With Sulla, the Triumvirate and the Civil War etc., concentrating the power in Rome to individuals rather than a senate the shift to autocratic rule seemed like a gradual, inevitable process. Could this be argued as a natural result of the successes of Rome (the Punic Wars, Gallic Wars, Mithradatic Wars) it became more difficult (at least in an ancient context) to rule via senate and popular vote?
Would there have been potential for the Republic to remain and Rome to expand to the size it was under the Emperors?
2 Answers 2017-03-03
This question has been bugging me for months, and I have tried looking and cant really get an exact answer. It is part of a more broad answer about how news travelled pre-telegraph.
Basically, if this is true, and it took about 7 weeks for a ship to cross the Atlantic, then Britain must have not found out about the Colonies revolting for nearly 2 months right?
Does this seem right?
On a side question, im guessing it was extremely possible for entire battles and wars to break out in medieval times, and some people would not know for months or years? Such as some kingdom falling, but someone hundreds of miles away being none the wiser of this?
Sorry if this is a bit of a ramble.
1 Answers 2017-03-03
A very niche question, I know, but I remember there being some Mesoamerican specialists here - hopefully some familiar with material culture. I would like to know what is known or theorised about the materials used for the fringe depicted as hanging from the bottom edge of Aztec shields, like these examples from the Codex Mendoza.
An excerpt of a fairly old academic book I read (which I now can’t find, sorry) refers to this as being made of feathers, and certainly they are often shown to have feathers hanging from the bottom edge of the fringe, but the drawing of the main body of the fringe seems inconsistent with how feathers are depicted elsewhere in the same drawings; either the distinctive long wavy green feathers of the resplendent quetzal or as a small oval with a line some of the way down its length to indicate the rachis.
In addition, the shape of the fringe, which is (I think?) quite consistent between sources, would not be possible to make with ordinary feathers, and would also be too large to make out of the feathers of any brightly-coloured native bird, except by feathering some supporting material. They’d also be very prone to damage, though obviously practicality seems to have taken a backseat to looking extremely intimidating in Aztec battle-dress.
However, I know how an untrained eye can very easily misinterpret drawings like these and take common artistic conventions far too literally.
Would it be reasonable to reconstruct the fringe as painted leather with a feather border, and if so, do you think it should have separate flaps or just lines painted on?
Thanks in advance for your help - I know it’s difficult to make any definitive statements about drawings with very little supporting surviving material.
1 Answers 2017-03-03
1 Answers 2017-03-03
Mankind has existed for a long, long time (unless you're from Kansas) and so has our system of governments. As I twiddle away the hours of my short life on boring tax returns and menial tasks, I wonder what is recognized as history's first bureaucracy.
What great empire or small state is the first, as far as we know, human endeavor to codify laws and systems of procedures in a fashion that would be recognized as a bureaucracy by modern day society?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
With all the controversy swirling around the current US administration, inevitable comparisons to Watergate have been made by some in the media. Given how divided and dug-in the US currently seems, it got me thinking back to the time when Watergate was unfolding.
I've seen a few threads in this sub asking about Nixon's supporters in the media and the politicians that served with him, but was also wondering about when exactly his own base of voters turned on him as it was all unraveling.
2 Answers 2017-03-03
1 Answers 2017-03-03
Like, when did they stop worshiping them and try to recreate them (or a new version of them)?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
I would like to ask if there is some sources of ancient texts of music from Slovakia, because i know of ancient music of Poland and Ukraine and so on but it looks like there is no music from the Slovakia. By ancient i mean music which was before orchestral instruments, they probably used the drums or this kind of instruments if any at all. Thanks for all help
1 Answers 2017-03-03
I know that's probably a broad question, but I don't really know another way to frame it. I don't listen to classical music so it all sounds similar to me. If someone told me a Vivaldi piece was a Beethoven piece I'd never question it. If I lived under a rock I would believe you if you said a John Williams piece was a Mozart piece.
What developments in classical music would give these time periods away? Is there an equivalent to the electric guitar and distortion shaking things up?
2 Answers 2017-03-03
1 Answers 2017-03-03
Lyrics for reference:
ELDER PRICE
I believe!!!
That Satan has a hold of you.
I believe!
That the Lord God has sent me here!
And I believe that in 1978 God changed
his mind about black people!!
CHORUS
Black People!!
3 Answers 2017-03-03
A bit more detail: I am a high school history teacher, and I am currently going over the atrocities in Nanking. There are a lot of deniers out there, and as far as I can conclude, there are no concrete reasons to deny any of this happened. However, if there are, I would like to expose my students to the argument.
Thanks!
1 Answers 2017-03-03
The rudder must direct the ship, but if a ship hit a headwind, could it travel against it?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
10 Answers 2017-03-03
In other words, why aren't there ever any obese sculptures? Did they sculpt obese people as fit bodies or was everyone really that fit?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
How many copies of something like cicero's letters would have been made? Were they sold in stores? Did people make money from books they wrote? Who paid them? Just generally how and why did books get published in Greece and Rome?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
Political map of the gained provinces. Trøndelag in purple.
1 Answers 2017-03-03
According to this graph depicting the American GDP in the 20th century, between 1939-45 the GDP doubled from ~$1T to ~$2T. This seems unintuitive - I'd have thought that the war would have redirected resources toward the war machine rather than domestic production. What happened to make GDP shoot up like that? Was the rest of the economy booming too? I'm assuming the war was the cause of the boom because the period of the boom exactly matches that of the war, and the GDP drops significantly after the war finished.
1 Answers 2017-03-03
I was taught about this during my history class, and if so, why is not today?
5 Answers 2017-03-03
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1 Answers 2017-03-03
So as far as I'm aware the republics of India and Pakistan were created only from the parts of India that Great Britain controlled directly. But then it seems the various monarchies of the subcontinent became part of them very quickly afterwards.
So how were they incorporated into the new republics? Did any of them try to remain independent? If so, was the situation solved peacefully, or did India and/or Pakistan go to war to get them to join?
Also, what happened to the rulers afterwards?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
How did the Boxer Rebellion impact China? The Qing government, the western powers in China, and the Chinese people were all undoubtedly affected, but in what way and to what extent?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
I am actually fascinasted with the Byzantine Empire at the moment, and while I am aware that their history is a sad one for the most part, my understanding is that their utility came from the unique positioning of Constantinople relative to the Great Silk Road. For the longest time (correct me if I'm wrong) that was the primary route between Europe and Persia/Asia, which is part of what made Constantinople such a wealthy and sought-after city. While obviously there were tensions between the Orthodox Byzantines and Catholic Europeans following the Great Schism, my suspicion is that the takeover by the Sunni Ottoman Empire in 1453 was a major contributor to European nations looking for other routes into Asia. Was there any historical basis to this? Was the problem religious, or were there other factors that made sea travel a more appealing method of reaching Asia?
1 Answers 2017-03-03
