J.Hunter - Sources

Geer, Russel M. "Second Thoughts on the Imperial Succession from Nerva to Commodus ."
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. JSTOR, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 67, (1936), pp. 47-54
Accssed Apr-13-10

In this secondary source by Russel M. Geer it is about a more in depth understanding of how successors to the throne of Rome were chosen, giving detailed information onn how Marcus Aurelius became emperor and how Commodus became to be his successor. The article also contains a bit of family historty as the information is being told ogf the two rulers. This is useful for my research because it gives me a better understanding of my finally decided topic of the overall image of Commodus that is presented. The article provides me with a litle knowledge of his background as well as a possible conformation of his persanality, with statements such as " It was unfortunate for Rome that Commodus did not die in childhood..."

Speidel, M.P. "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army"
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. JSTOR, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 83, (1993), pp. 109-114
accessed Apr-13-10

This source also considered as secondary is all about the emperor Commodus. Providing more biography type of information about the ruler it gives information on his last reign and shines a bit of light on the assumed madness of his personality with information about him yearning for divine help. This also provides me with lots of primary information form decisions Commodus made during his reign to his murder. This article is very useful for my research because it increasse my knowldge greatly of the emperor, while also providing me with topics to include in my paper.

Primary & Secondary Source- Deangelo Toles

I'm doing research on the Gladiator. I'm doing further research on how Rome is made up and the things that take places in Rome like events and the type of clothing they wore in the empire plus the cities that were subdivisions in Rome. The author is Thomas Ashby & the article name is Rome. I have found a couple of primary sources, but I'm still looking for some more secondary sources. I found an article about Rome and it basically talks about what's in Rome and what makes up Rome. I tells me how big the temples or whatever they slept in were & the first settlement. It explains how the emperors & gladiators came about & how they determined or chose the people to run the empire. For example, Julius Caesar was the most powerful person in Rome because he was the ruler and took on the importance role to make Rome the best it could be. The article also talks about about most of the cities that were in Rome and how they impacted the lives of the Roman empire.

PROMPT / Primary & Secondary Sources

Once you've found some (no necessarily all) good sources to use for your paper, you need to figure out how to cite them in MLA format. The MLA Handbook 2010 is best (it's in the library..just ask), but if you're in a pinch, there are some okay MLA guides online.
http://ocw.usu.edu/English/intermediate-writing/english-2010/-2010/mla-format

Remember that if you're getting your sources online, you need to cite them as an online source. There is a particular format for this.

**For next week, post the citations for 2 of your sources (preferably 1 primary and 1 secondary), and write a brief summary of each. Tell us what each book/article is about and a sentence or two about why it is useful for your research.

(This may seem like just an extra writing assignment, but you'll use your sources better and with greater ease once you've spent some time distilling them.)

FINDING SOURCES ONLINE

Use the TSU library's databases to search for good scholarly articles related to your topic. (They pay for the subscriptions to a bunch of different journals, etc. that you can't get by just going online.)

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to TSU homepage.
2. Click "Library/Media Centers" in the Quick Links box.
3. Click "Databases" in the Search box.
4. For the purposes of this class, I recommend searching by title (instead of by subject) and using JSTOR or EBSCOhost. Both of these should provide you with plenty of good sources. But, of course, feel free to do it another way.
5. You may have to sign in at his point using your name and TSU ID number.

Whatever database you decide to use, the "Advanced Search" (if that's an option) is always better for giving you more specific material. Obviously. So opt for this if you know what you want re: your topic.

If you have any trouble from here, you can get in touch with me via phone, email, or gchat. If I'm online, gchat is always best.

Have fun.

p.s. There are also some kickass resource people in the library who love helping students with this stuff. Don't hesitate to use them.

Karl Summary

The movie starts with Maximus being the general of the roman empire army. Maximus was and favored by many including Marcus Aurelius who is the emperor at that time. At one point of the movie Marcus tells Maximus that he wants be emperor of Rome. After Marcus tells his son Commodus that he wants Maximus to be Emperor when he dies, he is then murdered by his son Commodus. Maximus then takes a stand and he refuses to grasp the fact that Marcus wasn’t killed. Commodus ordered the execution of Maximus and his family. In the meantime Maximus had then escaped. Then when he tried to return home his family had already been executed. He then goes into Acoma and then he is sold into slavery. While he is in slavery he proves himself as a gladiator and gets recognized. On his way back to glory he engages in many battles through Africa back to Rome. This leads to the most climactic scene where he meets the emperor and explans what he has been through and how he is back. The Commodus the emperor then challenges Maximus to a fight to the death. Before the fight, Commodus stabs Maximus and tries to cover it up.
Maximus and Commodus engage in a fight to the death which is the most important battle of the movie. Maximus kills Commodus but he then dies. Then the Rome senate is restored.

TONIGHT @ 7PM / FREE MOVIE FOR EXTRA CREDIT

Hey 1020. What are you guys up to tonight?

The FRIST (art museum on Broadway) is showing the movie, 300 *for free* in their auditorium. These film nights are actually really nice. There's brown-bagged popcorn you can pick up at the door (for free) and wine/beer/soda for sale in the museum cafe. You can take drinks into the auditorium with you. (I don't recommend kegs, however. Be respectful. :)

**Be there tonight at 7:00 pm, tell me about it on the blog, and get an [A] added to your blog grade.

My buddy Paul Young (director of film studies at Vanderbilt) will be introducing the film at 7:00pm sharp, so don't miss this.

This is a Zack Snyder movie based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. More wild battles, more ancient Greeks, another wicked cool hero, and SICK cinematography... Some of you may like this more than Gladiator. I'm curious. See the link below for more information about tonight's event.

http://fristcenter.org/site/calendar/eventdetail.aspx?cid=833

***

If you don't get a chance to see the movie tonight, there's another chance to get some extra credit TOMORROW (Saturday). The FRIST currently has a hero-themed exhibition up called, "Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece." In the spirit of our latest Gladiator assignment, check out this exhibit sometime this week(end) if you get a chance. Even if you just see one interesting thing, tell us about it, (or about your overall experience of the exhibit/Frist) on the blog. Below is a link to that exhibit.

http://fristcenter.org/site/calendar/eventdetail.aspx?cid=792


Below is just a quiz to see what Greek mythological character you are most like....
(C'mon. Everybody secretly loves these things. :)

http://thewalters.org/exhibitions/heroes/quiz/

Pamela Word-Gladiator Intro

In the movie Gladiator, the main point that the director is trying to come across us is that to become ruler of something, you have to go through obstacles and hardships. There was a lot of fighting and killing in the movie. At the beginning, a man had come back to the land with his head chopped off. This shows you how serious they were about the title of King. Russell Crowe, the main character, played Maximus. Maximus was a potential ruler of Rome. The action in the movie had a great amount of cimenatography. If it if from the costumes to the setting, this took place. The Romans are more civilzed than the barbarians. Their clothes makes them seem that way which leads to the cinematography in the movie.


This is only half of my intro. Any tips on how it could be better?