined the mention of Polybius):

“Finally, Stewart applauds Thomas Young for inserting in 1776 “checks and balances” into the new “atheistic constitution of Pennsylvania,” which, incidentally, required officeholders to swear to a belief “in one God” and to the “Divine Inspiration” of the Old and New Testament: Young’s checks and balances were considered useless by the leading founders, who espoused a “mixed and balanced” government in which an upper house checked both the lower house and the chief executive, a structural concept which originated with Polybius not the Epicureans.”

Essentially, Hutson is discussing a book that has much to do with Thomas Jefferson and the founding of America. He links this to Polybius by examining how structural concepts that can be seen in the founding of America were actually influenced by structural concepts created by Polybius.

The most relevant quote I found from our class readings was from the Polybius excerpts:

“Similarly that is no true democracy in which the whole crowd of citizens is free to do whatever they wish or purpose, 5 but when, in a community where it is traditional and customary to reverence the gods, to honour our parents, to respect our elders, and to obey the laws, the will of the greater number prevails, this is to be called a democracy.”

I picked this quote because in it, Polybius is defining his idea of democracy, and democracy was a very significant idea during the time of America’s founding. It is also related to where the founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, found influence, which is similar to what the article mentions.

-Harry, Team Vesta

 

Polybius’s Take on Rome’s Imperial History and the Modern Incarnations

After searching for a good article to blog about, I stumbled upon the article, History of the Hyperpower by Eliot Cohen. The article is intended to inform the audience of the comparisons between the United States “empire” and the major imperial powers of the times of Alexander. The article also explains how the ancient world used the ideals of imperialism and its tactics and explores how imperial history contrasts with modern United States policies. The primary intended audience include historians who wish to know more about the topic of imperial history and people who intend to learn more about this line of foreign policies, along with people who may be studying political science and foreign affairs. The author does not directly connect the search terms of “Polybius” and “’United States’ Constitution”, but rather uses Polybius as an example to further delve into his paragraph about “The Art of Understatement”, which the author goes into how imperial problems lead to people questioning imperial policy. Cohen goes into how the ancient world “considered Rome’s success both a marvel and a puzzle” because although they conquered a large part of territory across Europe and the Middle East, they lacked a rich culture and political scene. For example, Cohen says, “Polybius and many who followed him sought an explanation in the role of the Senate, a body that, although internally divided, provided a degree of steadiness to otherwise turbulent policy. Underlying the turmoil of Roman politics, these authors claimed, was a consistent imperial style that persisted despite the rise and fall of consuls and dictators.” These quotes more in-depth into how historians like Polybius questioned the ideals of imperialism and its tactics. To further explain this, I looked back into the Readings on the Roman Republic and re-read the fragments from book 6 by Polybius. When reading the paragraph “Conclusion of the Treatise on the Roman Republic”, Polybius says, “But the Romans, though they had met with severe reverses in the war, and had now, roughly speaking, lost all their allies and were in momentary expectation of Rome itself being placed in peril, 8 after listening to this plea, neither disregarded their dignity under the pressure of calamity, nor neglected to take into consideration every proper step (Polybius Book 6, 58 7-8). In the quote by Polybius, it helps provide more clarity for the article as he further explains the causes of Rome’s imperial problems through their aggressive foreign policies and as a result, hinders Rome in the process.
MLA Citation:
Cohen, Eliot A. “History and the Hyperpower;” Foreign Affairs, vol. 83, no. 4, 2004, pp. 49-63, Social Science Premium Collection, https://login.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/docview/214288403?accountid=7286.
-A.C. Bowman, Team Saturn

Slave Rebellion

1. Diken, Bülent.  “The Ghost of Spartacus.” Journal of War &Amp; Culture Studies, vol. 4, no. 3, 2011, pp. 399–411.
2. The primary intended audience of the publication are those people who wanted to know more about slavery and believed in human rights and freedom.
3. I searched “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti” and I chose the article “The Ghost of Spartacus.”. The author connected the search term with “slave”, and he was depicted how did the slave fought for their freedom. In the article, it said,  ‘When a free man dies he loses the pleasure of life; a slave loses his pain. Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That’s why he’s not afraid of it. That’s why we will win’. This shows the slaves didn’t treat as  human, they had no rights and no freedom, they wanted to free from their master and have a life.
4. And it seems relevant to Diodorus, The Library, fragments from books 34/35 in Roman Republic. “…and presently the slaves fought a battle with Lucius Hypsaeus, who had come from Rome and commanded eight thousand Sicilians. In this fight the rebels won the day; they were then twenty thousand in number, and very soon afterwards their army increased to two hundred thousand men. And although they fought against the Romans themselves, yet they often came off as conquerors, and were very seldom defeated.” We can tell from the quote in my selected publication, the slaves were not afraid of death at all, because they already had no life; therefore, they really needed to fight-fight for their freedom and rights!

 

Team Jupiter, Shiyin Zhao

Slavery in Greece

I searched up Sicily Rome “Slave rebellion” “United States” on the Brooklyn Library website and came across an article called “SLAVES, STORIES, AND CULTS: Conflict Resolution between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece” by Sara Forsdyke. This article talks about slavery and a slave rebellion on the island of Chios. Forsdyke explains the two sides of this event. On one hand, the slave rebellion can be seen as a “heroic [attempt by a] slave over his masters”. But the event also raises the argument of how such rebellions can be controlled by masters if they “treat their slaves humanely”.

Although the author doesn’t connect the search terms together, this article can relate back to the text, Diodorus, where it states, “Those whom fate has placed in a lowly position will gladly yield to their superiors in honor and glory, but if they are denied the kindness which they deserve, they revolt against the men who act like cruel despots.” The Romans governed the slaves using fear. But fear can motivate the slaves to revolt. Similarly, the slaves in ancient Greece rebelled because they weren’t treated “humanely”. Perhaps if both ancient Greece and the Romans had treated their slaves better, there wouldn’t have been a rebellion.

Aisha · Team Ares

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MLA Citation

Sara Forsdyke. “SLAVES, STORIES, AND CULTS Conflict Resolution between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece.” Common Knowledge, vol. 21, no. 1, 2015, pp. 19–43.

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The Problem of the Republic

The article “A Brief History of Wine in Spain”, by Stefan K. Estreicher, is intended for historians and students learning about the history of Spain. The author uses the terms Sicily, Rome, Slave and Haiti in his article by mentioning how the Roman history of taking over Sicily led to the rise of the wine and slave industry in Spain.

“The first Punic war (264–241 BC) gives the Romans control over Sicily and much of the maritime trade in the central and western Mediterranean” (Estreicher 211).

This quote showed the control that Rome had over Sicily. Later on in the article, it mentions that the first wine distillery was established in a Sicilia estate. The newly discovered fields were in need of a workforce, thus the subject of slavery appears. A king makes it legal to have large scale slave trading across the ocean, which leads to slavery in Haiti. However, a change in crown leads to the start of abolishing slavery.

“In the Americas, Haiti declares independence and abolishes slavery (1804)” (Estreicher 222)

Estreicher, Stefan K. “A Brief History of Wine in Spain.” European Review, vol. 21, no.               2, 2013, pp. 209-239, Social Science Premium Collection, https://login.ez-                           proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/login?                                                                                                   url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1437188224?accountid=7286,                           doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1062798712000373.

In the section titled, “Roman Imperialists and Conquest”, the same details on Roman take over of Sicily was mentioned.

“The overseas conquests not only supplied the capital to purchase large estates, but also the slave labour needed to introduce new methods of farming, designed to provide absentee landlords with an income from cash crops. The new methods gave rise to further problems in the shape of a series of slave revolts, most notable in Sicily (132 and 103-101)” 

This can be compared to the slavery in Haiti and the fight they put up to abolish it.

– Fariah, Team Hermes

Voting Systems, Puzzling Humans Since the Second Century

1. Posner, Eric A., and E. Glen Weyl. “Voting squared: quadratic voting in democratic politics.” Vanderbilt Law Review, Mar. 2015, p. 441-470. Academic OneFile. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.
2. The primary intended audience for this publication are lawmakers who decide how elections should be carried out. This article proposes a new way of voting, called quadratic voting, which the authors believe would amend the inequalities of democracy, majority-rule voting, and other voting systems which privilege one group over another. If people in the United States government could be persuaded that quadratic voting could be a good alternative to democracy, this article would have achieved it’s purpose.
3. The authors do not connect the search terms “Gracchi” and “demagogues Russia” together directly. However, since Russia’s government can be described as a republic or democracy, this article is still relevant. The authors highlight that in governments such as Russia’s, “…people with strong preferences will prevail if they happen to form a majority, but if not, the policy outcome will reduce social welfare rather than increase it” (Posner and Weyl 470).
4. “By taking control of the courts away from the senators and setting up the equites as judges, Gracchus gave the lower classes power over the nobles, and by breaking the harmony that existed previously between the senate and the equites, he made the populace a serious rival to both those classes” (Tiberius Gracchus 25). Here, the narrator recounts that Tiberius instituted a kind of democracy in his land, which gave a voice to the poor who were the majority. The point of this quote is to illustrate that since the poor were the majority, they could vote in their own favor and win every time, ignoring the needs of the wealthy. Posner and Weyl argue that democracy and one-vote per person systems can’t work for the benefit of a nation.
   

Elene T., Team Mars

Polybius vs. The World

In the article, “Origin of the species; Direct democracy,” a writer from The Economist analyzes different feelings and adoptions of direct democracy from all over the world and from different time periods for its readers. The writer how California, the founding fathers, Polybius, Aristole, and other Greek thinkers, and Switzerland felt about direct democracy when creating government systems. The writer shows how later governments embraced direct democracy and how older governments rejected it. Polybius and Aristotle rejected direct democracy because they felt like it led to mob rule and would be unstable. Polybius even stated in his writings, “and when the commons inflamed by anger take vengeance on this government for its unjust rule, democracy comes into being; and in due course the licence and lawlessness of this form of government produces mob-rule to complete the series.” The writer connects Polybius’ ideas to the ideas of the founding fathers by saying, “To this Roman ideal of republicanism the thinkers of the Enlightenment added more liberal notions of freedom.” This connects Polybius’ ideas to the founding fathers’ ideas because the founding fathers were heavily influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.  When talking about when the founding fathers were making the United States Constitution, the writer talks about how the founding fathers debated heavily about how direct or indirect American democracy should be. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were Federalist and against direct democracy while Thomas Jefferson and the Anti-Federalists wanted direct democracy.  The Federalists saw America being diverse and large so if they did have direct democracy, there was a large chance that the majority would oppress the minority. The debate ended with a Representative Republic with a division of power that has held up since its creation 1787. This relates to Polybius’ ideas because like the founding fathers’, Polybius believed in the separation of powers. When talking about Polybius’ feeling about the separation of powers, the article states, “It had executives (in the shape of two annually elected consuls), an elite in the senate, and outlets for the vox populi in the popular assemblies.” This resembles America’s three branches of government: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and judicial branch. Also, the senate and the popular assemblies resemble the two houses of the legislative branch, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The writer then contrasts Polybius’s and the founding fathers beliefs with California’s and Switzerland’s beliefs. In California, the government embraced direct democracy by adopting referendums, initiatives, and recalls, three things necessary for direct democracy. In Switzerland, the government took America’s Constitution and then applied direct democracy to it so that it would be easier to solve conflict through referendums, recalls, and initiatives. This article shows a contrast in beliefs about direct democracy and how it can be applied in many different ways.

Emily Ryan, Team Mars

“Origin of the species; Direct democracy.” The Economist, 23 Apr. 2011, p. 6(US). Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA254503624&it=r&asid=8adeb8471d0bfd150308e191ac30551e. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

Croissant L’Ouverture and Rome

1. Donaldson, Adam. “Peasant and slave rebellions in the Roman Republic.” CUNY Graduate Center
2. The primary intended audience of this publication is a committee as it is a dissertation by a now PHD of Ancient History.
3. The author does not connect the search terms together, despite having the opportunity to. He claims that ” Since the rebel armies in each war were composed principally of agricultural laborers, a profitable comparison can be drawn from peasant uprisings and other manifestations of collective violence that occurred in throughout the Roman world.” This would have been a very good opportunity to mention that the Haitian Revolution, as the next uprising as large as the Roman uprisings occurred in Haiti in the late 1700s.
4. “For he alone who has seen how each form naturally arises and develops, will be able to see when, how, and where the growth, perfection, change, and end of each are likely to occur again.”. This is relevant to the topic of the Haitian revolution because it is attempting to explain how things change overtime. In terms of Haiti, this shows how Toussaint L’Ouverture and friends were able to revolutionize a small island colony.

 

John J, Team Diana

Slave Rebellions in Sicily and Haiti

I searched up the terms “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti” and found an article named “The collapse of empires”. The primary intended audience of this publication are the people who wants to know about the slavery. The author connects the search terms “Slave” and “Haiti” by the depicting the fact how slaves in Haiti in 1793 were fed up of the slavery and they wanted to be free which made them rebel. “Many slave rebellions sprang up in the Caribbean in the 18th century, but only one succeeded.” This portrays how they tried various times to rebel to get rid of slavery but they often failed. “The author further states, “Bell sets this compelling work of historical fiction during the early years (1791-93) of the Haitian Revolution; it opens with wealthy white planters scheming to unleash a controlled slave revolt in order to tighten the alliance between upper- and lower-class colonists. However, the revolt soon spirals out of their control. Toussaint L’Ouverture emerges as the leader of the rebellion, which culminates in the 1793 burning of the city Cap-Haitien and prompts many French settlers to flee the island.” This quote explains that finally slaves in Haiti were successful in their attempts. It shows how white planters schemed wrong and they thought that the slaves are weak and they can’t do anything. Their wrong plans made them lose and the slaves were able to set their revolt high against their white owners. Their revolt made many French settlers to flee from Haiti. This incident can be connected to the slave revolts happened in the Sicily mentioned in the reading “Roman Republic” that we read for homework. The Roman Republic states that, “Thirty days had now passed since the first beginning of this rebellion and presently the slaves fought a battle with Lucius Hypsaeus, who had come from Rome and commanded eight thousand Sicilians. In this fight the rebels won the day; they were then twenty thousand in number, and very soon afterwards their army increased to two hundred thousand men. And although they fought against the Romans themselves, yet they often came off as conquerors, and were very seldom defeated.” (Page 22) This is very similar to the slave revolts in Haiti. After analyzing both the texts, it can be concluded that whether it is Rome or America, slaves who have been tortured by their owners, stood up and fought back for their rights. Their strength increased because they were merging and rebelling together which opened a way towards their victory.

 

MLA Citations-

Hartnett, Kevin. “The Collapse of Empires.” Bookmarks, 2010, p. 12.

“Roman Republic”. P. 22. https://pastinpresenttense.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/readings-on-the-roman-republic1.pdf

 

Gurleen Kaur, Team Venus

Slavery’s Deep History

After searching for “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti” on the Brooklyn CUNY library website, there was an article that caught my attention. In Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies by J. Albert Harrill, I found that his studies would benefit anyone that wanted to know about slavery and how it reveals the unsettling and dark truth history tries to leave behind. Harill explains that under Roman expansion, there were very few slave revolts, which would seem surprising to many because anyone being held against their will and forced to do labor would do anything for their freedom. The slaves that were under ancient Roman rule learned to coexist with their masters through fear of losing their life. They only revolted if they were violently abused. Romans did not have a racial justification as to why they enslaved people, but their harsh and violent punishments inflicted fear upon the slaves made it easier to tame them. By dehumanizing them and viewing them as animals, they were able to control their mentality and make them work for them with little to no objections. In the articles it states, “The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily, and one led by Spartacus in ancient Italy. Moreover, the ancient revolts occurred in a very limited time span in the context of massive military expansion and political upheaval in the late Roman Republic.” (Pg.509) Slavery not only allowed for the Romans to expand on their land, military, and political ideals in society, but it also made them progress and grow economically. It gave slave owners power because they provided a cheap labor source that made exponential profits.

In the ancient text of Diodorus, book 33 states, “Those whom fate has placed in a lowly position will gladly yield to their superiors in honour and glory, but if they are denied the kindness which they deserve, they revolt against the men who act like cruel despots.” Though the slaves were forced to coexist with the Romans out of fear, there is a certain point where they can no longer accept being violently oppressed. There were few slave revolts because they were afraid of the consequences. Romans thought that by dehumanizing and abusing their slaves, it would lead to obedience, but they failed to acknowledge that pain could also give them strength to rebel. It is not an uncommon thing to see how hate can become a driven passion for survival. Diodorus shows how ancient Romans handled slavery and Harill explains the technique used to keep them in check. Both show the underlying purpose as to why each side acted the way they did and how slavery in and of itself is a cruel, dark, and inhumane part of history that will never be forgotten.

MLA citation:
Harrill, J. Albert, “Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies”, The Ohio State University, USA, Biblical Interpretation 21-4-5 (2013) 506-514 http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=f0295519-8807-4b40-8841-4279927e3c53%40sessionmgr4007

 Mary H., Team Vulcan

The Fall Of Rome

Rome’s chaotic conclusion has multiple causes, which makes it extremely intriguing to learn about. We, as scholars, get to investigate and compare the issues surrounding Rome’s demise, to current events. The primary intended audience for the article, “Rise of the welfare/warfare state: the death throes of the once-great Roman Republic began when its leadership embarked on militarism and exploited class envy to consolidate power” would include history enthusiasts, particularly those well intrigued by the Roman Empire, and young scholars seeking information.

The search term “Gracchi Demagogues United States” is heavily associated with the article selected, which gives a brief overview of one of the major causes of the gradual demise of Rome, civil conflict. The word “Gracchi” appears constantly in the text, whereas “demagogues” does not, while “United States” only appears once. Although the term, “demagogues,” does not show up, it is surely portrayed, as the “Gracchi” were depicted as actual demagogues: political leaders who sought support by adhering to the interests of the majority. In Bonta’s article, the Gracchi are demagogues as they adopt the interests of the common people, who are most likely the majority. This is confirmed when the author first mentions the Gracchi, who play an essential role in the eyes of the poor class, “For these ills, the Gracchi offered an equally unpalatable solution: confiscating land from Rome’s wealthy classes and forcibly redistributing it among the poor.” The Gracchi attempted to obtain the support of the lower class by tackling a major issue: the issuance of land unfairly and inadequately amongst Roman Patricians and the lower class, comprising of plebians and slaves, which consequently led to multiple civil unrest situations, resulting in bloodshed. Bonta then furthers the article by claiming that the chaos caused by the Gracchi resulted in setting a “perilous precedent: that political differences could be resolved by using the power of mob violence to override the law.” This is important because it connects the term “Gracchi” to the article, and it also highlights a consequence of the civil unrest in Rome.

The selected article is heavily connected to the homework reading. We can compare Bonta’s version of the Gracchi’s interest in public affairs to the homework reading’s, and see that they are completely alike. According to the reading assigned for homework, “In 133 a tribune, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, proposed to enforce the long-neglected limit of 500 iugera on holdings of ager publicus (= public land), and to redistribute the surplus to the poor in plots of 30 iugera which would become private land.” This quote, which appears at the beginning of the section labeled “The Roman Evolution,” signifies a predominant period in history, and is important because it shows how political leaders used public interest to obtain backing (demagogues, which Bonta indirectly implies too of them), and displays what was truly a starting point in Rome’s unfortunate demise, as pandemonium increased exponentially, “Furious opposition led to his (Gracchus) murder. Ten years later his brother, C. Sempronius Gracchus suffered the same fate, when he attempted to bring in a wide-ranging series of reforms, embracing provincial administration, the corn supply, judicial reform, and the status of the Italian allies. The use of violence in civil disputes became a destructive trend in republican politics.” This second quote alludes to the civil unrest caused by the death of the tribunes, as it became a “destructive trend,” and summarizes one of the main points of Bonta’s article – that internal chaos led to the fall of Rome.

 

MLA Citation:
Bonta, Steve. “Rise of the welfare/warfare state: the death throes of the once-great Roman Republic began when its leadership embarked on militarism and exploited class envy to consolidate power.” The New American, 15 Nov. 2004, p. 36+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA125150419&it=r&asid=85fbefed6e398c0257e45dcad7bb00df. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

 

Daniel, Team Diana.

70s Demagogues

I searched up the terms “Gracchi demagogues “United States”” and clicked on the first option that they gave me. The title of the article is Finally getting their recession, demagogues want a return to ’70s, and it’s mostly directed to the general population. It informs those who are reading it about the causes of the economic failures due to the demagogues giving them ideas on how to fix the problems. There wasn’t an exact correlation between my search terms and the article but through the homework readings we can see how Gracchus could be an example of a demagogue. A demagogue is a political leader who goes by popular demands of the people without using reasonable arguments. Here we can see in Appian, Civil Wars, “Gracchus in his speeches to the people urged them to overthrow the aristocracy and establish a democratic government; and after winning the favor of all classes, he had them not only as supporters, but even as instigators of his bold objectives.” (1.7) He was able to get the people on his side through popularity and try to make changes to help everyone even though that didn’t go very well. The demagogues in the article tried to make three different changes to help improve the economy but with each try, it backfired. It was all about making money to those of the higher power and creating “regulations” to control the money. “A directionless White House has encouraged the demagogues to propose the failed remedies …”soak the rich,” castigate business “greed,” pile regulation upon regulation, tax and spend.” (Rukeyser) In many cases in history, we can see how those of higher powers had some type of intentions of helping but it was only backed up by words and not actual planned out reasoning.

 

Rukeyser, Louis. “Finally getting their recession, demagogues want a return to ’70s.” Caribbean Business, 5 Dec. 1991, p. 48. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA11705103&it=r&asid=92cd6b384bd6e7ce709a0c7f526c95df. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

– Ivory, Team Artemis

LAND REFORM IS TRICKY

Throughout history, one’s symbol of status, a source of social and political influence and value/wealth was often determined by means of how much land he or she possessed. The value of land in an area is determined based on how scarce it is. Thus, the less amount of land that is available for use, the more valuable it would be. In turn, when there is a huge population and not enough of something, as with many things in life, the land is distributed unequally which causes conflicts in communities amongst economic and social classes/groups. This is where land reforms come in. By definition, land reforms are “a purposive change in the way in which agricultural land is held or owned, the methods of cultivation that are employed, or the relation of agriculture to the rest of the economy.”(Tuma)

“When the African National Congress (ANC) took power in 1994, with the black majority’s overwhelming backing, whites owned about 87% of South Africa’s farmland. The new government set a target for at least 30% of it to be transferred to blacks by 2014. More than a decade on, only 4% has changed hands.” (The Economist) Therefore, after the period of apartheid, the land was clearly not distributed fairly and the land reform did not work. The article uses the search term in many instances. For example, Mohammad Karaan, who chairs the National Agricultural Marketing Council states,”It’s not the lack of will but rather the lack of synchronization between state and market that fails land reform” (The Economist). The main reason as to why reform doesn’t work is because the reformers (government) proclaim to carry out certain objectives and make promises to appeal to the disadvantaged ones, the blacks in South Africa, but to no avail. There are, however many other contributing factors that play a role in the failure of land reform. The South African government blames the farmers for raising the prices of their land, the Department of Land Affairs is lacking the properly trained officials, files have been lost and when land is eventually sold many do not know how to run a farm and due to industrialization farm workers are left unemployed. Simply put,  the government and landowners need to work hand in hand to cater to each other needs instead of pointing fingers and casting blame. This article was written for the audience of the general public, specifically those interested in land reform in South Africa

During the Roman Republic, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus sponsored land reforms in an effort to restore the class of small independent farmers. In the section, Appian Civil Wars,8, he proposed, “that nobody should hold more than 500 jugera of this land” ( Readings on the Roman Republic page 24) the land that was acquired from the wars. He wanted any extra land that the rich owned to be taken away and given to the poor. However, he wasn’t successful because the ones who he proposed this law to, the Senate, were mainly the ones who owned the land because of their wealth. Eventually, “Gracchus himself … was slain at the door close by the statues of the kings”(page 26). Hence, it is clear to see that from the second century in the Roman Republic up to present day in South Africa, land reform is, in fact, tricky to implement. Both then and now land reform has the ability to help out the poor areas but rich people prefer to remain on top and become angry when anyone wants equality and change.

Chanté, Team Venus

Source Citations   (MLA)

“Why land reform is so tricky; South Africa.” The Economist, 5 May 2007, p. 60(US). Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_broo39667&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA162945585&it=r&asid=56e2969cccd31c572ff0777980c93bd4. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.

Tuma, Elias H. “Land reform.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 3 Oct. 2013, http://www.britannica.com/topic/land-reform#toc329193main.

Meaning of “Slave Rebellion”

For this blog, the term I  searched was Sicily Rome “Slave Rebellion” “the United States”. There were many articles came up on the screens.The article that I got was Representing the Body of the Slave by Gardner, Jane, and Wiedemann. The name of the article was eye-catching so I decided to use this.The primary intended audience of this article is to the people to know about the slavery. It compares the period of Roman and Greek slavery. It also explains between the modern and ancient slavery. The MLA citation for this article is Gardner, Jane, and Wiedemann, Thomas. Representing the Body of the Slave. Florence, Taylor and Francis, 2013. The author somewhat connects the search term with one another because since the search term was slave rebellion. It somewhat connects with the term because the article talks about the meaning of enslavement. Also, talks about the American experience with the slavery being unavoidable with race and slavery. For example, in the article, it states, “The American experience of slavery makes unavoidable the question of the relationship between slavery and race, and Aristotle’s responsibility for linking the two. Again, simple comparisons may mislead: some ancient world scholars have produced studies of blacks, and color prejudice, that minimize their importance for Greco-Roman antiquity (where ‘blacks’ were in fact little known).” This is an example that explains about how search term connected with one another because since it talks about the United States slavery and color prejudice. Another example states, “This difference in the status given ex-slaves in the ancient world corresponds to some extent to modern sociological models of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ systems of slavery…” This example explains about the ancient world slavery system. An example of ancient text stated, “ The overseas conquests not only supplied the capital to purchase large estates, but also the slave labor needed to introduce new methods of farming, designed to provide absentee landlords with an income from cash crops.” (page 6) This example talks about the slave labor shown to the new method of farming and also to show the income from the cash crop.

Citation:

Gardner, Jane, and Wiedemann, Thomas. Representing the Body of the Slave. Florence, Taylor and Francis, 2013, pp.2-40.https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1562161

Mantaha Mannan- Team Vulcan

 

Where do the methods of succession come from?

I was looking over different topics to write about my blog. Although they all seemed interesting, I ended up chosing “Gracchi France” to do my blog on. When I wrote the title on my Brooklyn college search; I was given different sources and articles. I chose “Land Reform: A World Survey” . Its an article on land reform.The article is for audience who are having trouble understanding the concept of Land reform and how it effects people and the country.The starting gives a overview of land reform, it goes on clarifying the problems faced by agrarian people. Most importantly it talks about the history evolution of land reform from classical Greece and rome through the Russian revolution. It focuses on “land reform and economic development. The effects of land reform on production, productivity and private capital formation” ( Enggass ). It explains how different factors like population and economic problems effect the country and the people. In our readings like Polybius we see “by what means and under what system of government the Romans in less than fifty- years have succeeded in subjecting nearly the whole to their sole government” ( Polybius 1.1. 4-6). We see the question being asked about the secrets of wealth and succession. The article gives info on how the things like land reform effect the country’s growth. They both seem to be questioning and answering the question by providing information about other concepts. The people understandings and the economy which clearly plays a huge part on the country and its people. They both connect with each other showing how different things play a part on economy and questioning ways of getting better. The article explains how the systems for better government come  from our past and get develops over time. Fizza Saeed, Team Hermes

MLA Citation

Enggass, Peter M., and Russell King. “Land Reform: A World Survey.” Economic    Geography, vol. 55, no. 4, 1979, p. 357., doi:10.2307/143169.

“Keep the public rich and the private poor”

After refining my search of “Gracchi France” multiple times, I finally settled on the article “‘Keep the Citizens Poor’: Machiavelli’s Prescription for Republican Poverty” by Julie L. Rose. This article focuses on Machiavelli’s argument for why we should “keep the public rich and their citizens poor”; instead of agreeing with the common interpretation of this which believes citizens must live in a certain state of “material austerity”, Rose argues that a better interpretation “requires only that citizens maintain certain attitudes towards poverty and wealth” (734). Although my search was of Gracchi, the brothers were only mentioned once in reference to Machiavelli’s discussion of the Gracchi and the Agrarian law in Discourses I. 37; however, the article repeatedly argues points that are in alignment with the views of the Gracchi brothers. Machiavelli discusses that in order to have a successful government the citizens must not become too extravagant in their material possessions. “He expresses a similar sentiment in another passage, as he contrasts the corruption of Italy, France and Spain with the ‘goodness’ of Germany.” (Rose 737). The German Free Cities are discussed in length as they offer a great model for “their virtuous and free ways of life” (Rose 736).

In order to have political success, we must also take economic matters into account. Machiavelli believed the people of Rome to have been one of the best models for the “keeping citizens poor” lifestyle; they didn’t over indulge in material items. Similar to Polybius’ argument, “they gave way to their appetites owing to this superabundance, and came to think that the rulers must be distinguished from their subjects by a peculiar dress, that there should be a peculiar luxury and variety in the dressing and serving of their viands, and that they should meet with no denial in the pursuit of their amours, however lawless. 8 These habits having given rise in the one case to envy and offense and in the other to an outburst of hatred and passionate resentment, the kingship changed into a tyranny; the first steps towards its overthrow were taken by the subjects, and conspiracies began to be formed” (6), growing too lavish disrupts a perfect government. Rose’s article is geared towards any person who is a part of the public and can change the ways in which we live, especially voting citizens. It offered me a new point of view as well as being a very interesting read. It is important to think of all the things that go into leading a perfect society; it’s not just the leader and form of government that is implemented which affect it. Considering our currently consumer driven lives, altering our views towards poverty may be very beneficial in order to continue to flourish. The lavish lifestyle is not sustainable; if we hope to be able to say “Long Live the Republic”, we need to live more as the prosperous Roman Republic once did.

Works Cited

Rose, Julie L. “‘Keep the Citizens Poor’: Machiavelli’s Prescription for Republican Poverty.” Political Studies, vol. 64, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2016, pp. 734–747. OneSearch, doi:10.1111/1467-9248.12204.

-Sheila Kelly, Team Saturn

Polybius: A Man of Action?

• MLA Citation:

Herold, David. “Morison, Samuel Eliot 1887-1976.” 1979, pp. 479–500.http://go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&u=cuny_broo39667&id=GALE|CX1381600032&v=2.1&it=r&sid=exlibris

• The search word i searched was “Polybius ‘Thomas Jefferson'” and the full text I decided to select was written on a American Historian named Samuel Eliot Morison. The full text is based on the life of Samuel Eliot Morison including stories about his background and his works.
•  The primary audience this full text seem to be intended for is mainly for teens and adults since it’s a lengthy text that speaks on Morison’s life. Adding on, this can be directed for students in college since this text is a scholarly article that can be found at Brooklyn college library onesearch.

The author is able to connect with the words searched by connecting the life of Samuel Eliot Morison with Polybius as historians. During the text Herold stated:

“Morison’s history of the U.S. Navy, a labor of twenty years, gave him the opportunity to realize the injunction of Polybius, that a historian should be a man of action. Of all his works it drew the greatest comment and criticism. It confounds the categories into which the separate varieties of history have been divided within the professionalized history writing of the twentieth century. It is an official history that escaped committee authorship and the imprimatur of a review board, and came to command professional respect and have a wide audience. It is contemporary history that draws together official, scholarly, and popular history.” (Herold, 492)

This is implying that during the time when Morison was serving in the
U.S Navy, he was able to understand what Polybius was trying to implement. Polybius was a man of action. Therefore by saying a historian should be a man of action, it’s indicating that Morison has learned from Polybius to not sit around and speak on something rather he should be taking action and keep his word about something.

In the Extracts of Polybius, fragments from book 6 it stated:

“For it is evident that we must regard as the best constitution a combination of all these three varieties, since we have had proof of this not only theoretically but by actual experience, Lycurgus having been the first to draw up a constitution — that of Sparta — on this principle.”

Indicating that Polybius was a man of action. He doesn’t only speak on the three varieties of the constitution Kingship, Aristocracy, and Democracy. He takes action by suggesting it would be best to combine all three constitution together for the ideal constitution. He supports his claim by implying how successful the actual experience of combining all three constitution was, therefore this shows that Polybius was a man of action since there was proof provided in order to back up his statement.

Slaves, Stories and Cults

The term I have searched for this blog post was Sicily Rome “Slave Rebellion” “United States” and got the article Slaves, Stories and Cults Conflict Resolution Between Masters And Slaves In Ancient Greece by Sara Forsdyke. The primary audience that this article is catering to are academic people who are interested in the similar themes in various myths and legends throughout the world and history as that was the topic of the article. The MLA citation for this article is Forsdyke , Sara. “Slaves, Stories, and Cults Conflict Resolution Between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece” Common Knowledge. 2014 Web. 4 Nov. 2017 because it is an online article. Slaves, Stories and Cults uses the Sicilian slave revolt as one of many examples of stories in which people rebel against injustice done against the and where the seemingly less powerful people overtake the powerful individuals. Other examples include an Aesop fable, the story of Puss in Boots and Robin Hood. Forsdyke explains that the poorer population, particularly the slaves, found this empowering. “As the story was told amongst slaves or as the slaves read out loud as entertainment for their Masters, the lesson might have been different. For slaves the message might have been: slaves can be ‘on top’ and have equal or superior intelligence to their masters. For slaves, the story served to acknowledge the humanity, dignity, and ultimately the power of the slaves to determine their own destiny…”
The Stories, according to the author, also serve as a warning to the slave owners to treat their slaves right because otherwise they will betray them, similarly, if they treat their slaves properly and put trust in them they will be loyal to their master and be able to serve them better. Sara Forsdyke uses actual quotes from the ancient text in her article such as “But, their Masters were very strict and severe with them, and took no care to provide either necessary food or clothing for them, so that most of them were forced to rob and steal to get these necessities: so that all places were full of slaughters and murders.” The search terms aren’t connected to each other except for occasionally “Sicily” and “Slave rebellion” when quoting the text.
Forsdyke used this quote as part of an example of stories of slaves that were treated poorly, rebelling against their masters.

 

Forsdyke , Sara. “Slaves, Stories, and Cults Conflict Resolution Between Masters and Slaves in Ancient Greece” Common Knowledge. 2014 Web. 4 Nov. 2017

Hinda, Team Mars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polybius and the Constitution

In this blog post, I searched the term, Polybius “United States” constitution and I chose the article that appeared first on the list which was, “Polybius and the Constitution” it is written by Gilbert Chinard. The writer actually has written a lot about the relations between Polybius and the American constitution, like how the power of the government was split into different powers. Gilbert Chinard sends a message to his readers that Polybius’ records of the Roman government are important. He wrote about the creation of the constitution and how the founding fathers used ideas from Polybius. His ancient works had some influence in the constitution, “…best legislators of all agree…it will be an eternal rule in politics among every free people, that there is a balance of power to be carefully held by every state within itself” (Chinard 42). The power Swift is talking about in Chinard’s article is about the absolute power within the states, he is saying how the power would be destructive if it is placed in one state. Polybius also notes how the Roman government splits its power into three different categories in aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy, “…the force of each being neutralized by that of the others, neither of them should prevail and outbalance another, but that the constitution should remain…in a state of equilibrium” (Polybius 10). Rome had a type of government where the power is not centralized but split into three different categories, and it is one of the reasons why this nation was able to prevail for so long.

Work Cited

Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” Journal of the History of Ideas 1.1 (1940): 38-58. Brooklyn College. Web. 4 Nov. 2017. <http://www.jstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/stable/2707009?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents&gt;.

Becky, Team Hera

What is the Best Government?

When we think of the best or perfect government, many will say something along the lines of, “A democracy, what else is there?”, because of the fact that we live in the United States of America. But in reality, there are a lot of different types of government that have been established. For example an aristocracy is a system of government that is based on hereditary status and connections through royal blood , that allow for that small, wealthy group of nobles, the Aristocrats to have all the power. Similarly, an Oligarchy a system where the rule of the few, small group of people is established, but not necessarily through “royal blood.” In addition there is such a thing as a Monarchy, which is a system that places supreme power of the state in the hands of a single person or family, the Monarch. Albeit there are myriad of deviations that have been established in the past, such as a constitutional monarchy, unitary state, a parliament. But that list is an endless one.

“The constitution should remain for long in a state of equilibrium like a well-trimmed boat, kingship being guarded from arrogance by the fear of the commons, who were given a sufficient share in the government, and the commons on the other hand not venturing to treat the kings with contempt from fear of the elders, who being selected from the best citizens would be sure all of them to be always on the side of justice; so that that part of the state which was weakest owing to its subservience to traditional custom, acquired power and weight by the support and influence of the elders.” 

This quote from the extracts of Polybius illustrate how Polybius believed that there should be a form of checks and balances in government, a separation of powers should be put in place. The piece of writing that I chose to analyze is an essay, The Rise and Fall of the Separation of Powers, by Steven G. Calabresi, Mark E. Berghausen & Skylar Albertson that expands on that belief and praises Polybius and other philosophers who thought alike. This essay talks about the origins of the concept of the separation of powers and, as you can tell by the title, the fall of such a concept. It talks of how modern governments implement the separation of powers, a prime example is the United States of America. In addition, the essay talks of how the concept of the separation of powers originated from the ideal of a “mixed regime”. A mixed regime is the form of government that combines elements of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy. It states how many philosophers and scholars, such as Polybius, conceived of such an ideal so that the not-so-desired offspring of a mixed regime (anarchy, oligarchy and tyranny) could not be formed. This way, Polybius’ Anacyclosis cannot take its full effect and therefore, the undesirable forms of government found in that cycle could not develop and be bypassed.

My search, from which I got this search return from, was “Polybius ‘United States’ constitution.” The authors of this essay connect these two terms quite a lot, as I might have hinted at above. They talk of Polybius’ mixed regime and they connect him and it to the constitution of the United States. They talk of how our government and our constitution aren’t exactly a fully realized or exact definition of a mixed regime.  which is why, as I said before, they believe that our constitution and government lack the full definition of a separation of powers. “our Constitution has actually
operated in practice over the last 220 years as a democratized version of the Mixed Regime rather than as a functional separation of powers. The idea of
the Mixed Regime is a whole lot older than the idea of the separation of
powers, and it may well be more enduring. The writings of Aristotle,
Polybius, Cicero, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Machiavelli all illustrate this
point. The way a regime works, in practice, may show the the nature of the
regime. It may be the case that the U.S. Constitution inadvertently gave rise
to a democratized version of the Mixed Regime. If so, then that is an error
which our generation of Americans needs to correct.” They call the U.S. constitution and government a democratized version of a mixed regime and thereby believe that it is a dysfunctional separation of powers. In addition, they later call the U.S. government more of an oligarchy (which I don’t fully disagree with) and that “[Americans] need to revive the functional separation of powers.” Based on this viewpoint and the fact that it prompts whoever may read it(most likely students) and the citizens of the U.S.  to establish a true mixed regime and “revive the functional separation of powers,” I believe that this essay’s primary intended audience is the wide public who are possibly interested in the affairs of law, politics, government, and scholars or philosophers .

All in all, I found this essay to be extremely enlightening and extremely connected to Polybius and his ideals and values.

Appropriate MLA citation:

Calabresi, Steven G., et al. “The Rise and Fall of the Separation of Powers.” Northwestern University Law Review, vol. 106, no. 2, Apr. 2012, pp. 527-549. EBSCOhost, ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=82514124&site=ehost-live.

Sean, Team Ares

Biblical Interpretation of Slavery

I searched a term Sicily Rome “Slave rebellion” “the United States” and I found a lot of different sources. One that caught my attention was a chapter from the book Biblical Interpretation called Slavery and Inhumanity by J. Albert Harrill. The subject of this chapter is about examining Roman slavery as part of the wider history of world slavery. The author also refers to emperor Augustus and Constantine as part of Christianity, which makes a connection to our Art History class, when we talked about the beginning of the Christianity and Constantine and the sculptore of Augustus – emperor. The primary intended audience for it will be people who would like to explore more about slavery in Rome in a Biblical point of view that author is making. The writer makes the connection between slavery and refers to the wars by saying “ The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily, and one led by Spartacus in ancient Italy.” (Harrill 509), and then gives us more details about it. He also makes the connection between the United States and slavery “ancient slavery was relatively humane and so wholly unlike modern slavery in the New World” (Harrill 508), and by saying New World her refers to the United States. The reading that was assigned earlier for us and is connected to this source is Aristotle and Xenophon, On the Spartan Constitution, because both authors refer to Sparta. Aristotle and Xenophon say “To be present, he selected the keenest of the prefects, and gave to each the command of a division. And so at Sparta, the boys are never without a ruler”.

MLA citation:
Harrill, J. Albert. “Slavery and Inhumanity.” Biblical Interpretation, vol. 21, no. 4-5, 2013, pp. 506–514.

Edyta, team Aphrodite

Sicily Slave Rome Haiti

                 I searched up the term, Sicily Slave Rome Haiti, and many different kinds of informative articles came up. I found one article in particular called, “Reading Diodorus through Photius: The Case of the Sicilian Slave Revolts” , by Laura Pfutner. “The article discusses the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus’s historical source material in the book “Bibliotheca” on the slave revolts in Roman Sicily, Italy during the 130s B.C. through referencing the Byzantine Patriarch of Constantinople Photius’s book  “Bibliotheca/Myriobiblos.” The primary audience for this publication, would be people who are interested in learning the history of slavery in this specific part of the world, during this time, either for educational purposes, or general knowledge, The author connects the search term Sicily Slave Rome Haiti, by having them present in the article, “Though Diodorus’ treatment of the Sicilian slave revolts forms the core of codex 244, it is difficult to discern from the other codices of the Myriobiblos whether Photius had a broader interest in Sicilian affairs.” Another quote, from one of the ancient texts, that seems relevant to this publication, is from “First Sicilian Slave Revolt” , which states When the affairs of Sicily, after the overthrow of Carthage, had remained successful and prosperous for the space of sixty years, at length war with the slaves broke out for the following reasons. But their masters were very strict and severe with them, and took no care to provide either necessary food or clothing for them, so that most of them were forced to rob and steal, to get these necessities: so that all places were full of slaughters and murders, as if an army of thieves and robbers had been dispersed all over the island.” This quote provides further reason as to why the Sicilian slaves revolted, which was due to unhappy conditions, and being mistreated, which is also gone in depth, in the publication I originally found.

Works Cited

Pfuntner, Laura. “Reading Diodorus through Photius: The Case of the Sicilian Slave Revolts.” Greek, Roman & Byzantine Studies, vol. 55, no. 1, Mar. 2015, pp. 154-272. EBSCOhost, ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=101510198&site=ehost-live.

Marisa B. -Team Ares

Global slavery

As I was looking up the search term, Sicily Rome “Slave Rebellion” “United States” I came across many articles and books. One article I found beneficial for this blog post was “Atlas of Slavery” written by Walvin, James. His targeted audience for writing this book seems to be the general public or anyone that is interested in understanding the history of slavery through out the world. Walvin writes the chapters of his book based on different places slavery took place from The ancient world, Europe, united states and many more places. He also writes about different time periods of slavery for instance slave resistance, abolition movements and after abolition. The search terms connect in his book in different ways. The words Sicily Rome and “Slave Rebellion” are seen in his book when he states “The great Roman slave revolt led by Spartacus in 73-71 BC remains perhaps the best-remembered slave revolt (if only because of the epic savagery subsequently meted out to the defeated slaves crucified in their thousands by Romans)”[chapter 17 pg 115]. Theres also a connection between “Slave Rebellion” and “United States” seen in chapter 17,page 116 saying “In South Carolina in 1739, Stono’s rebellion was grouped around twenty rebellious Angolan salves keen to escape to Spanish Florida.” Looking at Ancient text from Diodorus, The Library, fragments from book 34/35 it talks about slaves in Sicily and Italy. “27 So great a multitude of slaves overflowed all of sicily, like a deluge, that the excessive number seemed incredible to all who heard it.” As in Walvin’s book we see that slaves were everywhere around the world in a numerous amount just like in sicily.

Cite: Walvin, James, Atlas of Slavery. Florence, GB: Taylor and Francis.2014. Proquest Ebook Central Reader.Web. 04 Nov. 2017.

-Anora A, Team Diana

Slavery Throughout Time

The search term I looked up on OneSearch was Sicily Rome “Slave rebellion” “United States” and I found the article “Origins of American Slavery” by Philip D. Morgan. His primary audience for this article was probably historians since it was published in the Magazine of History. In the article he talks about slavery through time which is why he talks about Ancient Rome and the slavery that took place in Sicily and how it influenced slavery that went on in the “new world” or rather America. Morgan talks about slave societies where slaves are most of the population and be say “Classical Greece and Rome fit this definition and can be considered models for slavery’s expansion in the New World.” The article then talks about some of the horrible parallels seen between slavery in Ancient Rome and the new world “from the dehumanizing device of addressing male slaves of any age as “boy,” the use of branding and head-shaving as modes of humiliation, the comic inventiveness in naming slaves.” Then we look at the ancient text Diodorus, The Library, fragments from book 34/35 and it talks about the slavery that was going on in Italy. The text explains “The Italians, who had large estates in Sicily, bought many slaves, every one of whom they branded with marks on their cheeks, and oppressed them with hard labour, and yet failed to give them sufficient subsistence.”(line 32)We see here what Philip Morgan was talking about in his article and how the cruel and terrible treatment that slaves had to endure during Ancient Rome and how it is similar treatment to the slaves in America. 
Citation:

Morgan, Philip D. Magazine of History; Bloomington Vol. 19, Iss. 4, (Jul 2005): 51-56

Francesca, Team Cronos 

Polybius’ Constitution

Fun fact: As I was looking for pictures I came across an arcade version of Polybius. This was a fictional arcade game from 1981 that hasn’t been proved to ever exist. Though it did start an urban legend that it was a psychology experiment ran by the government to see what effects the of addiction the game had on players. Eventually, this arcade game supposedly disappeared from the arcade market.

The search return that I received from using OneSearch was an article called “Polybius and the American Constitution“. The appropriate MLA citation format that I used is Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” http://www.jstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/stable/pdf/2707009.pdf. Jan., 1940. The primary intended audience for this publication are American Architects. “This theory, however, had not originated with Swift, and the Doc- tor himself had quoted his authority-no less than Polybius-who tells us, ‘the best government is that which consists of three forms, regis, optimatium et populi imperitum’ ” (pg 43). This quote is connected to the search term by saying that Polybius had the best way to describe the best government. Polybius tells us that the best government consists of three forms, which translates to “King, conservatives, and inexperienced people”. What Polybius could be saying is that there should a King or some type of leader to guide us in the government. The conservative people could be for good traditions to keep going and don’t make changes to certain things. Inexperienced people could be for more energy in the government, someone who has ideas that are outside of the box for the government. “Nor again can we style every oligarchy an aristocracy, but only that where the government is in the hands of a selected body of the justest and wisest men” (Polybius, On the Form of States). This quote from the ancient texts explains how Polybius knows that the government can get messed up and how selecting the wisest and adjustable candidates are best for the government. This reminds me of the three orders from Art History. The three orders are columns called Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric. Each of these orders consists of specific bases, shafts, capitals, friezes, etc. If one of the parts of an order get mixed into a different order, it wouldn’t look right. This connects to government in a way that the government, itself, can get mixed up if we choose the wrong candidates. The government also has a lot of orders like the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches.

Chinard, Gilbert. “Polybius and the American Constitution.” http://www.jstor.org.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/stable/pdf/2707009.pdf. Jan., 1940.

Caroline, Team Cronos

Empire Without End?

The clear purpose of this article is to serve the audience whose intentions are to enrich their knowledge on Empires in World History. The article portrays an ironic ambition, hence the title, to prove the rule of empires– they always fall in the end. Though the author, Charles S. Maier, doesn’t draw a direct connection between Polybius and Thomas Jefferson, she shows the similarity in their political outlooks. For instance, Polybius is referred to as the Greek living in Rome who made himself to be a preeminent political interpreter. Comparably, Thomas Jefferson envisioned an empire of liberty securing the Mississippi and Missouri regions. The idea of imperial power facing a short-life can also be joined by the quote in the reading, “That all existing things are subject to decay and change is a truth that scarcely needs proof; for the course of nature is sufficient to force this conviction on us.” Maier supports the belief of ‘all existing things are subject to decay’ by following empires chronologically from their rise to their fall. The most familiar empires to us would be the Aztecs, Incans, and the Mayans, which at the time were considered powerful empires amongst the western hemisphere. Yet again, another imperial powers facing their expected outcome.

Maier, Charles S. “Empire without End.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 89, no. 4, 2010, pp. 153-159, Social Science Premium Collection, https://login.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/docview/577070717?accountid=7286.

-Amir, Team Juno.

Unfair Gracchi

The search return I got from using OneSearch was an article called “Rise of the welfare/warfare state: the death throes of the once-great Roman Republic began when its leadership embarked on militarism and exploited class envy to consolidate power.” The article was written by Steve Bonta who seemed to be about the beginning of Rome from when it was found to the Outbreak of the Social War and in between; there were so many events/ battles that happened. I feel like the primary intended audience of this publication would be people who may need to find out more information of what happened when Rome was found so people who may be studying about Rome. I used three search terms which were Gracchi, demagogues, and “United States” and two of three of the search terms go together in this article which is Gracchi and demagogues as seen in this article by Steve Bonta “But with the tumult under the Gracchi, the waning Roman Republic entered a new, more perilous stage of decline, in which demagogues incited civil unrest with welfare-state programs, and a new generation of ambitious politician-generals began to covet absolute power.” Gracchi are Roman tribunes which tribunes are Roman leaders that are very popular. Demagogues are leaders who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power. Both the terms Gracchi and demagogues are used together by the author to show how a popular leader in Rome can try to gain power by lying and not doing as they say, pretty much messing with the peoples emotions just to gain their support. From the ancient texts assigned to read for homework, a quote under Fragments on the Gracchi, it states “Gracchus in his speeches to the people urged them to overthrow the aristocracy and establish a democratic government; and after winning the favor of all classes, he had them not only as supporters, but even as instigators of his bold objectives.” This is related  to the article since it also shows that Gracchus had the ability to get the people on his side and not only that, but to help with the goals that he has in mind for Rome.

MLA citation: Bonta, Steve. “Rise of the Welfare/Warfare State: the Death Throes of the Once-Great Roman Republic Began When Its Leadership Embarked on Militarism and Exploited Class Envy to Consolidate Power.(History-Rome).” The New American, vol. 20, no. 23, 2004, pp. 36–39.

-Raine, Team Jupiter