World History Homework Four Answers - Student Fourteen

Jonathan L 3/4/09 World History Week 4 homework

1) Hadrian was my favorite because based on his work, building walls, he saw that even the most powerful country in the world, Rome, could be attacked. The mere act of Hadrian building walls showed wisdom was more prevalent in him than pride.

2) Hannibal’s efforts in the Punic Wars was truly remarkable. Not only was it a feat to cross such a vast distance on foot and elephant, the fact that they did this through the cold and desolate mountains just added to the prestige. Remember, Carthage is build on the warm coasts of Africa. These soldiers most likely had no prior experience with cold weather, let alone snow. This also goes to show the level of trust Hannibal’s men had in him, or else they would have thrown their lives into such a treacherous situation.

3.) The Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire were far different in that the Romans had a succinct, efficient form of government and law, while the Byzantines were a more “run and gun” type society. They were both wonderfully successful empires, however the Romans surpassed all.

4.) If someone writes or speaks 50 words in one language, Egyptian, to describe two words in Latin, who do you think will be more successful. All things being equal, the empire who can cut communication times will be far greater in the long run. The Romans, who were schooled in Latin, communicated significantly faster than their adversaries. In battle, by the time someone says “ look there he is over the hill he is coming our way, watch out!,” the Romans would have been like “bang bang,” and the whole Roman legion would know what to do. A compact language is a practical one, and anything that is practical will result in success.

5) “Pax Romana” was a term the Romans used to describe the pinnacle of Roman power. This term was used when the Romans were at the peak of their power.

6) As scary as it is, the United States is declining, and unfortunately people do not seem to understand the cause of the problem. Yes the people serve the government rather than the other way around, yes America has become socialist, and yes the dollar is losing value. But these issues are not the root, they are only the function of the real problem, peoples’ morals. America turned with their eyes closed to Barack Obama, and they said “ here fix the problem.” Well guess what, he cannot fix the problem. No one can. The slow execution of Christian values in public settings, the lack of patriotism, and most of all, the denial of God are the real causes of our country’s epidemic. The cure is so obvious no one even wants to try it… if our country returns to its fundamental beliefs, our Christian beliefs, that were woven by our forefathers into every document they ever made, into every statue they ever built, or every building they ever raised, our country will immediately begin to recuperate, but, just like Rome, people were more concerned about themselves than country, and they watched as their nation crumbled. But Rome did not fall in a day, it took decades, as will our decline. Fortunately for us though we have some reference point to look at if we really want to. The Romans did not have 2000 years of documented history to take from like we do. We can still fix our problem. But Rome did not fall because it lacked Christianity. It fell because it found Christianity. When Rome became Christian, the people saw no reason for conquest. America has lost God, and until we find Him, were pretty much ruined.

7a) If the ultimate goal in our lives here is to achieve salvation, as the Bible says, then everything that happens in this world is either working for or against that cause. There can only be one absolute truth, it is foolish to believe that all religions are true. There is only one north star, it is absolute. Everything useful that ever happens is either to promote Christianity, or to dissuade people from it. We would be naive to say that there is no devil. People never talk about these things because it makes them uncomfortable… if something makes you feel uneasy, usually it is something you want to bring some kind of closure to. So yes the devil does put obstacles up to cause people to stray from the one absolute truth, Christianity.

H2) The Roman Law no doubt, because they controlled the legion. Countries whose military governs the law always fail, so even though the Law had no physical power, it gave commands and instructed those who had physical power on how to live go about their lives.

H3) All Roman citizens, including the apostle Paul, had a right to a trial in Rome. So when Paul was accused with a crime, he basically said “ bring me to Rome to be tried,” like my people are not going to convict me even if I had done something wrong. Jesus though was actually shafted by Roman Law. When Pilot condemned Jesus to death by letting the Jews decide what to do with him, Pilot let the law fall to appease another group of people. The real question is did Pilot do anything wrong? … I mean Jesus implied prior to his meeting with Pilot that he was going to be killed, so someone had to do it, why not Pilot? My point is that did Pilot actually have a choice, because God already knew what he was going to do, which was something that had to be done.

H5) Attila the Hun was a ruthless killer who did what was needed to be done in order to succeed in battle. He conquered most of the world, and he would have decimated the Romans even in their prime. Ironically Attila died from drowning in his own blood, maybe he had hemophilia, who knows. Either way his military genius was overrun by his foolishness, as happens with a good amount of leaders. He killed himself by refusing to fix the smallest of problems, a nose bleed. �