Do you think you know who invented the stirrup, when, and where? It turns out there is some controversy, although it appears to have its origin in Asia. The About.com Guide to Asian History looks into this in The Invention of the Stirrup. One of the issues is what is meant by a stirrup. As Kallie Szczepanski writes:

In sculptures from ancient India, c. 200 BCE, bare-footed riders use big-toe stirrups. These early stirrups consisted simply of a small loop of leather, in which the rider could brace each big toe to provide a bit of stability. Suitable for riders in hot climates, however, the big-toe stirrup would have been no use for booted riders in the steppes of Central Asia or western China.

On This Day in Ancient History - January 27 -

When the much-hated Emperor Domitian was assassinated, the conspirators asked Nerva to replace him. Nerva had come from a senatorial family from Narnia, in Umbria, and had held the position of consul, so the 66-year old was suitable. He swore and kept an oath not to execute senators, and made restitution for some of his predecessor's abuses. Nerva is famous as the first of Gibbon's five good emperors and for handing over the reins of power to someone other than a biological relative. Nerva adopted the second of the good emperors, Trajan, in 97. Trajan was already Caesar at the time of Nerva's death, which may have happened on this day in A.D. 98, three weeks after the emperor suffered a stroke at the beginning of his fourth consulship.

Read more about Nerva. Also see more events on This Day in Ancient History.

"This day in ancient history" caveat: please see Unreliability of Dates.

For those who are impatient and can't wait to complete a couple of semesters of college level Biblical Greek, Bolchazy-Carducci has published a book that may work. Reading the Gospel of St. Mark in Greek: A Beginning, by Norbert H. O. Duckwitz provides what native English-speakers need to translate the Gospel word by word. A combination of very short passages, extensive notes and a pertinent list of vocabulary make it unnecessary to rely on the back of the book vocabulary list or the summary grammar notes at either end of the book, but the lengthy notes do refer to grammatical concepts that may propel you to further study. It's not exactly lightning fast, but starting from the first word you will get a sense of having actually digested what St. Mark wrote.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

An occasional topic among fans of ancient Rome is "what would you bring with you on the time machine going back to ancient Rome?" For many years, my answer was aspirin, until I realized I could strip the bark of a willow tree. What brings this to mind is a question I received from a reader. Now, the answer to the question may (or may not) seem apparent to you, but it is the sort of question one needs to have answered in order to inhabit the imaginary Roman-time-travel world. Even historical fiction authors Harry Turtledove and Judith Tarr looked into its answer in concocting their Household Gods. Here is the question:

Given the state of metalurgy in ancient times causes me to wonder about facial shaving. Would this not be a painful ritual? Would being hirsute be less painful?

I thought this was a fine question, especially since I think I know the answer. How would you answer this question? What other questions would you have before entering that time machine? What item would you bring? Please post in the comments.