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Edit: I'm not sure why this is flaired with the weekly theme of diplomacy; I didn't select that flair during submission and I don't have an option to remove it, AFAICT.

Edit edit: Oh. "Diploma." Ha!

Return of the son of edit: I'm gonna leave those edits up even though a mod fixed the flair, for the sake of the historical record.

Hello,

Bit of a niche question but I wasn't sure where else I could go with this...

I'm chasing down a lead on how modern China thinks about and reacts to the concept of 'borders' and border disputes. But I'm missing a bibliography on the history of borders overall, unrelated to specifically China (so the theoretical underpinning? if that makes sense?)

In short, I'd like to know if there are any books out there that talk about the history of borderlands in empires and great powers. How the political center treats them, how politicians from those areas thought and acted versus those toward the capital, etcetera. I just need a survey or maybe one good book whose footnotes I can dig through.

It's a weird subject, I know, but I'm very passionate about it and really want to make sure I'm familiar with the relevant texts.

First, a disclaimer: my knowledge on the late antiquity in general is pretty weak. With that in mind, to the question. One thing I cannot help but notice about the Roman campaigns and battles in the late Antiquity is the smallness of the armies. Even a campaign led by an emperor usually seems to have involved no more than 20,000-30,000 troops (i. e. Argentoratum and Adrianople), with the only exception I can think of being Julian's Persian campaign.

Now, this may not be that perplexing if not for one factor: pretty much every handbook and introductory books about the late Roman empire I've read states that the size of the Roman army doubled under Diocletian and Constantine.

So, assuming I've got these two factors correct, the following conclusion becomes inevitable: Despite the overall size of the military being massively increased, the Roman empire's ability to concentrate its troops in one location has severely diminished.

The question is, why? What caused this?

I'm happy to hear about the clothing used for this purpose in any country, it doesn't have to be just one culture.

Vote for your favorite(s), submit one you don't see here!

There's a commonplace among westerners that Buddhism isn't a religion but is rather a philosophy or meditating on your lunch break. If Buddhism is a religion, it's often said to be something like Unitarianism. It's usually implied that Buddhists don't have any sexual hangups, militancy, or any other things people associate with Abrahamic religions. It's often said that actual religious practice of Buddhists in Asia or in Asian diasporas is a superstitious degeneration of what's actually a philosophy and set of practices.

The question is where this attitude comes from. I sort of want to blame it on nineteenth-century Brits and maybe comparative religion's start as a discipline -- which is why you sometimes see the analogy of Theravada:Early Church::Mahayana:Late Medieval Catholicism -- but I'm sort of wondering if there's a "patient zero" to this outlook.

So I'm asking you incredibly erudite people, some of whom may have done the relevant historiographical work.

Wouldn't it have been simpler, easier and less labour and calorie intensive to just cook the grain rather than grind it down to make bread?

I should point out, I'm mostly interested in Mesoamerican and South American cultures such as Aztecs, Mayas, Incas and etc. but I welcome knowledge if someone knows about other cultures from other parts of the world that used them

Hello,

I did see the name Päiviö Vuolab quoted once on a leaflet, being referred to as a destroyer of Sami seidas, so I am assuming this person was either a vandal or did have something against native people's religion.

However I could find any other info, to the point I am not sure if the name has been printed incorrectly.

Could you tell me more about that person and why he did do that? Online articles or academic papers and books welcome.

Thank you

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Among Christian's there appears to be a large amount of misinformation about the historical authenticity of Jesus Christ's existence, making it extremely confusing to actually hold a conversation with one about the historical documentation/proof of his existence. With that being said, I turn to you guys to help me out: What is the *historical proof/documentation* that *proves* that Jesus Christ actually existed? Is there any at all?

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NOTE: I am not asking whether he is God or not. I am asking if there is proof that the *same* Jesus Christ from the Holy Bible actually existed, and, if so, what that historical proof/documentation of his existence is.

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NOTE 2: I am an Atheist. I do not believe he is God. Please do not talk about the religious aspect of this. I am simply looking for concrete historical proof of his existence. I included this note just to make my stance on the religious issue clear. I won't be engaging anybody on the religious aspect.

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Thanks guys!

Is it somehow related to the two famous Roman Senecas? That seems like it would be a strange connection or an even stranger coincidence.

Did Hitler personally know about nuclear weapon development during the final stages/years of WW2? Since the US got theirs ready in 1945, it must've preceded by quite some years of development.

Since it surely was all very secretive (by any nation researching nuclear weapons & applications), don't most leaders of the nation know about such things?

If he did, did he & the Nazi party have plans to use them if Germany finished theirs first?

I was just wondering how effective the chain shot was in the Civil War. During the school year I learned about the Civil War and I learned about many interesting things but one thing that I remember was the chain shot. Whenever I would look it up I couldn’t find that much information or any pictures of the effect it had. On top of how effective the cannon shot was how often was it produced, which side used it more and how rare is it today?

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I've been binge watching Vikings, and I can't help but wonder how much of the traditions and cultural values are real and what's just for dramatic effect. I know Ragnar Lothbrook existed, but how much of his story is correct? Did his brother really marry into a Francish family? What about his sons? Are they portrayed accurately? The rituals and spirituality?

Any historical information about the things they show in Vikings would be really helpful! Thank you!

(I would just Google it but it's more fun to get an answer from someone who is passionate about the subject and I think it gives someone a good chance to show what they studied so hard for.)