AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
What made the Hakkapeliitta supposedly so effective and invaluable to the Swedish during the Thirty Years War?	42
The italian mercenaries of the late middle ages had a reputation for being highly unreliable, did any of the warring city states ever break the mold and resort to fielding armies of citizen soldiers instead of soldiers of fortune?	34
By the time Phillip II threatened to invade Sparta, it had been in serious decline for decades. Is there any truth to the idea that Phillip was intimated by the Spartans Laconic reply, or was invading Sparta just not worth his time?	32
When I think of Greco-Roman furniture I picture those reclining sofas people ate on, what were some of the other pieces of ancient furniture that would be common in an aristocrats home? What about in the home of a poorer individual?	28
How plausible is it that Henry VII, not Richard III, killed the Princes in the Tower?	24
Did "The Immortals" still exist as a military force by the time of the Sassanid Empire? If not, was there any sort of professional force that took their place?	20
Was there ever a time and place in Europe in which the head of state was personally obligated to carry out executions, as is shown in Game of Thrones?	13
Why was France diplomatically isolated at the onset of the Franco-Prussian War? What was England doing during the conflict?	13
Ransoming captured soldiers was a big part of medieval warfare, did such a practice exist in Classical Greece? Would efforts be made on the battlefield to capture, not kill, enemy soldiers for the sake of ransom money?	12
During the Principate, I understand that "elite" units within the auxiliaries would often be recruited from specific regions, such as the Balearic Isles or Batavia. Did this regional recruitment still take place with Palatina units in late antiquity?	11

« < > »