Friday, December 27, 2019

Varna Bulgaria - Eneolithic/Copper Age Cemetery

Varna is the name of a Eneolithic/Late Copper Age cemetery located in northeastern Bulgaria, slightly inland of the Black Sea and north of the Varna Lakes. The cemetery was used for about century between 4560-4450 BC. Excavations at the site have revealed a total of nearly 300 graves, within an area of approximately 7,500 square meters (81,000 square feet or approximately 2 acres). To date, the cemetery has not been found to be associated with a settlement: the closest human occupation of the same date consists of 13 pile-based lake dwellings, located near Varna Lakes and thought to be of approximately the same period. However, no connection to the cemetery has been established as of yet. Grave goods from Varna included an enormous amount of goldwork, a total of over 3,000 gold objects weighing more than 6 kilograms (13 pounds). In addition, 160 copper objects, 320 flint artifacts, 90 stone objects and more than 650 clay vessels have been found. In addition, over 12,000 dentalium shells and about 1,100 Spondylus shell ornaments were also recovered. Also collected were red tubular beads made from carnelian. Most of these artifacts were recovered from elite burials. Elite Burials Of the 294 graves, a handful were clearly high status or elite burials, probably representing chiefs. Burial 43, for example, included 990 gold artifacts weighing 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) alone. Stable isotope data suggests that the people at Varna consumed both terrestrial (millet) and marine resources: human remains associated with the richest burials (43 and 51) had isotope signatures that indicated higher percentage consumption of marine protein. A total of 43 of the graves are cenotaphs, symbolic graves containing no human remains. Some of these contained clay masks with gold objects placed in what would be the location of eyes, mouth, nose and ears. AMS radiocarbon dates on animal and human bones from burial contexts returned calibrated dates between 4608-4430 BC; but most artifacts of this type date to the later Eneolithic period, suggesting that the Black Sea location was a center of social and cultural innovation. Archaeology The Varna cemetery was discovered in 1972 and excavated well into the 1990s by Ivan S. Ivanov of the Varna Museum, G. I. Georgiev and M. Lazarov. The site has not been as yet been completely published, although a handful of scientific articles have appeared in English language journals. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Chalcolithic, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Gaydarska B, and Chapman J. 2008. The aesthetics or colour and brilliance - or why were prehistoric persons interested in rocks, minerals, clays and pigments? In: Kostov RI, Gaydarska B, and Gurova M, editors. Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy: Proceedings of the International Conference. Sofia: Publishing House St. Ivan Rilski. p 63-66. Higham T, Chapman J, Slavchev V, Gaydarska B, Honch NV, Yordanov Y, and Dimitrova B. 2007. New perspectives on the Varna cemetery (Bulgaria) – AMS dates and social implications. Antiquity 81(313):640-654. Honch NV, Higham TFG, Chapman J, Gaydarska B, and Hedges REM. 2006. A palaeodietary investigation of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) in human and faunal bones from the Copper Age cemeteries of Varna I and Durankulak, Bulgaria. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:1493-1504. Renfrew C. 1978.  Varna and the social context of early metallurgy.  Antiquity 52(206):199-203.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

What I Know About Art - 1279 Words

When anyone goes downtown, they do not tend to think of it more than just buildings. In my mind, I would think of perspective, color schemes, proportion, and more art terms. My hippocampus, responsible for processing long term memory, pulls out art concepts because I have been taught to see things differently. Artists are taught to look at how things relate to each other, how they were formed, and why they were placed there. Our brains processes things the same way everyone else s does, but we overthink everything. Luckily our body does the millions of other things we couldn t keep track of. I was always intrigued by how these little things inside our bodies were responsible for every single thing we do and feel. Thanks to psychology, I now know why art professors always wanted to engrave so many concepts that seemed common sense at the time. Now I know that the concepts I constantly think of when making art , are things that influenced my life. Most of our actions and emotions start with the neurons. These little cells are responsible for transmitting messages when they are stimulated by signals from feeling or when triggered by any sort of chemical reaction. Without getting into intricate details, these are the building blocks that connect other various body systems. For example the central nervous system is responsible for making me feel the contact I am making between my fingers and the keyboard. Psychology can also be linked in explaining my relationship with my dog.Show MoreRelatedVisit The Young At Art Museum1437 Words   |  6 Pagesreflection paper I decided to visit the Young at Art Museum. It is located on Southwest 121st Avenue and is just south of 5-95.(Figure 1) I decided to go on a Friday and I think a few schools may have had the same idea. Upon first arriving I knew, almost instantly, that Young at Art was designed with the youth in mind. 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Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, art integration can be defined as â€Å"an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both† (Silverstein Layne, 2010). With this definition, we know that art integrationRead MoreThe Importance Of Teaching Humanities And Arts1337 Words   |  6 PagesTeaching Children the Arts and Humanities Jenry Martin PHI103: Informal Logic Instructor: Stephen Krogh March 7, 2016 Ashford University My research is about the importance of teaching humanities and arts to kids. Humanities and art can provide understanding to children opening their minds and after my research, I can say I am in favor that children learn in early ages humanities and art. In this paper, I will provide both examples why kids should study them and why not. I will explain howRead MoreWhat I Knew About Being An Artist1141 Words   |  5 PagesWhat I knew about being an Artist Growing up in a family full of creative minds it wasn’t hard to find my own talent. I became obsessed with art at a young age, drawing anything that caught my fancy whether it be cats, dogs, or power puff girls. I loved to draw. I found that with my drawing I had a natural desire to get better and build upon my talent. In the later years of middle school when the time came that we were deciding our future careers I didn’t want to be an artist. I wanted to just quitRead MoreMath, Education And Learning893 Words   |  4 PagesEducation Learning As an art enthusiast and a student majoring in Design, I can truly relate to the ideas being presented in the assigned videos and readings. Lockhart’s Lament was especially eye opening in my opinion; the theory behind it and they way the author delivers his thoughts fascinates me the most. As a result, I was compelled to finish reading it. I love art, and I feel privileged to be inspired to pursue it. There is not much complication in art unlike math. Art is transparent in a senseRead MoreArt past to Present Essay741 Words   |  3 PagesHow would you define art? What criteria would you use? -After being in the Creative Arts class my ideas about what art really is and how I would define it has changed. To me art is something that an artist has thought of and then made it. I also think that art should be something that stimulates the senses or the mind in some way. Whether it me a painting with a hidden meaning or music which stimulates your hearing senses. 2. In the coursepack discussion â€Å"what is art,† what four pieces do theyRead MoreVisual Arts As A Career1395 Words   |  6 PagesIf you love arts and find happiness in creating beautiful things, then you should explore visual arts as a career. Visual arts is an always expanding field, especially in a modern-day society. There is a growing need for visual artists because businesses are more visual through the internet. You do not have to be a photo-realistic painter to be a successful artist as art is far more than painting on a canvas. It can be anything from illustrating a book to helping a company market their product inRead MoreMy Life At The Art1347 Words   |  6 Pages As long as I can remember there has always been a need for me to make things, which as I grew older became a coping mechanism for me. I’ve grown up in a household that celebrates the arts, but I was mostly self taught as my family members don’t consider themselves artists. Because of them, I have had the opportunity to travel to different countries and see many different styles of art. I grew up in a household that was centered around a Greek way of life, so being embedded in that while livingRead MoreArt Programs At My School1726 Words   |  7 PagesThe art programs at my school gave me a family I could have never had otherwise. All artistic classes and extracurricular activities that I have participated in have taught me how to be more engaged in my learning, express myself in a healthy way, give myself constructive criticism, and boost my self-esteem. The arts made me excited to wake up in the morning and go to school. When I am on stage, I am free to do what I lov e and be whoever I want to be without fear of judgment. I did not just learn

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

AOL Time Warner Essay Example For Students

AOL Time Warner Essay On January 10, 2000, one of the largest, most powerful mergers was announced to the world. Media giant Time Warner will join forces with the Internet superstar, America on Line. The $183 billion dollar deal is the biggest in history. In the recent past, there has been a wave of merger-mania, both in the United States and in Europe. The merger of the Millennium is between America on Line and Time Warner. The AOL Time Warner deal represents the joining of the Old Media with the New Media. Not only is it a marriage of different approaches, the two CEOs are very diverse individuals. The two companies are quite different, in nearly every aspect. Some of the divisions of Time Warner have been around since the 1920s, while the youngster, AOL is a mere fifteen years old. The quick paced, new up starting Internet companies never thought in a million years they would ever need the old stand-by media organizations. The Internet will revolutionize everything, that is what their beliefs were. The y were fearless and believed themselves to be invincible, but things have changed. The Internet has put the world only a mouse click away and it has changed the world.The fact of the matter is the world of the Internet is extremely competitive and in order to survive, you must invest huge sums into your marketing campaign, in some cases up to seventy percent of a budget. The one thing that you can always could on in this word is change, and there are going to be some major changes in the realm of the high tech companies. The techies are going to have to realize their need for and have to learn how to form lasting relationships with the old stand bys in order to keep up with todays world.Time Warner is, for the most part, a stable reliable organization. Time Warners holdings include many magazines, Time, Sports Illustrated, Money and Fortune just to name a few. Time Warner also possesses Warner Brothers Studio, Warner Music (which recently acquired EMI Music), Turner Classic Movies a nd an array of television stations. A partial list of the broadcast networks includes CNN, TNT and HBO. Time Warner is also the second largest cable television provider in the country. They have also recently invested huge sums of money into their cable system to prepare it for Roadrunner technologies. Roadrunner is an alternative to a standard Internet service provider account (ISP). Roadrunner allows a user to send and receive as much information as they desire and unprecedented speeds. Time Warner has played around with their own Internet company, Pathfinder, with little success. The world of the Internet is so cutting edge that unless a company pays very close attention to it, chances for success are very low. This fact brings the importance of a joining with an organization such as AOL into the light for Time Warner. America on Line realizes the value of a company as established as Time Warner. AOL is a New School organization. Steve Case and Bob Pittman also had the foresight to see the impact of a joining of their company with Time Warner. They could create the largest, most powerful service provider in history. America on Line comes into the deal offering its cutting-edge technologies and the love of the American people. AOL has continually updated its system to make using the Internet easy for anyone. They have removed the phobias that many Americans have experienced. AOL has developed its very own vast world where you can find nearly anything you could possibly want to. AOLs domain is perfectly safe and so simple to navigate. At present, AOL has over 22 million subscribers. Americans love AOL and all the features it has to offer. AOL has something called Instant Messenger, which allows you to communicate instantaneously via your computer with anyone, anywhere. They offer multiple e-mail acco unts with each dial up account. What this means is in a household, each member can have their own e-mail address at no additional charge. AOL makes the Internet so easy to navigate and unlimited access is offered for about $20.00 per month. Time Warner needs AOL to move forward in todays world and AOL needs Time Warners vast customer base and diverse advertising options. AOL can slice their advertising budget considerably by utilizing all of Time Warners diverse outlets. Just imagine, on every network, in every magazine and even at the beginning of every film produced within the Time Warner family AOL is mentioned. The exposure would be phenomenal! If you examine the other side, on every AOL web page there is a mention of a Time Warner media division or a promo for a newly released Warner Brothers film, just imagine the number of people who would be exposed to it. The numbers are staggering. AOL is also very interested in Time Warners cable company holdings. The quality of what you see on your computer is dictated by something called bandwidth. A bandwidth is the amount of information that can be sent and received by your computer. A large bandwidth would allow you to watch a television show or a movie on your computer. Most connections to the Internet are established via a standard telephone line. This type of connection does not provide a large bandwidth. AOL has plans to develop AOL TV in the future and in order to make that vision a reality; they need to be able to offer a larger bandwidth to their existing customers at a reasonable price. The merger with Time Warner is certainly a step in the right direction to achieving this goal. At present, AOLs walled garden for all their subscribers is very small bandwidth friendly, but as the company has always done in the past, it will continue for bigger and better for its customers. Steven Case of AOL, the boyish entrepreneur has consistently beaten the odds with his ability for seeing a world-altering vision and not letting go until he has made it happen.His forward thinking concerning the merger with Time Warner has been compared to the gutsy moves of Alfred Sloan at General Motors back in the 20s. Sloan outdistanced himself from the competition by constructing an automobile for every purpose and every purse.He left the competitors in the dust by gaining control of more of the automobile market than anyone else. Case is a forward thinker and has the drive and ambition to make practically anything work if he wants it bad enough, and he wants the merger with Time Warner to be a success. .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .postImageUrl , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:hover , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:visited , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:active { border:0!important; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:active , .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98 .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u53a1bb34644ab5cdbf50637800e24a98:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Progressive Movement In America EssayA second merger that happened in the month of January was between pharmaceutical giants Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline. This merger has been in the works for nearly two years and has finally become a reality. The joining of these two companies will create the largest drug company in the world. The conglomerate Glaxo Wellcome SmithKline will have the opportunity to discover more new drugs than anyone else, having a research and development budget in excess of four million dollars and a sales and marketing team of over forty thousand to sell the drugs. The only other pharmaceutical company that can compare in size to Glaxo Wellcome SmithKl ine is the giant Merck and Co, with yearly sales around 20 billion. Merck and Co will see its patents on a few key products expire in the next couple of years. Although CEO Gilmartin remains true to his stance that Merck needs no one, he did add that the company may be forced to rethink its position. The pharmaceutical industry has been consolidating for years and appears that this trend will continue. There has also been a sizable increase of mergers in Europe. In the year 1999, the value of European mergers soared to 1.5 trillion dollars. This figure is nearly double the $988 billion dollars recorded in 1998. The emergence of a common currency, the Euro, has made the mergers much easier and more appealing. Once the expected mergers within a countrys boundaries have been exhausted, companies feel comfortable crossing the border to another country.Paul Gibbs, of J.P. Morgan stated that 60% of the action in Europe last year crossed national borders. Experts expect this trend to conti nue in Europe. One French banker made the bold prediction that one third of the top forty blue chips in France will either gobble up, or be gobbled up by another company in the coming year. I believe that the mergers and super mergers are going to continue in the future. I also believe that these transactions are going to become necessary for businesses to remain competitive and to not fall to the wayside. The joining of mega media giants AOL and Time Warner is going to start a trend and I believe we will see many more combinations of similar companies in the future. Companies will be forced to play this merger game if they want to stay alive and remain successful. This, I believe, is the trend for the new millennium and it is a trend that will become a new way of doing business.Bibliography:Sources:BusinessweekJan 24, 2000:Welcome to the 21st CenturyThe Big GrabThe Great Irony of AOL Time WarnerJan 31, 2000Burying the Hatchet Buys a Lot of Drug ResearchThe Economist The Record Indu stry Takes FrightThe Net Gets RealTimeThe Big DealWall Street JournalAssorted articles

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

McCarthyism vs. The Crusible free essay sample

In the play The Crucible, Hale, while holding a book, claims, Here is all the invisible world caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the devil stands stripped of all his brute 50) Later in the play, when Mary Warren describes her court day to the Proctors, and how Goody Osborn tried to send her spirit out and kill her. She says, l never knew [Goody Osborn tried to kill me] before. I never knew anything before. When she come into the court say to myself, I must not accuse this woman, for she sleep in ditches, and so very old and poor. ..But then Then she sit there, denying and denying, and feel a misty oldness climbing up my back, and the skin on my skull begin to creep, and I feel a clamp around my neck and I cannot breathe air.. . She carries on, saying, then Judge Hawthorne say, Recite for us your of all the ten she could not say a single one. We will write a custom essay sample on McCarthyism vs. The Crusible or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She never knew no commandments, and they had her in a flat lie! Finally, she justifies herself by saying I told you the proof-?sees hard proof, hard as rock the judges said. McCarthy stated in a speech in Wheeling Virginia, [The existence of Communists] has lighted the spark which is resulting in a moral uprising and ill end only when the whole sorry mess of twisted, warped thinkers are swept from the national scene so that we may have a new birth of honesty and decency in government. A SSP source also states, a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred card-carrying communists had infiltrated the United States government. Though eventually his accusations were proven to be untrue, and he was censured by the Senate for unbecoming conduct.. . (McCarthy) Puritan belief was based on the puritan religion, which held a long standing association between witches and evil. Hale briefly points this out; and, as he is regarded as Nobel in his society, uses his authority and judgment to make a strong claim about the book he has and the thing he knows. Later, when Mary talks about her day of court- she justifies the lack of proof by saying that the Judges, who associate with Hale, and have a religious prejudice, think the proof is clear if you cannot say the commandments.This shows how strong one aspect of the society is, and how sure individuals in it are of their own beliefs. McCarthy states that the communists are a sorry mess of twisted, warped thinkers, which clearly showcases his prejudice awards communists, since their views do not affect their honesty or decency, frankly; and the belief that their thinking is warped is strictly an opinion. The idea of his political affliction becomes even more clear when it is known that h e accused over two hundred people of being communists without any proof or justification. Both parties also relied on fear to sway people to agree with them. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams constantly accuses her neighbors of witchcraft. One exclusive example is when Mary Warren is in the court room to show the girls as frauds, and Abigail retorts, accusing her of witchcraft, too. The stage directions and dialog are as follows: Abigail, looking about in the air, clasping her arms about her as though cold: know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. Her eyes fall on Mary Warren.McCarthy used fear in his speech in Wheeling; telling the people, The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation. (McCarthy) Abigail manipulates the officials and her peers by playing on their fears. Abigail accuses Mary for two reasons. One is to hurt Mary for tattling. The other is to distract the judges, who were starting to question the girls.McCarthy does the same; telling the people that their government is full of traitors- who are better known by the term communist. Most, if not all, of the accused in both situations faced hardships in the time of the happenings. In The Crucible, Act IV is primarily the scene of John Proctors confession (and counter-confession. ) The Judge sakes if John will formally sign a confession. He responds with, I have confessed myself! Is here no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church!God sees my name, God knows how black my sins are! It is enough. It is said that during the Second Red Scare Some had their passports taken away, while others were jailed for refusing to give the names of other communists. The trials, which were well publicized, could often destroy a career with a single unsubstantiated accusation. (McCarthy) The puritans, along with being accused and jailed, had to publicize that they confessed to being a witch, and brand themselves with the title, or die so they ay keep their clean name. This shows great injustice.Even if you were not a witch, the court would hold you to it with their faulty proof until you confessed it and damned your soul by lying. Likewise, McCarthy ruined careers and lives with his accusations, jailing some of his alleged communists and striping privileges, like passports, from others. Both occurrence, though so far apart, correlate with each other when it comes to injustice because Of prejudice, using fear as a moderated, and ruining innocent peoples lives. Lotus goes to show that history really does repeat itself.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Film and Shakespeare essays

Film and Shakespeare essays Film and Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing There is more to Shakespeare comedy than meets the eye. Discuss how well you think the comedy Much Ado about Nothing translates from text to screen. Over the years Shakespeare has ventured many different stories in order to perform them in view of a live audience. One of his many wonderful plays which appeared to be successful would be Much ado about nothing, a romantic comedy which was written about 1598/99. In the majority of Shakespeares comedys, he would take a serious issue and simply laugh at it. It would appear to be a simple misunderstanding rather than an issue to the audience, therefore they would be content in their viewing. The pattern of Shakespeare comedys appeared to be of one action triggering a sequence of events and almost misleading the story in another direction. It was a genre, which needed full interpretation of its meaning and therefore meanings were repeated through the play in order to keep the audience in understanding. Characters within the plays were often presented in a way in which society would accept, however gradually throughout the play it was Shakespeares routine to let theyre masks slip just to catch a glimpse of what lay ahead. The standard routine for Shakespeare would always be a performance on stage during daytime hours, this regime is continued throughout the world to this day (extending there viewing until night). Theatres perform many live productions capturing the ambience of a performance which only people present at that time can see and will never again be repeated. Therefore an obvious task lay ahead for Kenneth Branagh when he decided to take the text Much ado about nothing and take it to the screen. Kenneth Branaghs film released in 1993, exploiting any previous visual possibilities. The play was set in Messina with panoramic ...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Greed and Taxation Led to the Fall of Rome

Greed and Taxation Led to the Fall of Rome Whether you prefer to say Rome fell (in 410 when Rome was sacked, or in 476 when Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus), or simply morphed into the Byzantine Empire and medieval feudalism, economic policies of the emperors had a heavy impact on the lives of the citizens of Rome. Primary Source Bias Although they say history is written by the victors, sometimes its just written by the elites. This is the case with Tacitus (ca. 56 to 120) and Suetonius (ca.71 to 135), our primary literary sources on the first dozen emperors. Historian Cassius Dio, a contemporary of Emperor Commodus (Emperor from 180 to 192), was also from a senatorial family (which, then as now, meant elite). Commodus was one of the emperors who, although despised by the senatorial classes, was loved by the military and lower classes. The reason is mainly financial. Commodus taxed the senators and was generous with the others. Likewise, Nero (Emperor from 54 to 68) was popular with the lower classes, who held him in the kind of reverence reserved in modern times for Elvis Presley- complete with Nero sightings after his suicide.   Inflation Nero and other emperors debased the currency in order to supply a demand for more coins. Debasing currency means that instead of a coin having its own intrinsic value, it was now the only representative of the silver or gold it had once contained. In 14 (the year of Emperor Augustus death), the supply of Roman gold and silver amounted to $1,700,000,000. By 800, this had dwindled to $165,000. Part of the problem was that the government would not permit the melting down of gold and silver for individuals. By the time of Claudius II Gothicus (Emperor from 268 to 270), the amount of silver in a supposedly solid silver denarius was only .02 percent. This was or led to severe inflation, depending on how you define inflation. Especially luxurious emperors like Commodus, who marked the end of the period of the five good emperors, depleted the imperial coffers. By the time of his assassination, the Empire had almost no money left. The 5 Good Emperors Leading to up Commodus 96 to 98: Nerva  98 to 117: Trajan  117 to 138: Hadrian  Ã‚  138 to 161: Antoninus Pius  161 to 180: Marcus Aurelius177/180 to 192: ​Commodus Land The Roman Empire acquired money by taxation or by finding new sources of wealth, like land. However, it had reached its furthest limits by the time of the second good emperor, Trajan, during the period of the high empire (96 to 180), so land acquisition was no longer an option. As Rome lost territory, it also lost its revenue base. Romes wealth was originally in the land, but this gave way to wealth through taxation. During the expansion of Rome around the Mediterranean, tax-farming went hand-in-hand with provincial government since the provinces were taxed even when Romans proper were not. Tax farmers would bid for the chance to tax the province and would pay in advance. If they failed, they lost, with no recourse to Rome, but they generally made a profit at the hand of the peasants. The diminishing importance of tax-farming at the end of the Principate was a sign of moral progress, but also meant the government couldnt tap private corporations in the event of an emergency. The means of acquiring crucial monetary funds included debasing the silver currency (seen as preferable to increasing the rate of taxation, and common), spending reserves (depleting the imperial coffers), increasing taxes (which was not done during the period of the high empire), and confiscating the estates of the wealthy elite. Taxation could be in kind, rather than coinage, which required local bureaucracies to make efficient use of perishables, and might be expected to produce reduced revenue for the seat of the Roman Empire. Emperors deliberately overtaxed the senatorial (or ruling) class in order to render it powerless. To do this, the emperors needed a powerful set of enforcers- the imperial guard. Once the wealthy and powerful were no longer either rich or powerful, the poor had to pay the bills of the state. These bills included the payment of the imperial guard and the military troops at the empires borders. Feudalism Since the military and the imperial guard were absolutely essential, taxpayers had to be compelled to produce their pay. Workers had to be tied to their land. To escape the burden of tax, some small landowners sold themselves into slavery, since slaves didnt have to pay tax and freedom from taxes was more desirable than personal liberty. In the early days of the Roman Republic, debt-bondage (nexum) was acceptable. Nexum, Cornell argues, was better than being sold into foreign slavery or death. It is possible that centuries later, during the Empire, the same sentiments prevailed. Since the Empire wasnt making money from the slaves, Emperor Valens (ca. 368) made it illegal to sell oneself into slavery. Small landowners becoming feudal serfs is one of the several economic conditions  responsible for the fall of Rome. Resources and Further Reading Barnish, S. J. B. â€Å"A Note on the ‘Collatio Glebalis.†Ã‚  Historia: Zeitschrift Fà ¼r Alte Geschichte, vol. 38, no. 2, 1989, pp. 254-256.  JSTOR.Bartlett, Bruce. â€Å"How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome.† Cato Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, 1994, pp. 287-303.Cornell, Tim J. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome From the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 B.C.). Routledge, 1995.Hammond, Mason. â€Å"Economic Stagnation in the Early Roman Empire.† The Journal of Economic History, vol. 6, no. S1, 1946, pp. 63-90.Heather, Peter. Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford University, 2014.Hopkins, Keith. â€Å"Taxes and Trade in the Roman Empire (200 B.C.-A.D. 400).† Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 70, Nov. 1980, pp. 101-125.Mirković Miroslava. The Later Roman Colonate and Freedom. American Philosophical Society, 1997.West, Louis C. â€Å"The Economic Collapse of the Roman Empire.†Ã‚  The Classi cal Journal, vol. 28, no. 2, 1932, pp. 96-106.  JSTOR.Wickham, Chris. â€Å"The Other Transition: From the Ancient World to Feudalism.† Past Present, vol. 103, no. 1, 1 May 1984, pp. 3-36. Woolf, Greg. â€Å"Imperialism, Empire and the Integration of the Roman Economy.† World Archaeology, vol. 23, no. 3, 1992, pp. 283-293.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The War on Terror Has Led To Greater Violence Essay

The War on Terror Has Led To Greater Violence - Essay Example However, all the countries the US has strategic control over, do not seem to be able to overcome insurgents and troublemakers. The underlying argument that attributes the causality of events is that the surge in violence caused by insurgents and ‘terrorists’ is a consequence of the continued interruption of the US, NATO and its allies in the affairs of foreign countries. The argument is further strengthened by the fact that the loss of civilians as a result of misdirected and poor strategic and military decisions on the part of the US and NATO has been colossal. Think of it this way, how would the American public react if a rival state such as China, invaded Texas. It then went on to establish military bases, strategic air bases, and firm control over the region. Furthermore, it carried out searches in houses of all residents on the premise of suspected terrorist activity. The reaction would be that of anger, contempt and frustration and would lead to an uprising against the foreign occupants. The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is strikingly similar to the one presented above, except that it is happening for real with the occupation of the US and NATO forces. ... That proposition however, could turn out to be extremely challenging for the developed world amid one of the worst economic crises of history. The rationalization that leads to the establishment of insurgent groups and ‘terrorist’ organizations stems from the basic argument of right of freedom and independence. These organizations are often termed as freedom fighters or warriors by their supporters and the zeal and purpose with which they fight goes far beyond economic incentives. Furthermore the strongest insurgent groups that are participants on the other side of the War on terror, including Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, are driven by the extra zeal of religious extremism, whereby they seek to establish the principles of their version of Islam and do not tolerate anyone who does not follow their interpretations of the religious scriptures of Islam (Riedel). Their perception of death and its consequences is starkly different from a common American citizen. Through war they seek to achieve martyrdom, and through martyrdom, heaven. Their faith in their religion is far stronger than their love for this life and their purpose of existence hinges on a better afterlife (Crews and Tarzi). To further their cause they often misinterpret or quote religious scriptures out of contexts, bringing in vulnerable youngsters to join their struggle and broadening their horizon of influence and power. Hence, it is important to realize that bringing such groups down is not a statistical battle in terms of number of men; rather it is a war against a specific faith that is strong. The invasion and occupation of these nations gives this faith extra life and