Well I'm not sure if a similar topic existed on here or the old grove but there was one other thread asking who you would meet if you could go back in time

In a similar vein, I was randomly thinking about history and stuff and this came to me

What if you could view the past, but not interact with it. For example, with a tv that lets you watch the past, or a camera that you can take pictures of the past with...or even if you personally could see the past in your own head or physically but not interact with it.

So, the question is, what would you choose to watch? Would you choose one of the famous saga's or stories from history, or just pick something random, or what?

I'll post my thoughts after some responses

I doubt the past can live up to my imagination but for curiosity's sake ...

I'd pick the battles between the roman legions and my gaulish/belgian ancestors, just to see how much truth lies in what history teaches us.

typical of you to pick a battle

I'd choose to watch the whole julius caesar, antony, and cleopatra saga to compare it with all the stories out there

And just for kicks, I would like to see if the sphinx was there 10,000 years ago or was is 11,000? I forget (it's one of the theories and has got some evidence going for it)

And maybe the lives of the Tudor kings..so hard to choose

Hmm. I'd probably go back to see how random thinks like cotton candy were invented. I mean, how did people think these things up? I swear some of them were complete accidents.

haha that's a good one to pick! would have never thought of that..so many things out there that make you think "how did they come up with that?!" o.O

Personally, I'd want to test out a theory of mine.

I'd go back in time to when greeks believed that worshipping the historical greek gods could bear physical fruit. Such as like the Oddysey stories tell, just to see if it was like nature and superstition, or could there really have been angels and demons working alongside the humans to either help or hinder them.

I mean, there's so many in the myth's, I'd always wondered if maybe, as in christian bibles, there were physical manifestations of god and the devil, maybe they were angels as there were many to influence the people's lives.

That's what I'd do, heh.

Interesting to see that most of us are going back to ancient greek/roman times.

It's not surprising really since most of the interesting stories and legends originate from there. That whole time period was filled with lovely lovely drama!

That and compared to most modern places, their world was spectacularly created, with the coliseum and pillars and whole kingdoms and arts. Like wow.

It sometimes feels to me like one of those lost civilizations, as no matter how much we learn about the place, there's still more to uncover.

i think in fact it's because we know more about the greeks and romans...loads of greek and roman history..whereas we know less about the dark ages, comparatively speaking...

Haha Greek and Roman. I've just completed two classics modules and studied the Oddessey and other the Ovid (which I particularly like). The first paragraph mentions that it will be ' tale of bodies changed to other forms..' I like to watch that. And perhaps go bad to the middle ages and see the rise in the occult and the effect this had on society.

i might just go back to different time periods to see what people wore and weather this fits in with our idea of what it was like then

I want to see the Big bang, creation of the world, evolution of life and last days of dinosuars.
I'd like to see life of Jesus, just who was he really..
And I love Sumeria so I'd just hang around them and their priests.

But witnessing all those events mentioned in Bible would be just great. Not to mention tha I could just spy on what happend with some relics :>

Also 2nd World War, seeing if there really was some occult stuff involved or not.. Oh my the longer I think about the more things I'd like to see I come up with.

yeah there are so many things in history that are interesting you can't really choose one event to see

and yeah looking at how jesus was in real life would definitely be something..you could come back with the knowledge to prove or disprove some of the historical or religious views people have about him

*Snorts* Like people would listen. Unfortunately going back in history would also just show us that majority of the past repeats itself, whether in a minor or major way.

Honestly, I'd be curious to find out about the hidden history of psychic soldiers.

On and off, you hear vague rumors about how it may have been possible or not, but I'd want to see if they were kin, if they existed, were the intuitive powers stronger in the past face to face or was it just a fluke?

I watched push so had to get to wondering. lol