Almost everything we have today, from science, ethics, entertainment, art and our modern form of government was invented and developed by the Greeks and Romans. This course examines their history from the pre-Trojan War era to the fall of the Roman Empire. Topics covered will include the Trojan War, Greek/Roman religion, the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, Greek/Roman art, architecture, science and philosophy, Alexander the Great, the Roman Republic, expansion, and Empire, Roman law and military, the Caesars, the rise of Christianity and the Fall of Rome.
Prerequisite: None
½ credit
Units
Unit I: Ancient Greece (4 Weeks)
Essential Questions
Define: Western Civilization.
Summarize Minoan and Mycenaean (Achaean) civilizations.
Summarize the story lines of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and their effects on Greek culture?
Define was the Greek city-state?
Describe Greek trade and how it resulted in the Greeks developing colonies and the spread of their culture?
What were the causes and results of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars?
What brought about the Golden Age of Athens and what were the advances in art, science and philosophy that occurred during that time?
Who were some of the great Greek philosophers and what were their contributions?
How and why did the Macedonian's come to control Greece and then an empire?
What is Hellenization and how did Alexander the Great implement it?
Unit II: Ancient Roman Republic (2 Weeks)
Summarize the origins of the Roman Republic.
Summarize the influence of the Etruscans and Greeks on Roman culture.
Explain how the Romans conquered territory and how they maintained control of it.
Characterize the internal instability of the Roman Republic as it became an empire.
Summarize the events by which the Roman Republic declined and Augustus was named Emperor.
Unit III: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Origins and Development of Christianity (2 Weeks)
Summarize how the Romans spread Greek and Roman ideas throughout the Empire
Describe the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
Summarize how the Christian church developed and how Christianity spread and became the state religion of Rome.
Describe how Diocletian and Constantine revived the Roman Empire.
Analyze the social, economic, and political factors that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Unit IV: Informal Logic
Students will define the Three Acts of the Mind
Students will define the terms used in logic: terms, proposition and arguments.
Students will distinguish between valid and invalid arguments.
Students will define and be able to identify examples of 42 material fallacies.