askhistorians

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The Popes rebuilt Rome during the Renaissance, creating massive basilicas like St. Peter's, funding amazing sculptures and paintings, and importing expensive marble and precious metals. But Rome was not a rich city. Where did they find the money?	492
Less than 1% of ancient Greek and Roman literature survives. Did Chinese and Indian works have a similarly high rate of attrition?	489
I'm a merchant in ancient Rome, and a thief just ran off with some of my goods. Is the legal system good enough to get me justice? Is it worth my while, as a plebian merchant, to report the crime to a magistrate?	484
England had no problem filling its 13 North American colonies with settlers, but Spaniards and Frenchmen seemed reluctant to emigrant to the New World in any great numbers. Was government policy holding back settlement, or cultural reluctance/economic conditions?	472
I've seen Viking skulls with filed-down teeth. Do we know how common this was, and why the Vikings did it? Wouldn't it have made chewing difficult?	471
Why did Vermont have a massive Merino Sheep boom and bust in the 19th century (A peak of 70% of the land was devoted to sheep). What market forces were at play?	452
Seneca abandoned vegetarianism because he did not want to be associated with a Roman political faction of vegetarians - What was this faction, and why was is best that he not be associated with them?	450
Being sent to work in a Roman mill was up there with being whipping and being placed in fetters in terms of potential punishments for slaves, according to Messenio, a character created by the Roman playwright Plautus. The mines I understand, but a mill? What was bad about mills?	443
Hollywood movies make it seem like everyone partner danced on a regular basis from the 1920s up until some point in the 1960s. How popular was dancing to music during this period? If we stopped in a small to medium-sized US town in 1940s, would we find people dancing in the evenings?	437
I grew up hearing about Anglo-Saxon migrations/conquests leaving an indelible mark on England. In recent decades, historians doubted the textual evidence for this and said any impact was small. Now, genetic testing shows a huge impact. Why did historians become doubtful, and why were they off base?	430

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