Top all-time · #4805
Book and Sword
Personal blog · bookandsword.comhistory
Book and Sword is a personal blog at bookandsword.com about history. Since 2020, 16 different Hacker News readers have linked it 25 times, most often “How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-11-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (7) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for historical prices of everyday goods, such as Roman tunics and Tudor-era shirts, compared with wages. One commenter calls the blog great and suggests supporting the author.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 7 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas
Most-linked posts?
- How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-01-27
- /2017/12/09/how-much-did-a-shirt-really-cost-in-the-middle-ages/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-06-10
What Hacker News says?
Not the author, don't know him, no connection – but I caught a glimpse somewhere on the blog that he is currently unemployed. As an open-source maintainer, I feel like it is my duty to plug him so he can perhaps get some patrons or donations, the blog is great. https://www.bookandsword.com/support/ He is also not a software engineer or in tech in any meaningful way, so his 'tip to total income' ratio is probably off…
Comment linking /support/
on “How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021)”Submitted How much did a tunic cost in the Roman Empire? (2021) as a story · 271 points
HN discussionDid you catch this article from the other day? I don't know much about Diocletian's monetary reforms (I'm still busy reading up on the history of the Republic), but his Edict of Maximum Prices was mentioned in it. https://www.bookandsword.com/2021/05/08/how-much-did-a-tunic...
Comment linking /2021/05/08/how-much-did-a-tunic-cost-in-the-roman-empire/
on “Rome: Decline and Fall? Part II: Institutions”Submitted How to grip Bronze Age swords as a story · 101 points
HN discussionBits per [cm²|cm³|kg] is interesting like you get with cuneiform ceramic tablets[1], this one get about 1 word per cm² and cuneiform is crazy dense, I have no real grasp of how sumerian or akkadian words worked. I think it was heavily context based because from some lecture[2] at the British Museum. I have seen people do ceramics where information was stacked in layers and had to be destroyed to extract. The ultimat…
Comment linking /2016/10/29/the-information-density-of-cuneiform-tablets/
on “How to Store Data on Paper?”Submitted A Citation to Asimov as a story · 57 points
HN discussion> and a pretty short view of history Great lets see an example! > To claim that all of the benefit isn't going to naturally accrue to a thin layer of people at the top isn't a speculation at this point - it's a bold faced lie. Except that innovation has lead to more jobs, new industries, and more prosperity and fewer working hours. The stark example of this: you arent a farmer: https://modernsurvivalblog.com/systemi…
Comment linking /2017/12/09/how-much-did-a-shirt-really-cost-in-the-middle-ages/
on “Nvidia CEO criticizes Anthropic boss over his statements on AI”Submitted Achaemenid Shields Are a Puzzle as a story · 15 points
HN discussionMeta-analyses such as the 2023 study need a lot of attention to interpret correctly, and I can't spare that time right now. Have you read the 2005 study? Note 25 of the 1945 article says that its stature estimates are based on a total of 63 males from all periods, but when Angel returned to the problem in 1985 he cited 52 males from the classical period alone, so clearly he had acquired more data. There are many dif…
Comment linking /wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-from-2024-10-25-13-51-38.png
on “How to grip Bronze Age swords”Submitted What Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" Gets Right as a story · 12 points
HN discussionIf it was made in the US with a $7.25/hour wage sure, now do it in cambodia for $200 a month, at 48 hours a week that's barely a dollar an hour, all of a sudden it's a $500 shirt already. Anyways I don't think you can use inflation over 700 years to come up with a tshirt price based on modern min wages, even peasants had clothes and they sure did not spend 6 months of labor to get a single item of clothing After spe…
Comment linking /2017/12/09/how-much-did-a-shirt-really-cost-in-the-middle-ages/
on “AI Is Coming for Your Job, Much Faster Than Anyone Thought”Submitted Automattic Is Creepy as a story · 9 points
HN discussionNo, because what he described actually works. Clothing used to be hugely expensive: https://www.bookandsword.com/2017/12/09/how-much-did-a-shirt... > So the shirts of humble servants at Henry VIII’s court cost between 3 and 10 days’ income. That would be similar to someone who earns 10 dollars or Euros an hour spending 240 to 800 dollars or Euros on an item today. (Of course, in the 15th and 16th century, people spe…
Comment linking /2021/05/08/how-much-did-a-tunic-cost-in-the-roman-empire/
on “AI and the Automation of Work”Submitted Is Anything in "Slouching Towards Utopia" Wrong? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Project TUPPU: Students of the ancient Near East quickly discover that many OSs as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Google and the Culture of Searching as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Generative 'AI' Pollutes Search Results as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Information Density of Cuneiform Tablets (2016) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Birdsite Was a Parade as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Writing for the Curious as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why is LARPer an Insult? (2022) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Child Abandonment in Greek and Roman Egypt as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Much Did a Tunic Cost in the Roman Empire? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Some Thoughts on “The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy” as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
