Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
A second vote for /u/idjet's epic 4-comment answer on inquisition in medieval Europe, which unites knowledge of secondary scholarship with original research. It's one of if not the best descriptions of medieval inquisition and its genesis that I've ever read. Please don't miss that one this week.
/u/XenophonTheAthenthian is a philosopher-king among mortals for describing the [political, legal, and social aspects of exile in ancient Rome] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3qyb9e/how_exactly_did_exile_work_in_the_ancient_world/cwjirig) and then giving me a crash course in Roman private law.
/u/alricofgar puts medieval archaeology to possibly its best use ever to answer "Didst thou even hoist, fra?"
And in case you missed it, I thought our special guest /u/Kathryn_Gin_Lum did an amazing job fielding some really fascinating questions in her AMA this week.
Weekly Rundown!
/u/I_Envy_Sisyphus answered "How exactly were war elephants used?" and also on "Question about ancient Israel/Hebrew weaponry?"
/u/sowser answered "How were slaves really treated in America?"
On my list of the week, I also had /u/commodorecoco's two answers as well as /u/sunagainstgold's response. Since /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov has linked those, I won't do it again.
I also had a few that haven't been previously listed:
/u/sarahkjrsten's answer to What did contemporary victorian Londoners think of the London fog?
/u/Reedstilt's response to the regular question about smallpox blankets (wonderful to keep killing that quasi-myth).
Aside from the answers already mentioned, I also have to point out /u/Astrogator's post on 'What were Marcus Livius Drussus chances of getting citizen rights for Rome's Italic allies right before he was assassinated in 91 BC?', as well /u/alriclofgar's answer on 'How significant was the Celtic population of England during the 'Heptarchy' and did they survive this period?'