You are correct, millenia ago things like slavery, human sacrifice, and in your example the Roman Empire killing people for entertainment was somewhat commonplace. What you fail to mention, however, is that this barbarism continued after Christianity was founded: the Middle Ages in Europe are often considered one of the darkest periods of human history, marked by plague and disease, no education and illiteracy, feudal societies, petty wars between tiny kingdoms, violence, etc.

"Often considered" by whom? Certainly not by respected historians.

Ironically this was the period in which Christianity had the strongest hold over Europe (for comparison, the Islamic world, China, Mesoamerica, and more regions of the world were thriving, with various problems but they were still better off than Christian Europe).

This Mesoamerica?. Come on now. Admit that was a bad example.

As the Enlightenment arose and more secular ideas prevailed, the world gradually got better in almost every way: science and technology flourished, morals continued to evolve, and while violence and crime continued at incredibly high rates, it was less common.

Science and technology were already making huge advances since the Renaissance. You all might have heard of this person.. Da Vinci, for example.

example of what i mean

Battle of Málaga

Less than a week after the Capture of Gibraltar, Admiral George Rooke received intelligence that a French fleet under the command of Toulouse and d'Estrées was approaching Gibraltar. Leaving half his marines to defend the newly won prize, Rooke immediately set off with his combined Anglo-Dutch fleet to engage the French.

Battle of Trafalgar

The same month, Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea. He remained ashore for 25 days and was warmly received by his countrymen. Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour. Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship, HMS Victory, was ready to sail.

On 15 August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel and to have them sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain. This left the Channel drastically reduced of large vessels, with only 11 ships of the line present. This detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet that would fight at Trafalgar. This fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reached Cádiz on 15 September. Nelson joined the fleet on 28 September to take command.

I have several follow-up questions further regarding intelligence, preparations, and fleet departure (which are focused on the Age of Sail, but because it is a wide time period, I will narrow it down to the 18th century):

Intelligence:

• when Rooke received intelligence and when word reached Britain after Nelson returned there, how were these two men actually told of the news? Who, specifically, would have told them? (naval agents? spies? some other colleagues?) Would they have been given letters, or was the news told verbally because letters might have risked being intercepted by the enemy?

• Who were usually the first people to know of an enemy fleet and spread the intelligence?

• Was there some sort of organized way that the news of an enemy fleet to be fought was spread? Down from the head of the navy to the admirals, to the ship captains and to the lowly sailors?

preparations:

• what was the first action that was done after intelligence was received? Were there decisions on which ships should join a line of battle fleet? (e.g. "HMS Portsmouth under Captain Smith should join the fleet") What responsibilities and duties did the admiral(s) or other high-ranking naval personnel have?

• Before a fleet was to even depart, were there plans drawn up (like, on paper?) and discussed for how the fleet would physically approach the enemy? If so, which people in the navy would be involved?

fleet departure:

• Wikipedia says that Admiral Rooke immediately set off with his combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, but just how long would it have actually taken to depart with a fleet of 53 ships of the line? Did all the ships depart at once, or did smaller sections of the fleet departed one by one and wait for the others to reach the sea? I've read from another thread on this sub that 18th-century fleet preparations took a very, very long time.

• Wikipedia says that Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet. Though being an admiral, was this his own decision he was able to make fully on his own, or would he have first had to seek permission from someone of a higher position in the navy? (I honestly do not know if there are any higher positions than 'Admiral' in the Royal Navy forgive me for my quick assumptions)

I know my question is loaded but this is a topic that I have been interested in for a while and would love to read any answers received

In this interesting post about Italian food, one man writing about Italian cuisine in the 1800s said he went from eating meat three times a year to three times a day when he moved to the US.

Did immigrants adopt more meat in their diet because they could suddenly afford it, because of pressure from the dominant American Cuisine which was already in place, or something else? If it was all about affordability, why did the US have cheap meat compared to other countries?

Previous weeks!

Thursday Reading and Recommendations is intended as bookish free-for-all, for the discussion and recommendation of all books historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:

• Asking for book recommendations on specific topics or periods of history

• Newly published books and articles you're dying to read

• Recent book releases, old book reviews, reading recommendations, or just talking about what you're reading now

• Historiographical discussions, debates, and disputes

• ...And so on!

Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion of history and books, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.