I've been doing research into 1260s Iran, especially Kerman, for a personal writing project. I've found dozens of fascinating sources in English covering many of the major political, social, and economic issues of the time, but I am still struggling to piece together what living in the period would look like in terms of daily life, including material culture. One of the big questions I have relates to what streets and houses would look like in cities such as Kerman, Shiraz, Tabriz, etc. Visual or descriptive reconstructions would be ideal, but I welcome references to any sources that might be helpful in improving my understanding. I would assume a lot of continuity with other periods, so Abbasid or Seljuk-era info would also be useful. Thanks!

I have seen everywhere that the republican senate in ancient Rome was 300 men strong. But people entered the Senate by being elected quaestor. Considering that there was 20 quaestors elected each year, it means it took only fifteen years to fill 300 seats. As senators were elected quaestor in their thirties, it's not like older senators died out as fast as new senators came to replace them. So if there was a limit of 300, what did all the quaestors who could not make it do?

Quartering soldiers kind of seems like an oddball to me next to things like freedom of speech, freedom from search and seizure, etc.

I'm not sure if there's any Game of Thrones fans here, but after watching the last episode, it had me questioning how lazy their writing is really getting. When Tyrion asked Brienne if she was a virgin, she was incredibly ashamed. Wouldn't she be proud to be a virgin, especially since she's unmarried and has avoided being taken advantage of in previous episodes? I know this is a fictional show, but wouldn't women be proud to uphold that form of honor in medieval times? Or was she ashamed because she's still a virgin as an adult woman?

Basically, how was virginity really viewed in higher-ranking women/men during the Middle Ages?

We see a lot of movies and tv shows depicting characters consuming and very much enjoying large quantities of alcohol such as wine and ale. Due to the large amounts consumed, I'm curious to know the strength at which these alcoholic beverages are made. Perhaps because they drink a lot, their tolerance is much higher?

Italian City States in the medieval period and renaissance were extremely rich and powerful within their own rights, and you would think with a capital like Rome, having them unified under one leader would make them a true force to be reckoned with. Were they just a bit too late to the party?

There is a pretty clear trend of countries with cold weather countries being more developed than those with pleasant climates. So for example, Northern Europe is more developed than the Mediterranean countries, Japan and Korea are more developed than the rest of Asia (excluding the gulf oil nations, which are anomalies and were very undeveloped until oil was found). The US and Canada are more developed than South and Central America, and within South America, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina are the most developed. North and South Africa are more developed than equatorial Africa and so on. Clearly there are exceptions, but the trend holds.

However if you go back to antiquity, it was largely the opposite. The great civilizations were mostly in warm climates - Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, Indus Valley, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Maya, Aztecs, Khmer, etc.

What caused this change? Did natural selection during a period of high population growth (ie it is harder to survive winter if you are dumb) play a big part? Was it just that warm weather people were too busy enjoying their nice weather, and good food and wine to devote time to development?

Good morning my fellow historians;

​

I'm an avid bookworm, and love all things history related. My specialty is WWII history, and I've recently (after becoming OBSESSED) with the musical HAMILTON by Lin-Manuel Miranda, I have ordered a copy of The Federalist Papers. Being a Canadian, my knowledge of US history is rather limited except for America's WWII era.

Can someone help me understand what I'm reading? What or who were the Federalists and anti-Federalists. I know that the Federalist Papers were written by Hamilton, Jay and Madison to defend the US Constitution but I feel I'm missing out on not fully understanding what each side believed.

Hamilton (I think) wanted a centralized government, what exactly did that mean? Any help understanding this would greatly be appreciated!

​

Thank you all in advance!

I’m guessing this is more of a philosophical question and I’m more interested in your personal opinion. Factually, one could argue that it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, or that it was about colonies, stopping German mainland dominance, etc.

But for me it’s quite hard to grasp why WW1 had to happen. It’s hard to find any rational reason. It’s almost like a bunch of people with stiff hats and handlebar mustaches idolized war and in the end they let out an uncontrollable Monster that consumed human flesh by the millions. As if it was the climax of 19th century romanticism.

Like no one knew what they were going into and no one really knew what they were fighting for, only that they can’t lose.

In the end even the victors came out worse than if they had just lost 4 years earlier.

WW2 was basically the rematch of WW1. WW2 also had ideologies battling with each other. WW1 had no ideologies, just a pointless waste and suffering of millions of human lives.

What are your thoughts?

I just read an article in National Geographic about a newly discovered fossil that belonged to some sort of bat winged feathered dinosaur, and looking at the illustration it occurred to me that winged dinosaurs are basically dragons minus the fire.

Obviously they were long extinct before we came about but I can’t help wonder if there is some sort of connection.

*Sorry, I meant "originate" of course. Am on mobile and noticed the error in the title too late.

Basically, I've always thought that women in medieval themed movies and shows had legs and armpits that were too perfect. When did women start to shave their hair?

After watching a ton of battle of the nations (modern medieval combat with real weapons and armor) it has really dawned on me how effective armor is. These guys are really going at it, to the point where there would be decapitations if they weren’t wearing armor. They are using Zweihanders, maces, warhammers,bardiches, poleaxes, shields, high gothic armor, the whole 9 yards, and they are swinging full force, yet nobody ever gets seriously injured. So how did knights kill each other in real battle, I know crossbows and cavalry were the real killers but how did knights give each other fatal blows in hand to hand combat on foot? It looks really hard and exhausting to fight like that let alone to kill someone.

Somewhere between Greco-Roman Era and...?

Follow-ups: was it Christianity? Maybe the rural Germanic population who weren't 'cosmopolitan' / whatever enough to understand? Was it not as widespread in the GR world to begin with?

I am currently in the process of listening to "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families" by Philip Gourevitch. During the course of the book it mentions that Madeline Albright, then ambassador to the UN, sponsored resolutions against interfering in Rwanda and tried to dissuade others from interfering as well. Why was this?