I would imagine that it may have been done through necessity; too many bodies to handle (for example during epidemics or war). Maybe it was done for sacrificial reasons?

It is my understanding that spectators at Athenian dramatic festivals in the 5th c. BCE had a detailed familiarity with the myths that were adapted by Greek dramatists, and that the dramatists in turn, aware of this prior knowledge, played upon audience expectations (e.g. Sophocles in his Electra leading the audience at one point to think that he will alter the myth and have Clytemnestra be murdered by her daughter rather than her son).

Where did this familiarity come from? What do we know about how stories about the gods circulated in classical Athens, other than through dramatic adaptations? Did many Athenians have access to written texts of Homer and Hesiod? Did stories of the gods circulate mainly through oral culture, like folk tales, passed on from parents to children and so on? Were there religious festivals--in addition to the dramatic ones--at which such stories were recounted and thus became familiar?

Since those two were the figure heads of the CSA I would think their influence would have gone a long way to help end the Confederacy before it really got underway.

i do not want a book written by a christian or an athiest with an axe to grind. thanks.

I know the TV undoubtedly contributed, but where did the couch come from? Why does everyone's living room(in the US at least) have a couch?

"India" as a vague regional term can refer to the Republic of India as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh and occasionally Sri Lanka; these countries are all linked culturally, linguistically (the Dravidian languages borrow lexically from Sanskrit) and geographically. Whilst the subcontinent had been unified by previous empires, was there a notion of "India" like there was a notion of "Europe", and did that definition match today's definition?

I had read an excerpt claiming that he was without equal as a cavalryman and fighter, how true is that statement? Do any of the sources discuss how good of a warrior he may have been?

Did the assassinations change the course of world events in any major way?

Since year '89 here in Czech republic education started to be more easier or at least more people studying universities (approx. 10 from 30 and before then 2 from 30) or technical schools then vocational schools. We as students in school are often discussing with teachers about this topic but everyone has his own opinion and I do not very know where the truth is.

Reading this history/primary source book I found on the street, and in one excerpt, Roosevelt mentions concentration camps as one of the many marks against the Axis, in 1940. To what extent did he know about them then?

So, I'm seeing this from the point of view as a Welshman. It's well known that the English and French fought each other for centuries, so how did English and French soldiers not kill each other while fighting side by side in the Crusades? That's not to mention the other countries at ends in the Middle East.

This year is the Centenary of WW1, and by coincidence I realised today was the day Britain declared war on Germany as I was reading the Wikipedia entry on the war.

Unlike WW2, which nearly everyone agreed started on 1 Sep 1939, there does not seem to be a definitive start date for WW1.

I assume they were brought in by Mongolian conquest, but I don't actually know. I guess I'm thinking of Sichuan, Gansu, and Xinjiang specifically.

Was one side significantly more expansionist/tyrannical than the other? Or was it just two big empires clashing.

I already know that there is Sir Robert Hotung. But I am speaking of immigrants.

Most people are familiar with the image of a prosperous community centered around industry slowly descending into poverty as the factory's production are outsourced and moved away to cheaper centers of production. Likewise, with the boom-and-bust cycle being a fact of life of the market system, the idea of a lot of people being unemployed at once in an economy isn't too alien to most people.

However, did such situations ever arise in pre-industrial societies? Was there ever a case where enough workers lived in an area suffering a bad enough economic climate that unemployment because a noticeable issue? How about unemployment of the peasants? Could things like poor harvests affect the amount of people out of work / looking for work?