Questions tagged [ancient-history]
Ancient history was from the beginning of recorded history (c. 4000 B.C.) until the fall of the Roman Empire (c. A.D. 500).
641
questions
0
votes
0answers
221 views
What indicates that the Romans believed that their empire was “eternal” and “would subjugate the world” [closed]
I've just read a bit of Pharsalia (a poem by Lucan on the civil war), in which he refers often to the struggle over Rome as being one over the world.
A paper on the book called "Orbis Romanus: ...
2
votes
0answers
120 views
Was “Via Regia” the original name of the “Via Nova Traiana”?
This is a quote from Wikipedia:
The Via Traiana Nova or Via Nova Traiana (Latin for 'Trajan's New
Road'), previously known as the Via Regia or King's Highway, was an
ancient Roman road built by ...
5
votes
1answer
156 views
Who were Alexander's historians that wrote about Indian social conditions?
I'm reading Ancient India, and in Chapter 12, it is written that
Alexander's historians also give us important information about social and economic conditions. They tell us about sati system, fine ...
-2
votes
1answer
163 views
What's the primary theory behind tracks in the stone around the world? [closed]
What's the primary theory behind tracks in the stone around the world?
Even if they are ancient roads, why there are no traces from the horses or other animals that should be in the middle?
Turkey:
...
0
votes
0answers
81 views
How were elders addressed in Ancient Egypt?
I’m writing a book and want to know how a child would respectfully address an older male and female person—like Sir or Lord or Madam—in Ancient Egypt?
2
votes
1answer
182 views
Is there evidence this weapon existed? [closed]
Recently, I came across different medias depicting the same weapon: what looks like a lance blade with a staff of an approximately equivalent length. The most known example would be the spear of ...
3
votes
0answers
171 views
What did the Gauls look like during the 1st century BC? [closed]
Right around the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul, contemporaneous accounts describe the Gauls as having looked like beasts or savages, with thick knotted cloaks and unkempt long hair and beards. ...
5
votes
1answer
408 views
What kind of missile flew with such speed in 1st century BCE?
Lucretius in De rerum natura, book 6 verses 310 tries to explain the nature of lightning.
Apparently he says that a body moving quickly through the air acquires some heat.
The Latin verse is:
non ...
1
vote
0answers
44 views
Are there visualisations of the Kerma state along with other Nile Valley civilizations?
Wikipedia describes the Kerma state as existing contemporaneously with Middle Kingdom Egypt, from approx 2500 BC to 1500 BC. Yet, the article on the Kerma doesn't illustrate the Kermanese (?) sphere ...
1
vote
1answer
102 views
Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices?
Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices? The Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 2:3) mentions a concept called עורות לבובין which Maimonides and other commentators ...
0
votes
0answers
50 views
As Rome began to decline is there any contemporary accounts from time as to the cause? [duplicate]
I guess fall of Rome seems amazing to me in that they had things we recognise in modern states
Militia, ability to buy property with paper rather than gold and manufacturing.
As decline began as there ...
-5
votes
1answer
170 views
Who was the high priest that crowned Eannatum as king of Lagash? [closed]
Eannatum
Eannatum
Eannatum (Sumerian: 𒂍𒀭𒈾𒁺 É.AN.NA-tum2) was a Sumerian Ensi (ruler or king) of Lagash circa 2500–2400 BCE. He established one of the first verifiable empires in history: he ...
0
votes
1answer
765 views
Did the deity “Horus” pre-date “Horus-Aha”?
Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptologists, others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the ...
7
votes
0answers
89 views
What's known about Tullia's son?
Tullia was the daughter of the great Roman politician Cicero. She had a few marriages and according to English Wikipedia she had two sons, the first one of which died the same year it was born. Tullia ...
2
votes
0answers
50 views
Where can I find illustrations online depicting Idrisi's coffer in the Queen's chamber in the “Khufu” pyramid
I believe I have found sufficient evidence that points to a block of stone, not necessarily a coffer as stated by Idrisi, being inside the niche in the Queen's Chamber blocking the entrance to the ...
23
votes
2answers
5k views
Are there historical texts in England querying where Roman structures came from?
I watched a film recently called King Arthur, showing London post Rome (guessing set in Middle Ages with modern-ish buildings but still with some Roman buildings / walls showing.
It got me thinking: ...
10
votes
1answer
162 views
When did Cicero Minor die?
Cicero Minor (full name: Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor) was the only son of the great Roman politician Cicero. They both served as consuls, Cicero in 63 BC and Cicero Minor in 30 BC.
The years that ...
-1
votes
1answer
230 views
What did the Greeks and Romans think of large breasted women? [closed]
From what I know, the Greeks and Romans held men with large penises in contempt as in their eyes; they allegedly couldn't control their sexual urges while men with smaller ones where approved because ...
4
votes
1answer
230 views
Is Josephus' account for the length of the Jewish War generally accepted as correct?
In Josephus' famous work on the subject, the First Jewish-Roman War is depicted as lasting a full number of years,1 inasmuch as it is presented as starting in the month of Artemisius (II Wars 14:4), ...
13
votes
1answer
381 views
What were the political and military constraints on Vercingetorix at Alesia?
I don't fully understand why Vercingetorix accepted a siege at Alesia (a fortified area), where he would be short of food instead of pursuing one or more of the alternatives below. The reason I'm ...
5
votes
0answers
121 views
Did pagan tribes in the Arab peninsula use bells for superstitious or religious reasons before and with the introduction of Islam?
This is what I have found so far:
"In conclusion, we may note that a leather neck band, also called kilada, on the camel to avert the evil eye, especially if a bell hang from it, is suggested in ...
0
votes
0answers
196 views
What was the meaning of Samnite swastika?
I was recently reading about the Samnite Wars and since I wanted to have better image of how soldiers on both sides during the period looked I googled images of Roman and Samnite warriors and one of ...
23
votes
1answer
1k views
How many times did the the sacred fire of Vesta die?
The sacred fire of Vesta was a sacred eternal flame in Ancient Rome, tended to by the Vestal Virgins. Except once a year for the kalendae (first day of March), extinguishing the sacred fire resulted ...
12
votes
1answer
817 views
Were women allowed to study at the Library of Alexandria?
The closest thing I've been able to find on the topic was in relation to Hypatia, the mathematician, who was born centuries after the library was burned. Is there a list of known people who studied at ...
1
vote
2answers
174 views
Is there any data that supports or refutes the claim made in this paper about the Harappan/Indus Valley civilization?
I came across an old article recently, about the collapse of the Harappan civilization. Here's the paper it is based on-
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3387054/
I found this to be the ...
4
votes
2answers
386 views
What are the historical equivalents of cooperative storytelling like modern role-playing games?
I understand the direct history of RPGs mostly coming from Dungeons and Dragons, which had grown out of the combat game Chainmail, but I am wondering if there were any close equivalents in older ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Are the historical sources from the ancient history trustable?
Are the historical books of Herodot or Polybius or any other historian from ancient history usually correct? Did they add some 'drama' in their books or did they desire to gain favor of those of high ...
1
vote
2answers
304 views
Which emperor tried to command the tides?
I remember somewhere a story about an emperor who was so convinced of his awesome powers that he attempted to command the tides to recede. All I can find on the web is the story of King Canute ...
6
votes
1answer
564 views
What is the meaning of the quadruple symbols combination on a possibly Roman monumental piece?
During my visit to a village central western part of the Asia Minor I saw monumental pieces. Which were emplaced on some part of the buildings by villagers. I see a sword, sickle (hook), pickaxe, and ...
1
vote
1answer
115 views
Is there any research on the (possible) ancient origins of populations in different regions in Cyprus and their movements on the island?
I was looking at a map of the kingdoms of ancient Cyprus where each kingdom was presented to have had either Greek majority , Phoenician majority or was mixed Greek/Eteocypriot so I was wondering if I ...
5
votes
1answer
136 views
What is the earliest-known list of the Roman Principate?
I’m wondering what the earliest-known surviving list of the Principate (27BC-284AD) is. I’m also interested in what the earliest-known record that uses the term Principate to refer to that group of ...
1
vote
0answers
103 views
Why did many Hellenic or Hellenized names in antiquity end in -bazos or -dates?
Ancient names ending with bazos (or bazus), eg megabazos(great-x), Artabazos (again great-x), Pharnabazos.
And Dates (Mithradates, Tiridates).
I know Mithra was a deity, what does the second half of ...
4
votes
2answers
205 views
What was the role of the mountain ranges surrounding India in developing India's civilization?
I am reading 'The Wonder That Was India' by A.L.Basham. In chapter 1, Introduction the author says,
India's isolation has never been complete, and the effect of the mountain wall in developing her ...
8
votes
1answer
215 views
Was Pericles the only famous loss from the plague in Athens?
Reading about the Plague of Athens in The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, I was struck by this question.
The plague killed an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people in a city full of famous people, but ...
9
votes
2answers
347 views
Why were the cities of the Eastern European Plain founded much later than those elsewhere in Europe?
As site on which to found a city, Moscow seems to have a lot going for it. It's surrounded by fertile farmland - Russia produces more grain than the United States - it's located on a watercourse which ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
Do (modern) audio recordings exist for the sound of Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Coptic, or other ancient languages?
Here are audio recordings of the Akkadian or other Babylonian languages. They are of modern people reenacting it, but it sounds great. Good intro to the real ancient world.
Do any audio recordings ...
26
votes
5answers
13k views
How did archers judge distance before range finders?
Before electronics, was there a method for judging distance in archery?
What methods were used historically?
How were combat archers trained to judge distances?
2
votes
1answer
128 views
What is the difference between galli and metragyrtai?
I have occasionally heard of the galli, castrated priests of Kybele in Rome.
Now, I noticed that Greek Lexika also refer to another type of said Godess’s priest, namely a metragyrtes (ΜΗΤΡΑΓΥΡΤΗΣ).
...
21
votes
1answer
3k views
Were Roman males ever named after their mothers?
We know that Roman men often named sons after them, and daughters were usually given the feminine form of their father's name. But are there any records or evidence that a Roman man was ever given the ...
2
votes
2answers
260 views
Did they use nicknames in ancient Rome?
Praenomens in ancient Rome seemed to have been rather limited, especially by the time of the empire. There must've been cases where close friends or cousins and the like would've had the same ...
6
votes
1answer
250 views
Are there any hypotheses on how the Dorset people disappeared?
I read an article about how anthropologists have discovered artifacts from an ancient Arctic culture known as the Dorset that disappeared centuries ago and were the precursors to the Inuit in the ...
2
votes
2answers
354 views
Is there a reconstruction for whom and when were the peoples of the ancient Levant just before Israel, Judea and Edom?
Primarily from viewing lectures and interviews about the ancient history of the Levant, I understand that before Israel, Judea and perhaps also Edom states were created, their area included groups ...
2
votes
0answers
97 views
Could women make contracts in ancient Rome? [closed]
I'm writing a story and the main character is a wealthy widow who runs the estate for her rather lazy son. Could women in ancient Rome (specifically the 3rd Century Empire) legally make contracts, or ...
5
votes
3answers
359 views
Are there any examples of recurring payments in ancient times?
I'm interested in the history of recurring payments. The farthest I could get to is the feudal system, where peasants paid rent to knights once every so often. Obviously the banking system in the late ...
4
votes
0answers
358 views
Have historians attempted to reconstruct the polytheistic Semitic pantheon, dividing it into sub pantheons?
Historians reconstruct pantheons to better understand their role in society (see below for examples of reconstruction as a historical method). Has there been any attempt to apply this historical ...
3
votes
2answers
341 views
Who were the first leaders of the Yahwistic sect?
From reading the Bible and from studying from various lectures I have tried to synthesize who was or who were the first leader/s of the Yahwistic sect (Yahwism) in ancient Israel (the allegedly ...
2
votes
0answers
140 views
Why was being a school teacher something looked down upon in Ancient Greece?
I'm currently doing research on Epicurus for an article and I came across an passage from Timon (a central student of Pyrrho) where he calls Epicurus "Grammadidascalides", as if an epithet, along with ...
6
votes
2answers
684 views
Is there a database of ancient/current names of cities?
I am working on map of Ancient Etruscan civilization and I can't identify the exact location of Spica city. Based on minimap from Wikipedia page about Etruscan civilization, the city should lie about ...
11
votes
1answer
727 views
Was Yahweh a god in a possible Edomite Pantheon?
I understand from the Bible, from the Wikipedia articles Yahweh and Yahwism and from lectures of various scholars that polytheism was practiced by at least some religious leaders, priests, kings and ...
1
vote
1answer
336 views
How did Jerusalem function as an ancient city without a major water source? [closed]
Jerusalem seems to be an exception to the rule that all ancient cities must either be on a river or freshwater lake.
First settlement is estimated at 3500 BC.
The nearest major river as far as I can ...
