AskHistorians

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In HBO Rome Posca often verbally jabs at Caesar and comments on his strategy. Is it realistic that a Roman general would let a slave, even an extremely trusted one, talk to them like that?	457
suppose you're a muslim merchant somewhere in (catholic) Europe in the 11th century when the pope announces the first crusade. are you at any personal risk? if so from whom and in what way?	454
suppose you're a post roman British (pre-Saxon) warrior (not sure if "soldier" is appropriate here) in AD515, what sort of weaponry and armour would you likely have? now Suppose you're an Anglo-Saxon warrior 280 years later in AD795, how different would your weaponry and armour be?	439
If I lived in a northern state in 1850 (say ...New York if matters which one) and I murdered a free black man in cold blood, is it likely that I'd actually be put on trial for it?	435
in the 1860s would a Congressman really have been allowed to just take a bill home with him over night like Thaddeus Stevens does with the 13th amendment at the end of Lincoln (the 2012 movie)?	414
Suppose you're Roman (circa AD250) boy from well to do family. How would your elders feel about you having sex with (family owned) slaves as soon you get old enough to want to (let's say 12 or 13)?	405
I'm an Innkeeper in 1397 Constantinople. A customer, & trader from the Far East, demonstrates a hand cannon to me in ally behind my establishment. Assuming I'm typically educated for someone of such social status do I think "New Technology"or"Magic"?Are the concepts distinguishable to me?	402
Suppose I'm a butcher in London around AD1000 and it's a particularly cold winter (below freezing). Would I need keep salting my meat like usual or would I be aware I can just store it outside untill it warms up again?	395
who was the last living person to hold the position (however ceremonial) of a roman senator? When was the last time the Roman senate met?	387
E. M. Forster once wrote that Dante "places Brutus and Cassius in the lowest circle of Hell because they had chosen to betray their friend Julius Caesar rather than their country Rome". is that at all a reasonable interpretation of Dante’s intent?	383

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