The Sack of Rome

Welcome Alaric, king of the Visigoths. Tell us about the sacking of Rome.

A: It started in 378 when Visigoths were placed in the roman army. In 395, we renounced a treaty we had made with Rome, and I was chosen as the king of the Visigoths. I tried invading Italy in 401, and managed to scare the emperor at the time to move his court to the city of Ravenna before I was pushed out of Italy. Luckily, the emperor died in 408, so I went ahead and invaded Italy again. This time, my arch rival Flavius Stilicho, who had bested me during my last invasion, was killed for his support in a power struggle. My army surrounded Rome, but the siege was lifted when we received tribute from the city in 409. In the summer of 410, the foolish emperor Honorius would not listen to our negotiations, so our allies in the city opened the city gates, allowing us in. we pillaged and took much wealth, but spared most of the civilians and buildings before moving on. Through this act, we sent shockwaves throughout the known world, and we started the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

 

"sack of Rome." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Constantine the Great

Hello bloggers, it’s me again. Today, I’m going to be interviewing the roman emperor Constantine the Great. Tell us a little about your childhood, Constantine.

C: I was born in 272 A.D. to my parents Helena and Constantius in the city Naissus. My mother was a common women, and my father was at the time a roman officer, who would later become the co emperor. I watched my father die in 306 in Britain, and then a man named Maxentius claimed the throne. The army remained loyal to me, and I defeated him in 312 at the battle of Milvian Bridge.

What did you do once you established yourself as ruler?

C: I decided to make my capitol city Byzantium, or present day Istanbul. Being very modest, I renamed the city Constantinople. I changed the status quo when I became the emperor though. I not only stopped Christian persecution, I became a Christian myself. I did this because jesus saved me at the battle of Milvian Bridge. I then worked on turning Constantinople into a city that would rival Rome. I then died in the year 337.

"Constantine the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Julius Caesar

I am here today interviewing the great Julius Caesar about the fall of the Roman Empire. Welcome Mr. Caesar. Tell us your story.

J: I was born in 100 B.C. with the name Gaius Julius Caesar. Because of the dangerous feud between my uncle and Lucius Cornelius Sulla , I fled Rome and studied politics and warfare in Asia Minor. In the year 73 B.C. I returned to Rome. I assumed the position of a priest, and took up the job of military tribune. When my wife and aunt died, I stirred up emotions by giving them public funerals, something that was very rare in Rome. I then went to Spain where I got rid of the hostile tribes there, greatly adding to the public coffers and paying off my debts. I was elected into the consulship in 58 B.C. and used corruption and violence to reward my followers. I became increasingly corrupt and was tried for corruption, but was found innocent. I then took my own personal army in 49 B.C. and crossed the Rubicon, where I attacked and defeated republican forces in 45 B.C. becoming dictator for life. It was short lived however; as I was murdered by senate members in march 44 B.C. After I died, a cycle of Civil wars followed, where Augustus was crowned the first emperor of Rome.

"Julius Caesar." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010

Alexander the Great

Hello Alexander, I am honored to be interviewing you today. Let’s get started. Let’s first talk a little bit about your early life.

A: Well, I was born in the year 356 B.C. to King Phillip II of Macedonia. I had a great teacher, Aristotle, to lead me through the teen years. My father was assassinated in 336, leaving me to the throne.

What were your plans when you took the throne?

A:My longtime goal has always been to defeat Persia, mainly for revenge of the Persian wars, but also for the land and plunder, but before I could do this, I viscously put down a rebellion in Thebes.

How did you plan on doing this?

A: I brought an army of 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry across the Dardanelles River and attacked the Ionian cost. I pushed down the cost into Egypt, where I liberated the people there, who believed I was a god. I then overthrew the Persian government, and was crowned ruler.

What happened afterwards?

I encouraged marriage to Persians to fuse our cultures, which was met with much resent. I took ill in Babylon in 323 and dyed June 13.

Thank you for your story.

"Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010.

Golden Age in Greece

Hello Mr. Pericles, thanks for letting us interview you. I have a couple questions for you. First off, how did Athens ascend to a golden age?

P: You see, we were under the threat of the Persian army. We managed to beat them twice over, proving us superior to them, and allowed us to expand and prosper.

When did this all happen?

P: around the year 470 B.C.

Now what exactly happened in this time period?

Our great city of Athens became the Hellenic capital of the world. We had a bustling trade center, a thriving economy, and a soothing spirituality. During my reign, we also took over the Ionian Greek cities. In 478, we made a pact with many other Greek states (although some of it was forced) to rid our lands of the remaining Persians. During this period, we began to use our power to force this pact of states to do what was in our best interest. We began to make other states pay payments to us for our army and such, and we were forced to move the treasury to Acropolis in 454 to keep the money safe.

What happened after that?

P: We began to expand intellectually and culturally. We had the great philosopher Socrates, who came up with the Socratic method of teaching. His student is also world renowned as the great Plato.

And how did all of this come crashing down?

P: In the year 431 B.C. the Spartans became afraid of our rising power, and sought to put an end to us. A great plague further reduced our numbers. Finally, the Spartan army managed to defeat us in our invasion of Sicily in 415 B.C.

 

Thank you for your time

Barrett, Matt. "The Golden Age of Greece." matt barrett's travel guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2010. <http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/goldenage.htm>.

Zheng He

Boy, what a lifetime it’s been. I, Zheng He, have done more in my life then 10 normal people. It all began in 1371, when I was born. I was castrated at 10 years old to serve in the emperor’s palace. He befriended prince Zhu di, and was a great warrior. In 1405, he embarked on his first great voyage with a fleet of hundreds of ships and thousands of men to scour the world. A total of 7 expeditions were sent out with the intent of showing the power of the Chinese. On the third expedition, the flotilla defeated the king of Sinhalese. The last expedition was undertaken in 1730. That’s where I am, on the way home. There is a storm on the horizon and I must be off to tend to the ships.

Zheng He died on the way back from his last expedition, and the fleet was destroyed when It got back by the emperor, and no one is sure why.

"voyages of Zheng He." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. <http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/>

Sung Dynasty

I’m Chang Khan, royal historian for the Mongolian Empire. I help our generals out by telling them the history of lands we are going to conquer, which can sometimes help a battle plan. Today I was asked to shed some light on the Sung Dynasty. Started in 960 by General Zhao Kuangyin when he usurped the emperor of the zhou dynasty, the Sung Dynasty had large social, economical, and cultural effects on the world. From the dangerous presence of us, the Mongolians, Zhao, or as he renamed himself, Taizu, created a large national army to defend his new dynasty, which began to use gunpowder in Ernest. His capitol fell to the Jurchens in 1125, but a southern Song dynasty was set up. This southern dynasty made numerous advancements to the era, through art, literature, and numerous inventions such as the southern compass and wood block printing. Because of this form of inexpensive literature, a new middle class showed up. Now it is the year 1279, and we are going to easily take over the remnants of this dynasty.
"Song dynasty." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. <http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/>