I think I put it out there in the title, but this sounds like bunk history to me, but I can't find sources confirming or denying it.

How was the Soviet Union able to retain them? I know that they helped suppress rebellions inside them, but how was it at normal times? Did their governments have legal connections with the Soviet regime or was it mostly informal?

I've read that after kicking his pregnant wife Poppaea to death, Nero castrated a boy who resembled her and took him as his wife. It seems to me that it must have been relatively accepted, as Nymphidius Sabinus then took Sporus as a wife after Nero's suicide. Further reading shows that Sporus was addressed as "Mistress" and occasionally "Empress", but was this sort of sexual identity considered taboo in ancient Rome? Would people have been aware of Sporus's situation?

Would it have been viewed as another sign of Nero's power? Or did people not understand the circumstances and assume that Sporus was born female? On that note, was Sporus what we consider today to be transgender, or was this a situation that he was forced into in conflict with his own accord?

Furthermore, I've read that Nero also took a husband, Pythagoras. What was his reason for doing this?

I was watching "Fall of Eagles" and i couldn't help but wonder if there was historical evidence of what the Kaiser thought about his actions in later years.

Moreover what did King George V think about refusing to take the Royals from the Russian provisional government?

This doesn't need to be limited to Byzantium, China or western europe in answers. I'd love to hear about why there were Eunuchs in certain cultures and not others and contemporary reactions to them.

Asking about foreign policy and the Munich Agreement in particular. What was the idea behind the appeasement? Was it really necessary to give up Czechoslovakia? Was the United Kingdom really unable to wage war in 1938? What is the consensus about him in the historian community?

I have always been interested in the Napoleonic Wars, and, as I have time over quarantine, I wanted to learn more about them. What are some a) good overall historical sources and books and b) some good primary sources? Thanks in advance!

There's Albania the Balkan country today. There was Caucasian Albania. There's Alba referring to Scotland. There's the Alban Hills in Italy with Lake Albano and the city of Alba Longa.

Where these names a coincidence? Did people migrate to these places? Was there some ancient legendary place the inhabitants of these regions named their homeland after?

Like the divide of blacks and whites in the west and even issues with Asians, Hispanics, and maybe middle easterners. IDK I just thought about this today. We know the west during this time period wanted to find new land or a new route that would get to China and India since there was issues with I think the Proteguese controlling the trade routes. I just feeel like after Columbus, Spain, England, France, etc. started gaining territories out west and started taking let in slavery, I feel like it started this belief That the west is superior. Don’t want to start race issues here and I believe our world has a lot of good and that most white propel and other races are fine just wondering if this is a popular theory with some historians.

Hi guys! My first post here! Sorry if its unclear at all!

So, I'm an undergrad who is sending out applications to PhD programs in the next 6 months, hoping to focus on interactions in the Byzantine empire between Judaism and Christianity. I just really, really, really want to build my broader knowledge-base as much as I can before undergrad is over.

I'm hoping to find lists that people have used to prepare for their comprehensive exams, and I'm casting a wide net- anything on late-antique history, the medieval world (east or west), or Byzantium specific would be incredibly helpful. Thank you so much, and sorry for such an open-ended ask!

I've heard different stories one being they were executed on their belief that they were being moved to a different building. Another I've heard they were asked to take a picture, but when the curtain was removed from the camera it was a machine gun. So which story is correct if it is one of those or is it a combination of both?

Christianity never penetrated deep into Africa until the colonization era, despite there being an indigenous Christian kingdom in Africa since antiquity. Considering the evangelizing efforts made by Christians everywhere else, ive never heard of Ethiopians being evangelical. Is it because they never did it, or they did but were never successful? I know that the modern day Sudan region used to have a sizeable Christian population before being islamized in medieval times, so it means Christianty did spread out of Ethiopia somewhat. Were those missions, if they existed, aggressive like the Northern Crusades, or were they peaceful?

I would also like to ask the same question about the St Thomas Christians in India, if possible.

One of the big questions about Vietnam is “did Vietnamese people exist before Chinese people colonized the Red River Delta?” and it has got me curious on what parts of Vietnamese culture are pre-Chinese. Is there any kind of cultural lineage from pre-colonization to now? I am also curious to know if there are surviving indigenous cultures and if so, how similar or different would they be to different Southeast Asian groups.

I would imagine there would be huge resistance to this Act, and yet it seems the shareholders just... let it happen

In the west, the position and meaning of artists have changed quite a lot. I suppose in antiquity, the artist was less important, than the motif, which was often god kings or religious symbols, and the artist more of a craftsman, than what we perceive today.

In medieval times, the artist can also be a satirist of a kind, mocking both the high and the low.

Then later, the artist became somewhat of a celebrity, culminating in the Renaissance, where the artist was probably THE most important cultural phenomenon. We also have the perception of the artist as being able to capture the divine or later, the sublime, so the artist is a transcendental figure.

Which roles have artists played in Chinese society over the millenia?

I'm interested in learning about the Italian city states, particularly the political and military history of this time. I would also prefer a book that covers the majority of the period and the events of the entire Italian peninsula, and not just a specific city state. However, any book recommendations on this period would be much appreciated.

I know that the Carthaginians and Greek had colonies in the Mediterranean part of Spain, do we know if the Iberian's had a civilization? Urbanization, stone buildings, culture, etc?

From what I understand the ottomans gained the title after defeating the mamlulks. But again from what I understand the caliph is supposed to be a male descendant of Muhammad and I don't think the Turkish ottomans have any geneologic ties to the Prophet. How is it then that the Islamic world just accepted the new Caliphate without much upheaval?