I know that Charles XII of Sweden was killed while he was inspecting his soldiers on a trench, but it looks like royal families started to participate less in wars till a point that is almost no participation among the majority of families.

The major explanation i got is the most obvious: you can die in a war, and it can cost the succession line of your house.

But that doesnt makes sense to me: did the monarchs that took part of their wars through the annales of history never thought of that? Just later, some monarchs were like: "oh, I can die in war and mess up my family line, so Its better staying home". Just doesnt seem logic since earlier monarchs probably had come up with this and they still leaded their troops.

Really interested in reading about the formation of a Scottish Gaelic culture and how Gaelic-speaking newcomers interacted with the preexisting populations whom outsiders called Picts

Let's say I live in Herculaneum. I've been given the best education, but what were they educating me in? I'm assuming math is a given, but what historians have I read? Who are popular scientific writers? I'm contemporaries with Pliny the Elder, but is his writing popular enough while he's alive for me to know? What philosophers are commonly read? Is religion considered a topic for intellectuals, or do they see it as superstitious?

I know this is a huge long shot, I’m sorry if this is stupid. I’m American. My great great grandfather brought home a German helmet and some leather pieces that came with it, including a fabric piece (lapel?) with a stitched 242 on it. There are parts of the leather pieces that appear to be blood-soaked. He wrote a note saying he “found it in the Belleau Woods.” Anyways, are there any special marks on these fabric pieces or the helmet itself, such as a serial number, that I could potentially use to return it to surviving family? If not, is there anything important or interesting we can extrapolate from the 242, or the helmet itself? Thanks, please let me know if wrong sub.

I know nothing of archaeology, evidently.

But I would like an explanation to each of the points Hancock brings up in his Netflix episodes so I can understand. I cannot find anyone that does do this extensively and in layman language without simply stating he is a hack.

I know it's a lot to ask, but it would be amazing if I'm at least pointed to some reading.

I'm assuming that flirting happened back then, but if it did, what form did it take? There's a lot of roman history, but I don't know how much information there is on this topic, so for a specific time period i suppose late republic/early empire is where I'm wondering about. How did romance happen back then? I know all about how marriage was mostly for purpose rather than romance but given the content of plays and poems from back then there has to have been love, too. So, how did they flirt? Did they flirt at all?

A recent graphic on another subreddit showed that basketball is the most popular sport in Estonia and Lithuania. Why has it gained such traction there? Did the roots of widespread basketball adoption predate the dissolution of the USSR?

If so how did the exile impact the development of Judaism

Basically the title. The more obviously politically charged questions in the sub, like the ones about anything related to the USSR, got me thinking about it.

I’m wondering if they were aware of three things mostly.

1. Their migration to Britain from Continental Europe

2. Their connection to the Germanic peoples like the Saxons

3. When the Danes settled in England, and brought the Norse Religion, were the English aware that their ancestors worshipped the Same gods? Like we’re they aware that Odin=Woden and Thor=Thunor?

i’m currently writing a comparative book review in which an author uses direct quotations from a private letter between two military generals but it’s not cited. i tried looking for it in their bibliography because they give the date of the correspondence when discussing it but i couldn’t find it.

I am asking about before the early modern period, but examples from other parts of the world at other times would be welcome. An anthropologist called honor "social currency" in the book "Debt: first 5000 years." Is there any truth to it?

When Europeans first came to the Americas they spread disease causing mass amounts of death for the native Americans. Shouldn't the native Americans have also spread disease to the Europeans causing mass deaths for both sides?

My understanding is that starting in 1862 with the first Homestead act, the US government started selling off or giving away 160 acre parcels west of the Mississippi. I've drive through western Kansas and east Colorado and the High Plains in that area is almost featureless, it's just a sea of crops/rangeland/prairie. Before all the road and rail lines, how would have someone from say... Baltimore, known how to get to their plot of land? You can take one of the trails or rail roads most of the way, sure, but how do you know when to get off the train or trail? How do you know where to go from there?