AskHistorians
A place to ask questions about history and life in past eras! Broad or narrow, if you're curious, and the question relates to history, ask away! If you have an interest in the subject, regardless of 'formal' expertise, feel free to answer as best you can!
RULES:
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Be civil. History can be contentious, but this isn't a meme or even a debate community. Arguments happen - but ultimately, this is about providing people with an overview on historical issues they're curious about, not pursuing one interpretation or another to the bitter end.
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The question must relate to a topic at least 20 years old. You can ask about a historical event in relation to a modern issue, but if the question is not substantially historical in some way, it will be removed. We are living through history, but this comm is about discussing the past.
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Question must be in the title. You can elaborate in the body, if you like, but the title must include a specific question, not just a non-specific "I have something I was wondering about."
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No misinformation. History is deeply contentious, and there will be many contradictory viewpoints tolerated on most subjects - but pop history myths, conspiracy theories, or propaganda will be corrected or removed. Inaccurate answers made in good faith are fine - we just don't want to normalize misinformation from people with insistently incorrect worldviews, like the notion that the world is secretly controlled by Jews or lizardpeople.
OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:
- !historyruins@piefed.social
- !historyart@piefed.social
- !historyartifacts@piefed.social
- !historyphotos@piefed.social
- !historymemes@piefed.social
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Communication is hard - even the Persian Empire itself didn't have a single unifying language, and standards for translation were... ad hoc.
If the story is untrue, it may have been storytellers confusing Cyrus with later Persian monarchs or military leaders - Herodotus was writing nearly 200 years after the fact, and the nomadic tribes to the north often did clash with the Persian Empire - sometimes with considerable success. Or it may have been intentional - a boring story about a no-one general or forgettable monarch getting his ass kicked by the Scythians doesn't get attention - but make that general CYRUS THE GREAT HIMSELF, and suddenly the story becomes much more interesting when you tell it 'round the campfire.
And who amongst the great mass of people was studying or verifying history in a time before... uh... well, history? If they didn't have access to the chronicles of the elite - who, themselves, were not always great about keeping accurate records - how would anyone verify what story was true and which was false about an event that happened generations ago?
Prominent figures often have tall tales told about them. Plenty of the exact same trope-filled stories - with serial numbers filed off and names replaced - have been reused and retold as supposed truth from antiquity to the modern day. And we in the modern day don't even have the excuse of limited information at our fingertips!
People love stories. Truth... is often secondary. That's why history as a discipline - sorting out truth from stories - was so novel - and so difficult!
Novel in Europe, I'll grant. Thanks for the answers!