/u/RusticBohemian's posts

Title	Upvotes	Subreddit
The Western Roman Empire moved its capital from the grand marble city of Rome to Ravena in 402 because the later was surrounded by a swamp and easily defended. Was the new capital a minor, dowdy town when the emperor took up residence? Was it spruced up to make it an impressive capital?	35	AskHistorians
In the 20th century, E. A. Wallis Budge believed Egyptian commoners were polytheistic, but that educated scribes and nobles believed the many gods were all aspects of the same one. So Egyptian religion was ultimately monotheistic. Does this view have any support today?	35	AskHistorians
Are modern farms in the US now "soil stable," or do we still lose more topsoil per year than we build?	35	askscience
How different is modern corn/cornmeal from what native Americans were eating prior to western contact? What happened to change our corn?	35	AskHistorians
Were Byzantine commentaries on ancient Greek philosophical works meant to "update," or "Christianize" the philosophies for contemporary medieval audiences, or did they just try to explain the philosophical ideas better than the original authors had?	34	AskHistorians
Did emperors continue to use Hadrian's massive villa outside Rome after Hadrian died in 138 A.D.? What ended up happening to the opulent place?	34	AskHistorians
Were the squat and cross-legged-floor-sitting the normal rest positions in Western Europe before the modern era, or were chairs dominant from early on? Would we have found lots of people squatting or sitting cross legged around low tables in ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt?	34	AskHistorians
Many Germanic tribes attacked the Romans in 166 -180 A.D. because they were being pressured by the Goths, who were invading their territories from what is modern Poland. Why was the conquest of Roman territory considered a better bet than defending their own territory?	34	AskHistorians
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was sick for most of his life. What is the scholarly/medical consensus about what ailed him, and is it considered likely that his doctors' treatments were worsening his condition?	34	AskHistorians
The sweet potato got to the islands of japan from the Americas only 400 years ago. How did the normal orange sweet potato of the Americas turn into the purple okinawan sweet potato so quickly?	34	AskHistorians

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