The Merovingians, Carolingians, and Charlemagne

"What picture of Charlemagne emerges from Einhard's biography?"


The picture that I see of Charlemagne in this biography is one of elegance and respect.  I see a man who worked to bring up his children in a secure environment, and I see a man who worked to beautify the place in which he lived.

For many, I believe that they will probably pay closest attention to the wars in which he fought, or perhaps they will particularly notice the power which he held.  I personally have little interest in the wars or politics.  I have interest in the description of the man, and aren't I supposed to be describing the picture of the man?

For me, the picture of Charlemagne that emerges from Einhard's biography is one which demands attention and wonder.  I see a man who was quite admirable.  That is the picture which I believe emerges from Einhard's biography.




"Discuss the shift in power from the Merovingians to the Carolingians.  Why did it occur, and how?"



First of all, the Merovingians were not exactly what I'd call skilled administrators.  For instance, they fought among each other in bloody slaughters between brothers and cousins.  They also would take place in human sacrifice.  Needles to say, these weren't the kind of people that you would like as your neighbors.

As time went on, a man named Pepin the Short came to power thanks to the Pope.  Pepin asked the Pope if it was right that a ruler whom did nothing had power, but the one who did something had no power.  The Pope said that was not right, and this is where the shift between power changed.

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Horace's Ethical View

"What was Horace's concept of personal ethical cause and effect?" 


     Horace's concept of ethical cause and effect was not half bad.  Using his Stoic view of the world he said to be much like the ant.  The ant stores food for the winter and eats it during the colder months in order to stay alive.  The little creature does not hoard the crumbs until she dies having not even touched them.  He said that people should also not hoard money or food.  When you die, an heir of yours may come into possession of it and use it anyways.

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Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis

"Compare and contrast photosynthesis and cellular respiration."

All plants use photosynthesis.  Even the
apple trees in this orchard.

     Hello all!  Today I am going to be talking about some of the similarities and differences in the two interesting phenomenons called photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

     Right off the bat we see an obvious similarity between the two.  They both use ATP.  (In case you were wondering, ATP is a chemical compound that conveys chemical energy inside of cells for metabolism.)

     We also see a key difference between the two.  This difference is how photosynthesis happens inside of things that we call chloroplasts, but cellular respiration takes place in the mitochondria.

     The last thing that I would like to mention is how photosynthesis and cellular respiration help each other.  They rely upon one another in order to properly work.  In my opinion, this is the main similarity between the two processes.

   
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Rome's Significance and St. Augustine

"Why was Rome significant in the history of Western civilization?


     Rome played a quite drastic role in the history of Western civilization!  So drastic that I don't even have enough time to write about all of it's significance in our history.  I will give you some of it's main roots of significance though.

     I would like to start off with it's significance in it's beautifully written masterpieces of literature.  Ancient Rome's literature has been inspiring us since it was first written and is still continuing to do an amazing job of that in today's society.  From Livy's History of Rome to Ovid's Metamorphoses, the literature of ancient Rome was simply stunning!  For this reason it is still read and admired by a great many today.

     Another reason that Rome is significant in the history of Western civilization is due to it's Latin language.  I can't even begin to stress how many English words have been derived from the Latin language.  The words quest, quip, tend, and example all have the Latin language to thank for their existence.

     One of the other reasons that Rome was significant in the history of Western civilization is because it took great care in preserving the wonderful aspects of the Greek culture.  Even though Rome was great, it certainly thought of Greece as being greater in some aspects.  

     And last but not least, perhaps one of Rome's greatest places in the history of Western civilization is from it's astonishing architecture.  Rome played an absolutely vital role in allowing us to attain some of the styles of building and road making that have been used for centuries!  The craftsmanship of ancient Rome was magnificent, and it is no wonder that we continue to use much of it today!



"What was the significance of St. Augustine in Christian history?"


     His significance in history comes from many aspects of his life I do believe.  Personally, I suppose that one of these aspects is how he was a sort of philosopher for God.  He was continuously looking for the truth, and he said that he found it in Christianity.  For some Christians (and non-Christians), this might seem like an encouragement to keep on searching for the one indisputable truth.

     Another aspect is how he seemed to enlighten more people to find the thing beyond the physical.  Like I said earlier, he was always on a search for the truth.

     Another is how he wrote his inspiring work, The City of God.  During the time when the City of God was written, Christianity was being blamed for the fall of Rome.  In the first half The City of God he is trying to explain why Christianity was not to be blamed for the fall of the empire, and what was to be blamed.  In the second half he tried to explain God's world and an evil world in an interesting way.  He described them as two cities.  One filled with those who were good and wanted to know the truth.  The other, filled with those who had no desire to love God and keep his commandments.  This great work of his undoubtedly encouraged and inspired many people considering how it is still being read to this very day!


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Ovid's View of the God's Ethical Performance

" What was Ovid's view of the god's ethical performance?"



     He never states his view formally in Metamorphoses, but we can get a pretty clear idea from the stories that he chooses for his poem.  The stories that he chooses are extremely lacking in ethical performance.

     Let's take the story of Jupiter and Io as an example.  The god Jupiter rapes Io and tries to hide the evil deed from his wife.

     For the lack of ethics in these stories I assume that he didn't think highly of the god's ethical performance.

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Christianity's departure from ancient ideals and practices, and the relationship between Rome and the Visigoths

"In what ways did Christianity represent a departure from the ideals and practices of ancient Greece and Rome?"


      Christianity represented a departure in more ways than one.  Among them were how the Christians looked down on suicide, but it was not always looked down upon in the time of ancient Greece and Rome.

     They also looked down on the gladiatorial battles.  This is no surprise since the battles went against practically everything that the Christians stood for.  The Christian teachings are very clear that murder is a horrible sin, and murder is exactly what the gladiatorial battles were.

     There were absolutely other things that the Christians departed from, but these are a few of them to give you an idea.



"Discuss the relationship between Rome and the Visigoths."



     The relationship between Rome and the "Barbarian" people called the Visigoths was extremely interesting! I will start off with the Huns' pursuit of the Visigoths.

     One of the more warlike "Barbarian" peoples called the Huns, were regularly searching after the Visigoths.  The Visigoths as you can imagine were quite frightened by the Huns, and they begged Rome to allow them to settle there.  They were eventually allowed, but although out of the way of the Huns' wrath, they were now being subjected to quite detestable treatment by the Romans.

     They were barely given enough food to live off of, nor were they given the land that they had been told that they would receive.  Of course the Visigoths were enraged because of this, and they decided to do what most any people would do.  They revolted.  After years of fighting, the Romans knew that they must negotiate with the Visigoths, so that is just what they did.

      That about sums up the fascinating relationship between Rome and the Visigoths.


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The Fascinating world of Taxonomy

"What are some of the challenges of systematics and taxonomy?  Should a biologist's classification be taken as absolute, inviolable truth?  In your opinion, is taxonomy necessary and/or important? Why or why not?


     I was asked to tell you about some of the challenges of systematics and taxonomy.  I will do just that! First of all, when a biologist tries to classify a species he can run into some annoying problems.  The problems that I'm talking about are how some species share both animal and plant characteristics.  As you can probably imagine, this poses quite a snare for the person who is trying to classify this creature.

     This information will prove crucial to answering the next question, which is if a biologist's classification should be taken as absolute.  I think not!  In the past we have seen classifications being changed as we gain more knowledge about the species that we are attempting to classify, so how is this any different?  That's just it, it's not!  Of course, most of the time we don't have people wondering where a horse falls into the grand scheme of taxonomy, unless they have completely gone mad.  But for some things, such as with the plant or animal scenario, it is entirely possible for something to be classified wrong.

     This poses a new question.  Is taxonomy important?  Well, just because we might classify something wrong every once in a while doesn't mean that it isn't important in my opinion!  I think that taxonomy is absolutely necessary!  Without taxonomy, how else would we figure out where a cow or woodpecker go. Without it, we would have difficulty differentiating between one species from another.  Without it, we might not be able to properly communicate which species we are talking about!  That would certainly cause some major challenges for scientists and biologists who are trying to study a certain species don't you think?

     Anyways, I hope that you have enjoyed this essay, and please let me know what you think!