Saint Cyril

Saint Cyril was born between 815-827 AD in the Greek town of Thessaloniki. Saint Cyril was asked by the Byzantine emperor to spread the christian message to the slavic people. To do this he travelled with his brother Methodius. Saint Cyril invented the Glagolitic alphabet to suit the language of the slavs. This was the oldest Slavic alphabet in history. The script known as Cyrillic which is derived from Glogolitic is still used to this day by countries like Russia, Serbia, and Macedonia. Due to Glogolitic's complicated nature it stopped being used in the 19th century, last being used in Croatia. Saint Cyril is mostly known for spreading the Christian message to the Slavs which was considered to be a great achievement. The Slavs became christian which meant that Cyril had succeeded in spreading the message to the Slavs. Even though the language was made to spread the christian message now it has become a very large part of many countries heritage and language. Even though Cyril never directly invented Cyrillic, it is obvious that it is derived from Glogolitic, which was invented by him. Saint Cyril died on the 14th of February 869 AD.  Methodius continued his travels until the 6th of April 885 AD. Overall Saint Cyril was a very influential saint and made more than a religious influence in the world.

 

Women in Modern Politics: Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is the current United States Secretary of State. In 2008 she ran for president and is considered a revolutionary women in politics. Hillary Clinton was born on October 26th, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1969 Hillary Clinton attended law school at Yale and soon married future United States president Bill Clinton. From 1993 to 2001 Hillary Clinton was the first lady of the United States and played a very large role in the matters of public policy. She was later considered the second most openly empowered first lady behind Elanor Roosevelt. As the first lady Bill Clinton appointed Hillary Clinton to head the task force on National Health Care Reform. After Bill Clinton's 8 year term as president ended Hillary Clinton ran for senator from New York, she won with 55% of the votes. She was sworn in as a senator in 2001. In 2004 Hillary Clinton launched a campaign to be re-elected as a senator from New York, once again Hilary Clinton won with 67% of the votes. Up until 2007 she served as senator but in 2008 she ran for president of the United States. Although she lost to Barrack Obama she was still considered a legitimate candidate and was one of the few women to run for president. When Obama took office Hillary Clinton was appointed US Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton has been a very influential and famous political figure and played a role similar to Theodora because she was also one of the main advisors to the leader of the country as their wives.

Mosiac

 On my mosaic I decided to do the symbol Alpha and Omega. This is a christian symbol meant to represent what god said, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord" (Revelation 1:8). This comes from Alpha, which is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega, which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. The process of making the mosaic was easy but very long and arduous. It consisted of cutting pieces of paper and gluing them on which I had to do over, and over, and over again. There wasn't that much planning except drawing where the symbol and border would be. To design a mosaic 1500 years ago must have been a huge pain and very boring. There would have been very much planning involved, way more than what I did. They would also need a lot more focus and would need to find the exact correct pieces so it fits together perfectly. Not to mention that they would also need to be artists so they could design good pictures, which would probably be hard for an average artist like me. There would also have to be immense detail on a large scale mosaic including lots of different colors.

Tha Fall of Rome

There were many reasons for the fall of rome and they were all spread out of hundreds upon hundreds of years, but there were some that contributed more than others. One large factor was the major economic downturn and massive inflation. A bag of grain that would have otherwise costed 5 drachma then costed 120,00. Romans were also continuously importing luxury resources which they actually couldn't afford. Another reason which was possibly the biggest was the failure to hold of barbarians which eventually led to them destroying the western roman empire. The lack of military strength because of bad economy and other factors led to this happening. The third large reason was the growth of the government. Diocletean expended the Roman buerocracy in an attempt to organize the government but it backfired and led to many dishonest and corrupt officals having power. The last major reason was the decline in the worker force. Since taxes were going so high and people were being forced to work many people were dying and thus leading to a lack of workers. I think that the largest factor to the fall of Rome was their failure to hold off the barbarians. When Diocletean tried to integrate them into society it just led to revolts and the Roman military was unable to supress them which eventually led to the end of Rome. 

Jesus Christ Superstar Review

The story of Jesus Christ is one of the most famous in the world and is known by almost everybody, but have you ever wanted to see it as a musical in the modern day performed by a bunch of hippies? Probably not, but this is one of the many great things about this movie. If someone told you that it was the story of Jesus as a modern hippie musical you would think it sounds ridiculous. Although at some times it might be it never fails to deliver. With amazing performances all around from actors like Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ) and Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot) it really makes a seemingly ridiculous concept becomes one of the best things about it. The songs, actors, and script are all great and make the movie something to remember.x

Jesus Christ Superstar came out in 1973; it was based on a play by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the adaptation by Norman Jewison which is one of the really great factors of the movie. This movie is based around the central concept of asking “Was Jesus really the son of god, or just a regular man?” This is a very apparent theme with many of Judas’ songs asking Jesus about what his motives. It contains the main events of Jesus’ life including the last supper, his crucifixion, and his trial. The scene choice was also very dependent on the movie which is, was Jesus Christ really the son of god or just another man?

The movie opens with the musical cast driving into a desert and you see them unloading their bus. The first song is Judas singing about Jesus and how he thinks that he is just a man and not the son of god. It then shows Jesus in a cave with his followers, with them asking him about the future. Judas comes in and criticizes Jesus. The movie continues with other wonderful music pieces depicting Jesus’ life. Some of the songs are certain to crack you up while others really want to make you cry, this contrast really helps with the storytelling. The characters portrayals in the movie are sometimes very strange and will really make you think what the heck did I just see.

Jesus Christ Superstar used its premise very much to its advantage and it was executed so skillfully so that something that sounds silly at first is the best thing about the movie. The movie was filmed in the desert with ancient ruins serving as a common location. The way that they use modern technology to show what it was like at the time is something really interesting about the movie. When Judas feels that he has to betray Jesus and when he feels trapped it uses tanks and planes to show this. Or when it shows the market in front of the temple, to illustrate the horrible nature of this they show that guns, drugs and prostitutes are being sold. The actors also make it so convincing, especially Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot).  Carl Anderson is so convincing in his role, you can always feel his emotion and see how he feels.

Jesus Christ Superstar is a movie that you should definitely try to get a look at. Though not being the best movie ever it consistently gives great performances and musical numbers. I recommend this movie to people who want a little bit of a twist on the story of Jesus Christ, and also to adults who may find some of the imagery and referencing easier to understand than younger people. The performance by Carl Anderson is probably the best actor in the movie and gives such a believable performance. Although Jesus’ role is still not portrayed by an actor of the same caliber he still doesn’t diminish the overall value of the movie. The choice of what parts of Jesus’ life to show was also very interesting because it further reinforced the question of whether or not Jesus was the son of god. Overall this is definitely a great movie and is something that you should try to watch. I give Jesus Christ Superstar a 9/10.

Geography of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was very much full of fertile soil which was great for farming. This was one of the many reasons people decided to settle down in the Italian Peninsula and why the Ancient Roman Empire eventually formed. Historians theorize that people moved from northern Europe into the Italian Peninsula because of its fertile soil and that the first people settled in Rome. Rome was built in a great place since it was on a river and the surrounding farmland was very lush and fertile. Rome was also built on several hills which helped prevent invasion and gave them a heads up on any invading forces. Rome also developed bridges from which they could cross the Tiber River which made many people go through Rome. Rome had an amazing climate and geography which helped a lot in its development.

Founding of Rome

There are two myths that describe the beginning of Rome, the first one is that there where two twin brothers called Romulus and Remus. They were abandoned by their parents as babies and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber. The basket ran aground and the twins were discovered by a female wolf. The wolf nursed the babies for a short time before they were found by a shepherd. The shepherd then brought up the twins. When Romulus and Remus became adults they decided to found a city where the wolf had found them. When Remus began to make fun of what Romulus was building he killed Remus in a fit of rage. He then finished the city by himself and established himself emperor. The other story of Rome's creation is that when the Trojan War was over Aenaes sailed the medditteranean Sea in search of a new place to call home. He eventually came to the Latins where he became the king of them. Although this is what the Romans claimed to have happened, archaeologists have a different opinion on how Rome was created. Historians believe that the Latins lived around Rome around 100 BC and sometime between 80 and 700 BC they joined together with all the other people of the land to create Rome.