J Garneir writes: “Not merely Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, but also the Hindus, the Buddhists of China and of Thibet, the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Druids, Mexicans and Peruvians, the Aborigines of Australia, and even the savages of the South Sea Islands, must have all derived their religious ideas from a common source and a common centre. Everywhere we find the most startling coincidences in rites, ceremonies, customs, traditions, and in the names and relations of their respective gods and goddesses.”—The Worship of the Dead, London, 1904, p. 3

This idea is very fascinating to me, the concept that there are, at least, even little things in every culture that resemble a common origin.

Any thoughts?

I have come across a reference (in the Wikipedia article on Caucasian-Albania) to a campaign by Pompey the Great against the Kingdom of Albania in the Caucasus Mountains; Plutarch reports that while Roman forces were fording the Alazan River they were attacked by the forces of Oroezes, King of Albania. Pompey defeats the Albanians, and then "…after the battle, Pompey set out to march to the Caspian Sea, but was turned back by a multitude of deadly reptiles when he was only three days march distant, and withdrew into Lesser Armenia…". What reptiles are being referred to here (apparently capable of compelling Roman Legions, commanded by a popular war-leader, to reverse their direction of march) and what was so special or dangerous about them? Additionally, have there been any historical inaccuracies concerning Pompey’s actions in Caucasian-Iberia and his reported activities in Hispania/the Iberian Peninsula during the Sertorian War (or have I been reading too many Dan Brown novels)?

In my Middle Ages class today my professor said this, saying that historians in the 19th century used 12th century notions of what Christianity should be to define other religions and therefore "invented" Hinduism as a religion. Is this accurate?

I was reading up on ancient Greece and their early forms of tyrants and my textbook made a note on how they weren't wicked or oppressive as our word "tyrant" connotes, but when did history start seeing absolute rulers as tyrannical in a negative way?

1: was the phrase referring to the speculative nature of what he was embarking on (rolling dice) or referring to things being past the point of no return (casting metal in a die) or something else entirely?

2: how likely is it that these were his actual words (how credible are the sources).

Thanks.

I saw on ol' Wikipedia that there was some opposition in the Jewish community, but that came from same scriptural readings that troubled the west. How did, say, China react when their scholars heard about the notion? It presumably met with some skepticism, but was it equally charged? Do we know how any other groups reacted?

Manhattan's population was 2.3mm in 1910 but is only 1.6mm now. Where did everyone used to live? Surely there is more housing stock/volume now. Did people simply average much more cramped quarters a century ago?

My understanding is that Eratosthenes used the Column at Alexandria and the Well at Syene to measure the circumference of the Earth about 2000 years ago. Both of those were apparently part of Egypt, so, being the math and science fans that they were, did they help? Thank you!

Hi, I’m a first time novelist and I have some questions about the subject of my book. The main character is a woman who goes to law school in the late 1950’s and starts practicing law around 1960 for the rest of the decade. Could anyone give me some information about what things would be like for a woman lawyer during this period- what kind of obstacles she would come up against in law school, when practicing law, etc? (Any book suggestions would be welcome as well.)

I've decided I want to model the Matadi-Kinshasa portage railway during the colonial era around 1900, when it was still a part of the Congo Free State. I've run into problems, however, finding almost any kind of good, solid documentations and/or pictures of the port area and the locomotives, aside from basically one very grainy photo.

Does anyone have any ideas or resources where I could find more information on the railway, the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Congo, or at least find some comparable information on other Central African railways?

Thanks in advance. I've always seen helpful advice given out here, so I hope you can help me out.

Many people are telling me that becoming a historian (professor to be exact) is nearly impossible. is it true? Should i still risk it? If i fail what options will i have? thanks in advance P.S I'm 15 if anybody is interested

I’m listening to Herodotus Histories and I’ve reached the part where Xerxes march on Greece is covered and the size of the army, navy and the logistical part of the Persian forces is according to what Herodotus has heard over 5 million men (not counting women and eunuchs).

It is usually said that ancient troop figures are exaggerated but what do we actually base statements like these on? The figures sounds a bit ridiculous definitely but Herodotus lived pretty close in time to the events in question. I understand the bias that he has and that he clearly wants to honor the greeks and thus would add a bit to the Persian forces.

So the question is what evidence we have that the troop figures are exaggerated? Are there archeological evidence or other historical sources to back this up?

If monks were burning themselves to death in the street, I can't imagine how divided South Vietnam could be towards their government. If there are any additional sources I can look into, I'd appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

I’m a fifteen year old American girl, I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, and I have little education in history. Currently I basically only know outlines of major events such as the revolutionary war, civil war, world war 1, etc. I’d like to change that. So, any advice on what time period I should begin learning about, and what resources I should use?

Wikipedia says

The crushing defeat of the Almohads significantly hastened their decline both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Maghreb a decade later. That gave further impulse to the Christian Reconquest and sharply reduced the already declining power of the Moors in Iberia.

Was the battle this influential to the decline of islamic Spain, or was there other problems at fault? What were the causes of the declining power of Iberian Moors?