6 historical misconceptions even the smartest people still believe
15.03.2019
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What color did ninjas wear? How many Spartans there actually were? Did most medieval people die in their thirties? Read on to find all the answers.
#1
As it turns out, there is no evidence that ancient Spartans were that cruel. There might have been a couple of incidents, but only criminals and traitors were regularly put to death this way.
#2
When we think about pirates, we usually imagine men with beards, eye patches and probably wooden legs. Anyway, history knows a lot of female pirates, and, contrary to a popular belief, not all of them had to dress like men to get on board the ship.
#3
Yes, a lot of gladiators were brought to the arena in chains , but some of them were volunteers who even studied in special fighting schools. Many gladiators were also former soldiers or prisoners. Later, even people from the upper class joined the combats. Of course that meant that not all the warriors had to fight to death.
#4
In early drawings, ninjas were showed in black attire, but it was only done to portray a sense of invisibility. In fact, ninjas were people specially trained to spy on someone, so they had to blend into the crowd. More than likely, most ninjas were dressed as civilians.
#5
Everyone heard this beautiful legend about three hundred men fighting 80,000-250,000 strong (the exact number is unknown) army of Persian invaders. Anyway, these numbers are far from the truth, though the Persians really outnumbered King Leonidas' people. Yes, 300 Spartans were present at the battle, but there were also 6,000 Greek allies involved.
#6
The thing is that the life expectancy statistic was skewed by high infant mortality – people who made it to adulthood lived much longer than we are used to thinking. When a person reached the age of 20, they would usually manage to live to their sixties.
Have you ever heard about these facts before? Which fact surprised you the most?
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33 Comments
Chris Garrett-Petts
I'd liked to have seen these lady pirates. :)
Julie Domaille
Eleanor of Aquitaine outlived her husband the king and her son Richarx the lion heart. She was well into her 80s, had eleven children and battled two husbands (kings) , imprisoned for 15yrs, did the crusades, she is a legend.
Marguerite LaHaye
I knew that not all people in the mediaeval times died in their thirties. Some of those who took religious orders had lifespans that matched those of modern Europeans. For example, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) made it past 80, and Thomas a Kempis, famous for his devotional classic, The Imitation of Christ, lived to 90 or 91.
Seán Mac Giolla Phádraig
Shannon Skipworth, The Spartacus slave revolt started in a gladiator school in Capua - Spartacus, a gladiator, was a slave
Shannon Skipworth
Many many of these are still inaccurate like the concept of "ninjas" is a modern concept and did not exist in ancient Japan. It is a money gimmick and a myth, nothing more. There were elite soldiers who used "ninja" like tactics for spying and espionage, but they were basically what everyone else was wearing to blend in. They didn't wear gimmick mock ups like the movies. Also, no gladiators were slaves, they were paid and given medical care much like our cage fighters today.
Rita Lawrence Edwards Meneses
lmoores, me 2. Ann Bonney is my favorite.
Linda Evers
superkraut, I have a family tree going back to 1650 and many of my relatives lived as long as 80+ so I don’t doubt that in the Middle Ages folk lived to 60+.
lmoores
I knew about women pirares.
Sue McGregor
Always believed that Ninja's wore black
Linda Spreng
Louis Michael Durocher, Do you realize that "waist" is that part of the body where one places a belt?
Waste, on the other hand, is either garbage or "a total waste of time", is what you actually meant to say, right??
Robertn Davies
Without doubt.....that women sometimes became pirates!!!!!
wrboyden
I guess the women pirates. Thanks for the enlightenments.
gthom
I totally enjoyed your comments & some was very enlightening. Love history
jankbass
I'll remember this the next time it comes up in Jeopardy. lol
Hector Hernandez
Very interesting and good to know.