/u/ataraxic89's posts in /r/askhistorians

Year:

Only show posts with narrations

Was Nero's neckbeard a common fashion of the time or would it have been considered weird by contemporary standards?

353 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

In many movies and video games cavalry is shown riding directly into infantry. Was this realistic? If so how was not an automatic death sentence for those riders at the front?

341 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

In the book Shogun it is claimed that Japanese peasants around 1600 did not have a given name or surname. Instead they were simply called by what they did or a description. Is this true?

186 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

How long did a roman shield (scutum) last?

41 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

Did any Roman emperor ever publicly or privately attempt to return power to the Senate?

26 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

Columbus sailed west under the assumption the world was smaller than previously thought and he would reach Asia. How did contemporaries explain the new world before it became clear that it was a new continent?

21 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

did the Crusades have any recordable impact on the genetic makeup of Middle Eastern natives?

21 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

How did Jimmy Carter operate the executive branch without a chief of staff?

20 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

Were fire beacons ever really used to signal invasion? As seen in Mulan and Return of the King.

14 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

In World War One there were examples of spontaneous truces forming along the trenches, were there any examples of this in World War II?

9 upvotes

Mark as read: Add to a list

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Was Nero's neckbeard a common fashion of the time or would it have been considered weird by contemporary standards?	353
In many movies and video games cavalry is shown riding directly into infantry. Was this realistic? If so how was not an automatic death sentence for those riders at the front?	341
In the book Shogun it is claimed that Japanese peasants around 1600 did not have a given name or surname. Instead they were simply called by what they did or a description. Is this true?	186
How long did a roman shield (scutum) last?	41
Did any Roman emperor ever publicly or privately attempt to return power to the Senate?	26
Columbus sailed west under the assumption the world was smaller than previously thought and he would reach Asia. How did contemporaries explain the new world before it became clear that it was a new continent?	21
did the Crusades have any recordable impact on the genetic makeup of Middle Eastern natives?	21
How did Jimmy Carter operate the executive branch without a chief of staff?	20
Were fire beacons ever really used to signal invasion? As seen in Mulan and Return of the King.	14
In World War One there were examples of spontaneous truces forming along the trenches, were there any examples of this in World War II?	9