What did the Gauls/Celts/Goths or other "barbarian" tribes call the Romans? Do we have any record?

Hello so we often hear tribal names from the Romanized side, but I was wondering how the peoples of the various Celtic, Brythonic, and Germanic tribes called the Romans. Not necessarily an exhaustive list but major terms or root words that are shared with some derivation based on the specific language and tribe. Do we have any record of this or as the Romans were the conquers in some cases erase other names?

1 Answers 2018-01-16

How did Athenians think Socrates was corrupting their young? Do historians accept that Plato's version of events really happened?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Is there any truth to the notion that North Americans Natives tribes's war were not "deadly" before European contact ?

Hi r/askHistorians,

I am from Canada and I often hear about how the conflicts between Natives were not really deadly before the arrival of the first Europeans, that the concept of killing your enemies came from the white men. It is often said more specifically that the First People would mostly just "skirmish" between each other when there was a conflict, almost just as sport, and that this is why a lot of tribes used clubs and other non-lethal weapons.

Is there any truth to that notion ? I know that the trade fur and the involvement of the tribes between the conflicts of the Europeans increased the wars fought between tribes, but to say that Natives never killed each other before that ...

Oh, also, when saying North America, I really mean Canada and USA. I know a bit about Aztec and Mesoamerican history and I know there was a lot of killing there.

1 Answers 2018-01-15

What stopped The Black Death from wiping out humans as a whole?

I know The Black Death wiped out something like 70% of Europe, I was wondering what stopped it from killing everyone? Did someone find a cure? Did richer people in that time often survive it due to their wealth? What happened?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Was Joan Of Arc A Blonde? Or Is That Painters And Filmmakers Taking Artistic License?

In plenty of TV shows, films Joan of Arc is usually portrayed as a blonde. Is this based on a real account of her or is that a work of fiction? I've also noticed quite a few medieval painters portray her as a blonde.

I ask about this because one of my friends talked about how a lot of TV shows usually portray Joan in particular as a blonde when in reality there are barely any blonde people in France, and she was likely a brunette or had black. Is this true? Were there more blondes in medieval France when compared to today? Are there any historical records from the period documenting Joan of Arcs appearance?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Was full plate armor ever made or used prominently by cultures outside of Europe?

Most people are familiar with the traditional "knight in shining armor" of 14th-16th century Europe, encased in elaborate full plate harness. However I can't recall examples of such equipment being used prominently in other parts of the world.

Are there examples of of Non European cultures developung full plate armor similar to the late era knights? Did plare armor become a big thing in the Middle East/India/Far East in the same way that it had been for the wealthy in Europe?

3 Answers 2018-01-15

Any good books about Russia between 1905 and 1917?

I'm really interested in the Russian Revolution, but all the major texts I've gathered either start with the beginning of WWI and the pathway from army dissent to the February Revolution, or cover the Revolution of 1905 and the ensuing reforms in detail, and then dart to the war and the winter of '16-'17.

I'm really curious about political and daily life in Russia between the creation of the Duma and Nicholas' abdication, and would love a narrative history that focuses on this period. Any recommendations very welcome. Of course I'll also be grateful for any suggestions of more general texts that give it a bit more coverage—especially in terms of changes to daily life—than do Figes, Engelstein, etc. Thank you!

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Question about trench warfare during WW1...

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1 Answers 2018-01-15

Books about Stalin’s purges?

Specifically I’m interested in how and why they happened. I know the second one is a partially unanswerable question, but there have to be reasons other than “Stalin wanted to consolidate power” because the very fact that he was able to have so many of his own close associates arrested and executed shows that he already had effectively absolute power. And of course Stalin was never officially a dictator like Mussolini or Hitler or Kim Jong-Il; he had to at least theoretically have the consent of his fellow leaders to take any action. It also seems clear to me from what I have read (general histories of the party and most recently Mawdsley and White’s The Soviet Elite from Lenin to Gorbachev (which, by the way, comes recommended by me if you’re interested in the topic. It’s dry as hell and lacks the novelesque narrativity that makes certain historians so readable, but if you can get past that I found that it did a lot to dispel myths about the Soviets (which to be clear doesn’t mean it portrayed them in a good light).).) that, at least until the mid 1940s, collective rule wasn’t wholly illusory and Stalin had to achieve some level of consensus among the elite before any major decision. Knowing that, it seems absurd to me that a majority of the Central Committee after around 1937 or so wouldn’t have realized they were almost certainly next on the list to be purged and turned against Stalin instead in a sort of Thermidorian Reaction.

1 Answers 2018-01-15

How did the Qing Dynasty equip and organize its military immediately prior to the Opium Wars?

Was there a Chinese military-industrial complex of any sort? I hear a great deal about the British military being "technologically superior" to the Qing military, and am very curious about the specifics.

1 Answers 2018-01-15

What rank did ww2 armoured car commanders hold?

If a specific example is necessary lets use the commander of a Humber Armoured car.

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Why did pickled cucumbers become so much more popular than other forms of pickled fruits and vegetables in the West?

In English, pickled cucumbers are so popular among all other pickled fruits and vegetables that they are referred to simply as "pickles." How did they become such a popular choice?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

After WW1, the Germans in particular felt the terms of the peace were too punishing. How does the peace treaty compare to for example the peace made with France after the Napoleonic wars?

I've always been curious as to how much truth was in the German argument that the Versailles peace treaty was too harsh and punishing. How does it compare though to the previous time a major power plunged Europe into all-out war- the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars?

3 Answers 2018-01-15

What was the reason for bombing France in WW2?

It killed 50,000 civilians, destroyed numerous towns and made local populations fear the "liberators" over the occupiers. So what did the allies achieve ?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

When the British colonized America, the United States stayed a mainly white populated nation rather than be a mainly Native American nation. Why did places like Vietnam, when colonized by the French, not turn out to be a mainly French nation?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Who was the "mascot" for genius before Einstein?

What I mean is that in modern times, the name "Einstein" is synonymous with genius, but did such a reputation exist with a scientist before him?

2 Answers 2018-01-15

^ USA civilians killed during WWII on mainlnd

Davis Kennedy also noted that the USA only had 6 people killed on mainland USA but USSR had about 13,7000,000 civilian dead.

How many civilian in USA were really killed during WWII?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

In Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode on Gaul he mentions that some historians think it possible Vercingetorix served with Caesar on a campaign and possibly knew him personally. Is there any evidence to support either belief?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Is it true that the Inquisition was active in all Catholic countries in Early Modern Europe? If so, why do we only ever hear about its Spanish branch?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

It is said that slavery had a long history in Africa. Was there an indigenous anti-slavery or abolition movement?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Was there intellectual cross-pollination between early Sufi mystics and Christian ascetics?

I took a few classes on Islamic history in college and some of the similarities between the practices of early Sufis (wearing hair shirts, repetitive/constant prayers, etc.) reminded me a lot of what I had heard about early Eastern (pre-schism) Christian monks, specifically those collectively referred to as the "Desert Fathers". This leads me to believe that there was probably a sharing of ideas between these two mystical societies. I tried looking for research about this on JSTOR but I so far haven't been able to find anything.

Do any of you know anything about this subject? I want to do research in this field (if it actually is a real field).

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Is it true that the US and Russia have never been on great terms, mostly because Russians didn't like Chesapeake Bay Tobacco?

My professor was of the opinion that the US never had a chance to be a strong ally with Russia because Russians didn't care for American Tobacco. He was a huge supporter of economically motivated history, so it was hard for me to just take his word for it. Also, a question for another time, but he claimed that America as we know it would not exist if not for dried, salted cod.

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Help finding info on field postcode (Wehrmacht WW2 Feltpostnummer 37404)

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could help find info on the field postcode 37404. After years of Ancestry research, I've been able to (through the national archive) find out a relative served under the field postcode 37404.

I've been searching for this number for days, but I can't really find any informative information. I don't really understand what the field number means either. Are you as a soldier connected to the same number the whole war, or is it changing depending on your geo. position?

Thank you so much for helping - It means alot to me and my family!

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Was Billy Bishop, the top Canadian ace of WW1, a fraud?

His Wiki certainly reads like it's a real possibility he fabricated many, even most, of his 72 claimed victories, a total that would make him either the second or third allied ace of the War, depending on your count for Mick Mannock. But I don't have the background to interpret what I'm reading, here:

After years of controversy over Bishop's record, mainly because very few of his claimed victories were witnessed by anyone else or could be confirmed from the few surviving German records, the show led to an inquiry by the Canadian government in 1985. The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology discredited the documentary, saying it was an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of Bishop. There is some dispute about whether Bishop or Mick Mannock had the highest score of any British Empire First World War fighter ace.[citation needed] The Canadian Encyclopedia states: "Investigation by a Senate sub-committee exposed a number of minor errors in this apparent 'documentary' and confirmed that statements had been wrongly attributed and incidents shifted in time for dramatic effect. However, the senators were unable to demonstrate that Bishop's claims were valid, and consequently recommended only that the film be labelled as docu-drama".[citation needed]

Some of Bishop's other claims have also been challenged. While combat reports and claims of both sides are littered with well-intentioned errors and accidental duplicate claims, there are two phases of Bishop's life in which German records can provide no supporting evidence. In his book on Victoria Cross airmen of the First World War, author Alex Revell quotes aviation historian Philip Markham's view about German records of the events of June 2, 1917 (the day of Bishop's VC award): "Not a shred of evidence to support Bishop's claims." Referring to Bishop's claims in early to mid-1918, Revell says another aviation historian, Ed Ferko, carried out extensive research on Germans records in 1987. Revell says that Ferko failed "to match a single victory claim made by Bishop against a known German loss for the day, time or place in question." However, distinguished First World War aviation historian Peter Kilduff says in his biography (Billy Bishop VC: Lone Wolf Hunter) that Bishop may have had as many as 21 matches in piecemeal German records. Kilduff, the author of 16 books, is renowned for his research in German records. Kilduff also makes a strong case for the unreliability of German records. He cites examples in which masses of data were destroyed by retreating German forces and instances of the German former air ministry having been guilty of "obfuscation" in denying losses when casualties had been incurred.[81]

What's the consensus? Was Billy Bishop a fraud?

For what it's worth, this note in the Wiki seems to suggest he was at least notorious amongst German pilots, a point against being a total fraud:

The successes of Bishop and his blue-nosed aircraft were noticed by the Germans, and they began referring to him as "Hell's Handmaiden". Ernst Udet called him "the greatest English scouting ace" and one Jasta had a bounty on his head.[43]

1 Answers 2018-01-15

Was satire allowed in communist countries like the Soviet Union and China?

1 Answers 2018-01-15

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