I was in my introductory history class, and I asked my professor why the map showed that Haiti was still a French colony after the war, and she didn't know the answer. It just seems kind of weird to let them have it when the British could have easily squashed any remaining resistance and wipe out France in the Americas completely.

I'm talking about such examples as a white, American male comedian making jokes about how white culture is deeply flawed, Americans are deeply flawed, being male is deeply flawed. Comedians like Louis C.K. have become immensely popular and successful while making jokes that hold a mirror up to the face of the dominant race, culture and gender to point out its legitimate flaws (though that's not the sum total of C.K.'s work by any means). This type of self-awareness and self-deprecation by a member of a dominant culture in a society seems relatively historically new to me, especially the major mainstream success of it. Throughout history many rulers have suppressed satire and comedy as being a form of dissent.

Through my (very) basic undergraduate studies in Theatre history, I've read that satire and criticism of the dominant culture through comedic performance has had a long way to go before becoming mainstream. Roman comedy actors were barred from politics and persecuted. Mummers and traveling actors during medieval times were persecuted as well. Shakespeare and his contemporary dramatists kept their satire deeply hidden, or satirized more general subjects. Molière was allowed more flexibility, but still kept under watch by the patronage of the aristocracy.

I hypothesize that the mainstream rise of comedy and comedians from oppressed cultures allowed more space for dominant cultures to do some soul searching and self-criticism, especially given the rise of self-awareness by the dominant. In the United States I'd mark that by the rise of black comedians talking more frankly about race after the Civil Rights Movement. In history before you might have things like Yiddish theatre making fun of dominant cultures, but they were nowhere near mainstream.

In any case, I'd be interested to know about the history of this type of comedy where the dominant culture openly criticizes itself, and where not only is the artist not censored or marginalized but instead becomes mainstream and successful. Furthermore, have there be exceptions throughout history where a dominant culture had condoned or even enjoyed self-critical humor on a mainstream scale?

I am looking for a academic book about the history of Rome, the city, or the ancient Roman world. It will be my first read on the subject. So I need something introductory and wide. Something of a good book to start your leaning from. I just started studying Classical Philology. I need a good authority on the above mentioned subject to set a respectable standard for future learning. And it has to be available in English. So: -a history on the ancient city of Rome, -or on the ancient Roman world. Thank you!

How could a bunch of "uncivilized barbarians" defeat one of history's most organized and well trained armys?

The Aztecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, etc. seemed pretty aggressive---do we have narratives of any of their great war captains? If we need a narrower range, then Mixtecs in 1100--1300.

How was horse training done in the Middle ages? Was it anything like training we do today, and is modern horse riding based upon medieval horse riding?

So for example, people in the 1500's were dirty all the time and didn't have electricity, but were they actually less happy than someone from modern day because of that? Is there any research on that?

How about for the other empires of the time period such as Britain, France, the Austro Hungarian Empire, and the Ottomans? Specifically how so in propaganda? (I'll admit this is for a history project sorry)

Hi,this is my first post on this sub and if this in not appropriate to this sub please let me know.I am interested in learning more about socialism/communism(i live in Romania and i won't get a lot of objective information in school.The curriculum focuses more on the ussr,the cold war and communist romania and i'm more interested in other aspects of socialism.) The reason i am posting it here is because i believe that you will recommend books that will be objective and will not fall into the category of "socialism is the devil and has never ever done anything slightly positive and everything that has to do with socialism is objectively evil" or "Marx was like a god of economics etc and he was never wrong".I asked something similar on /r/communism[1] and i got a lot of book written by communists,I would like something more"third party". Thanks in advance and sorry if this post breaks any rules of this sub

Such as jews being mentioned in Egyptian texts, or other sources placing them in Egypt, or perhaps evidence of jewish burials? Any mention outside of the bible of the jews leaving Egypt (with or withouth the nile turning into blood and locusts...).

If not, are there any theories about the factual basis of the enslavment in Egypt or is it just a story?

Is there any evidence of any monarch questioning this 'Imperial Cult'?

Growing up in such a tradition would make a ruler inclined to believe such claims, but their obvious human frailty would have made them question this, no?