One of the most interested time periods in history for me is the dark ages. It is interesting to me how western Europe could change so quickly after the fall of an empire. Im very interested to know how people from different places viewed the dark ages. How much did the people in the British isles know about the old world or Rome. From what i know they where hit pretty hard by the dark ages (probably wrong though). How about the people in the Frankish empire, did they know they where living in a very different time compared to Rome? How about people who where never conquered by Romans, the Pictish or North Germans. Was it just another era for Vikings or did they understand the effects too?

Furthermore, did the concept of a "vacation" exist as it does today? Would employers or employees take significant amounts of time off (e.g., more than a week)?

Is there any hope of rescue if Rome is winning the battle, or is there a chance of survival if we lose, or will I probably drown in the meantime?

To better clarify my question, a common remark is that Washington and Jefferson most notably owned slaves, and particularly in Jefferson's case, this seemed contradictory to the words written in the Declaration of Independence.

Did they have disdain for slavery? Was it a matter of these men having foresight that slavery was on its way out, but in the moment it was an unfortunate reality of the time-period where if they attempted to fight against it, they'd lose even more ground?

I'd like to better understand their perspective on slaves and to address the perceived hypocrisy which I suspect is more nuanced than how it is often portrayed.

What can I write? How should I store it?

Dear AskHistorians,

I am trying to look for the gold standard(s) for books/sources on Military History. I have for some years read a number of books on the subject, but always at elementary level and unsystematically.

What I am looking for is for eg. a list that is usually followed in a university course covering this topic. Anything that is easy to buy online (Amazon for eg.) is better for me.

Thank you in advance and congrats to this sub for being one of the best thing on reddit!

PS: For the context. I was educated in history in Italy, so as you can imagine I have read more about European history rather than say Chinese/Indian.

I'm mainly interested in early China and it's religions.

Was there as much unrest as there is today in the middle east, or was it peaceful? Or, was it a peaceful powder keg?

Media always presents them as having "city guards" similar to police, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

Is or was baptism a part of Judaism? My aunt is looking into our family history, and apparently we have family who are Jewish, but may have records of infant baptism.

Is there any chance it was a way to cover Judaism? Is it absolutely forbidden?

While reading Gogol's Dead Souls, a story that takes place in early 19th century Russia, I have noticed Gogol making numerous mentions on luxurious Dutch shirts, undergarments and lace from Brabant. What is the context of this? Is it a nomination of style in the same manner that we today talk of Italian and English suits? Or were the Netherlands a prominent producer of luxury men's clothing in this time?

In a case of a successful military coup or civil uprising that threats the government, would NATO intervene? Did that ever happen?

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I understand the empire and military, specifically, might imbue separate meanings into their symbols, but the wolf's role as part of Rome's founding myth makes it lack of use interesting.

Does the wolf motif appear in other Roman symbology of either the Republic or Empire?

Wikipedia is no help. It essentially says it ended after the war just because. What was the exact cause? For example, Nicholas II was killed in a revolution.