Even during the times of the Silk Road how common was it for people from both ends to meet face to face?

A bit of a loaded question. Thank you guys.

I've just written an essay loosely based on this; I considered the Paris Commune and the February/October Revolutions of 1917, evaluating the extent to which they detracted from 'orthodox Marxism' (if such a thing exists).

As someone particularly interested in the latter event, I thought that would be as good a place as any to get some scope for further discussion (and hopefully some insight from those many people more knowledgeable in this area than I).

I also hope that the question makes enough sense for it to be answered appropriately.

Many thanks!

I'm particularly interested to know when it became common for hell to be thought of a place "under" the earth.

In addition, I'd love any recommendations for books that might cover this topic in more depth.

I recently watched a Spanish TV series on the rise to power and later reign of Isabella I of Castile. In one episode of the first season, set in the late 1460s, she sends a noble ally to meet the Prince of Aragon, Ferdinand, and the Duke of Guyenne (Duke of Berry seems to be the most common name for him in English), brother of King Louis XI of France, and come back to tell her who would be the better husband.

The noble meets with Ferdinand who is this perfect handsome stud warrior prince, and in a following comedic scene, with Guyenne/Berry who is ugly, hunchbacked and/or has some problem with the articulation of his members. Needless to say, he comes back to Castile saying that Ferdinand is the best match, and the rest is History.

The station's webpage has some comments on every episode where its consultants discuss the events in the series and if they are real, fictional or 'enhanced'. In the case of the Duke, they say that his deformity was real, "as proven by paintings of the time", but don't go further. They also say that he spent most of his life plotting and rebelling against his brother until his 'fortunate' early death, possibly by poison.

Isn't that just weird, though? Why would a cripple, unmarried, second son without a heir rebel to dispute the crown to his brother the King?

The Duke's meager Wikipedia page mentions rebeliousness and poisoning (blaming it instead on his mistress' husband) but no deformity. So, what is the truth?

So apparently the SS network of Holocaust machinery was huge, criss-crossing all through Europe and utilizing countless numbers of camps, soldiers, trains, money, resources, etc.

Did Stauffenberg have any idea what to do with this apparatus once the coup against Hitler was successful? Was he going to just dismantle the whole thing, keep it running, etc?

I was wondering if anyone knows why the United States began to transform into a society where frivolous lawsuits were common. Has there always been a fairly high level of frivolous suits in the US or is it a recent innovation?

I know this is complex question, with many answers depending partly on the definition of 'empire' one uses. What I'm really interested in figuring out is what the contours of a debate like this would be -- partly because I'm interested in asking students studying the history of modern empires this question in the last week of class.

Did the Emperor ever try to gain (or regain?) power before Meiji/the Boshin war? Did a Shogun, Daimyo, or any Imperial family ever try to force the Emperor to abdicate and make themselves the Emperor (as I understand there were quite a few families related to the Emperor particularly the Fujiwara and their branch families?)

Or was the Emperor's influence always as strong as Meiji's was before the Boshin War?

I've read that inflation was a problem at times during the Roman Empire (and perhaps before?). I got to wondering if this was a problem noticed by historians or if the Romans themselves knew of the concept of inflation, and how it worked and how it could be remedied?

I can't seem to find the answer on google, did WWII pilots have to manually shift gears while flying the plane, or was there some sort of automated system? Or possibly, those engines only need one gear?

Thanks in advance

I understand that Hitler stimulated the economy with public works and forced labour etc. but did this really improve the German economy enough to sustain the massive rearmament ? Did Hitler take loans from other countires to aid the rearmament ?

I read that the Titanic was build in Northern Ireland (along with other great liners at that time) and was curious if there were 'Troubles' back then or if it were a more recent manifestation