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Posted by /u/Thundertushy

What was life as a diabetic like in Rome in 2nd Century AD?

Aretaeus of Cappadocia described life with diabetes as short, disgusting and painful. What would life as a 2nd Century AD person with diabetes have been like? Let's assume that the person is wealthy enough (i.e. prosperous merchant or landowner) to have a physician on staff to s…

Posted by /u/lewisiarediviva

How Ubiquitous Was the Carrying of Fire?

I ran across a factoid some years ago that ran something like: “Up until the modern era, most people were never more than 1000 feet from a fire their whole lives” Without getting too into the weeds on specifics like distance, do we think this is broadly true? Does anyone recogni…

Posted by /u/Wooden_Airport6331

I am an American conscript in Vietnam. I refuse to continue. What happens to me?

In this hypothetical, there is a moral and/or psychological reason that I won’t continue, like PTSD, perhaps witnessing or participating in civilian casualties. Perhaps I believe that my death is already inevitable. I feel that have nothing to lose by deserting. Could I be execu…

Posted by /u/OfficialAli1776

Why are Egyptian ruins so well preserved compared to Greco-Roman ones, despite being older?

Obviously a major exception being a Pantheon, but I went to Greece and Rome and the ruins were, well, ruins. The Athenian Acropolis was in really sorry shape, the Parthenon is barely being held together as just an exoskeleton of its former self (I know about the Venetians blowin…

Posted by /u/Radiant-Rose7102

I love being a Catholic girl

I’m 16f and these are just some thoughts I wanted to talk about and give my viewpoint about. I see people call the Catholic Church misogynistic and sexist a lot. I think there’s definitely some Catholics who contribute to the perception of this especially online where people try…

Posted by /u/kill4588

If I'm an average shepherd girl living in the Mongolian steppe during the peak days of golden horde, what is the chance for me to have a cat?

It's pretty known for the nomads to have dogs, but how about cats?

Posted by /u/OnlyInSilence

Is there any actual historical evidence anywhere of the Allies in WW2 letting allied civilians or servicemen die in order to protect the fact they had cracked enigma?

A trope that pops up in fiction occasionally is the notion that the allies let the Germans blow up certain Atlantic convoys/cities in ww2, lest the Third Reich get suspicious about how the their attacks were always being predicted. Off the top of my head, an episode of the TV sh…

Posted by /u/fuzzwatch-original88

Are there any prayers to St Francis for pets who have died?

My son and I were in the room when we had to put our 12 year old black lab to sleep yesterday and we're both taking it pretty hard. He asked me about if pets go to heaven, and I told him I think so because they're part of God's creation and they make us happy on Earth so I think…

Posted by /u/Serious-Musician4235

According to Martin van Creveld (Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939–1945), Max Hastings (Overlord, Their Wehrmacht Was Better Than Our Army) and Trevor N Dupuy, the German army was vastly superior to the Allies on a tac…

So, this is quite interesting. I don't think any other army in history has garnered as much of a 'following' among analysts and historians as the German army of WW2 (Heer). Decentralized command structure (Auftragstaktik) is often named as one of its main advantages, as is its s…

Posted by /u/CommonlySensical

Why don't we talk more about a husband's grave spiritual accountability to his family's souls?

I've seen a lot of posts recently about marrying non-Catholic Christians, and even atheists. Never once have I seen someone mention the fact that by doing so, the husband puts his own soul in jeopardy. A husband and father is called to be the priest and head of his domestic chur…

Posted by /u/GreenBrilliant3761

[Historical Accuracy] In the 2002 movie Ted Bundy, the execution scene depicts prison staff plugging the inmate’s rectum with cotton during the physical preparation for the electric chair. Was this an actual historical protocol in early Am…

I recently watched the 2002 film Ted Bundy (starring Michael Reilly Burke), which features a highly detailed, clinical, and graphic preparation sequence before Bundy is electrocuted. A specific detail shown is the insertion of cotton/gauze into the rectum to prevent post-mortem…

Posted by /u/Wonders001

I feel like God has abandoned me, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep going.

I’ve reached a point where I don’t know what to do anymore, honestly I’ll take any advice. My entire childhood, both of my parents neglected me emotionally. They provided food and a home, but I never really knew what it felt like to be loved by them. I can’t remember receiving h…

Posted by /u/butterflyyyydreams

I’ve decided to convert to Catholicism

My boyfriend is Catholic and I’ve been going to mass with him. We’re a young couple (teenagers), and he’s taught me a lot about Catholicism. His mom even gave me a rosary recently that she made for me which I thought was really sweet. Also, I talked to my parents about how I wan…

Posted by /u/Sungodatemychildren

Isaac Newton famously was a great physicist and mathematician, but less famously he was also into alchemy. Was he a good alchemist?

Posted by /u/SadMongoos

Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.

Just a quick question, I can’t seem to find if this was a water fast or a dry fast. Obviously for any mere human 40 days without water is impossible, but it never mentions water to the best of my knowledge.

Posted by /u/soupnear

How did average citizens deal with property damage in WW2?

How did the average man who, in one way or another, experienced some kind of property damage pay for it to be repaired or otherwise continue their life? I’m thinking in particular of the blitz, but this could apply to many circumstances. If my home got bombed and was completely…

Posted by /u/Efficient_Room786

I want to convert

I am 15 years old, and I want to convert to Catholicism. I am currently Mormon, because my parents raised me as one. they wont let me go to mass, or do anything related, until I have served a mission for Mormonism. I am not sure how to maintain my faith until then.

Posted by /u/platypodus

What is the significance of the "wizard's staff"/"magic staff"?

The earliest examples I can think of would be in the Old Testament. Moses raises his staff to part the waters, of I recall correctly.

Posted by /u/ClothesDreyer

Is it right to throw out all of great man theory or am I misunderstanding it?

I largely agree that history isn’t shaped entirely by “great men.” But something I’m still confused about: post-WWI Germany may have always gotten a far-right fascist dictator, but Hitler’s specific focus on Jews and the Holocaust led to the near-destruction of an entire ethnic-…