Tidbit: Historical Myths

Some myths are perpetuated in historical fiction. I'm here to set the record straight and blow out of the water five incorrect beliefs . . .

1. Vikings did NOT wear freaking horns on their heads.
I am wearing my angry eyes for this one. Think about it for a minute. Horns on a helmet would make it super easy for an enemy to grab hold of. Bad idea.

2. Napoleon wasn't a "little person."
The dude was 5'7". I grant you that's not going to get him a gig in the NBA, but that was the average height back in the day.

3. Romans were not bulimic.
They didn't pork out on, uh, pork, and then puke it all up so they could eat some more. Wrong. Wrong. And, oh, by the way, wrong. A vomitorium was the name used to refer to stadium entrances and exits for people.

4. Salem witches weren't human marshmallows.
Everyone knows witches were burned at the stake, right? Yeah, in Europe, but not over here, where we committed more civilized acts like hanging accused witches.

5. Nero was out of town, dude.
You know that whole fiddling while Rome burned story? False-o-rama. Not only was Nero not even in Rome at the time, the fiddle hadn't yet been invented.

There you have it. Kind of makes you wonder what other myths you're believing, eh?