The Shadow Of The Galilean

This essay will attempt to explain the motives that have led to the rise and fall of the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus in the late second century B.C. Although very few sources remain of these accounts, which are based mainly on works of the historians Appian and Plutarch, the Gracchi have been the subject of study by several scholars. If on the one hand earlier historians tend to represent them as heroes and revolutionaries, on the other, more recent ones have regarded them as two controversial figures which were politically motivated by personal gains. They proposed and passed a series of legislations and the most controversial one is the agrarian law about the redistribution of the land. It can be argued that their motives have been certainly and thoroughly selfless for the good of the people of Rome in the specific period of history which spans from 133 B.C to 121 B.C. On the contrary, as it will be explained below, their methods have not always been ‘orthodox’. There could be three main areas that will help this essay to conclude if they were truly heroes of the people or political opportunists; the first is to evaluate what their true motives were, the second is to assess if there was an agrarian crisis and the third to establish who the beneficiaries of their legislations were. Overall, as all political figures, the Gracchi have to be taken in the context of the specific roman society of their time.

1) Prescribed Text – The Book Thief a. Compose a summary/synopsis of the text (plot/themes/characters/key concerns). (100 words only)

The results of one’s involvement in society’s conflicts can be devastating. The short story “Gregory” by Panos Ioannides creates a setting where the characters are involved in the 1925 revolutionary conflict between Britain and Cyprus. Consequently, the plot focuses around an executioner who has the order to kill a British captive named Gregory, who became his friend. To make matters worse, fellow soldiers inform the executioner that he must to kill Gregory or else the Headquarters will execute him for failure to obey orders. Therefore, he struggles with the decision to either please his society or stay true to his friendship with Gregory. The author emphasizes this difficulty with use of mood, stream of consciousness, foreshadowing and visual imagery. Thus, Panos Ioannides short story “Gregory” develops the idea that society’s expectations and relationships can influence one’s moral decisions and create consequences.

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Peter Taylor’s Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time

The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier is a documentary-fiction that has not only brought to life the evolution of Christianity in Rome but has also painted a clear picture of what it was like to live in Rome at the time. Understanding the Roman’s way of life and reasoning behind their actions plays a major role in the reasoning for Maier writing this book. The Flames of Rome is equivalent to reading a textbook but Maier makes it much more enjoyable and intriguing by adding plausible details of his own. Maier’s portrayal of the death of Claudius Caesar, in chapter nine of the novel, closely follows the primary sources of Tacitus and Suetonius but also loosely follows that of the secondary sources. It is important to compare Maier’s version to other

The Roman Empire, in which the early Church rises in the wake of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, is complex cultural melting pot. Rife with hedonism, the honor/shame structure of the Roman Empire encourage the worship of the Emperor as God and the Empire as his Holy Empire. Against this narrative, the early Church was a counterculture to the ways of the empire and it is against this backdrop that Bruce Longenecker’s The Lost Letters of Pergamum takes place. The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a historical narrative following Antipas and encounters with Luke through an associate in a neighboring town. Antipas, named after his relative Herod Antipas, has come to great wealth and influence in the Roman empire. Antipas is introduced to

The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a book by Professor Bruce W. Longenecker, is a fictional book of letters that are exchanged between the fictional characters Antipas, a benefactor of Rome, and Luke, a physician and writer of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. This book is artfully written to give the modern reader a glimpse into the context and culture of the first century church. Longenecker presents a stunning display of Christ’s life through these letters and also the effects of his life in his culture.

In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti highlights the many significant people and events that characterized the late Roman Republic. Specifically, he focuses on the time period between the election of Tiberius Grachus, to the rise of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. In this account of history, Parenti presents the social, political, and economic aspects of the Roman culture from the perspective of the Roman commoner, or plebeian. Using this perspective, he also spends a great amount of time examining the causes and effects of the assassination of Julius Caesar. The views that Parenti presents in this book stand in sharp contrast with the views of many ancient and modern historians, and offer an interesting and enlightening perspective into class struggle in the society of the Roman republic.

The first part of the book focuses on providing the reader with an overview of Palestine under Roman rule, a land filled with turmoil and false messianic figures. Aslan gives specific examples of failed self-proclaimed messiahs, such as Judas the Galilean and “the Samaritan”, who attempted to overthrow Roman rule but eventually were

With this narrative and spirit of historical conundrums in mind, we will examine two primary Ancient Roman sources. The first will be Augustus’s Res Gestae Divi Augusti and the second, Book Ten

Anger, selfishness, violent tendencies, the quest for uncontrollable power, and sexual desires are all undesirable traits which are frowned upon by society, and are concealed to avoid scrutiny. These traits can be referred to as one's shadow. The shadow is the repressed unconscious side of a personality (The Shadow Archetype). The shadow is considered to be a dark force because it consists of all the negative emotions and behaviors of an individual that they choose to hide in order to avoid society’s pressing judgment. In literature, the shadow can carry negative or evil qualities, as seen in many texts that revolve around a character’s struggle with some form of a shadow. The shadow, whether a physical being or a darkness within, grows in

Flavius Josephus, the Wars of the Jews Why does Agrippa describe the situations of so many different peoples? How is it meant to support his argument against revolt? Agrippa describes the situations of different people to point out that a war of Jews against the Roman Empire is not a great idea since all these different people are summited to the Roman Empire. He supports his argument against the war pointing out that there are different nations, such as Greece, Macedonia, Gauls and etc.

During the rule of emperor Claudius, he began to express the many great things that were detrimental to the Jewish citizens of the city. It was among the latter was the explosive relationship between the Greeks and Jews, which had erupted into riots and massacres at the news of the death of Caligula (Letter of Claudius 285). Caligula was known for his aggressive claim to divine worship that the Jews has resisted (Letter of Claudius 285). That is to say, that the Jewish people were prepared to create riots against the Alexandrians, and in these circumstances it was only natural that they as people deserve equal rights and citizenship to the Greeks.

He wants to hide the fact that Jesus appears to be more prophet that philosopher and has tremendous influence on the masses. He delivers his report to Metilius and proposes a way to ease the tension between the Jewish people and the Roman leaders: amnesty for the Zealots and forgiveness of debts to the people. Andreas hopes that his suggestion will free his friend Barabbas, who has recently been imprisoned. His suggestion lands him in a meeting with Pilate, who twists his proposal into a means of measuring the mood of the public. Pilate agrees to let the people decide who should go free: Barabbas or Jesus. The people choose freedom for Barabbas, so Jesus and two Zealots, which were arrested with Barabbas, are sentenced to

By spying for Pilate, Andreas meets a Roman officer named Metilius who was assigned to oversee Andreas’ case and file all reports Andreas has to relay to Pilate. Metilius throughout the book learns the Jewish ideals but at the same time challenges Andreas’ beliefs and ideals about God and the Jewish