askhistorians

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In the Starz drama Spartacus, the ludus owner employs a disabled former gladiator as a bookkeeper. Would a slave capable of doing his master's accounting really be wasted as a gladiator, and did ludus owners bother to re-purpose gladiators no longer able to fight?	211
As the American Civil War was winding down, the Taiping Rebellion, with 20 to 100 times as many casualties, was concluding, yet, as an American, I feel like I know almost nothing about it. What led to this conflict? Would it, in fact, be more accurate to call it a Civil War?	210
In the tv series 'Manhattan', its indicated that Robert Oppenheimer's value to the project lay in his ability to navigate the social circles of Washington effortlessly, and not in the day-to-day science of the project. Is this accurate?	209
The earliest gospel, Mark, ends with the apostles discovering the empty tomb and fleeing in terror. Do we know whether the resurrection was already an overt part of the christian tradition of this time?	208
As I understand it, in the ancient world sexuality was viewed through a different prism (active versus passive). How did lesbianism fit into their worldview? How did the isle of Lesbos establish its place in sexual history, and were its associations earned?	207
As I understand it, Joan of Arc was charged in her trial with heresy and cross-dressing. Was cross-dressing at the time considered a serious ecclesiastical offense? Why?	200
Huey Long was called one of the 'most dangerous men in America' by FDR and he inspired Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here"- what was it about him that caused such worries? Was there any substance to their concerns?	195
'The Silent Spring' has been widely credited as inspiring the modern environmental movement; was it part of a trend or did it create one? What factors of time and place enabled it to have such a profound impact?	191
Was it expected that medieval peasants attend mass regularly? Would they understand the Latin being spoken from the altar? If so, how would they have learned it? Would the sermons (not part of the 'mass' proper) also be in Latin?	189
According to legend, Romulus and Remus were the children of a vestal virgin raped by Mars; did Roman religious practices predate the city? Was the pantheon distinctly Roman or inherited from earlier civilizations (and how accurate is the depiction that it's just adapted from the Greeks)? NSFW	188

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