AskHistorians

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Will historians thousands of years from now have a significantly harder time studying us because we no longer store any information on stone tablets? Like if the Sumerians stored the Epic of Gilgamesh on the latest SSD we would know a lot less.	1871
Do we already know more or less everything we will ever know about the Romans? Or is there like still a chance that maybe tomorrow we will make some dazzling discoveries about them?	183
It's the year 1000 and I am the son of the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and I have a great fascination with the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. How does my knowledge compare to modern-day historians? Do I know more? Or less? What misconceptions might I have?	63
We always hear about how expensive spices were for the Europeans. But what about the people already living in spice-growing areas, say I'm a fisherman living in the Spice islands in the 16th century. Do I ever spice my food with cloves, nutmeg, or other such spices?	48
We all know that during the Age of Exploration spices were extremely costly for the Europeans, but how expensive was it for the natives? Could the average man afford to sprinkle cinnamon or other such spices on his dinner?	26
I'm a fisherman in the 17th century, living in the spice islands. Can I afford cinnamon?	22
I'm a young and inexperienced medieval king planning to lead my army to victory. I've never been to war before so how might I prepare myself to act as a general? Do I read about the battles of great generals like Caesar and Alexander? Do I talk to experienced generals about theories of war?	1
Did nobles in the Renaissance ever idealize being a commer?	1
Did nobles in the Renaissance ever idealize being a commoner?	1
Asking a US soldier if he has killed anybody would be considered extremely inappropriate. And a soldier boasting of his kills would be considered unusual in most circles. Has this always been the case? For example, would revolutionary soldiers think killing the enemy would be a thing to be proud of?	1

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