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Most viral Ancient History questions on Quora

Ranked by real engagement we track — views, upvotes, comments and shares per question. Updated continuously.

614Questions tracked

41.1MTotal views

495.6KTotal upvotes

5.8MVirality score

1 What was socially acceptable in Roman times but would be horrifying today?

🔥 262.5K 👁 2.4M ⬆ 5.1K 💬 509 🔄 84 · Michael McGrath on Quora

2 Which historical figures died the best?

🔥 169.9K 👁 1.4M ⬆ 8.6K 💬 211 🔄 80 · Michael McGrath on Quora

3 Was Cleopatra actually ugly?

🔥 157.7K 👁 1M ⬆ 16.2K 💬 418 🔄 197 · Seyhan on Quora

4 Why was the concrete made by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago stronger than the one used today?

🔥 153.3K 👁 1.1M ⬆ 12.1K 💬 305 🔄 157 · Anonymous on Quora

5 Why did ancient Romans make large clay vessels that had a pointy bottom instead of a flat bottom that it can stand on?

It was a gorgeous and remarkably efficient design. Amphorae were mostly used for transportation of liquids. Being made of pottery, they were brittle and subj…

🔥 96.6K 👁 614.4K ⬆ 10.9K 💬 0 🔄 96 · Anonymous on Quora

6 Who would win in a fight between Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great?

🔥 95.1K 👁 828.6K ⬆ 2.7K 💬 308 🔄 41 · Anonymous on Quora

7 What are the darkest secrets of ancient Rome?

🔥 94.1K 👁 722.6K ⬆ 5.6K 💬 291 🔄 87 · Michael McGrath on Quora

8 What aspect of life did the Ancient Romans have which is better than we have today?

🔥 88.5K 👁 702.7K ⬆ 5K 💬 131 🔄 77 · Michael McComb on Quora

9 How did the Roman sewage system work?

Pretty much the same as they do now:Except the tunnels were made of stone, and large enough to walk through. In fact, it was the Romans who figured out that…

🔥 84.8K 👁 711.5K ⬆ 4.3K 💬 0 🔄 35 · Anonymous on Quora

10 Was the city of ancient Rome as big as they made it in the movies?

No, not even close. Ancient Rome was roughly 7 square miles, tiny compared to any modern metropolis. Likewise, all the buildings, like the Colosseum in Gladi…

🔥 74.9K 👁 653.3K ⬆ 3K 💬 63 🔄 2 · Anonymous on Quora

11 Were Praetorian guards actually proficient soldiers or just glorified thugs?

Emperor Commodus was not a good Emperor. When he was killed in 193 a wise older man took the throne, hoping to right the ship of state.This man was named Per…

🔥 74.1K 👁 457.1K ⬆ 8.9K 💬 0 🔄 65 · Anonymous on Quora

12 What's the most disturbing story in history?

🔥 67K 👁 527.5K ⬆ 3.4K 💬 181 🔄 96 · Michael McGrath on Quora

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13 How tall were the humans in 3000-2000 BC?

14 How was the life of a Roman legionary after fulfilling his service?

15 What are some of the most incredible ancient Roman mysteries?

16 Were the Romans really as big as they are portrayed in movies? How tall and heavy were they? And does that match the diet that they consumed?

17 Why was the Roman Empire so successful?

18 What happened to Roman Legionaries who were defeated in battle but survived? Was there a public reproach or penalty?

19 What are the most widespread myths about the Roman military and tactics during the Republic and Empire?

20 Why did Alexander the Great not conquer Sparta?

21 Is it true that Augustus Caesar's wealth would be equivalent to over a trillion USD by today's standards?

22 What ancient event has been recorded in history that alerts the world to human wickedness?

23 What are interesting rules and laws from ancient Rome?

24 How did Roman wine differ from modern wine in terms of alcohol content?

25 Was ancient Persia as terrifying as the 300 movie?

26 If the Roman army was so skilled and almost unbeatable in battle, how did the Roman Empire ever fall?

27 Was Alexander the Great a good lone fighter?

28 What was day-to-day life in Ancient Rome like?

29 Why didn't Rome invade the African interior?

30 How did Cleopatra speak Arabic if the language didn't exist until the common era?

31 Was medieval Europe more advanced than the Roman Empire?

32 Did the ancient Romans have a “Mediterranean” appearance?

33 What is the weirdest figure in ancient Roman history?

34 Why did ancient armies like the Roman and Greek rely on javelins and hand-to-hand combat, instead of using archery?

35 If a Roman army from the height of the Roman Empire was to meet an army led by Alexander the Great, who would win?

36 What happened to Carthage after being defeated by Rome?

37 Why are Assyrians considered brutal and compared with the Mongols? What did they do?

38 Why wasn't Gaul the breadbasket of Rome instead of Egypt? Gaul was mostly made of vast fertile plains while Egypt only had fertile land near the Nile, mostly being desert.

39 A Spartan soldier returns home after a victorious battle, but he lost his shield in the fighting and chaos. So he's returning neither "with it" nor "on it". How big a deal really is it that he's returning without his shield?

40 During the Roman Republic/Empire times, how hard would it have been to go off somewhere remote and build a life for yourself? Would it be easy to just go build a farm on some vacant land?

41 What did the Romans think about Egypt?

42 How did they make iron in the Iron Age?

43 After the Roman empire collapsed, did Rome become some sort of a ghost city? What was daily life like for those left behind?

44 How were Roman soldiers able to maintain discipline and order despite being deployed in far-flung corners of the empire?

45 What did native Europeans look like before the Aryan people conquered?

46 Did the Romans ever outlaw or forbid citizens to own certain weapons? Like some countries now have Guns.

47 What were the worst jobs for poor Romans in Ancient Rome?

48 What was the strangest battle in Roman history?

49 Why didn't the Greeks resist the Romans with the same vigor they resisted the Persians?

50 Why did Rome have so many bad emperors?

51 Were the Romans of the Roman Empire ever curious as to what lay on the other side of the Atlantic? Or did they not care too much for exploring?

52 What civilizations were around 60,000 to 100,000 years ago?

53 Was there a definitive end to the gladiator games?

54 I saw some pictures on a website that showed the Stonehenge stones being constructed in 1950, and thus are not thousands of years old, could this be true?

55 What was on the block at the top of the pyramid?

56 Why didn't the Romans use clay bricks for their roads, instead of rocks, which are not smooth and are harder to shape?

57 What did the Romans feed the lions and tigers while awaiting their turn at the Colosseum?

58 What are some of the rarely mentioned facts about the Roman Empire?

59 Did people in ancient and medieval times mainly use wood to fuel their fires? If so, how did they avoid scarcity?

60 If Byzantium was such a good place to create a second Roman HQ, why wasn’t it used By the Romans much prior to Constantine? What were some other options for the second capital other than Constantinople?

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