2 Essays on Rhetoric

The primary interest of ancient Babylonia in the Code of Hammurabi appears to have been to assure order in general and protect the ability of the community to thrive in a precarious environment in particular. There is an assertion of right against the might of "evil-doers," which suggests that the ruler wants to be just king (Code 1), but the plurality of laws have to do in some way with agriculture, which suggests that subsistence farming and a concern to exert social controls dominated the physical environment of Babylonia. Thus there are penalties for failing to maintain the condition of an irrigation dam, for stealing slaves, and for confusing the society about the status of women. Accordingly, women and slaves who transgress the social norms are to be punished, but husbands and masters have the prerogative of pardon (Code 129). There are also class distinctions. For example, one strikes his father is to have his hands cut off (Code 195). A nobleman who puts the eye of another nobleman is to have his own eye put out, but one who puts out the eye of a commoner pays a fine (Code 196, 19

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or posterity. Based on the text from that speech and your knowledge of medieval culture, why did Urban's appeal to the Christian nobles at Clermont command an overwhelmingly positive response? Be sure to outline the social, political and religious situations in Europe tht made Urban's argument compelling and timely. To whom is urban addressing the speech? What is their ancestry, and why should they feel obligated to take on this dangerous task? Who is the enemy and how are their actions portrayed by Urban? Do you think his characterizations of their actions is justified? What problems within Europe does he suggest the Crusades can fix (political/social/cultural, etc.)? What is the ultimate reason for going on a crusade? Why is it so important to recover this territory? What is the ultimate spiritual reward? Is there any difference between this Christian Crusade and the Islamic jihad that allowed the Muslims to conquer the Holy Land? In preaching the first Crusade, Urban had as his ultimate audience the whole of Christendom, to the degree the Church had historically exercised dominion over virtually every detail of existence for the faithful. Yet the faithful as a class were hardly in a position to come t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Hellas Pericles, Code Hammurabi, Christianity Urban, Republican Rome, Christianity Catholicism, Jews Muslims, Robert Monk, Holy Land, Holy Land--at, Levant Persia, holy land, code hammurabi, republican rome, spiritual reward, babylonia code hammurabi, babylonia code, ultimate spiritual reward, difference christian, clermont france, reason crusade, persian race, physical environment, ancient babylonia code, muslims conquer holy, ultimate reason crusade,
Approximate Word count = 2516
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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