Ancient history was from the beginning of recorded history (c. 4000 B.C.) until the fall of the Roman Empire (c. A.D. 500).
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7answers
742 views
History of scientific regression
Throughout history, humans have made many subtle and many substantial scientific advancements. Humans have explored, examined, learned, applied and at times seemingly "forgotten" and/or were unable ...
26
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5answers
1k views
Which came first: Polytheism or monotheism?
It seems a common position that monotheism tends to evolve out of polytheism. Wikipedia offers a few historical examples of this.
However, many polytheistic religions seem to have monotheistic ...
25
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2answers
373 views
How accurate or supported is Jared Diamond's “Guns, Germs, and Steel”?
Jared Diamond wrote a fascinating book that purports to explain, in a very broad way, the development of civilization. It has several explanations for the development of Eurasian civilization rather ...
22
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3answers
476 views
Why the Romans were unable to conquer Germania?
Emperor Augustus ordered his army to subdue the Germanic tribes in what is modern Germany. This was promptly achieved and by 6 AD the Romans controlled Germany up to the river Elba.
The Romans were ...
21
votes
1answer
580 views
What knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Alexandria?
Of course we'll never know for sure, but do historians have some reasonable ideas about what knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Serapeum of Alexandria, when it was destroyed by the Decree ...
16
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8answers
3k views
Why is Dravidian history ignored?
Whenever I read an article on ancient Indian history, I see people only writing about the Indus valley civilization and the Aryans. But what about Dravidians? Didn't they exist even before the Aryans ...
16
votes
1answer
513 views
When and why did war chariots stopped being used?
Many cultures (Egypt, Celts, etc...) had war chariots either as mobile platforms or as troop transport. What other advance in warfare made them obsolete?
14
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2answers
764 views
Where was human history first purposely recorded?
I recently read about ancient cave paintings in France. Would this be an example of the first purposely recorded human events? If not, what was? When did it happen and where?
I am not much of an ...
14
votes
3answers
306 views
How severe were the casualties in ancient/medieval battles?
I've heard that in most battles prior to the introduction of gunpowder weapons, the casualties were usually very low (around 5% even in long battles) prior to the moment when someone's formation was ...
14
votes
1answer
316 views
What did the Romans do for Judea?
I watched The Life of Brian and I heard this quotation:
And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: Yes.
Stan: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: All right, ...
13
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2answers
123 views
Babylonian tablets
The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive writes
Two tablets found at Senkerah on the Euphrates in 1854 date from 2000 BC. They give squares of the numbers up to 59 and cubes of the numbers up ...
13
votes
1answer
299 views
What is the state of the art historical analysis of claims that Carthaginians discovered America?
The Carthaginians, and the Phoenicians in general, are renowned for their seafaring abilities. There is evidence for their circumnavigation of Africa, and strong evidence for the fact that Hanno the ...
13
votes
3answers
224 views
What were the origins of Etruscan Civilisation?
Given the differences between Etruscan civilisation and other Italian peoples of the same period, is the conclusion that Etruscan civilisation was autochthonous sensible?
13
votes
1answer
254 views
Comparison of Ancient Greecian and Egyptian schools and methods of studying to modern day
I've been watching some documentary that stated that our modern schools are used to make people submit to authority and think in a linear way. Just to make us good workers.
And I wonder - What was ...
13
votes
1answer
358 views
Who were the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Western Europe?
I've heard it said that the Basque are conjectured to be the last remnant of Pre-Celtic Western Europe. When would have these people existed? What evidence do we have for their culture and habitation ...
12
votes
5answers
664 views
How well can cavalry fight infantry?
In the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar's infantry won by throwing their spears at the horsemen's faces.
So how come in Battle of Zama and many other battles, including the battle where Khalid ibn ...
12
votes
1answer
216 views
How many hours per day did a Sumerian farmer sleep?
I wonder about the life-styles of the inhabitants of ancient civilizations. As a particular case, if we consider the era of Sumer, what are the significant diversities compared to rural life today?
11
votes
2answers
191 views
Was Theodoric the Great killed by Justinian?
In a recent Medieval History class my professor made a statement that Theodoric the Great after he signed up with Byzantines was killed on the orders of Justinian I so the Byzantines could take over ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
What really happened to the Maya civilization?
Are there any reliable sources that explain the "disappearance" of the Maya? I am highly skeptical about the following account as it states that the cities were destroyed by the war when in actual ...
11
votes
3answers
144 views
Historical/legendary/mythological accounts that turned out to be true
Reading Herodotus' Histories, one is often baffled by passages like (3.102):
{102} [...] Indians [..., of the North] make expeditions for the gold. For in the parts where they live it is desert on ...
11
votes
2answers
342 views
Was lighter or darker skin pigment valued higher in ancient Greek civilization?
Did the ancient Greeks higher value lighter skin and hair, as do modern Indians?
11
votes
1answer
143 views
Josephus as a Legitimate Historical Text
Are Josephus and other Ancient writings considered Historically sound or does the fact that his numbers are sometimes overly Inflated to aggrandize his fellow countrymen make it a source of ...
11
votes
1answer
295 views
When did the Hebrews stop speaking Hebrew and start speaking Aramaic?
The Torah was written Hebrew, and most of the old testament was written in Hebrew, although parts of Daniel were written in Aramaic. By the time of the 1st century, Aramaic was the common language for ...
10
votes
3answers
618 views
Real-life examples of finding long-lost treasure?
Whether it's Indiana Jones, National Treasure, or the latest Dan Brown novel, popular culture has fallen in love with the idea of finding long-lost treasure, preferably in some elaborate underground ...
10
votes
2answers
401 views
Evidence of diets that were exclusively vegetarian
What evidence, provided by archaeological anthropology, is there in regards to diets that were exclusively vegetarian by choice from Ancient history (4th millennium BC) to Classical antiquity (5th ...
10
votes
3answers
203 views
What would be accurate illustrations of vikings and viking culture?
Vikings didn't have horned helmets as is often depicted. Where can I find accurate representations how vikings and viking society looked?
10
votes
2answers
121 views
Animal “blood lust”
I remember reading in some older books about ancient combat that animals would sometimes get "into the fight" so to speak. For lack of a better term, this was evidenced by horses actually attacking ...
10
votes
2answers
135 views
How Was Roman Military Equipment Created and Distributed
When discussing the logistics of Roman armies, I usually see consumables and seigework discussed the most. However, I've been wondering about how the arms, armor, and tools were created and ...
10
votes
3answers
241 views
What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under “kingdom”, “republic” and “empire”?
Traditionally the following stages are counted for the political order of the Ancient Rome:
Kingdom
Republic
Empire (subdivided into Principate and Dominate)
The "kingdom" is usually regarded as ...
10
votes
2answers
268 views
Early history of prime numbers
Prime numbers are those whole numbers greater than 1 which cannot be written as a product of numbers greater than 1. I'm curious about their very early history, say 200 BC and earlier. What I know:
...
9
votes
2answers
346 views
If modern human existed for hundreds of thousands years why was writing invented only some 7000-9000 years ago?
Linguistic studies indicate that human languages were not that different from modern languages 6000 and 7000 years ago. They had distinguishable sounds, vowels, consonants, syllables, roots and stems ...
9
votes
4answers
211 views
Are there ancient historical sources which have been permanently lost?
I'm in a Yr 11 Ancient history class studying Rome, and whenever I look over ancient sources on wikipedia there is always a list of lost works and occasionally a sentence describing how unfortunate it ...
9
votes
3answers
266 views
Did the Celts really go into battle naked?
Yes, this of-repeated tale was reported by the Romans all the time, but it sounds a lot like rumor. Stuff the victors write about their former enemies, "they were so stupid, they went into battle ...
9
votes
3answers
656 views
Was early Sumerian civilization wiped out by a flood?
Sumerian texts speak of a worldwide flood that wiped out most of mankind's achievements on earth. I had always suspected such a flood -- even if only covering all of Sumer -- was mythical, but then I ...
9
votes
2answers
656 views
Who is the earliest recorded person?
Who is the earliest person recorded in history? Whose fame has survived the greatest amount of time to come down to us today?
9
votes
1answer
247 views
When did key locks first appear?
When and where did the first metal key locks appear (not the door bolts)?
When did they became widespread?
9
votes
1answer
122 views
How widespread was practice of fusion of Graeco-Roman and barbarian names?
There are some instances when barbarian names were romanized in order to be similar to already existing Roman or Greek names. Just some examples that come to mind:
Hebrew Martha -> Marta ("of Mars")
...
9
votes
3answers
183 views
What are the most comprehensive historical references for ancient India?
India is referenced in many ancient Greek and Persian sources, but these are often fragmentary. Which sources (if any) exist which describe ancient India in detail?
Since ancient can be interpreted ...
9
votes
0answers
139 views
+50
Has history mistreated Nero?
Nero is (wrongly) "known" as the Emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned." But he did kill a number of prominent people, including his own mother. He is treated by much of history as a psychopath, and ...
8
votes
5answers
282 views
Is there any documentation regarding the use of war elephants in battles?
Does anyone know of any battles where war elephants played either a major or decisive part in the victory of whoever had them? As far as I know, they were mostly used for the fear factor and were ...
8
votes
3answers
169 views
At the Battle of Zama, was the Roman army more “native” than the Carthaginian?
At the battle of Zama, which army had a higher proportion of native troops? Within the context of this question consider troops to be either "native" or "mercenary". Native troops serve out of ...
8
votes
1answer
145 views
What are the problems archaeologists face in deciphering Indus Valley writing?
From this link on Indus Valley writing, I came to know that:
The first Indian script, developed in the Indus Valley around 2600 B.C. is still undeciphered. Thus, it is still not possible to fully ...
7
votes
2answers
247 views
How would a large kingdom be ruled?
Genghis Khan, Alexander etc. are rulers who had kingdoms which were larger than most of the countries now. How would they have ruled their countries efficiently when it would take weeks for ...
7
votes
2answers
177 views
Army formation: veterans at the first line
I am trying to understand the early roman legion deployment. I can see some advantages to putting the inexperienced warriors at the first line and the veterans at the last.
But have there been ...
7
votes
2answers
370 views
Was Alexander the Great Greek or Macedonian?
This questions has been confusing me for a while. Was Alexander the Great Greek or Macedonian? He was born in Pella, Macedonia, but is he considered Greek? Do nationality and ethnicity mean different ...
7
votes
2answers
200 views
Is there a civilization that never believed in God in the ancient times?
I'm not obviously talking about small groups or individuals but about an actual civilization that never believed about the existence of a supreme essence.
Is atheism just a modern concept?
7
votes
2answers
235 views
Organized crime as a historical phenomenon
Is there any scholarly consensus about the origins of organized crime historically? Do movements such as the Ndrangheta have analogues in the pre-Christian or Medieval world? Or is it a relatively ...
7
votes
2answers
194 views
Did the Gallic army besieged in Alesia conduct itself well when expecting relief?
During a Gallic revolution against Rome, a Gallic army of some 80,000 men took shelter in the fortress town of Alesia, where they were besieged by some 50,000 Romans under Julius Caesar. (His army may ...
7
votes
1answer
504 views
Was there human sacrifice in ancient Crete?
Excavations on the hill of Kydonia, near Chania in Crete, where the third largest palace of the Minoan civilization was, revealed a small area fenced by rocks in the yard, with many animal bones and ...
7
votes
1answer
143 views
How big were the biggest elections during the ancient era?
According to this question - Why did non-monarchic rule meet with so little success in ancient China?, elections in the ancient era were mostly conducted in city-states, due to feasibility, logistical ...
