/r/askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Author
How come some of the most important Greek gods were women (Athena, Artemis, Demeter) yet their society remained so strictly patriarchal?	3136	Elissa_of_Carthage
In 400 AD Rome hosted a population of well over a million people, 200 years later the population of the city was counted in low tens of thousands. So, was there just a gigantic empty ghost town located in the center of Italy? What happened to all that infrastructure?	3133	Ikkon
If Obama does not get a Supreme Court justice in by the end of his term, will he be the first President essentially blocked by congress from doing so? If not, which president was blocked longer and why?	3132	jackanapes8
A 1752 map of Poland has an empty area south west of "Mohilow" (today Mogilev/Mahiliou, Belarus) labeled "déserts secs et arides", meaning "dry and arid deserts". That area looks green and fertile on satellite imagery, with both forest and farmland. Why it labeled desert? Did the climate change?	3129	[deleted]
A U.S. Civil War veteran writing about the conflict remarked that even "[i]n peace the South was a semi-military camp." What were conditions like in the South that would lead him to make this comment?	3128	tense_or
When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1536-41, they were portrayed as greedy, immoral, practically brothels, full of fake relics and miracles, etc. How much of this was truth and how much was propaganda?	3126	hisholinessleoxiii
The history “bar talk” in Portugal/Brazil is that Portugal squandered its way out of remaining a global power by using Brazil’s gold to buy “British industrialised goods” and its elite refusing to industrialise the country. How much of this is true?	3120	[deleted]
The US War Department's short film "Don't Be a Sucker!" expresses the idea the Nazis rose to power in Germany by attacking various minority groups (Jews, Catholics, Freemasons, etc.) and thus splitting fellow Germans into rival groups which were small enough for the Nazis to destroy. Is this true?	3118	electricmastro
As WWII ended, the S.S. come across as huge cowards - fleeing concentration camps, hiding their tattoos, burning their uniforms, etc. Did their fellow Nazis comment on this behavior by a supposedly elite/hardcore organization? How did the German public react?	3117	premeddit
Was Jesus a common name around year 0?	3116	kriskola

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