I read somewhere that Roman Legionares (at least pre-marius reforms) had to pay for their own equipment. Sounds a little awkward to me. Was this really the case, and if so, to which extent?

When someone like Beethoven completes, say, Beethoven's 9th, would he go to major European cities to play their Opera Houses? If I lived in Paris and wanted to see Beethoven live, did I have to go to Vienna? If they didn't tour, would they be well known in other countries? Not just for Beethoven, but any of the well known composers.

I think the internet as we known has been around for 20+ years so I'm confident this is within the scope of history.

Is this just a result of me simply not reading enough authors to know what I'm talking about (entirely possible), or was Mark Twain really progressive for his time? Because it's not just his humor and word-play. His thoughts on religion, slavery, and politics seem remarkably modern.

It seems like the Oracles (and many of the best storytellers) had very vivid imaginations. Is there anything in the historical record to suggest that their imaginations were supplemented by drugs (especially psychedelics)?

In Viking movies you see Vikings washing their faces with water and blowing snot into the bowl. Then the Viking passes the bowl down the line for the next guy to do the same. Is this really true? How clean were the Vikings?

Will Durant says they were "half-mongol, half-European, ferocious bearded gaints who lived in wagons and ... fought to live and lived to fight... destroying and killing everything in their path ... were suddenly decimated by a mysterious disease and were finally overcome by the Medes and driven back to their northern haunts." William Durant - Our Oriental Heritage

That sounds a lot like legend. Who were these people? Did they survive in any way to present-day?

It's my understanding that the Trinity test (plutonium), Little Boy (uranium-235), and Fat Man (plutonium) bombs pretty much used up the supply of fissile material that we had been able to produce to date.

My goal here is to try and further understand the magnitude of the decision to bomb one city right after another while possibly blowing our entire wad of boom material at the same time.

From what I understand, continental dragoons and other cavalrymen wore cuirasses well into the 19th century.

Could anyone help me out? I am struggling to find a clear answer and any books that deal directly with this question. Any recommendations for a reading list would be greatly appreciated Thanks

Clothes for warmth was a practical thing for our ancestors and fancy pelts may have been a status symbol. But when did the first chieftains/kings/governors put a law on the books that said 'You have to be wearing clothes at all times'?