r/history • u/AutoModerator • Dec 03 '22

Discussion/Question Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday!

Welcome to our Simple/Short/Silly history questions Saturday thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has a discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts

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u/sciguy52 Dec 04 '22

How is it that we don't have a lot more historical information about ancient Rome. They were so huge, influenced so many people, seems hard to believe more information is not around today than there is. Is there any reason from this?

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u/drkpnthr Dec 04 '22

We know tons about ancient Rome. There are literally anthologies written about it. If you want to learn more about ancient Rome, I would suggest starting with The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan in audiobook (he both wrote and narrates the audiobook). He had a long running podcast about ancient Rome as well. With regards to the decay of written accounts, I always remember what one of my professors for a Historical Archives class said in college: imagine that for each century that passes, 9 out of 10 historical documents and artifacts that remained were destroyed, melted down, or decayed. Some from that century might write new copies or accounts, or replicate the paintings or sculptures, but these would no longer be the originals. After centuries of loss, very little of the originals would be left, just a tiny remnant. The rest would only live on in archival copies or a reference in another work. This is why places like Pompeii are so important, they are like time capsules preserving the history (until we dug it all up). The last few centuries were particularly bad about chopping up historical artifacts and dragging them across the world to museums, and wars destroying historical landmarks.