unwantedplatypus posted:

What types of non-autocratic governmental structures existed outside of Europe in antiquity?

Omnomnomnivore posted:

Turns out German(ic)s have been way into board games for much longer than I thought.

cheetah7071 posted:

Looks like there's an online version of that, if you want to play a 4500 year old board game:

https://www.yourturnmyturn.com/java/ur/index.php

Elyv posted:

How does someone figure out pre-modern literacy rates?

Elyv posted:

How does someone figure out pre-modern literacy rates?

Grand Fromage posted:

As usual, the non-urban and slave populations vanish here. When we talk Roman literacy we're talking Roman urban, free male literacy.

quote:

I have said Iceland is an extremely literate society, but I need to clarify. Iceland has developed a unique type of literacy. As the Icelandic-American writer Bill Holm points out in his book about Iceland, "Eccentric Islands", Icelanders have developed a "literary fundamentalism." He explains his shock at being told straight-faced about Grettir Ásmundsson, or Grettir the strong, a saga hero who was written about three hundred years after his death, in a saga dated to the beginning of the 15th century.

Despite the fact that Grettir's Saga is a work of art and it was influenced by three hundred years of telling and retelling, plus the inclusion of influences of Germanic literature, locals point at specific rocks and say "Grettir moved that."

I didn't believe Mr. Holm, until a friend started talking about Egill, the saga hero from the 9th century written about in the 13th, and explained Egill's life to me as though she had seen his actions, even tisking about how he harassed his poor nanny.

No questioning. No belief that some of the events may have been art.

cheetah7071 posted:

what century-defining thing happened in 1992

quote:

On August 6, 1991,[18] Berners-Lee posted a short summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup, inviting collaborators.[19] This date is sometimes confused with the public availability of the first web servers, which had occurred months earlier.

Paul Kunz from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center visited CERN in September 1991, and was captivated by the Web. He brought the NeXT software back to SLAC, where librarian Louise Addis adapted it for the VM/CMS operating system on the IBM mainframe as a way to display SLAC’s catalog of online documents;[12] this was the first web server outside of Europe and the first in North America.[20] The www-talk mailing list was started in the same month.[14]

achillesforever6 posted:

https://twitter.com/sarahargodale/status/959835847183904768
I'm glad how much LIDAR is showing that ancient people's were amazing all over the place and Ancient Rome/Greece were hardly unique

Cyrano4747 posted:

A lot of it is because of conquest era destruction too. The Spanish burned “heretical pagan books” wherever they went. There are some accounts of the purge of Aztec writings that will make you want to cry.

cheetah7071 posted:

Apparently we have a surviving account of a second-century Greek writer just gushing about how his dog is the best and listing all of her cute quirks, which I find hilarious and adorable

The entire video containing that anecdote is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDh2zGgVZzM

hailthefish posted:

It's an exceptionally pronounced variation of that obnoxious podcast accent literally everyone seems to use.

Ataxerxes posted:

Petri Hiltunen, a Finnish comic artist did a two-part album based on Anabasis and the word has it that it's getting translated. The Finnish cover is linked below, I liked it a lot.
(the title says "Part One - the War of Cyrus"

P-Mack posted:

So it's the same world as Lions of Al-Rassan? I'll have to check it out.

MikeCrotch posted:

Which ancient civilisation would have the dankest memes if given access to the internet?

I can't help but feel that the majority of Roman ones would be TPUSA style "SUPPORT THE LEGIONARIES" or complaining about how soft the youth of today is

Grand Fromage posted:

I wish the title character limit was larger.

Arglebargle III posted:

sbaldrick posted:

I’ve really started to wonder how far the Vikings got in North America and how much they hosed up tribes they meet with diseases the Native population couldn’t cope with.

We will honestly never know.

Thwomp posted:

Could've been marauders who, having been rebuffed at being paid tribute/ransom, made an example of the fort and its inhabitants.

Then went around telling surrounding communities about it? "You don't want to end up like them. Pay up or we'll slaughter you down to the last child and leave you to rot where you lie."

Dalael posted:

Its amazing that we're still finding things like that in Pompeii. I've never been there myself and I was under the impression it was already fully excavated.

have you seen my baby posted:

This post has me curious. If I want to build a repertoire of annoying questions to ask historians, what would the thread recommend?

So far I have, "was Alexander the Great Greek?" and, "was the Byzantine Empire Roman (and if not when did it stop)?"

feedmegin posted:

It's true, we are terrible people.

Grand Fromage posted:

You could and did absolutely have black Romans. I don't know any specific examples because a Roman wouldn't think to write "oh btw it's a black dude" when talking about someone, but have zero doubt there were plenty. Especially once Caracalla extended citizenship to all free males. Like today North Africans were not what we would consider black, but at the very least there were a bunch of Nubian Egyptians who would've been citizens. And immigrants.

Deteriorata posted:

If Greece wants the Elgin marbles back, they should do as any civilized country would do.

Invade Britain and take them back by force.

CoolCab posted:

putting aside boring stuff like spices are there many things today that are very inexpensive compared to in roman times? if i had a time machine and a tight budget and wanted to pass myself off as a rich foreigner what would i encrust myself with?

CoolCab posted:

what holy poo poo really? are they all really small and lovely or something, can i get a big fuckoff fake ring for my time travel goddammit

HEY GUNS posted:

i mean I'D pay a shitton for it

HEY GUNS posted:

get cursed

FAUXTON posted:

How do you even end up with scurvy as an upper-class Egyptian person after, like, the Paleolithic, assuming you aren't found in extreme circumstances like being marooned on a desert island?

Like doesn't most meat have sufficient vitamin C to ward off scurvy even if eaten sparingly with no vegetable sources? Is there some vice of the Egyptian rich and famous that causes poor dietary absorption as a side effect?

E: it's early and I said Greek instead of Egyptian w.r.t. Thebes.

quote:

They are religious beyond measure, more than any other people; and the following are among their customs. They drink from cups of bronze, which they clean out daily; this is done not by some but by all. [2] They are especially careful always to wear newly-washed linen. They practise circumcision for cleanliness' sake; for they would rather be clean than more becoming. Their priests shave the whole body every other day, so that no lice or anything else foul may infest them as they attend upon the gods. [3] The priests wear a single linen garment and sandals of papyrus:20 they may have no other kind of clothing or footwear. Twice a day and twice every night they wash in cold water. Their religious observances are, one may say, innumerable. [4] But also they receive many benefits: they do not consume or spend anything of their own; sacred food is cooked for them, beef and goose are brought in great abundance to each man every day, and wine of grapes is given to them, too. They may not eat fish. [5] The Egyptians sow no beans in their country; if any grow, they will not eat them either raw or cooked; the priests cannot endure even to see them, considering beans an unclean kind of legume. Many (not only one) are dedicated to the service of each god. One of these is the high priest; and when a high priest dies, his son succeeds to his office. 38.

Arglebargle III posted:

Try to imagine getting so mad about pictures that you get kicked out of town.

Fuligin posted:

I remember coming across a grave inscription that was apparently taken from just outside of rome, that went something like "*insert dog name here*, dog of *insert shopkeeper name here*: He never barked inappropriately, or bit any customer at the storefront. Let he who guarded his master, now guard his master's grave"

I'm tearing my hair out trying to remember the name of some roman literary figure who also has a long, random digression on his pet dog, her "excellent qualities," good names for dogs, and the general salutary effect of owning a pet. I remember it being remarkable for how genuinely similar to modern experience his pet ownership was, stuff like how she would jump up for kisses, "could distinguish between friends and strangers," was a great companion on country walks, etc. It ends with him defending the tangent because he (paraphrasing) "wants to preserve for posterity the memory of blahblah, who was surpassing in every canine respect"

quote:

While I am at home she remains by my side, and accompanies me when I go out, following me to the gymnasium, and, while I am exercising, sits by me. On my return home, she runs in front of me, often looking to see whether I had turned off the road; and as soon as she catches sight of me, shows symptoms of joy, and again, turns and trots in front of me. If I am going out on any government business, she remains with my friend, and treats him exactly the same. If she has not seen either of us for a short time, she jumps up repeatedly by way of greeting, and barks with joy. At meals she pats us, with one foot and the other, to remind us to feed fer.

Having been beaten with a whip as a puppy, if anyone, even to this day, mentions a whip, she will come up to the speaker cowering and begging, and will jump up and hang on their neck, applying her mouth to theirs as if to kiss them, and will not let go until she is appeased.

Now really I do not think that I should be ashamed to write the name of this dog; so that it may be left to posterity.

[I] had a greyhound named Horme, who was of the greatest speed and intelligence and, was altogether excellent.

quote:

CIX. ON A PET DOG AND THE PAINTER.

Issa is more playful than the sparrow of Catullus. Issa is more pure than the kiss of a dove. Issa is more loving than any maiden. Issa is dearer than Indian gems. The little dog Issa is the pet of Publius. If she complains, you will think she speaks. She feels both the sorrow and the gladness of her master. She lies reclined upon his neck, and sleeps, so that not a respiration is heard from her. And, however pressed, she has never sullied the coverlet with a single spot; but rouses her master with a gentle touch of her foot, and begs to be set down from the bed and relieved. Such modesty resides in this chaste little animal; she knows not the pleasures of love; nor do we find a mate worthy of so tender a damsel. That her last hour may not carry her off wholly, Publius has her limned in a picture, in which you will see an Issa so like, that not even herself is so like herself. In a word, place Issa and the picture side by side, and you will imagine either both real, or both painted.

StashAugustine posted:

going to a vaguely roman themed potluck, any ideas for food with the caveat that i hate seafood?

WoodrowSkillson posted:

And we come full circle again.