It's sad that this crossed my mind today

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A good cloak is perfect for warm and cold conditions, especially with a hood. When and why did it go out of fashion? Did the average person wear them or was it a nobility thing?

People always talk about how Rome fell and how awful it was but I never learned what happened to Romans afterwards. Did they move to Byzantium or got executed or else?

This is a relatively quick question but I'm doing some independent research on ancient civilization. To what extent is the work of Heinrich Schliemann still relevant to a discussion of Minoan and Mycenean culture? Is it purely of historical interest (as in, the history of the discovery of Mycenae)?

Also, do you have any suggestions for a reading list?

I know that's a long, very large gap, but I'm currently pregnant myself and was wondering how the hell women dealt with it back then. If anyone could recommend some books that discuss it I would appreciate it as well.

I mostly wondered how they dealt with having to pee all the time, the side effects of pregnancy (enlarged breasts, increased salvia, bloating, hot flashes, and increased temper/emotions.) when I feel women were pretty constrained back then. Did they adjust their routines at all, or simply go about as normal? Did they acknowledge that pregnancy was causing this or think they were ill as well as being pregnant? Also, how did they deal with nausea!? I've been thinking about that constantly- I'm able to run to the restroom very easily but how would a woman in the court or working in a factory make a quick escape to puke?

Any help appreciated!

I have always found the Napoleonic wars to be a fascinating historical era. However, I find it interesting that, before I studied European history in university, I knew almost nothing about the conflict despite it effecting all of Europe and parts of Africa. It was also a conflict that involved most of the major European powers, consisted of several coalitions and lasted from the late 1790's to 1815. It was the first time we see mass conscription, the large scale use of artillery and, correct me if I am wrong, but Napoleon's strategies are still used today. Obviously, high schools cover the two world wars quite extensively but why is such a major conflict left out of the syllabus? Did these wars happened so long ago that a personal connection can longer be made with those who fought? Is a personal connection with the past necessary for an event to loom large in popular culture?

When did mankind start cutting it's hair? Why did men start cutting their hair short and why? Was there some kind of evolutionary purpose? When did fashion come into play?

I was wondering, having watched an interview with Maajid Nawaz, where did the modern jihadi movement come from. Not just causes, but also who were the intellectual foundations of the movement and how they justified it.

I just imagine there would be no tangible evidence to prove that this person is in fact less than 35 years old unless they were able to find witnesses to say they were less than 35.

And this could be expanded to any legal age limit in the US. How could we prove who was what age prior to inventing our current social security system?

Hey I'm resubmitting this after not getting any responses:

I'm sure there are many historians who believe that the bombs being dropped was unnecessary but I was wondering if there was an active historical debate from that side or popular works expressing that view.

I don't know if how I feel is relevant here but I've always wondered how the atomic bombs being dropped can be critically justified considering the firebombing in Tokyo took more lives (and I'm assuming military infrastructure bombing could have continued for some time) and the US airforce had complete control of the Japanese mainland making a complete invasion of Japan that may have killed "millions of Americans" as the popular saying goes I think unnecessary-and there's the invasion of Manchuria by the Soviet Union that I think influenced Japanese officials to meet and discuss surrender as well.

I guess I'm wondering how people here feel about the '"mythology" around the dropping of the two bombs and the circumstances that led to them being dropped and if you know of historians /relevant historical movements who disagree that the bombs being dropped was justified,

Thanks!

I assume that historians generally don't get their first publications as undergraduates. Of the later career stages, what is most common for publication?

I know a reasonable amount about the development of fundamentalist young-Earth Creationism as a view within Christianity, but what about Islam? Was this a strict view held amongst medieval Muslims, or just a common view like with medieval Christians? Were there other views? How did the Islamic world react to the idea of evolution in the 19th and 20th centuries? How has it been affected by the rise of different movements with 20th century Islam (such as Salafism, the Iranian revolution, etc)?

(I'm aware some of the answers may be theological as well as historical, that's okay: I've only read some of the Qu'ran.)

I know that there are many European military and fencing manuals. And I recognise that (for example) boxing is a Western sport. But the dedicated schools of particular styles of unarmed combat (most obviously things like karate or tai chi) do not exist in the Western tradition. If they do, they do not have the cultural cachet.

EDIT: Sorry, I am sick and wasn't totally clear-headed when I wrote this. People have done a better job below than I did with my question. In a nutshell, I was asking (a) why do there seem to be so many more unarmed combat styles in the Eastern tradition vs. the Western and (b) why do Eastern systems seem so much more codified than Western. Both questions have been answered quite well. Thank you, everyone.

What was the reason for the phasing out of cutting weapons like long swords for thrusting weapons like small-swords and rapiers? It seems to me that I would rather have a heavier weapon that I could someone more easily with than a small blade that I could miss with more easily. The 'pistol vs French grip for fencing' thread, got me curious about this when someone mentioned that cutting weapons went out of style in favor of thrusting weapons.

Also what exactly does it mean to say he 'cast his weapons' at Ceasar's feet after Alésia ? Was this a well known & recognized ritual with meaning for both sides?