Really during any of the major Persian Empires, but I'm most interested in Achaemenid Persia in this case.

I was having a conversation recently about the Biblical book of Esther and in the early part of the story, Mordecai (Esther's Uncle) refuses to kneel to a Persian government official. The Official is offended and tries to kill off all the Jews living in Achaemenid Persia as a result. The traditional Christian interpretation of the passage is that, to Mordecai, kneeling to the Persian official would've been considered idolatry, and so prohibited by his religion. This just doesn't ring true to me, because Persians would have been Zoroastrians at this point, correct? and didn't really ascribe divine nature to their leadership as far as I can remember.

This is a portion of history I know little about, though, so I figured I'd send it to the experts.

Today we have charities for any cause you can think of, but I was wondering how people helped one another financially in ancient history. I know in the New Testament it talks about the disciples collecting money from churches to help people in Jerusalem facing a famine, but it seems pretty informal. Are there any known charitable organizations or movements in BC times?

I've been reading a bit about the punic wars but I don't really know why they actually fought each other and I hoped to get some insight here.

I mean, what was the actual process for keeping them separate from the wild herds? Were they leashed to tree or posts? Did the people build fences to contain them?

Hit me up with all your historiography and definitions of total war on the World War II homefront in the US specifically. Or theories of what constitutes total war at large.

I really like this functional definition/description that I've already got:

"Total war [...] incorporated an entire society into the war effort. It emerged from a concert of war an industrialization: industrializaiton allowing for deadlier and greater quanitities of war materials and war necessitating the further rationalization of industrial production." -Patrick Vitale, “Wages of War: Manufacturing Nationalism During World War II,” Antipode 43, no. 3 (June 1, 2011): 783–819.

But I need some more sources and heft. Who are the big authorities I should cite???

Tell us a story of a time people of the past conspired: triumphant or tragic, condemned or hailed, figment of royal paranoia or legitimate threat.

(Nota bene, the 20-year rule and other AH rules definitely apply.)

Next week: History of Conspiracy Theories and Urban Legends

As above, did the Spartans really care about the solidarity of the Hellas or did they just wanted to show off their military prowess? I know Sparta wasn't the only city-state that was present and about 1,000 Thespians remained with whatever what was left of the 300 during the last day, but all the stories praise the Spartans. The other city-states are usually added in as a side note.

Did people in Medieval Ages ever acknowledge that they have not 'advanced' in technology enough? I hope that you understand what I'm trying to say, lets say that they did not have enough advanced resources to 'craft' something or an idea?

My teacher was a bit of a wack so I don't know

We now have wire transfers and correspondent accounts. The Templars had what we call letters of credit so that people did not have to physically carry their wealth. The Roman empire was pretty big, how would money be transferred? Cash? Would I need a trusted courier or would I have to carry it myself?

The modern "paleo" fad diet has popularized the view that the majority of calorie intake in pre-agricultural diets came from meat, but I haven't seen the sources for that claim. I'm interested in any evidence of what the actual makeup of pre-agricultural diets was. Thanks in advance :)

Considering the time I would have expected Ferdinand to have 'worn the pants' as they say, but I'm currently in southern Spain on vacation and Isabelle seems to have been an equal force.

I'm writing a fantasy story, and I need some help. Although my setting is similar to Graeco-Roman Antiquity in terms of culture, in terms of everyday technology, most of the civilised world is parallel to about 900-1000 AD in our world.

I've read around on the history of fishing and come up with a lot of sources. Most of them are about historical fishing as a means of food-gathering, which is helpful for some aspects of my story, but I want to find out more about fishing as a hobby.

Many of the sources refer to fishing rods and hooks very early on (x000 BC), but also independently state that the reel developed much later (in medieval times). Do I take this to mean that a fishing rod would merely consist of a long rod with a line tied to the end? (And a hook, obviously.)

None of the sources I've found confront this issue; how were the line and rod actually attached? Simply by tieing?

Also, what wood was used for the rods? What line?

(Disclaimer: I've said "ancient" in the title because that's the easiest way of saying "before medieval times" so as to avoid inventions like the reel. Anything from Roman to Anglo-Saxon era fishing techniques will do, really; I just want to know anything I can.)

Many thanks in advance for any help!

EDIT: Also, exactly how would one cast the line into the water? And how would you drag the fish back to shore when it's caught?