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The Weekend
Busy week. Lots of running around. I'm preparing for the Mardi Gras party Tuesday and Lori did the sweetest thing, she paid for the order I'd placed for the hurricane mix, the Zatarain's and Tony Chachere gumbos and red beans and rice, and the geaux cups. She paid for the whole order, and originally we were just going to split it--so sweet! She saved me much $$$ which is great because I really can't afford the party this year (starving student and all) but it's a tradition that I have to keep up!
So this weekend I will be shopping (mostly for King Cake supplies and sausage to put in the red beans and rice, and yeah and lots of rum for the hurricanes), cleaning the apartment, and STUDYING. Those Romans did QUITE a bit--it is not that easy keeping track of all their exploits. THREE Punic Wars and FOUR Macedonian Wars--and the Macedonian Wars started during the Punic Wars! Guys, can't you just get along? If the Cullens and the Quileute wolves can make a treaty, so can you.
Since we're getting narratives from several different sources (the three textbooks--one didactic textbook, and two with all original sources), plus our heavily-accented professor, plus our TA discussions, plus the powerpoint slides that I print out, I have a lot of notes and paperwork to put together. I've found it's immensely helpful to synthesize all of this into one master timeline. Not only is it easier to read, just the fact of creating it forces me to think clearly and linearly about the subject. I also do outside research--the professor and the textbook are not always terribly clear so it helps to get the information from another angle. For instance, a lot of these place names have several different names in different languages. When Hamilcar Barcid (father of Hannibal) went to Spain in the financially disastrous wake of the 1st Punic War, there were three main cities that he either founded or dealt with, and one is called Gades/Gadeira, etc. I came across several different variations on this name--on a hunch, and knowing that Cadiz is one of the oldest cities on the subcontinent (I know Cadiz well since our ship went there), I looked up Cadiz and found that its Phoenician name was Gadir, and that its Attic Greek name was Gádeira. Bingo! I just like to know the context, it helps me understand everything else that much better.
Hannibal is pretty cool. Elephants marching across the Alps! But I then I think about the elephants dying in battle and I get sad. Did you know that after the Battle of Lake Tresimeno, a notoriously bloody battle, "in the surroundings...there are further areas which retain a particular meaning, including Ossaia ('Charnel House, Place of Bones'), Sepoltaglia ('Place of Burial'), Caporosso ('Cape red'), Piegaro ('Subdued Place'), Pugnano ('Place of battles'), and Pian di Marte ('Field of Mars')"?
So this weekend I will be shopping (mostly for King Cake supplies and sausage to put in the red beans and rice, and yeah and lots of rum for the hurricanes), cleaning the apartment, and STUDYING. Those Romans did QUITE a bit--it is not that easy keeping track of all their exploits. THREE Punic Wars and FOUR Macedonian Wars--and the Macedonian Wars started during the Punic Wars! Guys, can't you just get along? If the Cullens and the Quileute wolves can make a treaty, so can you.
Since we're getting narratives from several different sources (the three textbooks--one didactic textbook, and two with all original sources), plus our heavily-accented professor, plus our TA discussions, plus the powerpoint slides that I print out, I have a lot of notes and paperwork to put together. I've found it's immensely helpful to synthesize all of this into one master timeline. Not only is it easier to read, just the fact of creating it forces me to think clearly and linearly about the subject. I also do outside research--the professor and the textbook are not always terribly clear so it helps to get the information from another angle. For instance, a lot of these place names have several different names in different languages. When Hamilcar Barcid (father of Hannibal) went to Spain in the financially disastrous wake of the 1st Punic War, there were three main cities that he either founded or dealt with, and one is called Gades/Gadeira, etc. I came across several different variations on this name--on a hunch, and knowing that Cadiz is one of the oldest cities on the subcontinent (I know Cadiz well since our ship went there), I looked up Cadiz and found that its Phoenician name was Gadir, and that its Attic Greek name was Gádeira. Bingo! I just like to know the context, it helps me understand everything else that much better.
Hannibal is pretty cool. Elephants marching across the Alps! But I then I think about the elephants dying in battle and I get sad. Did you know that after the Battle of Lake Tresimeno, a notoriously bloody battle, "in the surroundings...there are further areas which retain a particular meaning, including Ossaia ('Charnel House, Place of Bones'), Sepoltaglia ('Place of Burial'), Caporosso ('Cape red'), Piegaro ('Subdued Place'), Pugnano ('Place of battles'), and Pian di Marte ('Field of Mars')"?