A Roman Revolution Essay Example for Free

A Roman Revolution Essay It was May 30, 1347.  Ã‚   The city was once at the center of the world, and varying nations vied to pay homage.  Ã‚   Since that time, however, its institutions, its buildings, and its very name seem to have been forgotten by time.  Ã‚   Local nobility compete for control while the rest of the populace starved, and banditry thrived.  Ã‚   The religious shrines and public buildings were dilapidated, and worn out from neglect.   From this one day, however, and from one such ruin, issued a declaration from a man who stirred hope in people’s breast.   Ã‚   Cola di Rienzo, who in the course of time would ambitiously set himself up as a virtual dictator in the city, at that moment declared the restitution of the Roman Republic, to the cheers of an excited throng.  Ã‚   The restless crowd seemed far disconnected from the reality of a Holy Roman Empire, independent Italian city-states, Norman and Spanish sovereignty in the south, or the hundred more kingdoms and treaties that kept Italy divided and the Republic from becoming reality, but no one cared.   A brief, tragic drama began to unfold, taking hold of the city and its dreamer alike.  Ã‚   For a few months, the Roman Republic seemed to breathe life and its Dictator Rienzo came close to uniting Italy.  Ã‚   The smaller city-states and principalities all sent their delegations and intentions to forming a loose federation with Rome.  Ã‚   And the Dictator put ambitious reforms and decrees, which championed the cause of the people.   His pride, however, got the better of him, and he soon alienated the senators and the Church.  Ã‚   The senators amassed armies against him, and the Pope called to the people to reject him.  Ã‚   Having lost all his allies, he fled the city, wandering Italy to find people to rally for his cause.   Ã‚  Dejected, beaten, his spirit finally broken, he surrendered to the Pope in Avignon, and was allowed to return to Rome where the people could not long stomach his disillusionment and killed him as a traitor[1].   This brief Roman Revolution was an early experiment of that age to attempt the reconstitution of an age that seemed lost in time.  Ã‚   The people of the Renaissance, from the artisan to the poet, was fascinated with ancient Greek traditions and culture and created works of art that mimicked Classic styles.  Ã‚   Ancient texts were gathered from the libraries where it was copied and preserved, and crude attempts at translation were made to introduce these historical artifacts to the world.  Ã‚   Most of the entire Renaissance was electrified at the thought of the old â€Å"heroic† Roman Republic, and the Caesars and Ciceros that once walked the Forum.   In due course, this paper would seek to identify the sources of the ideology behind the Italian Renaissance’s fascination with the ancient Greco-Roman, and how it seemed to suit their needs.  Ã‚   The paper will then explain the various attempts to reconstitute the past in the present, and how close they were in succeeding.    Once more, a Roman World   The thought of a restored Rome was not unique to Renaissance thought.  Ã‚   Even as the western portion of the empire collapsed under the pressure of barbarian migrations, the eastern emperor Justinian drafted ambitious plans of gaining back the lost lands of Gaul, Italy, Spain and Africa. This having failed, the Frankish kings, and later the German emperors, stylized themselves as Caesars that had legitimacy given to them by the authority of the Pope and the acquiescence of the eastern emperor.   Italian dreams of Rome, however, had political and cultural context.   They loathed the plain ugliness of Gothic and barbarian architecture, and largely preserved the Roman tradition and culture.   They lamented Italian as a bastardized form of Latin, and deplored Dante’s use of the former as the vernacular. Italian writers, at the beginning of the Renaissance, began to collect ancient texts from faraway libraries[2].  Ã‚   Petrarch, the Father of the Renaissance, was the first of the writers to amass Greek and Latin texts, and encouraged a fellow writer, Boccaccio, to pore into Greek research.   Unique also in the Renaissance, was the way the ancient texts were interpreted. In the medieval ages, the various ancient works of art were interpreted in Christian context.  Ã‚   Pagan ideals and traditions were explained with a Christian theme. Thus, a Hercules-like figure would be used to represent Christ.  Ã‚   The Renaissance began to separate the contemporary Christian thought from the ancient texts, and began to appreciate the latter in their historical context. They read into classical texts their appropriate classical meaning; they did not allegorize Latin writings as one to justify medieval Christian Europe, but in the context of ancient Rome[3].   The thought of a united Italy was sometimes reconciled with the restoration of the ancient Greco-Roman tradition.   Ã‚  Rienzo certainly thought of this when he donned the garb of the old senatorial toga and declared the return of the Roman Republic. Petrarch saw it when he asked King Charles IV of Bohemia to unite all of Italy[4], and many might have seen it when the son Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia, began a long campaign to win back much of the lost cities of the Papal States.   Conclusion: Historical Myopia   For all the dreams and ideals of the Renaissance Italians, a Roman Republic could not be reconstituted from 14th to 15th century Europe.  Ã‚   The Holy Roman Empire, primarily, would not stand for a united Italy outside of their control or power, as they would, and have claimed, Italy as an integral part of the empire. Neither, however, can the Holy Roman emperors be able to unite Italy, as they become too embroiled in disputes with the Pope, who has nominal sway over the Italian city-states.  Ã‚   And the Popes, for all their universal spiritual authority, would not be able to wrest control of all of Italy from powerful independent Italian city-states, the Normans and the Spanish, the Germans and the French, and even the Greeks until their collapse in the latter half of the 15th century.   The Italian Renaissance sought to reintroduce ancient Greco-Roman thought into the mainstream, envisioning a past that was nobly glorious.  Ã‚   Several hundred years brings distance and unreality to history, even when taken from historical context.   The Italian city-states of the Renaissance was freer in practice with its people than the ancient Roman Republic, which countless times brought down reformer tribunes, and curbed attempts to relieve the proletariat in keeping the wealthy in their state.  Ã‚   The ancient Roman Empire was less free as the centuries passed, and its economy was in nightmarish shambles, a thought that the Renaissance Italians might have shuddered at.   In the end, the Renaissance Italians might have fallen in the same way their medieval counterparts have: to see the ancient culture in their contemporary values.   Certainly the Renaissance wanted to detach itself from the â€Å"barbarism† and disunity, which seemed to plague Europe, but the reforms of a Rienzo would have shocked the ancient Roman aristocracy, and Byzantine intrigue would be far closer to Roman court morals than the Renaissance Italian sensibilities.   A final word must be said of the Renaissance dream: in the 16th century, one man came closest to uniting Italy and much of Christendom under a loose â€Å"Roman empire†.  Ã‚   Politics and religion, in the end, got in the way, and Charles V of the Hapsburg dynasty and his successors would find himself humbled by an alliance of French, Turks, Protestants and even the Pope[5]. BIBLIOGRAPHY References Durant, Will. The Renaissance. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. Durant, Will, Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935. Rice, Eugene Jr., The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. New York: W.W. Norton and Company,1971. Krailsheimer, A.J., The Continental Renaissance: 1500-1600. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1970. [1] Durant, Will, The Renaissance (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953) 16-21. [2] Durant, Will, The Renaissance (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953) 67-69. [3] Rice, Eugene Jr., The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559 (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1970) 72-76. [4] Durant, Will, The Renaissance (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953) 46. [5] Krailsheimer, A.J.,   The Continental Renaissance: 1500-1600 (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1971) 93-98.

Government Budgets on Inflation :: Economics Economy Essays

Government Budgets on Inflation Problems with format ?Since Greece and Italy are in the European Union and have both joined the European Monetary Union, one might think that they would have fairly stable economies, and Turkey would be the unstable one of the three.? But that is not necessarily true.? Although Turkey does have more of an unsteady economy, Italy and Greece?s were not doing so well in the recent past.? Looking at each country separately then comparing the three is the best way to see how the government budgets affect the inflation rates of Greece, Italy and Turkey.? Greece Greece joined the European Union (EU) in 1981, but that did not solve all of its internal problems.? They still had a high inflation rate through the 1980s and into the early 90s.? ?The average annual rate of price inflation was 17.4% in 1984-93.?[1]? There were many reasons for this elevated rate, like the public sector dominating the economy, the informal Greek economy, and the weak political leadership, but Greece knew they had to lower their inflation rate to join the European Monetary Union (EMU) and in turn converting their currency over to euros. In 1994, the EU along with Greece?s ruling government PASOK (Panellinion Socialistikon Kinima) set goals for Greece?s journey towards entering the EMU.? Along with many other objectives, the inflation rate had to be lowered before entering in to the monetary union.? Greece reduced it public spending, restricted the public sector wage increases, and attempted to increase their budget revenues by setting a minimum level of income tax payable by all employees.[2]? By doing these things, ?in April of 1995 the annual rate of inflation was less than 10% for the first time since 1973.?[3]? Also during this time of gradual progress to lower the inflation rate, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose.? The economy grew by an average of 2.8 percent per year between 1994 and 1999 and there was a recorded real growth in GDP of 4.1% in 2000.[4]By the middle of 2000, Greece?s inflation rate had reached a stable level at 2.0%, which was the requirement for entry into the EMU. ?In January [2001] Greece became the twelfth member of the European Monetary Union after a sustained effort to reduce inflation and the budget deficit to levels required for adopting the Euro. Government Budgets on Inflation :: Economics Economy Essays Government Budgets on Inflation Problems with format ?Since Greece and Italy are in the European Union and have both joined the European Monetary Union, one might think that they would have fairly stable economies, and Turkey would be the unstable one of the three.? But that is not necessarily true.? Although Turkey does have more of an unsteady economy, Italy and Greece?s were not doing so well in the recent past.? Looking at each country separately then comparing the three is the best way to see how the government budgets affect the inflation rates of Greece, Italy and Turkey.? Greece Greece joined the European Union (EU) in 1981, but that did not solve all of its internal problems.? They still had a high inflation rate through the 1980s and into the early 90s.? ?The average annual rate of price inflation was 17.4% in 1984-93.?[1]? There were many reasons for this elevated rate, like the public sector dominating the economy, the informal Greek economy, and the weak political leadership, but Greece knew they had to lower their inflation rate to join the European Monetary Union (EMU) and in turn converting their currency over to euros. In 1994, the EU along with Greece?s ruling government PASOK (Panellinion Socialistikon Kinima) set goals for Greece?s journey towards entering the EMU.? Along with many other objectives, the inflation rate had to be lowered before entering in to the monetary union.? Greece reduced it public spending, restricted the public sector wage increases, and attempted to increase their budget revenues by setting a minimum level of income tax payable by all employees.[2]? By doing these things, ?in April of 1995 the annual rate of inflation was less than 10% for the first time since 1973.?[3]? Also during this time of gradual progress to lower the inflation rate, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose.? The economy grew by an average of 2.8 percent per year between 1994 and 1999 and there was a recorded real growth in GDP of 4.1% in 2000.[4]By the middle of 2000, Greece?s inflation rate had reached a stable level at 2.0%, which was the requirement for entry into the EMU. ?In January [2001] Greece became the twelfth member of the European Monetary Union after a sustained effort to reduce inflation and the budget deficit to levels required for adopting the Euro.

Current Trends in Business Communication Essay

Business Communication Trends In business today, communication is very important. Communication holds the business together. With technology increasing in today’s business environment businesses are losing that one on one relationship with their customers. Technology is taking over where years ago the businesses had a face-to-face interaction with businesses. What will happen if these trends keep evolving will no one in business have anymore face-to-face conversations. In my business environment we must communicate all the time without communication, we could have a disaster. Everyone in the business environment needs to be involved in the communication they need to know what is going on, what we are doing wrong, and what our customers’ needs and wants are of their products. Therefore, being a detail planner I need to keep all the supervisors updated on what products we will be running, and what products will be going on backorder. Most of the time if a product is going on backorder I am normally waiting on purchased parts to come in house. I need to keep in touch and communicate with the purchasing agent to find out when they will be available for me to pack. Our purchased parts come in and depending on the part, some of them may have to be tested and they go on test I need to make sure that these parts are available at the time I need to run the job. Therefore, I need communicate with incoming so they put the parts on test as soon as they come in the building. I also need to communicate with the engineer to make sure that all the blueprints for the product and all tools needed are ready and available to run. In my type of business, I am communicating all the time with many people of the business. When communicating I use E- mail a lot to give everyone one a heads up on what I need to run the lot. When needing answers right away I use same time, which is similar to instant messenger so if the person is at their desk we can get an answer right away. This means of communication comes in handy so you do not hold up the production lines. Trends in Current and Previous Workplaces Since I have been at my job for 27 years, I guess I will have to go with the trends in my workplace. Since I have started at B. Braun in 1983, we did not have much of any technology we did all inventory by hand and by using, excel sheets. As years went by, we now have all our inventory system in SAP. SAP generates our orders all the way down to sub assemblies. This way each Master Planner knows when to schedule their order so the full product will be ready to ship by the due date. This technology has increased production about 80%. We also all have E-mail our own computers and are able to access SAP anytime of the day. Our systems are also connected in all our other plants such as Malaysia, Germany, and the Dominican Republic so we can converse with our major companies. We do not actually use a video cam with these companies but we definitely have phone conferences with them. Our Sales representatives still go out to the hospitals to show our products and talk to the doctors on sight. We also have training personnel that go on sight to train the doctors and nurses on the right way to use are products. Since I started at B. Braun, we have come a long way with Technology. We do not do physical inventory anymore we do things called cycle counts all through the year to make sure that our inventory is accurate. The other thing is every process that we are doing is now becoming automated we are using more machines for our processes to eliminate the people needed for the manufacturing floor. We still have many processes that are not automated but they are telling us that down the road they are expecting everything to be automated. Message types from these Trends I figure that eventually technology will take over the business there will be fewer workers and more machines to do the job of humans. Many people will be out of a job with technology taking over. There will also be less human contact with customers and customers will feel that the company does not care about their business and go elsewhere for their products. In business even though technology is one of the biggest things, we still need that face-to-face interaction with our customers. Businesses need that one on one relationship to keep them as customers. However, technology is good but only to a extent keeping that interaction with your customers helps to generate more sales. Word a mouth is the best advertising that a business can have and helps to improve your sales.

Character Analysis of Elisa Allen in The Chrysanthemums...

Many readers who analyze Steinbecks short story, The Chrysanthemums, feel Elisas flowers represent her repressed sexuality, and her anger and resentment towards men. Some even push the symbolism of the flowers, and Elisas masculine actions, to suggest she is unable to establish a true relationship between herself and another. Her masculine traits and her chrysanthemums are enough to fulfill her entirely. This essay will discuss an opposing viewpoint. Instead, it will argue that Elisas chrysanthemums, and her masculine qualities are natural manifestations of a male dominated world. Pertinent examples from The Chrysanthemums will be given in an attempt to illustrate that Elisas character qualities, and gardening skills,†¦show more content†¦If he gave her any personal praise, as a woman of distinct qualities (one who was vital to the farms survival), he might be empowering her. Thus, he keeps his praise for her superficial skills, growing flowers. In this way, Henry fru strates Elisa by not seeing into her true character. The flowers represent Elisa trying to find some way of escaping from her frustrated and repressed husband, not from her own sexual frustration. Since Elisa is a woman with more than superficial qualities, in addition to being a good worker, she seeks a way to fit into this world she feels is limited to her. She feels that it is limited because it is being dominated and interpreted by men. Thus, she tries to seek out some understanding from a stranger who is looking to find fix-it work. Many readers see Elisa as being cold and frigid towards the stranger at first appearance. Yet, this is quite possibly her intelligent reaction from being experienced with the realities of life. This scene portrays a combat of wits in which she shows herself a person of right feeling, one who doesnt let her charitable instincts run away with her (Beach, 312). Here we have a strange man, and men have proven to Elisa they have a limited understanding of a womans gentler qualities. Her reaction shows intelligence, good instincts, and is revealing of the period in which the storyShow MoreRelatedEssay on Analysis of The Chrysanthemums1139 Wo rds   |  5 PagesAnalysis of The Chrysanthemums The short story The Chrysanthemums gives insight into the life of its author. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. The locale of the story is of key resemblance to the Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and bread. Salinas was a typical American small town, [differing] only in location and a few distinctive features (McCarthy 3). The protagonist of this story, Elisa Allen, also resembles Steinbecks first wife. 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