In other words, "Are there problems method-wise that historians have with T.H.o.t.P.W?" I just used this title because I thought it was more fun. Being the second true book on history ever, I'm sure modern day historians would have some problems with it, so I'm curious as to what those are. Are there issues with the book/method, or is Thucydides surprisingly modern in his writing and historical ability?

Just curious to how long they lived.

I've read that the Epic of Gilgamesh has potentially inspired bits of the Bible as well as Homer, but I'm wondering if the name Gilgamesh, or his story or any of the characters, were well-known? Did his popularity survive long past the most recent tablets known, from 1200 BCE, or was the story and the characters lost to time?

I know that the the PIE language had words for 'city' and 'town'. With the PIE language, their vocabulary can be used to figure out things about what they had; words for 'wheel' likely meant they had wheels, words for crops likely meant they had an understanding of agriculture. Did the PIE people build their own cities, have knowledge of the cities in cultures elsewhere, or was it simply a coincidence that the root 'polis' came to mean 'city' all across their diaspora?

I'm thinking specifically of Bulgaria. It is well accepted that the Bulghars were conquered by the Mongols and lived under them for some time. But my boyfriend, who is Bulgarian, lent me a Bulgarian history book that had "all" of Bulgarian history and that had Roman occupation but not Mongol occupation.

In ancient and medieval cities, what events would occur when a city is sacked? Would attackers run about slaughtering and stealing as they wanted, or was there order amongst them? What would they look to steal, and how would it all be transported? What would they do to the city, would it be left or occupied?

This is all I have to ask for now, thanks in advance!

I'm trying to find some more primary sources about the causes of the American Civil War. I know a big reason why is due to state’s rights and the limits of federal power in a union of states, but I'm trying to find some evidence backing that up.

I've tried searching a few databases but it's proved to be a large pain in the ass. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

This is a question for anyone that can read Koine Greek and hopefully is also familiar with the works of Josephus. I have read somewhere and was wondering if it was true that Josephus made many grammatical errors in his writings in Greek, in general. Also, more specifically, there is one passage in Wars of the Jews, Book V, 6:2 where in the Whiston English translation he says "the timber was carrying to raise the banks". This seems like an obvious typo but I was wondering if it is that way in the original and repeated in Whiston and corrected by other translators or whether this error was likely introduced by Whiston? Did Josephus really make so many grammatical errors? Thanks.

In House of Cards (US) S02E03, Frank Underwood, newly minted as vice president, says

“There are two types of vice presidents: Door mats and matadors. Which do you think I intend to be?”

I realized I knew nothing about the role of the vice president, and how different people used the office.

really need something new to read, and since that period is one of the most interesting in history (imo), i want to read something of that. so what the hell, might as well ask the historians who know their sources for the books! online .pdfs preferable, but it's fine even without!

I preemptively apologize if answering and commenting on this is outside the idea of a pleasurable Sunday for most. I find this place to be completely unique and love it. As such, I am bound to become all nerdy about it and my curiosity gets the better of me more often than not. So, I was wondering: With the sub going over 500k, is the subscriber number hitting some sort of a plateau? Or is it rising more or less at the same rate? Looking back, what are the peaks of influx of new subscribers and what events do you attribute them to? How did additional projects like the wonderful podcast, the Twitter account and so on, help in promoting of AH? And how happy are you with the expansion of the flairs (a crude measure of what I'd call intellectual manpower of this sub)? What areas of knowledge you really wish you had more people to cover, based on the ratio of questions about them coming in and amount of people answering them? Do the flairs in here actively try to get people they know into the lovely clutches of AskHistorians?

In any case, I will once more thank everyone contributing to the amazeballsiness of this sub and hope you're all having a great weekend.

[deleted]

I can't remember his name.

Was it important to keep the exchange rate updated as often as possible? How did banks know what rate to apply between countries across the Atlantic before the telegraph was laid? Was the possible discrepancy between coasts a problem, until a ship would arrive with the mail?

Explanation: I'm a model rail roader and something of a historian. Some years ago I picked up a model of a Polish/Russian (It started out Polish, but became Russian) armored train. I've often wondered what made these units viable, from a tactics standpoint, and what impact if any they had. What historical research I have done has been fragmented at best, so I figured someone here might have a better answer.