Rise of Democracy Vocabulary Pt 1

1.  BC:

    BC is the abbreviation for “before Christ.” It is used when stating a date or century previous to the birth of Jesus Christ. The larger the number is in BC times, the earlier the date is. The more the number before “BC” decreases, the closer the date is to the present.

2.  BCE:

    BCE stands for “before Common Era,” and is used when referring to a date before the beginning of the Christian calendar. BCE is interchangeable with BC, as both terms describe the time before Christ. However, BCE is considered more culturally neutral, as it avoids terms associated with Christianity.

3.  CE:

    CE is the abbreviation for the “Common Era”, and is also known for being the time after Jesus Christ was born. The Common Era began at the start of the Gregorian calendar and is still applicable to describe the present day.

4.  AD:

    Identical to the meaning of the Common Era, this abbreviation stands for “Anno domini,” the latin phrase for “the year of the Lord.” It refers to the time period after the birth of Jesus Christ. There is no “zero” year separating BC from AD, so technically Jesus was born in what is called 1 AD. 

5.  Hammurabi:

    Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon, ruled from 1792 to 1750 B.C. He created one of the earliest legal codes by codifying a set of laws known as the Code of Hammurabi. He was also an incredibly successful conqueror who united Mesopotamia under his rule, and he genuinely cared about the quality of his people’s lives.

6.  The Code of Hammurabi

    Created by the Babylonian king, Hammurabi, this code is an assemblage of 282 rules and is the first written set of laws. Through the theme “the punishment fits the crime,” Hammurabi sought to bring justice and equality to his empire. The laws were carved into a stele and are considered to be among the most influential of promulgations, as they were the beginning of written laws. The well known rule, number 196 states, “If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye…” (an eye for an eye).

7. The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta was a charter of rights that was approved by King John, the ruler of England in 1215. He was forced to sign the document at swordpoint, as it protected the liberties of the church, stated that no one was above the law, and announced that each individual was granted rights to a fair trial. The charter was an attempt to make peace between the king and the rebel barons, however after only ten weeks, the Magna Carta was declared invalid by the Pope. Though it was a failure at the time, the document is still significant today because it introduced the idea of equality and freedom.

8. Democracy

A democracy is a system of government in which the people hold most the authority and citizens have many rights. The main types of democracy are direct/pure and representative. In both forms, the people have a say in decisions and are granted basic rights such as freedom of speech .