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Ancient Civilization Short Story
The Fall Of Teotihuacan
There’s a sensation that I constantly have. It never leaves my soul. It’s the feeling that someone is watching me. As I am silently perched on my hill, the sensation is worse than ever and evolves into a sharp, jabbing pain inside of my forehead. I sigh heavily and slowly stand up stretching my arms above my head. I hear bells jingle as I walk over the crest of the hill. I turn back to investigate, but I see nothing.
My suspicions have been there from the start, but I’ve never made my mind up for sure about who or what might be watching me. Today, I am almost certain the god of human sacrifice is following me. His name is Manik, just like me.
The walk home is slow, but not far. I travel Chikin, towards the blazing orange sun that is sinking on the faraway horizon.
I pass the house of my dear friend Smoke Skull whose father has passed away only two days ago. After Smoke’s father fell ill, it bonded us as brothers, and we found that we have a lot in common. His father fell ill with the same sickness during the same time of year as my father. We found our common ground and made friends with each other.
My father’s death has altered my soul. I have a harder time getting up in the morning knowing that I alone have to feed not only my mother but also my sister, baby brother, and frail grandmother. Smoke Skull and I have used the missing element in our hearts to bond together. We are not the only two people in the city whose fathers have died of illness; it’s common in the Mayan world.
Approaching my diminutive house through our flourishing fields of crops, I can hear my family singing. I hear a moaning and I turn to see Cauac, our ten year-old cow, groaning in pain. I groan with her and gently lean against the front door, opening it slowly. All the heads pivot towards me, but it’s not abnormal that I am returning to my tochan so late in the evening. “Itzel, go milk the cow.” She moans as well but doesn’t argue and stands up to milk the cow. I join my family, the remaining part, in a circle around the hearth and easily pick up the tune that they are singing.
When I arrive at teocalli service, I am dumbfounded. Smoke Skull is standing stiffly on top of the Pyramid of the Sun looking out at the land around him. It is the baktun (394 year anniversary) of the town and the god of sacrifice, Manik, is present to accept our offerings and escort the offerings souls to an eternity in the heavens. Manik is here to take Smoke Skull. More than 50,000 people live in Teotihuacan. The odds that my best friend would be chosen out of a crowd, off the streets at random are extremely low. But the odds have recently been in the opposite of my favor.
The sand on the ground is red hot and as dry as chalk. The whole town of Teotihuacan hasn’t seen rain for weeks. The lack of rain is only descending the amount of harvest. My family is struggling. The loss of my father has immediately elected me as the head of the family. All I want is to keep them alive.
My mother has just barely arrived from her building job when Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit emerge from the Temple of the Sun and the entire town bows its heads in praise. I watch Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit climb the 248 steps to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and stand at the top to address the town.
“Today,” they say, “We chant to Itzamna, the god of all, Chac, the god of the rain, and Manik, the god of the human sacrifice.” Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit begin to chant rhythmically. The prayer through chants lasts around ten minutes. The whole town is in harmony as we sing, but as soon as 18 Rabbit presents the sacrifice to the gods, the entire town gasps. Such a young man has never been sacrificed in Teotihuacan before. I hear the murmurs besides me. I fight the urge to let the tears roll down my face. Smoke Skull is the closest thing that I have to a brother. The relief of pain in my head shocks me and I pull in a deep breath.
The sudden pain in my forehead ruptures my strength; it is worse than last night. Struggling to lift my hand to my head, I can’t resist the pain and I crumple to the ground like a dried leaf. A vision quickly fills my head.
It is sweltering outside. The sun is beating down on my dad and me as we climb the 248 steps of the Pyramid of the Sun. My hand is braced in his and we slowly make our way to the top of the pyramid. Once we’ve reached the top, my father motions for me to sit. He begins talking to me but I can’t hear anything. I only hear the screams of my best friend. I look at him one last time before the light captures him and he says: “Manik, follow the crowd, and you will meet your fate.” Then he is gone, and I am too.
The sentence echoes in my head and as the pain ceases I can vividly hear the ringing of the bells in my head. My reality slowly comes back into view and I hear the screams from the top of the pyramid as I regain my feet. I can tell by the amount of blood trickling down the side of the pyramid that two sacrifices have already been completed. The first scream that comes I can tell is the incision. The second and the final is the heart being jerked out. Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit dismiss us. After walking for fifteen minutes, we arrive at the ball court in the Noho, the South.
As soon as we arrive at the court, they ask for volunteers, but no one steps forward. The hat has been retrieved. This is the only way they can keep the ball games up and running. Before my mind can wander too far, my name has been picked and read aloud and two men have shown up at my side to push me forwards and direct me towards a gathering of people. My mind is sent into a spinning whirlpool. I am going to die today.
Bells ring in my ears and beyond the provided shelter of the ball court; I can see a pack of wild dogs and owls. Scanning my mind desperately for an answer, my mind ponders on the bells that ring in my ears for a few moments before the answer pops into my head. Out of more than twenty gods, the god of death is stalking me. I think of the sensation that I get whenever I am awake. All of my symptoms over the past few weeks lead to only one god; Ah Puch, the god of death is following me. I am certainly going to die today.
My family has shown up. I do not want them here. They do not deserve the pain of watching me die. I know I am going to die and they are too fragile to watch due to my father’s death only two years ago.
This game is extremely brutal. I know that if I lose, I will lose my life. My team is strong, but that doesn’t persuade me to believe that I’m going to survive the game. I am distracted from my thought by the sound of the gamekeeper yelling to start. He tosses the ball into the air and I watch as the ball peaks. Leaping into the air, I start the ball game, a gruesome game that results in death if you lose. The ball that I hit with my head bounces to my teammate who begins to juggle the ball with his knees, elbows, and hips, the only body parts you’re permitted to use. He passes the ball back to me and miraculously; I hit the ball with my hip. It is heading directly for the hoop on the wall. I am absolutely convinced that I have made a goal when a boy from the other team leaps gracefully into the air and deflects the ball with his head. I burst into laughter. My laughter is driven by the pure complexity of this game. It is almost impossible to shoot the large rubber ball through the microscopic hoop on the wall.
Halfway through the game, I can hear a mysterious roaring from the town. I whip my head around to see the town being consumed in flames. By lifting my finger and shrieking loudly, I warned the entirety of the crowd at the ball court. A gasp engulfs the viewers and the game is immediately evacuated. My family hasn’t moved. For certain they’re thinking about our farm. I run to them. “We have to go!” I scream. They still don’t move. “Go!” We begin to run with the fire spreading rapidly and licking at our heels. I turn to examine the state of the fire when I see 18 Rabbit, our king struggling to keep away from the fire. I longingly look around at my family but I know I am the only person who can save the poor king. Before I could talk, my feet react.
The flames, four feet tall and growing, engulf my entire body in limbs of radiant heat before I reach 18 Rabbit. He has propped himself up against a rock wall that is miraculously not in flames. I’m closing the distance between us. We’re only ten feet apart now and I can see the desperation on his face. My hand is stretched out before my body and suddenly there is another loud rumbling sound. I stop short in my tracks as I my eyes search for the source of the sound. My eyes land on the top of The Pyramid of The Feathered Serpent. I sprint forward to 18 Rabbit and grab him by his forearm. We are bolting through the flames, navigating towards what I believe to be a safe zone. I’m in a maze and I can’t get out.
The stones came out of nowhere. They came tumbling down from the top of what I believe to be the Pyramid of the Moon. They pin me down by the leg. The pain shoots up my leg and I screech in agony. My eyes search frantically for 18 rabbit and I find him running towards me. But he was the last thing that I ever saw before the bells welcome me into the dark.
There’s a sensation that I constantly have. It never leaves my soul. It’s the feeling that someone is watching me. As I am silently perched on my hill, the sensation is worse than ever and evolves into a sharp, jabbing pain inside of my forehead. I sigh heavily and slowly stand up stretching my arms above my head. I hear bells jingle as I walk over the crest of the hill. I turn back to investigate, but I see nothing.
My suspicions have been there from the start, but I’ve never made my mind up for sure about who or what might be watching me. Today, I am almost certain the god of human sacrifice is following me. His name is Manik, just like me.
The walk home is slow, but not far. I travel Chikin, towards the blazing orange sun that is sinking on the faraway horizon.
I pass the house of my dear friend Smoke Skull whose father has passed away only two days ago. After Smoke’s father fell ill, it bonded us as brothers, and we found that we have a lot in common. His father fell ill with the same sickness during the same time of year as my father. We found our common ground and made friends with each other.
My father’s death has altered my soul. I have a harder time getting up in the morning knowing that I alone have to feed not only my mother but also my sister, baby brother, and frail grandmother. Smoke Skull and I have used the missing element in our hearts to bond together. We are not the only two people in the city whose fathers have died of illness; it’s common in the Mayan world.
Approaching my diminutive house through our flourishing fields of crops, I can hear my family singing. I hear a moaning and I turn to see Cauac, our ten year-old cow, groaning in pain. I groan with her and gently lean against the front door, opening it slowly. All the heads pivot towards me, but it’s not abnormal that I am returning to my tochan so late in the evening. “Itzel, go milk the cow.” She moans as well but doesn’t argue and stands up to milk the cow. I join my family, the remaining part, in a circle around the hearth and easily pick up the tune that they are singing.
When I arrive at teocalli service, I am dumbfounded. Smoke Skull is standing stiffly on top of the Pyramid of the Sun looking out at the land around him. It is the baktun (394 year anniversary) of the town and the god of sacrifice, Manik, is present to accept our offerings and escort the offerings souls to an eternity in the heavens. Manik is here to take Smoke Skull. More than 50,000 people live in Teotihuacan. The odds that my best friend would be chosen out of a crowd, off the streets at random are extremely low. But the odds have recently been in the opposite of my favor.
The sand on the ground is red hot and as dry as chalk. The whole town of Teotihuacan hasn’t seen rain for weeks. The lack of rain is only descending the amount of harvest. My family is struggling. The loss of my father has immediately elected me as the head of the family. All I want is to keep them alive.
My mother has just barely arrived from her building job when Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit emerge from the Temple of the Sun and the entire town bows its heads in praise. I watch Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit climb the 248 steps to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and stand at the top to address the town.
“Today,” they say, “We chant to Itzamna, the god of all, Chac, the god of the rain, and Manik, the god of the human sacrifice.” Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit begin to chant rhythmically. The prayer through chants lasts around ten minutes. The whole town is in harmony as we sing, but as soon as 18 Rabbit presents the sacrifice to the gods, the entire town gasps. Such a young man has never been sacrificed in Teotihuacan before. I hear the murmurs besides me. I fight the urge to let the tears roll down my face. Smoke Skull is the closest thing that I have to a brother. The relief of pain in my head shocks me and I pull in a deep breath.
The sudden pain in my forehead ruptures my strength; it is worse than last night. Struggling to lift my hand to my head, I can’t resist the pain and I crumple to the ground like a dried leaf. A vision quickly fills my head.
It is sweltering outside. The sun is beating down on my dad and me as we climb the 248 steps of the Pyramid of the Sun. My hand is braced in his and we slowly make our way to the top of the pyramid. Once we’ve reached the top, my father motions for me to sit. He begins talking to me but I can’t hear anything. I only hear the screams of my best friend. I look at him one last time before the light captures him and he says: “Manik, follow the crowd, and you will meet your fate.” Then he is gone, and I am too.
The sentence echoes in my head and as the pain ceases I can vividly hear the ringing of the bells in my head. My reality slowly comes back into view and I hear the screams from the top of the pyramid as I regain my feet. I can tell by the amount of blood trickling down the side of the pyramid that two sacrifices have already been completed. The first scream that comes I can tell is the incision. The second and the final is the heart being jerked out. Cu Ix and 18 Rabbit dismiss us. After walking for fifteen minutes, we arrive at the ball court in the Noho, the South.
As soon as we arrive at the court, they ask for volunteers, but no one steps forward. The hat has been retrieved. This is the only way they can keep the ball games up and running. Before my mind can wander too far, my name has been picked and read aloud and two men have shown up at my side to push me forwards and direct me towards a gathering of people. My mind is sent into a spinning whirlpool. I am going to die today.
Bells ring in my ears and beyond the provided shelter of the ball court; I can see a pack of wild dogs and owls. Scanning my mind desperately for an answer, my mind ponders on the bells that ring in my ears for a few moments before the answer pops into my head. Out of more than twenty gods, the god of death is stalking me. I think of the sensation that I get whenever I am awake. All of my symptoms over the past few weeks lead to only one god; Ah Puch, the god of death is following me. I am certainly going to die today.
My family has shown up. I do not want them here. They do not deserve the pain of watching me die. I know I am going to die and they are too fragile to watch due to my father’s death only two years ago.
This game is extremely brutal. I know that if I lose, I will lose my life. My team is strong, but that doesn’t persuade me to believe that I’m going to survive the game. I am distracted from my thought by the sound of the gamekeeper yelling to start. He tosses the ball into the air and I watch as the ball peaks. Leaping into the air, I start the ball game, a gruesome game that results in death if you lose. The ball that I hit with my head bounces to my teammate who begins to juggle the ball with his knees, elbows, and hips, the only body parts you’re permitted to use. He passes the ball back to me and miraculously; I hit the ball with my hip. It is heading directly for the hoop on the wall. I am absolutely convinced that I have made a goal when a boy from the other team leaps gracefully into the air and deflects the ball with his head. I burst into laughter. My laughter is driven by the pure complexity of this game. It is almost impossible to shoot the large rubber ball through the microscopic hoop on the wall.
Halfway through the game, I can hear a mysterious roaring from the town. I whip my head around to see the town being consumed in flames. By lifting my finger and shrieking loudly, I warned the entirety of the crowd at the ball court. A gasp engulfs the viewers and the game is immediately evacuated. My family hasn’t moved. For certain they’re thinking about our farm. I run to them. “We have to go!” I scream. They still don’t move. “Go!” We begin to run with the fire spreading rapidly and licking at our heels. I turn to examine the state of the fire when I see 18 Rabbit, our king struggling to keep away from the fire. I longingly look around at my family but I know I am the only person who can save the poor king. Before I could talk, my feet react.
The flames, four feet tall and growing, engulf my entire body in limbs of radiant heat before I reach 18 Rabbit. He has propped himself up against a rock wall that is miraculously not in flames. I’m closing the distance between us. We’re only ten feet apart now and I can see the desperation on his face. My hand is stretched out before my body and suddenly there is another loud rumbling sound. I stop short in my tracks as I my eyes search for the source of the sound. My eyes land on the top of The Pyramid of The Feathered Serpent. I sprint forward to 18 Rabbit and grab him by his forearm. We are bolting through the flames, navigating towards what I believe to be a safe zone. I’m in a maze and I can’t get out.
The stones came out of nowhere. They came tumbling down from the top of what I believe to be the Pyramid of the Moon. They pin me down by the leg. The pain shoots up my leg and I screech in agony. My eyes search frantically for 18 rabbit and I find him running towards me. But he was the last thing that I ever saw before the bells welcome me into the dark.
Seminar Reflection
During this seminar, I was very successful in connecting BIG ideas and referencing the text often. This seminar was overall very successful. The entire group was engaged and ready to debate. I wish that in the days leading up to this seminar I head read the second half of Julius Caesar more carefully and more in depth. If I had payed more attention when I was reading it, I feel like I would of had a more successful seminar because I didn't know the content of the second half of the book as well as I knew the first half of the book.
Creative Historians - Julius Caesar In Class Essay
In 70 B.C.E., Julius Caesar appeared as a hero to the majority of the people of Rome, but now we question if he was using his power for good or evil. Julius Caesar acted heroic to his people through his actions such as building new houses for all in need and building new aqueducts. If you study his history deeply, you will discover how his actions were truly influencing all the people of Rome, including his enemies. Despite a common theory that Caesar was a heroic to the people of Rome, I believe he was manipulating his people for the maximum amount of power he could receive.
Many of Caesar’s actions led the people of Rome to believe that he was a heroic role model for them to look up. In the first document of the document packet, on the bottom of page two, the author describes Caesar’s actions for the people: “He established order, begun measures to reduce congestion in Rome, draining large tracts of marshy lands, gave full voting rights to the inhabitants of his former province south of the Alps, revised the tax laws of Asia and Sicily, resettled many Romans in new homes in the Roman provinces and reformed the calendar, which, with one slight adjustment, is the one in use today.” To me, this quote shows that Caesar was trying to be productive and helpful to his people. In a way, he desired to approve his empire, maybe some more than others, but either way he was acting out to help his people. Through his good deeds to his people, he gently earned the bulk of their trust. Over the years, the majority of his empire began to see him as a leader who was actually making a difference in their empire, which was an unfamiliar concept to them. Almost all of the people of Rome looked at Caesar with consent, but there was a sliver of people who could see what Caesar was truly trying to do.
Through his obsession with power, Julius Caesar traumatized countless helpless, innocent families and communities. In Caesar by Plutarch, Plutarch describes how many people Caesar has affected by the power of his army: “For he had not pursued the wars in Gaul full ten years when he had taken by storm above eight hundred towns, subdued three hundred states, and of three millions of men, who made up the gross sum of those with whom at several times he engaged, he had killed one million and taken captive a second.” This is a precise example of how Caesar used his power to take advantage of people. In these wars in Gaul, he killed more than one million men for their land. Why does the land matter? In his mind, the more land he had, the more power he had. Therefore, he was killing countless men for power. The people of Rome were all under the illusion that he was taking land for the benefit of their empire when in fact he was just laying more fees on top of them. Caesar was going to desire to build aqueducts and houses for all the new members of Rome, but the first thing he would need is money. He would have to collect money from all the people of Rome to help develop the new land he just conquered. Not only was he forcing fees onto the people of his empire, but he was also traumatizing the families of all the deceased soldiers. Now those traumatized families are a part of Rome and their new leader had just killed their loved ones. How do you think they felt?
Julius Caesar was ultimately in love with the concept of power, having power, and earning power through his actions and titles. In Plutarchs book on Caesar he describes Caesar’s manipulating of his family and friends: “ In order to get a yet firmer hold upon Pompey, Caesar having a daughter Julia, who had been before contracted to Servilius Caepio, now betrothed her to Pompey, and told Servilius he should have Pompey’s daughter, who was not unengaged either, but promised to Sylla’s son, Faustus. A little time after, Caesar married Calpurina, the daughter of Piso, and got Piso made consul for the year following.” In the first sentence, Plutarch writes “In order to get a yet firmer hold on Pompey…” He arranged all of those marriages and divorces to have more power over Pompey, one person. Even though times were different, Caesar still took advantage of the fact that he had a daughter to receive power. To me, this shows how he was manipulating his family and friends to get power. He wasn’t using his power for the right actions let alone satisfactory deeds.
Caesar’s desire and fight for power was masked by his assuaging act to the community. In this section of Caesar by Plutarch, Caesar has just been elected into office and he is making decisions for the praise of the commonalty: “The best and most honorable of the senators opposed in, upon which, as he had long wished for nothing more than for such a colorable pretext, he loudly protested how much it was against his will do be driven to seek support from the people, and how the senate’s insulting and harsh conduct left no other course possible for him than to devote himself hence forth to the popular cause and interest. And so he hurried out of the senate, and presenting himself to the people.” The senators could see right through Caesar’s skimpy act and could see that he was really maneuvering people for power. In this specific situation, Caesar realized that the senate knew what he was doing, so he ran outside, away from the senate, and proposed his ideas to the community. Caesar knew they would agree with anything he proposed, and when the community cheered with approbation, he ran back to the Senate to show them that he was right. Yet again, we find Caesar in another situation where he is taking advantage of the people of his empire by running to them for approval. When they permitted of his ideas, he went to show the Senate that the community approved of his propositions. By saying this, he was telling the Senate that he didn’t care what they thought because he was going to do whatever he wanted to.
Why should we even be debating over whether this man was good or not? Does it really matter? It is important for us to know whether Caesar, or just role models in general, are heroes or tyrants for many reasons. If we don’t know anything about our role model, we could be modeling our lives after someone whose actions are completely the tyrannical. For example, in the beginning of this project, I believed that Caesar was a hero. After I finished reading and annotating the document packet I was unsure of which side of the argument I was on. I decided that because I was unsure of what side of the debate I was on, I would read some of the challenge documents. After reading only four pages of the Plutarchs book on Caesar, I was easily convinced that Caesar was a tyrant, and during debate, I convinced two others that Caesar was not a hero. My main point that people found particularly convincing was: even though Caesar was trying to help his people through his kind actions, he was still manipulating people by taking advantage of their trust and transforming it to power.