#history2017

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History 2017 ~ Important Details on Julius Caesar's Assassination

Hello! Here are some important details to keep in mind when reviewing/researching about the death and assassination of Julius Caesar:

•Four men led the conspiracy. Gaius Trebonius: served as a praetor and consul and had fought with Caesar in Spain. Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus: governor of Gaul and had been victorious against the Gauls. Gaius Cassius Linginus: served with both Crassus and Pompey as a naval commander and who some believe conceived the plot Marcus Junius Brutus: also served under Pompey and who was the brother-in-law of Cassius.

•the conspirators’ final decision was to strike during a session of the Senate at the Theater of Pompey on March 15, 44 BCE (also known as the Ides of March).

•The conspirators chose a double-edged dagger or “pugio,” about eight inches long. Daggers were better for close contact and could be hidden under their togas.

•Some people believed these omens signified the upcoming assassination: Caesar’s horses that were grazing on the banks of the Rubicon were seen to weep. A bird flew into the Theater of Pompey with a sprig of laurel but was quickly devoured by a larger bird Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia had a dream of him bleeding to death in her arms. A soothsayer named Spurinna warned him to beware of danger no later than the Ides of March.

•When Caesar entered the theater a man named Artemidorus tried to warn him of eminent danger by thrusting a small scroll into his hand, but Caesar ignored it and did not read the scroll.

•Casca dealt the first blow with his knife; Caesar immediately tried to defend himself by raising his hands to cover his face.

•The remaining conspirators surrounded the shocked Caesar, striking him in various areas (Cassius struck him in the face, Decimus to the ribs).

•Caesar collapsed, dead, ironically at the foot of a statue of his old enemy Pompey.

•In all there were twenty-three blows.

•Caesar did not say “E tu, Brute!” (You, too, Brutus!) as Brutus plunged his dagger into the dying dictator but “You, too, my child!” 

•Brutus even issued coins celebrating the assassination, known as the Ides of March.

(Taken from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/caesar2.htm)

I hope some of these facts prove to be useful! If you have any more facts about Caesar’s assassination that they’d like to share, don’t hesitate to leave them by the “submit” part of this blog for your tips to get posted here as well.

That’s all for now! Any questions, comments, suggestions? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment! Let’s have a discussion!!

All the Pwaas, Aimy

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A small helpful video from TED that helps address one of the guide questions in this year's History curriculum: "Why do people choose to believe in unlikely things, even in defiance of established fact?”

That's all for now! Any questions, comments, suggestions? Don't hesitate to comment! Let's have a discussion!! 

 All the Pwaas, Aimy

[wscalpacanation]

WSC History 2017 ~ Connections between conspiracies and other theory types

Hello!

So, let's talk about the definition of theories, and how conspiracy theories can fit in with the other types.

The Oxford dictionary defines theory as "a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained."

But as you can see, this definition still leaves quite an open end to theories—giving us the ability to add deeper, more complex definitions and understandings of it and give it different types and classifications.

One type of theory is a conspiracy theory—the exact type the History subject of the 2017 WSC curriculum focuses on.

But what is a conspiracy theory? The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes the term conspiracy theory as "a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators."

This automatically sets conspiracy theories apart from other types of theories—natural, historical, scientific, cosmological, theories about our universe, etc—however, that doesn't prevent conspiracy theories from being connected to (or even tuning into!) an entirely different type of theory.

Take for example the Magnate Conspiracy, which talks about a plan by a group of Continental Army officers to rebel against the authority of the Confederation Congress, fueled by their frustration with Congress's inability to meet its financial obligations to the military. Thankfully, however, George Washington solved the situation with a speech to the Army officers to remain loyal to the Confederation Congress.

(As you can tell, I've researched quite a lot about this particular conspiracy thanks to my ever-burning passion for the musical Hamilton—yes, I have spent my time and my interest over my theory simply because I heard it had something to do with George Washington)

So, while the Magnate Conspiracy, by itself, is considered as a conspiracy theory (actually— not a theory anymore, as it was proven and officially declared to have really occurred. I'll refer to it by now as a just as "true conspiracy" for the sake of simplification), it could also be seen as a historical theory and not just as a true conspiracy by itself.

Another example could be the many 9/11 conspiracy theories, one of which arguing that instead of being a terrorism attack, the events that occurred at 9/11 were actually a planned demolition.

Like the Magnate Conspiracy, the different 9/11 theories could also be classified as both conspiracy theories and historical theories, as it falls under both sub-topics of theories.

Meanwhile, other conspiracy theories could be connected with more than one other type of theory.

Take one example of the many Faked Moon Landing Conspiracies, which states that the Apollo 11's landing on the moon was actually faked by NASA. This theory could be classified as a historic theory, a conspiracy theory, and a theory about our universe and what it truly holds. Historic, because the moon landing was consider a huge breakthrough in our history. Conspiracy, because it talks about how the moon landing could have been secretly faked by NASA in order for the USA to win the Space Race over Russia, and a theory about our universe because another version of this theory states that our moon is actually just a holographic image projected from Earth.

Thus, you can see the connections between the different types of theories and conspiracy theories as an entirely separate type, and how these could overlap and be classified as more than one type, based on the claims of the theory in point.

That's all for now! Any questions, comments, suggestions? Don't hesitate to leave a comment! Let's have a discussion!!

All the pwaas, Aimy