The question arose in the previous thread about Crassus: When the Roman government collected money, whether by taxation or donations from patricians, where did they put it? And how did they disburse it back out again to pay for Legions or grain? Presumably they dealt in actual physical coins; where they stored in a central location and literally counted out to whoever was going to buy grain or pay legionnaires, or how was it done?

My present research examines the contribution of female pioneers in politics and early female MPs. I'm currently managing the Astor100 project celebrating the centenary of women sitting in the House of Commons.

American-born Nancy Astor (1879–1964), née Langhorne, succeeded her second husband Waldorf Astor as Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton in 1919, becoming the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. She continued to represent the Plymouth Sutton constituency until her retirement in 1945.

Ask Us Anything about the history of women in politics in the UK, the struggle for suffrage, the life, thoughts, and beliefs of Nancy Astor, her relationships with her female contemporaries and male parliamentary colleagues, her parliamentary campaign, the current push for formal recognition of her achievements, and more.

More about Jacqui's research, Jacqui's blog, Jacqui on Twitter, Melanie on Twitter, and the Astor 100 project on Twitter and Instagram.

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS, MELANIE AND I ARE SIGNING OFF.

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

I understand this was asked similarly before, but you can see that the answer did not touch this point specifically. What economical / social / political causes allowed for the shift between being able to sell a person and working on a field of land a few days a week to pay the landlord?

I’m Rachel Herrmann, a historian who studies food and its absence. I work at Cardiff University, in Wales. My particular interests are Native American history, the American Revolution, and histories of slavery. You can read more about me on my website: https://rachelbherrmann.com/

In 2011 I wrote an article on cannibalism and the Starving Time in Jamestown for the scholarly journal the William and Mary Quarterly, which led to an edited collection on cannibalism with the University of Arkansas Press. I’m here with Kelly Watson today to talk about this collection with you. Here’s a description of that collection:

Long before the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia, colony and its Starving Time of 1609–1610—one of the most famous cannibalism narratives in North American colonial history—cannibalism played an important role in shaping the human relationship to food, hunger, and moral outrage. Why did colonial invaders go out of their way to accuse women of cannibalism? What challenges did Spaniards face in trying to explain Eucharist rites to Native peoples? What roles did preconceived notions about non-Europeans play in inflating accounts of cannibalism in Christopher Columbus’s reports as they moved through Italian merchant circles? Asking questions such as these and exploring what it meant to accuse someone of eating people as well as how cannibalism rumors facilitated slavery and the rise of empires, To Feast on Us as Their Prey posits that it is impossible to separate histories of cannibalism from the role food and hunger have played in the colonization efforts that shaped our modern world.

I’ve written the introduction and conclusion for this volume, as well as a chapter called “‘The Black People Were Not Good to Eat’: Cannibalism, Cooperation, and Hunger at Sea.” If you head over to the press page for To Feast on Us as Their Prey, you can click on the “contents” page to read the book’s introduction: https://www.uapress.com/product/to-feast-on-us-as-their-prey/ This is where I discuss the recent Jamestown findings, the state of cannibalism studies, and the contributions of each author in the collection. My chapter is about slave narratives and abolitionist texts and how they offer us lots of different ways to think about hunger, violence, and cooperation in the late eighteenth century.

Dr. Watson has written a chapter for the collection, but she’s also written her own book about the subject: https://nyupress.org/books/

We’re looking forward to your questions!