I want to try to make some ancient recipes, especially deserts, but I also want to be as Authentic as possible, while using modern tools. Now, I’m no baking expert, and I’m sure most of you aren’t either, so I really can’t improvise that well when it comes to specific substitutes, but I at least know enough to know that they used yeast instead of baking powder, and I can do that much, but I also know that modern instant yeast is way more advanced than what they had back then. Don’t really know anyone with a culture, and probably won’t be able to maintain one, so if it is at least semi-modern, I’d appreciate it. I can also ask the baking subreddit for advice as well.

TL;DR: I want translated ancient recipe books that are not too modernized that they are in-authentic but not too old fashioned that they are really hard to make, and need to be from the time period between the rise of civilization and the fall of Constantinople.

In my U.S. History class until 1865 I read that "most, even many southerners in 1800 believed slavery was wrong, but trying to get rid of it would lead to a civil war, which they considered to be even worse". However, later on many southerners thought of slavery as a positive good. (Battle Cry of Freedom?) When and why did this start to occur? John C. Calhoun? (Jacksonian era?). A bit later than that? I wonder if non-southerners considered this insane, like how we might consider someone who thinks gun violence as a positive good?

High treason against the world’s largest and strongest empire of its time. Yet the English lost against the rebellion and the US was founded. But how could it go that badly for the UK? What did the (predecessors) to the US so right and what did the UK do wrong for history to end up like this?

I am very familiar with the institution of slavery in the American South, but not the music of the slaves, aside from spirituals. Hopefully, a music historian or ethnomusicologist can help me with this question, which is prefaced.

In my research for a recent project, I came across alleged lyrics for a song sung by slaves in Colorado County, Texas relating to slave patrollers, with the lyrics (in part) “run n****r, run, patroller gonna get you.”

I had thought, since the only mention of this song comes from a 1933 article in the Colorado County (Texas) Citizen, and lyrics are listed by a man who claimed he heard it sung as a child, and his age really doesn’t seem to have been able to match that he’d have heard it or been old enough to remember it, that it may be apocryphal (although the song has been repeated in a few books and thesis, it has only one primary source—the the 1933 article). I thought it odd that the slaves would refer to themselves this way in song.

This weekend, I rewatched “12 Years A Slave” and one or more of the songs sung by the slaves in the film also included the pejorative “n /* /* // er” or “n/ /* / */a,” and began thinking about this topic again.

From the WPA Slave Narratives, you do see some ex slaves refer to themselves and slaves generally by this pejorative. In some of J. Mason Brewer’s “negro folklore,” the word is also used. I do not recall seeing in the slave narratives any song lyrics with the pejorative, although at least one narrative I’ve seen mentions a field song not including the pejorative.

My question is (a) was this pejorative or its variants used in the folk and field music of slaves in the south and (b) what are some examples?

Is there any record of, e.g., legionnaires complaining that gladiatorial fighting styles would get you killed on the battlefield, or fans complaining that certain gladiators were too showy and looked staged?

Did they think that it was possible to come up with purely objective measurements of "hot" and "cold" material? What are some sources I can use to learn more about the history of thermodynamics?

Bonus question: did the European understanding of temperature measurement conflict with the understanding of temperature measurement in other areas of the globe (eg. China?)

Reading up as much as I can about this subject, a little before but mostly post, my quick stop in PP a few weeks ago. Its quite the exceptional subject where information isnt huge and the books regarding the subject are pricey. Can someone suggest a good book about the Khmer Rouge, maybe a book that I wouldnt expect to be that great. Currently finishing 'The Master of Confessions' and moving on to 'When the War Was Over.'

I have read in a number of war memoirs that prisoners of war were occasionally able to send / receive mail and were also sent Red Cross care parcels.

In one case, the famous, double amputee, fighter pilot Douglas Bader was sent spare parts for his false legs with permission being given for a British aircraft to fly over German held territory and to drop the box of parts with a parachute attached.

So I am fascinated to know if postal services still ran during WW2?

Where allied Red Cross people safely working behind enemy lines?

In the case of Douglas Bader...somone in Germany must have been able to contact somone in the UK. Were there still consulates in each country?

I'm looking for any methodological/historiography articles that I could give to my students on the connotations behind using the term "tribe" to discuss groups of indigenous peoples at the stage of colonial contact (mostly looking at 16th- and 17th- century coastal Africa, and 17th- and 18th- century North America).

I have zero sense of the non-European actors' category language in any these areas and regions. And while I have a passable amount of knowledge on decolonizing education, I don't actually have any resources on so specific as a problem.

I get that I've handed you pretty big regions in this query (and not short time periods to boot), but I'm casting a strategically wide net. At this stage I would be happy to hand them anything to just start thinking about the use of terms before they deploy them, just as I have been able to do for language that requires critical thinking when describing Europe pre-1800: nation (with some reference to the politics of using "nation" for indigenous peoples in North American settler territory), nationalism, citizenship, immigration, minorities, race, etc.

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Caveat: I am not treating this as an issue of "political correctness"; it is a quite intellectually conservative query about historical accuracy. Yes, it is, surely, attached to issues of whose language we employ when writing history now. But, if we don't care about the effects of language in historical writing and thinking, why are we even doing history?

EDIT: I'd also take any historical/philological investigations into the deployment of the term "tribe" as it has changed over time.

EDIT: minor grammatical and punctuation edits.

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There's a lot of information online about how the Spartans would have trained but mostly it doesn't have any sources or reliable information. Does anything exist on how the Spartans would have trained in the Agoge or Syssitia Barracks?

If this has been already discused please link the discussion.

Context : I am greek, today Octomber 28 we celebrate the Greek entry in WW2.

Every year there is a discussion around the impact that Greek resistance had on the outcome of WW2 and specificaly on delaying the start of operation Barbarossa.

There are usually two sides on this discussion.

One that claims that operation Marita did in fact delay Operation barbarossa and that the battle of Crete made Hitler cancel the planned invasion of malta and how that in turn affected the outcome in the african Theater.

The other side claims that nothing of the above is true and that operation Barbarossa was delayed due to weather and logistics, and that the battle of Crete had no impact on the cancelation of the invasion of malta and thus no impact on the african Theater.

I am not looking for a Black / White - yes / no answer, i am just trying to get some insight because local sources are too biased.

Thank you in advance for any help.

I posted this several days ago and didn't get any answers. Hoping 2nd time's the charm!

I want to learn about the history of coal mining in the United States. I'm especially interested in coal mining in the 19th century, but I'd also be happy to read a more robust history of coal mining in the US. I haven't found anything in the Books and Resources list on the FAQ, and it's hard to know if a book I turn up on Google will be high-quality or not. What books would you recommend? Thanks!

What did the Confederate States of America strive to gain from the war? Was it simply separation from the USA, maybe with some extra territory, or did they want to impose their views on the entire country?

Just wondering if the scandanavians had a large amount of pirates in the renaissance or colonial era. Not talking about the viking age of the 700-1100's, wondering if that viking tradition carried on into renaissance or colonial era.

I understand that from Claudius’ ascension you could argue that is the key point due to the praetorian guard acclaiming him princeps, however under Nero he still attempts to gain the Senate’s support so I am wondering what exactly is the defining point for the senate’s loss of power? My question is less on the actual fact of when the senate actually lost power but rather when they actually understood they no longer had power. Thanks for any replies

Hi,

Given this week theme's around Halloween and spooky creatures, I thought I would ask:

To what extent, as far as we can tell without polling, social or psychological studies, did people actually believe in such beings as pixies, ghosts and goblins in 16th century Europe? As opposed to fiction, or speculative whimsy? How much did it actually affect their decisions?

I've been told that the majority of Chinese dynasties were by foreign rulers/conquerors is this true? I haven't found many sources that prove this.

According to a quick google search, Greek myths existed 2700 years ago. Far from advanced medical knowledge. However, according to the myth of Prometheus, his liver regenerated every night so that an eagle can torture him by ripping it from him and eating it.

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Is there evidence that humans at least 2500 years ago knew that a resected liver could regenerate itself?

Also how many failed expeditions do we know about? Surely not everyone who tried crossing actually made it.

I had the impression that (and correct me if I’m wrong) for those 300,000 years we were essentially stagnant and while there were obviously advancements in technology, those advancements came at an absolutely glacial pace. What I mean is, a human from 250,000 years ago would not be out of place if they traveled forward in time to 225,000 years ago.

Then it seems like modern civilization got a foothold and, boom, everything starts to change at a rapid and accelerating pace.

If that is indeed the case, was there something that caused this to happen? Did, for example, the population reach some critical size necessary for civilization? Or perhaps did a weather/climate event force us to become better toolmakers?