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each for one side of the debate.  It was quite obvious that the pile for stopping the use of the boat was a bit larger, so without any counting, everybody declared that the majority ruled.

"At least it's not Sparta.  Oligarchies," a small woman nearby talking the elder that I had ran into before whispered.

Only a small group of probably aristocratic people can make decisions.

Starting to think about our representative democracy back in the United States of America, I headed back to my sleeping spot the previous night.  The debate had taken so long, it was almost sunset.  Direct democracies are much more different than our representative democracy, I thought. 

In a direct democracy, there are no separation of powers: citizens create laws, enforce laws, and act as judges, whereas in a representative democracy, some people have more power than others and citizens vote people to create laws, enforce laws, and act as judges.  But both direct and representative democracies are different than theocracies or monarchies.  

he bacterium that causes the plague, which confirmed that the individuals buried underneath the square had likely been exposed to—and died from—the Black Death.

Testing showed evidence of Yersinia pestis,

Currently, the plague still infects several thousand people every year around the world,

The medieval strain was no stronger than the recent one;

quickly and killed so many victims with such devastating speed, it would have to have been airborne

rather than bubonic plague, which is transmitted to humans through bites from infected rat fleas, they concluded that this must have been a pneumatic plague that made its way into the lungs of the infected and spread through coughs and sneezes.

60 percent of Londoners were wiped out by the Black Death from the autumn of 1348 to spring of 1349.

omparable rate of destruction would today kill some 5 million people.

transmission by rat fleas as an explanation for the Black Death “simply isn’t good enough. It cannot spread fast enough from one household to the next to cause the huge number of cases that we saw during the Black Death epidemics.

mostly poor people who suffered from general ill health.

Archaeological analysi

ndividuals buried

malnutrition,

Another interesting finding was that the remains in the square appeared to come from three different periods: not only from the original Black Death epidemic in 1348-1350, but from later outbreaks in 1361 and the 1430s.

Archaeologists planning another dig in the area this summer estimate that thousands of bodies are left to be found underneath Charterhouse Square.

Caesar became governor of the province of Gaul.

Caesar announced that he was going to return to Rome and run for consul again.

give up the command of his army first.

In 46 BC Caesar returned to Rome.

most powerful man in the world.

The Senate made him dictator for life and he ruled like a king.

changed the calendar to the now famous Julian calendar with 365 days and a leap year.

Caesar was too powerful.

He was stabbed 23 times.

Caesar Augustus.

While in Egypt he fell in love with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. He helped her to become pharaoh and had a child named Caesarion with her.

aristocrats.

The defendant on trial must pick an object out from within flames, or walk over hot coals. If they were burned in the process, they were presumed guilty.

A one-pound iron was heated in a fire, and pulled out during a ritual prayer. The defendant had to carry this iron the length of nine feet (as measured by the defendant’s own foot size). Their hands were then examined for burns

thought behind trial by ordeal was that,

thought behind trial by ordeal was that,

It would be easy to discuss many of the ancient Greeks inventions that took place which were associated with warfare. Almost everybody is aware of the fact that Alexander the Great and his conquests were some of the most renowned throughout all history. In just a short period of time, he and his army overtook most of the then known world and if his life would not have been cut short, he would have continued his conquests. There were, no doubt, many ancient Greek inventions which helped to make his conquests successful. The one invention that I will discuss, however, is the canon.  It is thought that they were one of the first to use a Canon although it did not use gunpowder. By using compressed air, these canons were able to hurl a projectile over long distances.  One well-known ancient Greek invention is the Antikythera mechanism. Believe it or not, this was a type of calculator that is thought to have been invented some 2000 years ago. As a matter of fact, many people consider this to be the world's first computer, although it was nothing like the computers that we see today. Through the use of a complex system of gears, it was able to calculate the relative positions of the sun, moon and stars whenever a date was entered. This is one of the ancient Greeks inventions that was truly far ahead of its time. The ancient Greeks were also well known for their work that took place under water. Aristotle first described this type of contraption some 2400 years ago. It is thought that this is one of the ancient Greeks inventions that was used in order to salvage the floor of the ocean for various items. It is unknown what other applications this ancient Greek invention had but it was ingenious that they were able to come up with the concept.  Another one of the ancient Greek inventions that is rather interesting is that of the shower. Although nothing was known about germs at that particular time, the Greeks thought that it was a healthful practice to wash the body with water. The fact that there were showers during this time period is recorded in various art murals that have been excavated . It is hard to know what other ancient Greeks inventions were in existence during that time. One thing's for certain, they were a society that was rather enlightened and well ahead of their time. Perhaps with some more archaeology work on our part, we may be able to discover that they were behind some other ingenious ideas as well.

Many of Alexander's accomplishments were made possible by his father, Philip of Macedon.

In 338 B.C.E., King Philip of Macedon invaded and conquered the Greek city-states. Philip took advantage of the fact that the Greek city-states were divided by years of squabbling and infighting. Philip succeeded in doing what years of fighting between city-states had not done. He united Greece.

Alexander's the Great's tutor was the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

For years, the massive Persian Empire threatened the very existence of the Greek way of life

Alexander, took the throne in 336 B.C.E., he vowed to complete the plans of his father. In 334 B.C.E., Alexander invaded Persia, which lay across the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor

Alexander smashed the Persian armies at the Tigris River and conquered the mighty Persian Empire, including the legendary city of Babylon. For many Greeks, this victory marked a moment of sweet revenge against a bitter foe

at the age of 25, Alexander ruled an expansive empire

Alexander conquered Egypt and founded a city at the mouth of the Nile River.

ntil he reached India and the Indus River in 326 B.C.E. At this point, his exhausted troops refused to fight further.

Without the support of his army, Alexander had no choice but to turn back and begin consolidating and organizing his far-flung empire. On his way home, Alexander died from disease in 323 B.C.E.

First, his father was able to unite the Greek city-states, and Alexander destroyed the Persian Empire forever. More importantly, Alexander's conquests spread Greek culture, also known as Hellenism, across his empire.

Without Alexander's ambition, Greek ideas and culture might well have remained confined to Greece.

in 13 short years he amassed the largest empire in the entire ancient world

Alexander's reign marked the beginning of a new era known as the Hellenistic Age

They used their expertise at seamanship and battle to make raids on the towns and churches of neighboring kingdoms.

There were at least 17 rules to the knights code of chivalry and vows of knighthood. The most important were to serve God, serve their liege lord (the King), be courteous to all women (though what they meant was all women of the noble class), and to defend the weak. Other rules included to fight for the welfare of all, to live by honor and glory, and to refrain from the wanton giving of offence; basically, don’t act like ye olde arse.

this was meant to defend the elderly, women and children, but of the upper class. Knights were often brutal to peasants and it was considered acceptable because of the low social status of the peasants. 

From this, came rules like if a woman was of equal or higher status, he should stand when she enters a room and sit only after she does, the best foods at a meal should be offered to her, and when walking on the sidewalk, the man should walk closest to the street. This was to protect the woman from getting spattered with mud and the contents of chamber pots (buckets that were used as toilets) that were thrown out windows. It was a way to show that the gentleman honored the woman to have the poop hit him instead.

nights kept their skills sharp by competing in tournaments known as jousts where two heavily armored horseman race at another at high speed

Medieval tournaments brought knights and lords together in friendly competitions to show off their skills at hand to hand combat, horse back riding, and of course, jousting

A head shot for example was the most damaging but also the most difficult target, and therefore was awarded the most points.

Cash prizes, called a purse, would be given to the winners and this was the best way to move up the social ladder if you didn't get a chance to show off your skills on the battle field. 

To become a knight was a long and difficult path.

sent to live in the castle with his Lord where his training would begin around the age of seven

road to knighthood he was known as a page. A page's training involved learning to ride a horse and receiving religious instruction from the priest of the manor. And, when he wasn't riding or praying, a page spent his days running errands and serving the ladies of the manor. He would also be taught to dance, sing, and play a musical instrument which were considered honorable qualities for a knight to have.

a page would be promoted to the role of squire. A squire worked directly with his knight. The squire learned skills from his knight (who was also his Lord) such as sword fighting and hand to hand combat. The squire pretty much acted as personal assistant to his knight, polishing his armor, caring for his horse, and even waiting on him at meal times. During times of battle, it was the job of the squire to help his Lord into the armor and look after him if he was wounded. He also had the awful task of cleaning out the armor which, after a long day on the battle field would be covered in all sorts of bodily fluids.