I'm sorry in advance. English is not my native language.

I want ask you to correct/confirm my assumption.

The distinction between Heavy/Medium/Light unites(Cavalry/Infantry) Is based on how many metal armour they have on it self.

For example heavy Have Full Body Armour. When average have Helmet+Body+Shield And Light unites have only Shield?

Does there are other distinctions between Heavy/Light Formations?

Why was Hannibal considered one of history's greatest generals/strategists? I mean he gave the Romans a lot of problems but he wasn't the only one to do so (Gauls, assorted barbarians, etc.) He also eventually lost to Rome anyway. I acknowledge he is a good military commander but why is it in a lot of documentaries I watch he is considered such an eminent general alongside the likes of Alexander and Caesar?

I've got a lot of old hardback books lying around, and I know that at least some of them used to have paper covers on them. That's what got me wondering, how far back would that have been common to see? Is it a recent enough development that we know when/who started it? What did the oldest covers look like?

I'm learning about in my history course in Uni and he intrigues me. I have a basic knowledge of him but less knowledge of politics of the era. I know he was worth around 360 billion in todays dollar worth. Did he pretty much have free rein and did whatever he wanted? Feel free to go interpret the question any way.

I know they were bulking up their military at the time due to the threat of an invasion by Germany, but is there any evidence that they were going to betray the alliance first?

The military used to use standardized testing to filter between enlisted and officer potential during WWI. This seems like a much better way of determining a soldier's intelligence and knowledge, when did it switch, and why?

I'm taking a class at Uni about piracy, in a historical/social context. The general theme is that when they weren't state sanctioned pivateers, they were something resembling "freedom fighters" (very loose application of the term here), and the opium wars seem to be a prime target for piracy. Being that both Opium, and Tea would be high value targets, it could attack the UK directly, and the fact that the trade routes either went through the Mediterranean, or the horn of Africa, into the Indian ocean, and then the Chinese coast.

I understand that this took place several decades after the "golden age of piracy", and that may be a factor, but it seems to me that piracy should at least have been a big enough factor for me not to have to ask this question.

I'm having trouble finding reliable sources, but it may just be that I'm not looking for the right thing. Even links or suggested search terms would be helpful.

I'm basically trying to look at the overall structure of the government while Stalin was in power. Unfortunately broad, but I don't need to go in to too much detail. So far it seems like the Supreme Soviet was at the top, but was, in reality, superseded by the CPSU.

I read that at least some people believe that the Plague of Athens was Ebola, or perhaps a similar viral hemorrhagic fever (they think hiccups may be a telltale sign).

Is this a credible claim? Or are there other suspected massive outbreaks of VHFs in history?

Excuse the double exclamation marks.

I'm a huge George Eliot fan and I just finished her novel, Romola, set in Florence in 1492, possibly her least popular novel. Some critics say it's her best novel, and she always swore it was her best. I guess she should know. It's quite a history lesson, too. I would find it easier to put the story into historical context if I knew the population of Florence around that time. The novel makes is sound like a small town, by modern standards.

That is, when was the idea of a global information network first described by a credible person or group?

Watched a documentary about the Oglala Lakota, and an Indian woman was saying doctors secretly sterilized her when she was a child. Is this true?

I've often wondered how they could get food. Of course a city was by the sea fishing would be very important, but when i hear about the Persian empire i often wondered if they farmed, or just transported food from more fertile areas.