This blog is intended to enhance your learning experience. We can share thoughts and ideas which, I hope, will expand our perspectives on not only topics in world history but also in our everyday lives. Good luck and have fun!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Exit Ticket - Spartacus, part III
At this point in the movie we know Rome had issues with its slave population in the last century BCE. From the movie itself, identify other issues that troubled Rome in this time period?
24 comments:
Anonymous
said...
some of romes other issues are incompetent leaders (as glaborus demonstrated), a sYsteM that could be easily manipulated so one man could acheive absolute power, and could manuvere in such a way. also, pirates heavily extorted romes merchants and had exorbiant fees.
I agree with Alex i wish i could be more creative and knowing but the only information the movie gives is the information Alex seggests. The romans were unorganized when it came to leaders. Their system of government was week and based o n pride. And ofcoure the pirates that substancialy cut into their wealth.
Glabrous in his devious ways attempted to reserve the absolute power of a dictatorship in his own hands by resigning which proved as an effective answer but Gracchus knew what he was up too no good and made sure that a dictatorship would not happen. Of course I believe Alex too when he says "pirates heavily extorted Rome's merchants and had exorbiant fees." Rome, I found underestimates the gladiators or Spartacus's freedom fighters too much. Like when the leader of the Garrison shown carelessness in his warfare when they had 6 or 16 cohorts. The reason he came up with in front of the senate is because they are slaves. That is a horrible excuse for losing a whole GARRISON OF TROOPS. They still underestimate him when clearly the so called "slaves" have a better influence of fighting than anywhere in Rome.
Other issues Rome faced during this time besides issues involving slavery included, as Ed said, leaders underestimating the power of the slaves. The power they had to escape and revolt. The system of ruling in Rome allowed a path for one leader to ultimately take over society. Pirates were feared in Rome, and Rome had no plan of action worked out to protect themselves from the invaders.
Other issues going on in Rome are the government. People are trying to become dictators and gain complete control, because there is no definite leadership in the senate. I missed the part about the pirates so whatever Alex says I guess is okay. Also there is a huge economic crisis going on in Rome. All of the slaves from Corinth have been shipped to Rome. While during Hannibal’s wrath many Italians homes were destroyed. They looked to Rome for jobs when there were none, and they couldn't join the military because they didn't own land. The main issue for all of Rome is the slave rebellion that everyone has underestimated. It had the potential to destroy Rome's government. The rebellion was all over inequality and freedom; I think it’s sad nobody can apply to such simple terms. Also Rome's worrying about controlling the whole Hellenistic Kingdom, which is another challenge they would have to face.
One of Rome's other problems was that their leaders only cared about what they wanted (which was part of the reason why the slaves rebeled). Also, the autnority (which would be police present dayweren't good enough clearly because they were over thrown by slaves.
The issues that faced Rome at the time was as the others said for one poor leadership and the underestimating the slave power becuase they are able to revolt and could send the message to other lsaves to revolt. Pirates are also a crime to give in because that shows that Rome is weak and should no be taken lying down.
Some of Rome'd problems at this time were clearly a big one corrupt government officials. But I'm sure that was a problem throughout all history. As Alex had said it was easy to manipulate the system to gain greater power. Like Glaborous resigning to attempt to get dictatorship. Another big issue is the uprising of slaves. I believe one man said in the movie that there were more slaves in Rome than Romans. This came back to bite them, as the slaves raid each town their army grows bigger with the slaves they are freeing. Also pirates seem to be in issue considered as criminals. Which brings us back to the point of corrupt government officials seeking what they want, because Grachus struck a deal with the oirates behind the senate's back.
The slave rebellion must have caused a serious decline in Roman economy. The other hardships that Rome was facing was its leaders all looking for power and personal gain. Glabrous as my man Eduardo described stepped down from his position so that the senate could experience life without him, if the result was not so good he would have the senate right where he wants them. Also I think Alex had a good point when he discussed the pirates and how they pirated, which means they took Rome’s merchandise. Morale must have been extremely low in Rome without their usual entertainment of people killing each other. I liked in the movie when the commander who was accosted by the slaves, stood before the senate while he listened to his punishment and was very respectful about it. He stood strait-backed and at attention as he heard his banishment sentence, this shows Roman faithfulness and even though this man was banished he still remained loyal to his nation.
I agree with Alex, the whole system of government can be easily manipulated to end up being a seriously unstable government. I also believe that other than the nomal type of slaves, the gladiators of Rome did not have a fair life at all. They were forced to fight eachother which nobody wants to do as a living. Whenever someone is forced to do anything that they don't have any heart in, they will find every possible way to get out of that position. That si why the slaves and gladiators fought back. Because they do not want to be slaves.
As many others have said, one issue in Rome at this time would have to be their government. Clearly it was unstable. There weren't clear rulers. It seemed everyone wanted power. However some for different reasons. I agree with Zack when he says that the government was based on pride. It was clear that the upper class thought they were better and made the slaves work twice as hard to get something. The upper class get so caught up in power and wealth that they fail to see how powerful the slaves really were. They had no morals or insight to anything. Their goal was just power. I believe that the fact that the slaves were truly the only ones who had power is sad, and I also believe that could also believe an issue in Rome. Morals help set a firm foundation for a country, and if one has no morals, one meaning the upper class with really all the power, then how can Rome have strong foundation?, and a strong foundation is clearly needed for a successful country. The slaves clearly cound't rule becuase they were "lower class" and "not good enough". Since the slaves were really the only morally correct people of Rome you can say the foundation in Rome was not set on morals, but set on the desire to seek power. I believe the whole power and governemt aspect of Rome was clearly an issue.
like alex said the system could easily manipulated. crassus, i think it was crassus, beat the system and devised a plan to have rome groveling at his feet. the plan was to assume dictatorship and have rome in his grasps. another problem is that the the system allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to remain poor. the people that were high in power stooped so low as to cut deals with pirates to raise their prophet or well being.
I disagree with Alex and basically everyone else (all sided with Alex). I dont think Rome's problem was the incompitent leaders as much as the Roman values themselves. Yes, the leaders were ccorrupt but some of their rules and values were unjust. In Sparticus, one of the commanders was bannished for making one mistake. The rules and customs didnt seem exactly fair and were shown in multiple ways. Another one of Rome's problems was the wars with Corinth and pirates. Their constant fighting with pirates and having to send troops all over the Medditeranian to fight off invasion caused alot of problems for the Romans.
As most of the bloggers have said i would think that another issue that Rome is having is the senators trying to get more power such as trying to become the dictator and to benifit themselves from it. Another problem is that the commanders are underestimating the slaves and think they would not be able to properly fight the Roman Army so they are getting defeated suprisingly. The only other issue that i could see would be the pirates because that could cause problems for the navy if the pirates were paid enough to do something to Rome.
I agree with John, corrupt government and senate leaders were a problem, unorganized military and underestimating the slave’s power and ability to plan a successful attack and rebellion. Potential problems in the economy would surface if more slaves leave their places and join the revolt. There will be no one to work for the rich people. There was no unity for the success of Rome as a whole, but individuals bent on adding power and ruling themselves. The main problem was the greed and selfishness of the individuals that made the decisions.
As Alex said, other issues is that Rome's system could be easily manipulated, and the pirates would make deals with the senators of Rome. Also, as Gracchus pointed out in the movie, the representatives of Rome were going to punish the general whos base was taken over severely until Gracchus stopped that idea. This means Rome's senate would punish their commanders to harshly which could leave them out of a good commander.
Rome was intoxicated with a few greedy senators that were too blind to see past their own personal plans. They couldn't imagine, I guess, that the slaves have the ability to rise in power. They didn't expect one of their commander's to be defeated. Its own system was oblivious and poorly functioning. Their economic level had a chance to crash. Normaly, Romans had their slaves to do most of the things for them, machines, tools, etc. Yet when the slaves rebelled this would impede everything. This surely stirred the Romans' credibility. But thats not all, two other significant factors to include was that there were more slaves than Romans, and the rebellion of the slaves could have influenced the other conquered countries to rebell against Rome too. Thus Rome is covered with multiple conflicts with a poor government at the time. But, they still managed to survive over 2,000 years.
Meg I think Rome was very flawed at this time. Clearly the authoritive figures misused,abused and were selfish in terms of their power. There seemed to be a battle for power and prestiege. I believe this distracted them from their incompetant commanders and revolting slaves. They basically trained powerful and indestructable warriors that eventually went to battle with them. They were also illprepared for attack from pirates or their slaves. Overall I think the prosperous leaders and members of the senate are what made Rome flawed and almost weak.
Well I think that Rome's biggest issue is that the government is corrupted in a way. If they "need" to, they can hire a dictator who has absolute power. Of course, they have the slave uprising that they must face, which Crassus ends up doing. The pirates, as Alex said, were a major problem because they were in control of the Mediterranean Sea, which Rome wanted, so they needed to diminish them and this would result in great control in the Mediterranean Sea.
i think that the feuding of the senators for power made the government weak and unstable. the system was corrupt and though they would not admit to it, was monarchial at times. the fact that there was constant feuds between neighboring nations made for the a very warlike nation.
i wouldnt call glabrus incompetent. when an entire culture has the general opinion that slaves wont rise up, and if they do, theyre "just" slaves, and it wont be an issue. It is easy to look back after you lose and say "MAYBE we should have taken them more seriously".Its Easy to put the blame on glabrus. but EVERY man in the senate would have taken the same course of action as glabrus, perhapsps even crassus. Glabrus was just unlucky enough to be in command of the losing side. Other than that, the general ideas that weve been saying are, as far as the movie goes, correctomundo.
I disagree with Alex, I don’t think the roman leaders were incompetent necessarily, but a lot of them (Glabrous) were not fit to lead. Their system of government was more at fault, it could easily be taken over and controlled by one person which made it unfair and unstable.
24 comments:
some of romes other issues are incompetent leaders (as glaborus demonstrated), a sYsteM that could be easily manipulated so one man could acheive absolute power, and could manuvere in such a way. also, pirates heavily extorted romes merchants and had exorbiant fees.
I agree with Alex i wish i could be more creative and knowing but the only information the movie gives is the information Alex seggests. The romans were unorganized when it came to leaders. Their system of government was week and based o n pride. And ofcoure the pirates that substancialy cut into their wealth.
Edward Cummins
Glabrous in his devious ways attempted to reserve the absolute power of a dictatorship in his own hands by resigning which proved as an effective answer but Gracchus knew what he was up too no good and made sure that a dictatorship would not happen. Of course I believe Alex too when he says "pirates heavily extorted Rome's merchants and had exorbiant fees." Rome, I found underestimates the gladiators or Spartacus's freedom fighters too much. Like when the leader of the Garrison shown carelessness in his warfare when they had 6 or 16 cohorts. The reason he came up with in front of the senate is because they are slaves. That is a horrible excuse for losing a whole GARRISON OF TROOPS. They still underestimate him when clearly the so called "slaves" have a better influence of fighting than anywhere in Rome.
Other issues Rome faced during this time besides issues involving slavery included, as Ed said, leaders underestimating the power of the slaves. The power they had to escape and revolt. The system of ruling in Rome allowed a path for one leader to ultimately take over society. Pirates were feared in Rome, and Rome had no plan of action worked out to protect themselves from the invaders.
Other issues going on in Rome are the government. People are trying to become dictators and gain complete control, because there is no definite leadership in the senate. I missed the part about the pirates so whatever Alex says I guess is okay. Also there is a huge economic crisis going on in Rome. All of the slaves from Corinth have been shipped to Rome. While during Hannibal’s wrath many Italians homes were destroyed. They looked to Rome for jobs when there were none, and they couldn't join the military because they didn't own land. The main issue for all of Rome is the slave rebellion that everyone has underestimated. It had the potential to destroy Rome's government. The rebellion was all over inequality and freedom; I think it’s sad nobody can apply to such simple terms. Also Rome's worrying about controlling the whole Hellenistic Kingdom, which is another challenge they would have to face.
One of Rome's other problems was that their leaders only cared about what they wanted (which was part of the reason why the slaves rebeled). Also, the autnority (which would be police present dayweren't good enough clearly because they were over thrown by slaves.
The issues that faced Rome at the time was as the others said for one poor leadership and the underestimating the slave power becuase they are able to revolt and could send the message to other lsaves to revolt. Pirates are also a crime to give in because that shows that Rome is weak and should no be taken lying down.
Some of Rome'd problems at this time were clearly a big one corrupt government officials. But I'm sure that was a problem throughout all history. As Alex had said it was easy to manipulate the system to gain greater power. Like Glaborous resigning to attempt to get dictatorship. Another big issue is the uprising of slaves. I believe one man said in the movie that there were more slaves in Rome than Romans. This came back to bite them, as the slaves raid each town their army grows bigger with the slaves they are freeing. Also pirates seem to be in issue considered as criminals. Which brings us back to the point of corrupt government officials seeking what they want, because Grachus struck a deal with the oirates behind the senate's back.
The slave rebellion must have caused a serious decline in Roman economy. The other hardships that Rome was facing was its leaders all looking for power and personal gain. Glabrous as my man Eduardo described stepped down from his position so that the senate could experience life without him, if the result was not so good he would have the senate right where he wants them. Also I think Alex had a good point when he discussed the pirates and how they pirated, which means they took Rome’s merchandise. Morale must have been extremely low in Rome without their usual entertainment of people killing each other. I liked in the movie when the commander who was accosted by the slaves, stood before the senate while he listened to his punishment and was very respectful about it. He stood strait-backed and at attention as he heard his banishment sentence, this shows Roman faithfulness and even though this man was banished he still remained loyal to his nation.
I agree with Alex, the whole system of government can be easily manipulated to end up being a seriously unstable government. I also believe that other than the nomal type of slaves, the gladiators of Rome did not have a fair life at all. They were forced to fight eachother which nobody wants to do as a living. Whenever someone is forced to do anything that they don't have any heart in, they will find every possible way to get out of that position. That si why the slaves and gladiators fought back. Because they do not want to be slaves.
As many others have said, one issue in Rome at this time would have to be their government. Clearly it was unstable. There weren't clear rulers. It seemed everyone wanted power. However some for different reasons. I agree with Zack when he says that the government was based on pride. It was clear that the upper class thought they were better and made the slaves work twice as hard to get something. The upper class get so caught up in power and wealth that they fail to see how powerful the slaves really were. They had no morals or insight to anything. Their goal was just power. I believe that the fact that the slaves were truly the only ones who had power is sad, and I also believe that could also believe an issue in Rome. Morals help set a firm foundation for a country, and if one has no morals, one meaning the upper class with really all the power, then how can Rome have strong foundation?, and a strong foundation is clearly needed for a successful country. The slaves clearly cound't rule becuase they were "lower class" and "not good enough". Since the slaves were really the only morally correct people of Rome you can say the foundation in Rome was not set on morals, but set on the desire to seek power. I believe the whole power and governemt aspect of Rome was clearly an issue.
like alex said the system could easily manipulated. crassus, i think it was crassus, beat the system and devised a plan to have rome groveling at his feet. the plan was to assume dictatorship and have rome in his grasps. another problem is that the the system allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to remain poor. the people that were high in power stooped so low as to cut deals with pirates to raise their prophet or well being.
I disagree with Alex and basically everyone else (all sided with Alex). I dont think Rome's problem was the incompitent leaders as much as the Roman values themselves. Yes, the leaders were ccorrupt but some of their rules and values were unjust. In Sparticus, one of the commanders was bannished for making one mistake. The rules and customs didnt seem exactly fair and were shown in multiple ways. Another one of Rome's problems was the wars with Corinth and pirates. Their constant fighting with pirates and having to send troops all over the Medditeranian to fight off invasion caused alot of problems for the Romans.
As most of the bloggers have said i would think that another issue that Rome is having is the senators trying to get more power such as trying to become the dictator and to benifit themselves from it. Another problem is that the commanders are underestimating the slaves and think they would not be able to properly fight the Roman Army so they are getting defeated suprisingly. The only other issue that i could see would be the pirates because that could cause problems for the navy if the pirates were paid enough to do something to Rome.
I agree with John, corrupt government and senate leaders were a problem, unorganized military and underestimating the slave’s power and ability to plan a successful attack and rebellion. Potential problems in the economy would surface if more slaves leave their places and join the revolt. There will be no one to work for the rich people. There was no unity for the success of Rome as a whole, but individuals bent on adding power and ruling themselves. The main problem was the greed and selfishness of the individuals that made the decisions.
Matt Hoey
As Alex said, other issues is that Rome's system could be easily manipulated, and the pirates would make deals with the senators of Rome. Also, as Gracchus pointed out in the movie, the representatives of Rome were going to punish the general whos base was taken over severely until Gracchus stopped that idea. This means Rome's senate would punish their commanders to harshly which could leave them out of a good commander.
Rome was intoxicated with a few greedy senators that were too blind to see past their own personal plans. They couldn't imagine, I guess, that the slaves have the ability to rise in power. They didn't expect one of their commander's to be defeated. Its own system was oblivious and poorly functioning. Their economic level had a chance to crash. Normaly, Romans had their slaves to do most of the things for them, machines, tools, etc. Yet when the slaves rebelled this would impede everything. This surely stirred the Romans' credibility. But thats not all, two other significant factors to include was that there were more slaves than Romans, and the rebellion of the slaves could have influenced the other conquered countries to rebell against Rome too. Thus Rome is covered with multiple conflicts with a poor government at the time. But, they still managed to survive over 2,000 years.
Meg
I think Rome was very flawed at this time. Clearly the authoritive figures misused,abused and were selfish in terms of their power. There seemed to be a battle for power and prestiege. I believe this distracted them from their incompetant commanders and revolting slaves. They basically trained powerful and indestructable warriors that eventually went to battle with them. They were also illprepared for attack from pirates or their slaves. Overall I think the prosperous leaders and members of the senate are what made Rome flawed and almost weak.
Well I think that Rome's biggest issue is that the government is corrupted in a way. If they "need" to, they can hire a dictator who has absolute power. Of course, they have the slave uprising that they must face, which Crassus ends up doing. The pirates, as Alex said, were a major problem because they were in control of the Mediterranean Sea, which Rome wanted, so they needed to diminish them and this would result in great control in the Mediterranean Sea.
i think that the feuding of the senators for power made the government weak and unstable. the system was corrupt and though they would not admit to it, was monarchial at times. the fact that there was constant feuds between neighboring nations made for the a very warlike nation.
i wouldnt call glabrus incompetent. when an entire culture has the general opinion that slaves wont rise up, and if they do, theyre "just" slaves, and it wont be an issue. It is easy to look back after you lose and say "MAYBE we should have taken them more seriously".Its Easy to put the blame on glabrus. but EVERY man in the senate would have taken the same course of action as glabrus, perhapsps even crassus. Glabrus was just unlucky enough to be in command of the losing side. Other than that, the general ideas that weve been saying are, as far as the movie goes, correctomundo.
I disagree with Alex, I don’t think the roman leaders were incompetent necessarily, but a lot of them (Glabrous) were not fit to lead. Their system of government was more at fault, it could easily be taken over and controlled by one person which made it unfair and unstable.
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