In class Friday 10/12 and homework

Today in class we are looking at the transition Rome makes from being a Republic to becoming an Empire.

Plato says that being a republic is the best form of government. Why? Because upon escaping the cave, many men will seek to return to the cave and attempt to lead others out.  Those men are the best suited to lead us, for they are able to perceive reality as it really is, and thus they will be able to communicate that reality to the rest of us.  Thus, they are representatives who are best able to make decisions on our behalf.  A republican government is one that consists of those "best" men whom we select to make decisions for us. (you can judge the state of our own republican system--I don't mean the party, I mean the system--on your own.  Do members of Congress see reality as it really is, or just how they wish it were?)

Rome begins (after shucking the Etruscan monarchs) as a republic.  But it doesn't stay that way.  Today in class you can see 5 different sites that are from that transitional period.  They are linked through QR codes in the room, but the links are also re-created here in case your cameras aren't working, or you have trouble scanning.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5

Your task is to start with #1. Read/look at/gaze upon the site it takes you to. Then distill the content into a tweet.  Tweet using the hashtag #RepublictoEmpire.  You can follow the hashtag using hootsuite, or I will be compiling a list which you can see under my twitter profile @rtw4.  Look over the tweets posted by your classmates.  Go to your blog and create a narrative of Rome's transition from Republic to Empire using these tweets (yours, or you may use your classmates.  Modification is ok!)

The narrative must be no longer than a paragraph. So that is a topic sentence, 5-7 sentences, and a concluding sentence. And it must make sense as a cohesive paragraph.  Don't simply cut and paste tweets together!

Compose the blog post and read pages 265-271 in the textbook over the weekend.

We have a test coming Monday October 22.