askhistorians

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In ancient Rome, freed slaves were of very low status. But the Byzantine emperor Alexius employed a freed Turkish slave named Tatikios as a general, and trusted him with important military operations. Had the stigma of being a slave vanished by this time?	46
Why did Poland become so powerful in the 1400s, and what caused its decline into a third-rate power fought over by expansionist neighbors?	46
Caesar's "Conquest of Gaul," involves people dying in droves, horribly. It's a bad man's account of his own bad deeds, written not as a mea culpa or an apologia, but as a brag. Beyond the worry of Caesar's political opponents, did Romans generally find this distasteful?	45
Were skull fractures and cranioplasties commonly survivable in the premodern era? Plus other questions about cranioplasty.	45
Dhaka muslin was the most valuable fabric on the planet 200 years ago, allowing transparent dresses that scandalized Europe. What happened to it?	44
Wool was a backbone of the English medieval economy, but it was shipped it off to be turned into cloth in the low countries. Was there any attempt to keep wool processing in England, and would it have made economic sense to try?	44
Was Plato BSing us when he suggested he had a separate, hidden philosophical system which he never covered in his writings?	44
I'm living in far northern Europe in the 18th century. Do I leave my house for any reason other than grabbing the wood I've already stockpiled? What do I spend my time on all winter?	44
The AskHistorians Book List has almost nothing on the Renaissance. Could you make some suggestions, particularly on Renaissance Italy?	44
The World Bank is blamed for saddling third-world nations with debt thanks to its high-interest-rate loans. Is this a fair criticism? And is the bank supposed to be breaking even with its loans, or actually making a profit? What is their meta financial strategy?	43

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