Blog Post 36 - Rap Tastic

Today in class Mr.Shick did his rap about Rome , which is posted below , and also he went over a few more important notes.

Well, you got the Etruscans and the Greeks

But the Latins came first

To the shores of the River Tiber

They drained a swamp (They drained a swamp)

Next thing you know

Livin’ in Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome

Now Tarquin’s kinda proud

But he got a little loud (little loud)

They turned around and ran that tyrant outta town (hey!)

Next thing you know (next thing you know)

No kings no more

Happened in Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome

 

Hey, we got three governments rolled into one

Patricians and plebeians havin’ some fun

Two consuls gotta be better than one

Brand new republic ready to run

Democracy

Aristocracy

Plus monarchy

Not a tyranny

Ho-o-o-old up wait a minute, do I see what I think I… hey!

That’s a Roman legion clear as day

5000 soldiers not in it for pay

Group of eighty’s a century

On horseback is the cavalry

Shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

Fightin ’gainst Carthage in wars that are Punic

Hannibal riding on elephant back

Crossing the Alps just to launch his attack

So now you get the picture (picture)

All the rich are getting richer (richer)

And they’re livin’ on the latifundia

Farmers can’t cope (They just can’t cope)

They’re low on hope

They moved to Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome

I can hear the brothers Gracchus

Sayin, “Rich, please don’t attack us” (don’t attack us)

“We got a feeling that the senators will whack us” (hey!)

They hit the floor (they hit the floor)

Next thing you know

It’s civil war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war

Hey, let me take you back to 60 BC

It’s the start of the rise of Julius C

He grabbed two dudes and he formed a team

It’s a triumvirate -- that’s a group of three

“Crassus (come on), Pompey (come on), I’m JC! (come on)

We three will rule!

What you think I'm playin, baby girl?  I'm the man!

I'm conquering Gaul!”

All of his soldiers gave him their devotion

That’s why he swept over Gaul just like an ocean

Pompey couldn’t understand all the commotion

When he crossed the Rubicon, he kept up motion

It’s just like a potion

Caesar had self-locomotion

Power’s an ambitious emotion

Dictator is not a demotion

It’s promotion

But in 44 BC (BC)

On a day called March 15 (Ides of March)

Brutus and the Senate murdered Julius C

He hit the floor (he hit the floor)

Next thing you know

Caesar’s no more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more

You know he’s so depressed

23 stab wounds in his chest (in his chest)

He saw his friend and he raised one last protest (hey!)

“Et tu, Brute?” (Et tu, Brute?)

That’s what he say

Cuz he felt low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low

 

Only eighteen, Octavian makin’ the scene

He says, “I tell you what,

Got a new triumvirate

Here’s my boy Lepidus

And Mark Antony I trust”

(‘Til Marky met this chick

Cleopatra from Egypt)

Octavian was freakin’

Lust for power started peakin’

“Don’t try to play me or my navy,

At Actium you won’t slay me”

“O” won that game

Did explain

Now Augustus was his name

All his subjects did proclaim

He’s in the Roman Hall of Fame

Twenty-seven BC (BC)

For a couple hundred years (207)

Pax Romana is the word that brings the cheers (Yay!)

They’re on a roll (they’re on a roll)

They built some roads

Leading to Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome

Slaves don’t have many rights and

Then there’s gladiator fightin’ (OW!)

People find the Circus Maximus excitin’ (hey!)

Blood on the floor (knee-deep in gore)

And now you know

All about Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome

(C'mon!)

• You can be rich and still be a plebeian, the difference is you don't have the influence or connection. You could become a patrician by maybe marrying into it. 
• You were either one or the other and most of the time you were born into it. 
• Consul was the senate in its original form. the Senate had 300 people in it. Among the 300 were two Consul who were more powerful than the rest. They were in charge of military and ran everything. After Tarquin they did not want to see only one person with all the power. The reason they had two people was so that each of the consul had veto power on the other. They could either both agree but one could say no and it would not happen. 
• It was bad though because they do not want one to get super powerful. Consul serve for one year a piece but then wouldn't be able to run again for another 10 years. 
• Rome might every once and awhile have an emergency and then they would name a dictator, one person, who doesn't need to consult that could act on the matter quickly, and the dictator was only there for 6 months. 
• The patricians had a lot of power in the government. The plebeians did not have any legal written protection.
• The 12 Tables: set of laws that were written down and posted publicly of the laws of the land in Rome. It described what rights people had if someone committed a crime against them.
• This gave them some sort of protection against patricians.
•  around 450 B.C. the tables were written.
• The plebeians then got their own branch of government, and could make suggestions.
• They had their own consuls and farmers started to elect tributes.
• It gave them the right to veto laws against the Senate.