I've read the FAQ page that discusses this subreddit's views on Dan Carlin (among others) but it doesn't mention Mike Duncan. He seems a lot more informative and in depth than hardcore history, and a lot less theatrical, but I'd love to hear a real historian's views on the accuracy and relative comprehensiveness of his podcasts.

I've seen a couple (pop-ish) sources say that the Immortals (maybe 10k strong) of the last Persian empire (7th century) would chain themselves together to demonstrate total devotion to battle and their unit. Is this really true? I can't really find official sources that confirm it and it seems like a terrible strategy for maneuvering troops on a battlefield. I know that part of history can be known for some artistic flair.

Because if you think about it, all you’re really doing is just bringing different natives from somewhere else to replace your current native slaves.

I've been binging Kingdom lately, and I've been wondering what the significance of the plethora of different styles of hats worn by various characters on it. I've done some cursory googling, but only found fairly vague information, and was wondering what the history behind these hat styles and their significance was.

How did Rentap a Sarawakean warrior that fought against the white rajahs (Brooke family) and he beat the world's most professional army at the time? How did he do it? What tactics did he use?

The reason I ask is because I’ve read various reports that say that he never did that, but others claim he did. Thanks!

Many religious texts (the Quran, the Old Testament and I believe the Torah) mention that women should cover their hair. I was wondering whether the origin for this came from practical hygiene or convenience, or some other reason. As a woman with very long hair, I’ve recently taken to wearing it covered with a scarf if I’m doing any sort of heavy manual labour like working in the garden, and it keeps it out the way as well as keeping it cleaner. In a time when having the facilities to take regular hot baths was less available to the poor, would hygiene have been a reason why farmer’s wives and female peasants would want to cover their hair?

Hi,

I was reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it came to my attention that the characters from the province of Xiliang in north China have cannabalistic tendencies; they eat their enemies' flesh, skin them, and drink their blood mixed with wine. So I'm wondering how historically accurate this is, as the novel is known for being biased in several ways and isn't a reliable account of the period.

Was cannibalism common in ancient China as a means to desecrate your foes after their death? If so, in what context(s) was it practiced, and by what people?

Long time fan of this sub, first time poster. I’ve often wondered when reading/watching historical fiction who the mastermind’s were behind the bow and arrow?

I’d imagine it was a tool for hunting at first. Who was the first civilization to use it as a wartime weapon?

I understand that ‘loose’ was the proper term for releasing a volley before gun powder was invented but when a piece of siege equipment with a flaming projectile was used would they use the term fire? And if not what was the term used to call a stop to the barrage rather than ‘cease fire!’ Thanks!

It seems that the number of Spartan citizen was constantly dwindling and the citizenship itself made it unavoidable. Seeing how the lack of citizens made Sparta weaker and weaker compared to its neighbors, I would think they would have at least tried something.

Was it a practice in Rome, or earlier, to require the condemned one to carry their cross? Or is this a Christian symbol of later origin? Is there any reference to the carrying the cross in pre-Christian literature?

I'm asking this because Georgy Zhukov was awarded two Cross's of St George during WWI. Did he and other Soviet soldiers ever continue to wear their WW1 medals or did the soviet government abolish/forbade their wearing?