In honor of Halloween, some spooky Roman ghost stories. The first from Pliny the Younger VII, letter 27:

There was at Athens a large and spacious, but ill reputed and pestilential house. In the dead of the night a noise, resembling the clashing of iron, was frequently heard, which, if you listened more attentively, sounded like the rattling of fetters; at first it seemed at a distance, but approached nearer by degrees; immediately afterward a phantom appeared in the form of an old man, extremely meager and squalid, with a long beard and bristling hair; rattling the gyves on his feet and hands. The poor inhabitants consequently passed sleepless nights under the most dismal terrors imaginable.

This, as it broke their rest, threw them into distempers, which, as their horrors of mind increased, proved in the end fatal to their lives. For even in the day time, though the specter did not appear, yet the remembrance of it made such a strong impression on their imaginations that it still seemed before their eyes, and their terror remained when the cause of it was gone. By this means the house was at last deserted, as being judged by everybody to be absolutely uninhabitable; so that it was now entirely abandoned to the ghost. However, in hopes that some tenant might be found who was ignorant of this great calamity which attended it, a bill was put up, giving notice that it was either to be let or sold.

It happened that Athenodorus the philosopher came to Athens at this time, and reading the bill ascertained the price. The extraordinary cheapness raised his suspicion; nevertheless, when he heard the whole story, he was so far from being discouraged, that he was more strongly inclined to hire it, and, in short, actually did so. When it grew towards evening, he ordered a couch to be prepared for him in the fore part of the house, and after calling for a light, together with his pen and tablets, he directed all his people to retire within. But that his mind might not, for want of employment, be open to the vain terrors of imaginary noises and apparitions, he applied himself to writing with all his faculties.

The first part of the night passed with usual silence, then began the clanking of iron fetters; however, he neither lifted up his eyes, nor laid down his pen, but closed his ears by concentrating his attention. The noise increased and advanced nearer, till it seemed at the door, and at last in the chamber. He looked round and saw the apparition exactly as it had been described to him: it stood before him, beckoning with the finger. Athenodorus made a sign with his hand that it should wait a little, and bent again to his writing, but the ghost rattling its chains over his head as he wrote, he looked round and saw it beckoning as before. Upon this he immediately took up his lamp and followed it. The ghost slowly stalked along, as if encumbered with its chains; and having turned into the courtyard of the house, suddenly vanished. Athenodorus being thus deserted, marked the spot with a handful of grass and leaves. The next day he went to the magistrates, and advised them to order that spot to be dug up. There they found bones commingled and intertwined with chains; for the body had mouldered away by long lying in the ground, leaving them bare, and corroded by the fetters. The bones were collected, and buried at the public expense; and after the ghost was thus duly laid the house was haunted no more.

What I love about this story is that if you changed the philosopher to a schoolteacher, it could easily be set in Savannah. It is a classic tale.

The other one is from Plutarch's "Life of Cimon", and it goes to show that ghost stories have always been used to talk about social issues:

There was left one orphan of this house, called Damon, surnamed Peripoltas, in beauty and greatness of spirit surpassing all of his age, but rude and undisciplined in temper. A Roman captain of a company that wintered in Chaeronea became passionately fond of this youth, who was now pretty nearly grown a man. And finding all his approaches, his gifts, his entreaties, alike repulsed, he showed violent inclinations to assault Damon. Our native Chaeronea was then in a distressed condition, too small and too poor to meet with anything but neglect. Damon, being sensible of this, and looking upon himself as injured already, resolved to inflict punishment. Accordingly, he and sixteen of his companions conspired against the captain; but that the design might be managed without any danger of being discovered, they all daubed their faces at night with soot. Thus disguised and inflamed with wine, they set upon him by break of day, as he was sacrificing in the market-place; and having killed him, and several others that were with him, they fled out of the city, which was extremely alarmed and troubled at the murder.

The council assembled immediately, and pronounced sentence of death against Damon and his accomplices. This they did to justify the city to the Romans. But that evening, as the magistrates were at supper together, according to the custom, Damon and his confederates, breaking into the hall, killed them, and then fled again out of the town. About this time, Lucius Lucullus chanced to be passing that way with a body of troops, upon some expedition, and this disaster having but recently happened, he stayed to examine the matter. Upon inquiry, he found the city was in no wise faulty, but rather that they themselves had suffered; therefore he drew out the soldiers, and carried them away with him. Yet Damon continuing to ravage the country all about, the citizens, by messages and decrees, in appearance favourable, enticed him into the city, and upon his return, made him Gymnasiarch; but afterwards as he was anointing himself in the vapour baths, they set upon him and killed him.

For a long while after apparitions continuing to be seen, and groans to be heard in that place, so our fathers have told us, they ordered the gates of the baths to be built up; and even to this day those who live in the neighbourhood believe that they sometimes see spectres and hear alarming sounds. The posterity of Damon, of whom some still remain, mostly in Phocis, near the town of Stiris, are called Asbolomeni, that is, in the Aeolian idiom, men daubed with soot: because Damon was thus besmeared when he committed this murder.

And finally, did you know that Augustus' childhood home was haunted? From Suetonius, "Life of Augustus" 6:

His nursery is shown to this clay, in a villa belonging to the family, in the suburbs of Velitrae; being a very small place, and much like a pantry. An opinion prevails in the neighbourhood, that he was also born there. Into this place no person presumes to enter, unless upon necessity, and with great devotion, from a belief, for a long time prevalent, that such as rashly enter it are seized with great horror and consternation, which a short while since was confirmed by a remarkable incident. For when a new inhabitant of the house had, either by mere chance, or to try the truth of the report, taken up his lodging in that apartment, in the course of the night, a few hours afterwards, he was thrown out by some sudden violence, he knew not how, and was found in a state of stupefaction, with the coverlet of his bed, before the door of the chamber.

So some of my friends apparently pooled money together and built me a desktop, knowing that I didn't have a computer and couldn't afford one until January at the earliest. They didn't tell me that they were going to do this, and one of my friends came over yesterday on the pretense of fixing my laptop and set up the machine for me.

I feel bad that I can't repay this kind of generosity. But I now have a computer, and this weekend I can get internet (once I get a wireless module; I could get an Ethernet cable, but then it'd be going across the entire living room, and that's not actually safe for both people and wire).

Now I need a desk for said computer. What do you lovely historians recommend for a poor student?

I've received word that I'll be teaching my first courses this year.

I'm providing two in-community courses in Canadian History (pre and pos-Confederation) through a university in Nova Scotia. "In-community" means that I will be providing the course not within the university, but at a major aboriginal reserve within the province. According to most of the folks that I have discussed this with, it will likely be a challenging endeavor, but I'm looking forward to getting to do some teaching.

The course begins in December - so I only have a month to organize an entire lesson plan! Wish me luck.

Okay you crazy kiddos, what are you being for Halloween?

Today is the 150th anniversary of Nevada statehood, admitted into the Union 31 October 1964, just in time to vote in the presidential election. Lincoln rammed the enabling act through Congress because in 1863 he was concerned about his reelection (not such a concern by election day in 1864) and because he wanted more reform-minded members in Congress to support his Reconstruction package. Nevada delivered on all counts, but it did not have the minimum population needed for admittance as a state until 1940. So thanks to Lincoln, Nevada is celebrating its 150th, rather than its 70th.

Happy Nevada Day from the only state in the Union with the good sense to have Halloween as a legal holiday!

This week in the history of pornography, I discussed Pietro Aretino, the father of pornography, and his childhood exploits

One way or another, he left home in 1505 or 1506 at the age of fourteen, he left for the nearby city of Perugia and became a bookbinder’s assistant, no doubt giving him a great appreciation for how the printing press worked and the intricate of the trade, information that would aid him greatly in the future. He may or may not have observed the dalliances of monks and nuns (something that would have inspired his later work) while working in this job, the truth is difficult to ascertain, as Aretino was a profligate liar his entire life.

While in Perugia, it seems that he roomed with one Agnolo Firenzuola—who would later become a famous abbot. During their early days however, Aretino and Firenzuola engaged in debauchery and drunken antics, once even appearing buck naked in their window in order scandalize the elderly women of the town.

It seems Pietro was forced to flee the city when he vandalized a statue of Mary Magdalene by painting a lute in her hands and transforming her into the courtesan that she was before her conversion. The prank, unsurprisingly, did not appeal to the clergy, the town, or the ruling Baglioni family. It was discreetly explained to him that if he did not make himself scarce, he would face investigation by the Inquisition, an idea that did not seem to appeal to him at all—so he took off for Rome

This got pulled last time I posted about it for breaking the 'open answer' rule, so I'll ask here:

Has a major public or political figure ever been convincingly replaced by an impostor (that we know of)? Many works of fiction feature stories of a king or president being secretly replaced by a double (Dave, The Man in the Iron Mask, Kagemusha, etc). Are there any recorded instances of anything like this happening in real life?

This is kind of a minor question that I'm not sure has been asked before.

What was the difference between fascism and communism? Why were these ideologies opposed to each other in WWII?

I'd like kind of a brief overview watching a documentary on the eastern front right now!

Do you guys have any good books about Yugoslav history from around the late 1800s til now? Or even a series of books? I'm extremely interested because my mom's co-worker fought in Bosnia and our family is from Croatia.

i've made a thread about this on /r/history, /r/askhistorians and sent it to the askhistorians mod mail but i never got a response. maybe i sent it wrong or it was ignored but it doesnt matter. this was the post/idea

ok so i had this idea a while back and i posted about it on r/history but i never went any further with it because without the support of the mods here on r/askhistorians it would most likely go nowhere. the idea is just a separate sub where users can make cross posts of questions/answers from r/askhistorians and discuss the topics freely(moderated with rules of course). i just think it would be cool to have an extra sub for anyone who wants to comment on a thread without having their post removed. the way you guys run things here is perfect but i think an extra sub for free discussion on the topics brought up here would add to the fun.

i know its a long shot this would happen but all i'd like is a simple "No". also i gotta do a research paper this month and i'm having to decide between the aztec empire in the 14th century or islam from 900-1400. i'm mexican american so of course i'm leaning towards the aztecs. blood sacrifices and war are always entertaining.

Maybe I am wrong, but I am under the impression that up until quite recently most of the world did not celebrate Halloween as Americans know it (commercialized candy tour in a neighborhood near you). As I look around on social media today I see people (not Americans not in America) celebrating this version of Halloween; when/how did this start?

After the thread about the USS Maine, I started reading A Captain Unafraid: The Strange Adventures of Dynamite Johny O'Brien, an amazing story of a gunrunner who supplied a vast array of Caribbean and South American rebels during the last two decades of the 19th century. It's an incredibly interesting book.

Does anybody know any good books about the history of stand-up comedy? I can find some very loose information online, but that's about it.

What is it about your sub that get you recognised as the best run sub on reddit?

Per this thread, some UK soldiers from WWII reported throwing their STEN guns into a room to clear it. The reasoning is that the safety wasn't, so dropping a STEN tended to make it discharge.

Are there any historical accounts of this? If not the STEN, then were there any firearms used as impromptu bullet-grenades? And if so... did it actually work?

How do you guys feel about john man's books about ghengis and kublai khan?