askhistorians

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Carl Jasper considered 800 to 200 BC an "Axial Age," during which the world took "a pause for liberty, a deep breath bringing the most lucid consciousness" in China, India and the Mediterranean. How has his theory held up?	7
Was Rome the only country to build a fortified marching camp every night? When did these quick-build fots fall out of use?	7
The Columbian Exchange wiped out 70-90% of Native Americans. Should we assume similar cataclysmic disease epidemics ravaged old world populations before the start of recorded history? Or did old-world humans always have better disease resistance?	7
Why did some types of medieval helms, like the bascinet, have a protruding beak/snout on the visor?	7
The emperor Hadrian seems been mercurial — magnanimous and farsighted one moment and jealous and petty the next. But did he go from mercurial to cruel and unhinged toward the end of his life? Or were his Patrician chroniclers just expressing their dislike of him? How "bad" was Hadrian?	6
Is Renaissance Art Featuring Figures From Antiquity Historically Inaccurate? If so, to what extent?	6
What advantages did the Incas have due to their largely non-monetary economy?	6
Was the "asian squat," once common in Classical/Medieval Mediterranean or pre-Columbian American societies?	6
The Greek philospher Theophrastus wrote a lot about plants, including desert plants like the date palm. Did he leave Athens and the Lyceum to travel to the middle east to experience these plants?	6
Did Western civilizations ever embrace terracing to grow crops, as was common in Asia, to any large degree? If so, what crops were they growing, and did terrace building make them more communal societies?	6

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