Before the Renaissance

I found it very interesting learning about the time before the Renaissance. I have particularly taken a liking to ancient Greece and the Romans. I liked learning about the start of the democratic and republic ideas because the two ideas are so different, yet are still completely relevant today (Part I & II). It shocked me, however, that democracy in ancient Greece was so limited with so many rules. Those who were able to participate have to be a male, have to be over 30 years old, have to be land owners, etc. (Part I). This shocked me because while the idea lived on, modern democracy allows more freedom regarding the rules. I liked noticing the similarities and differences in history compared to modern society. I also admire how much the Romans were influenced by the Greeks. "Just as the Greeks created a government system that many countries around the world try to copy today, so did the Roman republic act as a source of inspiration," (Part II). The Greeks started the "world's first democracy" (Part I), and their influence allowed the start of the republic idea. 

I learned a lot about the history of Islam considering I knew almost nothing about it before. I expanded my knowledge on the history through the Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars All Without a FlameWar video by CrashCourse. There are little similarities compared to the history of Christianity but my understanding on the Islamic religion was smaller before watching the video. As John Green said, "...like Christianity and Judaism grew up on the east coast of the Mediterranean but unlike Christianity and Judaism is not terribly well understood in the West" (Islam 0:05-0:13). What surprised me most were the five pillars, or the "basic acts considered obligatory." I knew very little about the five pillars, (the very little knowledge coming from friends or the media), so I enjoyed learning about it since it had always peaked my interest (3:25-4:33).

Iktinos and Kallikrates
The Parthenon
447-432 B.C.E
Athens

I knew about the famous Greek and Roman architecture from previous classes and from the media as well. In previous history, English, and theatre classes, the importance of the Greek columns and Roman domes have been discussed multiple times since it is so iconic. My previous theatre class especially dug into the topic of the architectural structures because so many well-known theatres were either built by the Greeks and Romans, or have integrated the columns and/or domes into their designs. In multiple historical movies and T.V. shows, the structures are included too, implying that the architecture is still pertinent in modern society. 

Roman Empire
Dome

Works Cited

McFadden, Christopher. “13 Interesting and Great Domes of the Byzantine and Roman Empire.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 6 Feb. 2019, interestingengineering.com/13-interesting-and-great-domes-of-the-byzantine-and-roman-empire.

Becker, Dr. Jeffrey A., and Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker. “Greek Architectural Orders.” Smarthistory, 8 Aug. 2015, smarthistory.org/greek-architectural-orders/.