Historians Ask The Movies

April 1, 2021 9:36 AM

WE RECEIVED WORD FROM OUR ALLIES THAT THE FEDERATED POLEIS OF AMERIKA PRODUCED A FILM ABOUT OUR BATTLE AT THERMOPYLAI! I HAVE WATCHED THIS FILM CALLED "300" AND IT IS NOTHING BUT RECKLESS SLANDER OF OUR LAWS, OF OUR CITIZENS, AND OF MYSELF! AND ALSO WHERE ARE ALL THE COLOURS!?

This April Fools Day the venerable r/askhistorians becomes r/HistoriansAskTheMovies.

Previous April Fools days have seen Kayfabe, HistoricalAITA, AskFantasyHistorians and more.

posted by smartyboots (9 comments total)

So fun! I wish one o them had done one about that "Age of Samurai " show on Netflix.
posted by ishmael at 10:40 AM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Heh. I think ALLCAPS is perfect SPARTA! posting style.
posted by th3ph17 at 10:59 AM on April 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

TIR something I should have long ago realized, that Thermopylae is a Latinized spelling.
posted by praemunire at 11:21 AM on April 1, 2021

the horrors of Spartan society cannot be justified on the grounds they produced superior soldiers, because they quite evidently did not. Sparta’s actual military record was, in fact, depressingly average...

From historian Bret Devereaux's seven part series on ways we mythologize Sparta.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:25 PM on April 1, 2021 [12 favorites]

"Daniel Boone was a man.
Yes a big man.
With an eye like an eagle and as tall as a mountain was he."
posted by clavdivs at 12:44 PM on April 1, 2021

I AM VERY UNCOMFORTABLE MAKING MY OWN DECISIONS!
posted by Horkus at 4:08 PM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Just browsing the question list in "AskFantasyHistorians" had me rolling on the floor.
posted by mark k at 4:43 PM on April 1, 2021 [3 favorites]

Thanks so much for that Bret Devereaux link, justsomebody! Fascinating, horrifying read, with the author thoroughly quoting his sources.
posted by ishmael at 1:26 AM on April 2, 2021

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow and ishmael, one of the long time members, and mods, of AskHistorians is a professor of ancient history who spends a lot of time debunking Sparta myths. I would be unsurprised if the linked post wasn't a sock puppet of his having a laugh, possibly left over from a previous April Fools of posting in character
posted by Panjandrum at 5:36 AM on April 2, 2021