So I was reading about Chinese history recently, specifically the concept of "mandate of heaven" they used to explain dynastic changes.

Did the ancient Egyptians have similar concepts? If the rulers are connected to divinity (or are outright divine themselves), how would the Egyptians explain those rulers getting their asses kicked? I.e., if you lived during a change of dynasty and you saw a ruling family lose their power, how would the new rulers explain that it's OK and they are actually the ones that should have the power?

I'm looking for any discussion/information regarding political propaganda mixing with divine claims in the ancient world. Thanks!

My understanding is that at the beginning of the 16th century many separate civilization existed in the area of todays Mexico. Why have the Aztecs become that much more prominent than the other City States/Tribes? What makes them so special?

Hello, I'm working on a piece of fiction set in Chicago circa 1905 and would like to know whether certain things would be socially 'possible' in that context.

In particular, I'm writing about a community of people on the Vaudeville scene. I'm operating on the understanding (possibly false?) that the theatre world has always tended to be slightly more permissive and subversive than normal society, so I'm assuming my characters can bend the rules a little, but it would be very useful to get a sense of how society at large would have regarded the following acts by unmarried women:

• Walking around the city alone, unchaperoned
• Using public transport alone
• Drinking or being drunk in public
• 'Dating' and/or kissing unmarried men
• Being alone with men to whom they aren't married or related
• Living alone
• Sharing accommodation with other unmarried women (without supervision by, e.g., an older woman)
• Living as a lodger in the home of a widower who's a stranger
• Living as a lodger in the home of a widower who's an acquaintance of her father

Thank you very much for your help, and apologies that the last two are pretty specific. I couldn't see anything close to these topics in the FAQ.

As a former student of a mediocre teacher in a little public school I'm explain History as a series of things which just happened to be there because 'time changed things'. Yeah, not a great mind. I'm thus curious to know about the very reasons that pushed men to move from theocentricism to anthropocentricism and study the humane littere of Greece and Rome.

Did the Italians have relative parity in the Mediterranean? Would they have been able to escort more supplies to the Italian army in Africa?

What sorts of effects did the battle have on the battle for the Mediterranean?

What was serfdom like in russia, and for how long did it last?

I've been reading up on it, and it doesn't really seem like they did anything other than try and defend against an invasion, where the Americans still gained ground.

Context: I've heard that in the past war has been used as a method of "reducing and controlling" populations that were getting a bit out of hand for the "ruling class". I was wondering whether there's any truth to this?

I've been generally interested in this subject, but never had time to research it.

I've tried Wikipedia and similar sites but it offers very broad information and I'm looking specifically for information about how cities were laid out, what trades were commonly available and how citizens lived.

I've been watching Marvel's Agent Carter, and I've noticed that almost every male character wearing a tie wears it well above his bellybutton. I have always been told that the end of my tie should be around or just above my belt, so I was curious if it was in fashion in the mid-late 1940's to wear ties fairly short compared to how ties are worn now.

It's a common trope for a native American character to say something like "We must have patience, like a sleeping turtle" or "He strong like bear with great claws."

Is/was metaphor usage like this common amongst native Americans? Or is it just an invention of the media?

Would you say that Christian Europe had a higher or lower standard of living than during the Roman Empire (for your average every day citizen) excluding Byzantium and many of the Islamic states (as they already had a high standard)

I was interested in knowing if the American foreign ministry and government had an impact on Saddam Hussein's invasion, considering the liberties they gave him in the Iran-Iraq war. Thanks for any responses.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that Charles Frederick Worth, a British man formerly employed in the fashion industry in London, is the "father of haute couture," which we commonly think of as a French innovation. It seems to me that he recognized a business opportunity in Paris, moved there, and capitalized on its reputation as a fashionable place. Did he use the skills he gained in more-industrialized London to commodify French culture?

It is a historical fact that the European powers engaged in open drug trafficking. It is also a historical fact that, subsequent to the Boxer Rebellion, European powers imposed treaties to "assert a right to promote Christianity" and "[accord] special privileges, extraterritorial rights and immunities from Chinese law" (such as anti-Opium laws). On these points, both Chinese and Western historians agree.

However, there seems to be a gap in the modern and historical definition for the killings of foreign missionaries, diplomats, and businessmen preceding and during the Boxer Rebellion between Chinese and Western sources.

All the popular Western sources I could find (Wikipedia, Reddit, BBC documentaries, Youtube commentaries, etc.) refer to the events as "murders", all Chinese sources refer to these events as "justified killings" or "self defense against foreign invaders/bullies." The two definitions seem to be polar opposites. Which is it?

Or is there some kind of middle ground definition in academia?

What do we know about their time in gangs? Presumably it was before they became recording artists, right? A lot of Death Row people (kurt kobane, suge knight, etc) claimed Tupac was with the bloods and he often talked about gang life in his lyrics - was Tupac's only real gang connection through Suge Knight?

Take the Slavery in the United States as an example, but reverse it all around.