Ancient Rome's leaders seemed to commit suicide at a drop of a hat. Why was this?

I'm working through Mike Duncan's "History of Rome" podcast, and people in it seem to commit suicide extremely readily - whereas we would consider it an absolutely worst case scenario.

Is this true, and if so, why was this? Was exile so bad, or fleeing to a neighbouring empire out of the question completely? Did they have stronger religious convictions? I've heard "honour" was so much more important, if so, how and why?

It's the one thing that makes the least sense to me, I'd love to hear some reasons for this.

2 Answers 2015-10-21

American Revolution Podcasts?

Don't know if this is the best place to ask, or if it's even allowed, but I'm currently writing a paper about the American Revolution, and I was wondering if there were any good, free podcasts about it?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

How much did government policy of Idi Amin in Uganda increase use of Swahili as a national language?

Percents would be useful if possible.

1 Answers 2015-10-21

How reliable is Antony Beevor's "Berlin: The Downfall 1945"?

From what I can tell from a cursory search on Wikipedia, this book is well-received by the general public, but also has received some criticism from Russians in particular. What is the general consensus among historians as to its reliability? Thanks.

(I did not find any threads discussing this book in particular, sorry if it's been asked.)

3 Answers 2015-10-21

The nuclear bomb on Nagasaki and Japanese internment camps

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1 Answers 2015-10-21

Why was Siberia so scarcely populated?

...and why did no great kingdom ever develop there?

I've never been there but from google images it doesn't look like a bad place to live. It looks similar to Alaska and Canada.

There are trees, grassland, lakes, and I'm sure a ton of wild game. I just don't understand why it was so depopulated.

Why did the Mongols choose to make the desert their home (Mongolia) when they could've went further north and had much nicer lands?

4 Answers 2015-10-21

How did the two major political parties in America become the way they are today?

How did the two major political parties in America, the Republicans and the Democrats, become the way they are today?

The Republican Party, for instance was founded by anti-slavery activists and modernizers, which in a way is opposite of the conservative party we see today.

The Democratic Party, on the other hand, for a long time fought for a weak federal government and strong adherence to the constitution. Today, they are the liberal party amongst the two.

Could anyone give an overview over why and how this happened?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Why did countries like Canada and Australia keep a British monarch as their head of state when they gained independence?

why did they choose to keep the British monarchy as part of their political system compared to countries like India and Pakistan where they no longer considered a constitutional monarchy

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Is the amount of infidelity portrayed in AMC's Mad Men accurate? Was infidelity commonplace in married men during the 60's?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Where to find Primary sources for Elgin Marbles?

Hello, I have been doing research on the Elgin Marbles. I am trying to find primary sources for the Elgin Marbles but all I am finding is secondary source books about the marbles. Where can I find some primary sources regarding the subject?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Luxor, Karnak and Thebes in the late 3rd century

As stupid as it may sound, I can't figure out the differences between them, it looks like Karnak itself was mainly a walled complex to the north of Luxor, which seemed to be a walled city with a temple in the middle, all on the eastern bank of the Nile. But even if all of that is correct, is Thebes just another name for Karnak? Sorry for the confusing question, I'm really confused as well and need to get all of this straightened out for a project I'm working on. I want to get familiar with the area (as familiar as possible without going there) but I'm having quite a bit of trouble with that.

1 Answers 2015-10-21

My Professor made the off-handed claim that during Sherman's March to the Sea, officials in Washington were kept up to date on his location through reading Southern newspapers. Does this hold any water?

Essentially, he said that Sherman did not relay his position back to Washington during the campaign in an attempt to stump espionage efforts from the South. So, instead, the army acted independently from Washington, and Lincoln and his administration would actually stay up to date with Southern newspapers to find out where Sherman actually was.

He was kind of half joking when he said it, but in a "I'm oversimplifying" kind of way, not in an entirely "this is a joke" kind of way. So, does this hold any truth at all? If so, can anyone expand on how common this was done?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Where do "ethnic" restaurants come from?

I mean restaurants that are known by their association with an ethnicity, eg. Chinese, Thai, Italian, etc.? When did people start saying things like "How about Chinese tonight?"

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Mexican American War

The US had Mexico completely defeated. Why did the U.S. not annex the entire country? The corrupt culture left over from Spanish colonialism could have been stamped out quickly and the spanish language replaced.

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Was Camel Cavalry actually common before the modern era?

I notice when I play various video-games and such like Age of Empires they often have Camel-riding troops as an option for middle eastern societies. However I can't find much evidence that using Camels as a replacement for horse cavalry was really all that common, the Wikipedia entry on this is quite sparse and most of the stuff regarding camels and warfare I can find online mentions more in a support and supply role with a few novelty uses like Timur the Lame setting a bunch of them on fire to scare off Indian War Elephants or Cyrus the great making impromptu use of his supply camels to unsettle Lydian cavalry at the battle of Thymbra (both accounts sound a bit fantastical honestly). Additionally I understand the Zamburak was commonly used in Early modern Persia and Afghanistan, but I'm trying to understand if there is good reason to believe that Camels would have commonly been used as substitutes for Horses in front line melee battles or mounted archery, if they had any particular advantages that would see them used over horses, if there are particularly solid records concerning their use or if there isn't if the whole idea of Camel Cavalry is mostly just a form of orientalism.

1 Answers 2015-10-21

What is truth & what is fiction about Netanyahu's claim that Hitler only wanted to expel Jews, but the Jerusalem Grand Mufti convinced him to kill them?

Benjamin Netanyahu, current Israel PM, said this today (quoting from Haaretz, an Israeli paper):

"In a speech before the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, Netanyahu described a meeting between Husseini and Hitler in November, 1941: "Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jew. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here (to Palestine).' According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: "What should I do with them?" and the mufti replied: "Burn them.""

The article goes on to cite two historians, Barry Rubin and Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, who make a related but different claim: " even these two researchers do not claim that the dialogue described by Netanyahu ever took place. They say Hitler reached the conclusion to exterminate the Jews because of his desire to nurture Husseini, who opposed the transfer of Jews to pre-state Israel."

So what was the relationship between Hitler and Husseini actually? How much of a leadership role or influential role did Husseini play in the Nazis plans, vs. just being an anti-Semite who supported them? And why do some draw a straight line between the Mufti's beliefs and the PLO's political stances post-Israeli independence? (Let's say PLO up to Oslo Accords, to respect the 20 year rule.)

1 Answers 2015-10-21

With American Chinatowns being so historical, how come I don't see descendants of Chinese-Americans from that time period?

I know that the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented a lot of Chinese coming into the US, and it wasn't until recently an influx of Asian immigrants started coming into the US.

But Chinatowns across the United States have existed for more than a century. Both NYC's Chinatown and San Francisco's Chinatown have records of Chinese settling in as early as the 1840s/1850s. And Chicago's Chinatown in the early 1900s.

Why is it that I never run into second, third, or fourth generation Chinese Americans? Whenever I go to Chinatowns, everyone is either an immigrant or first generation American. Where did the descendants go? Also tongs in Chinatowns have historically been in the US for more than a century and they are still being operated today, how come they are still run by Chinese immigrants? Shouldn't they have #-generation of American-born Chinese running them by now?

In contrast, Americans of Japanese descent have also immigrated into the US since the 1800s. However, it is not hard for me run into 3rd or 4th generation Japanese Americans.

So my biggest question is, where did all the descendants go? And how come Chinatown is always run by Chinese immigrants (even though they have been around for quite some time now)?

2 Answers 2015-10-21

Why was the column formation used so much even after guns took over most of the fighting?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Was the creation of the Mormon church part of a larger pattern that took place in America as it went through the Second Great awakening, or was it extremely different than other newer branches of Christianity at the time?

I'm more curious about why the church took off when it did. Please include any books/articles on the topic because I am quite interested in investigating it further.

2 Answers 2015-10-21

Israel/Palestine reading material suggestions.

Realizing lately how woefully ignorant I am on the past and present conflicts in places like Israel, Iran, Syria, etc.. Does anyone have an unbiased book(s)/ documentary, suggestion that would shed some light on these complicated topics. I would normally just google, but there seem to be an infinite number of options to chose from. Thanks

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Why don't we call countries by the terms they call themselves

For example Brasil, Deutschland, Zhōnghuá,

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Why do houses in my area built in the late 1800s have doors on the attics that lead outside to seemingly nowhere?

Western New York, nearly every house has these doors, they are usually located at the back of the house and some of them are pretty Fancy.

Was it a feature for some sort of technology no longer used?

2 Answers 2015-10-21

Best Books on the military discourse of World War One.

I am currently researching for a Thesis topic and was wondering what the best reads are for the American impact (militarily) on the Western Front. To be more specific i would like something relating to the 69th IR "the fighting Irish" and or something relating to American national guard units. I would also like to know what you would consider "must Reads" for general military overview of the conflict. -THANKS! :)

1 Answers 2015-10-21

Why did Britain not take Hong Kong like they did with New Zealand and Australia?

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1 Answers 2015-10-21

Say I am a male peasant in England during the High Middle Ages. How would I spend my day, from dawn to dusk?

1 Answers 2015-10-21

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