Digital Scrapbook: Rome

Current event: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/04/28/402628280/record-number-of-amicus-briefs-filed-in-same-sex-marriage-cases
Past event: http://www.greekgateway.com/news/ancient-greek-to-modern-architecture-with-greek-influence

Latin Influence on Legal Systems of Today

These NPR article discusses amicus briefs, a Latin name.  Amicus briefs, are filed by groups, individuals, and governments who have an interest in the outcome of case before a court.  In almost all Western countries the legal system makes extensive use of terms like amicus brief. For example a priori, ad hoc, ad finitum, affidaditi, alter ego, caveati, contra, bona fide, and habeas corpus. These terms and hundreds of other Latin terms have been in more or less continuous use for over 2,000 years and what they mean is long since been settled.   Lawyers everywhere understand exactly what a term like amicus brief means. International law, in particular makes a heavy use of Latin terms in order to minimize the misunderstandings when lawyers who speak different languages are talking to each other.  Various efforts over the years have been made to reduce the number of Latin terms lawyers use but these efforts almost invariably fail because the new English expressions lack the exact definitions which have been achieved over the years for the Latin terms. To laymen most of this terms are unintelligible and as a result actors in TV series who are playing lawyers use many Latin words to indicate seriousness.

The legal system of the Roman Empire was based on laws written in Latin which spelled out property rights and how to settle civil disputes among private citizens.  It also provided a way to deal with criminals.  Earlier legal systems also tried to deal with these things but for the most part judges could rule in often arbitrary and unpredictable ways making it difficult to predict what was going to happen. The first Roman effort at creating a set of legal principles was called the "Twelve Tables" and dealt with civil matters but not criminal.  The Twelve Tables were created around 450 BC and codified existing traditions and practices to make what would happen more predictable.  Over the next thousand plus years the Romans refined and extended the application of laws written in Latin to say what would happen in all kinds of situations. But many of these laws were vague or contradictory and there was also a lot of "common law" being applied in different situations.   Around 530 AD Emperor Justinian of the Eastern Roman Empire tried to bring order to this mess by issuing the Justinianic Code as part of his efforts to unify what remained of the Roman Empire in the east.  Actual copies of the Jiustinanic code were lost for many centuries but many of the legal principals and terms have survived to this day in almost all Western societies.  For example an important principal in the most countries today is  "innocent until proven guilty" for criminals.  In the Justinianic code this was Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat.  In English this translates as “the burden of proof is on he who declares, not on he who denies".

Up until about 250 AD the laws written in Rome became more and more detailed in an attempt to settle legal matters in a predictable and just way.  However after about 250 AD emperors started to exercise more and more power based on political considerations rather than applying the law as written down in Latin.  Outcomes became more uncertain depending on how whoever was emperor decided to exercise his power.  Similarly for the last 100 or so years in the United States laws and government regulations have become increasingly detailed in an attempt to solve all kinds of problems in a fair manner.  And like the what happened in the latter phases of the Roman Empire executives in charge of implementing these laws sometimes choose to ignore the law as written and do what they think is best for the people.   The result may have a better result but it has become more difficult to determine what is going to happen ahead of time.  

Citations:

• http://www.crystalinks.com/RomeSenators1.jpg
• https://www.planning.org/image/C_AmicusBriefs.jpg
• http://americanvision.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/02/famous-latin-phrases.s600x600-300x199.jpg
• http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lacPYQbDL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Current Event Article 

APRIL 28, 2015
James M. Arlandson
Link:http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/04/28/402628280/record-number-of-amicus-briefs-filed-in-same-sex-marriage-cases


Ancient Article:
July 3

Law In Ancient Rome 

By: Claude Hermann Walter Johns
Link:http://www.crystalinks.com/romelaw.html

Emperor Vitellius and Otho

Link To Powerpoint:

Back Cover

ROME

Vitellius was the third of the four emperors who ruled the Roman Empire in the year 69 CE. One of his predecessors, Galba, who had replaced the fallen Emperor Nero, was murdered by the Praetorian Guard for failing to keep promises to those who had put him in power.  Emperor Otho, Galba’s successor, committed suicide before the imposing armies of Vitellius reached Rome.  He had chosen to sacrifice his own life instead of those of his men. Vitellius, like the previous two occupants of the throne, would not remain in power long.

In July 69, Vitellius learned that the armies of the eastern provinces had proclaimed a rival emperor; their commander, Titus Flavius Vespasianus. As soon as it was known that the armies of the East, Dalmatia, and Illyricum had declared for Vespasianus, Vitellius, deserted by many of his adherents, would have resigned the title of emperor.

Digital Scrapbook: Greece

Current event: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/30/entertainment/et-notebook30
Past event: http://www.greekgateway.com/news/ancient-greek-to-modern-architecture-with-greek-influence

The Power of Neo Classical Greek Architecture

The style of Greek Architecture from 2500 years ago is often copied to create a sense of permanence.  Public buildings, financial institutions and even some private houses use the style to indicate stability and importance.  In 1960 John F Kennedy accepted the Democratic Party nomination in the huge Los Angeles Coliseum while speaking from a small podium for which the primary decoration was a painted eagle.  The huge size of the Greek neo-classical stadium holding 80,000 people dwarfed Kennedy into relatively insignificance at one end of the football field.  Three years later Martin Luther King made a profound impression speaking to hundreds of thousands in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DD.  When in 2008 Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in a Denver stadium holding 76,000 people the producers emulated the well received and often mentioned grandeur of the Martin Luther King “I've got a dream” speech.  They did this by backing Obama up with a neo-classical temple facade containing 4 large Doric columns and 10 modest pilasters.   Importantly they also embedded into these structure two huge video screens projecting enormous images of whoever was speaking.    This stage received mixed reviews with Obama detractors who ridiculed the wood and plaster construction of the stage as opposed to the solid marble of most real Greek architecture.  But for many people the stage managed to make a strong impression of the historical significance of the occasion.  It is probably difficult to imagine another type of stage which would make the same impression of the historical significance of the speech. 

There are three main types of columns used in Greek architecture.  Doric is the least elaborate with no base and a simple top.   Ionic columns have a base and a somewhat more elaborate top.   Corinthian columns have an even more elaborate top, sometimes very extravagant.  In ancient Greece ordinary structures were often constructed of materials which have not survived for over 2000 years but major public and religious structures were often built of marble.   Many of these marble structures survive to this day and most of the damage to these ancient buildings has been caused by their being mined for the stone or otherwise suffering at the hand of man.  The ancient Greeks built their buildings to withstand the ravages of time and the structures that were not completely destroyed by man are very impressive indeed.   Even partially destroyed structures continue to impress. 

In ancient times the huge pillars were necessary to hold up the structure’s roof but current pillars are an adornment whose purpose is give a sense of grandeur.  Neoclassical Architecture offers an almost bottomless pool of symbolism. A large façade with multiple columns evokes a since of historical importance and justice. Most other architectural styles may be spectacular but they fail to produce the since of permanence and important authority that Neoclassical architecture does. The U.S Capitol, the Lincoln memorial, Jefferson Memorial, The White House are good examples of this type of structure.. The list of public buildings in America and overseas that shamelessly copy the style invented by the Greeks over 2,000 years ago is almost endless. The podium used in Obama’s speech was meant to tap into the glory of Greek architecture and to a large extant was successful.

Citations:

• http://www.semesteratsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1963_march_lincoln_memorial1.jpg
• http://blog.masslive.com/thefray/2008/08/mile-high-stadium-crowd-denver-obama.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg/1024px-The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg
• http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/highsm/11800/11889v.jpg

Current Event Article:

Obama Pldges Greeks
James M. Arlandson
Link:http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/retaliation.htm


Ancient Article:

July 3
Ancient Greek to Modern Architecture with Modern ZInfluence 1, 2013-
By: Claude Hermann Walter Johns
Link:http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp