While watching Troy last night (the fight between Hector and Achilles' cousin in his armor)I began to wonder if there are historical accounts of higher ranking people in battle seeking each other out while the lesser soldiers would avoid this private battle.

Obviously it makes for a great scene in a movie, just wondering if there was some unwritten rule among soldiers to not disrupt a special fight.

How did pyramids begin to appear in Egypt near the same time they were constructed in Peru and domed structures built in the British isles? Ref: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_the_oldest_buildings_in_the_world

Notice the capital G. I'm asking if anybody claimed to be the son of Jahwe before jesus.

I imagine that the use of "B.C." and "A.D." didn't start in what we would call the year 1, so what year would contemporary Romans say they were living in? Did it change between the republic and the empire? Was there even a concept of numbered years as we know them today?

I have always wondered what went into choosing a location for a castle. I figure that defensive locations were favored, but were local resources and population also major factors? Did castles often spring up around a village or did the walls come then the village/population? How long on average did it take for the walls to be completed and during that time was there a standing army to protect the construction?

Edit: I am mainly interested in castles during the middle ages in Europe.

I got a nice dose of old-people-racism over the holidays, and one that got me thinking was when my grandmother said regarding the internment of the Japanese-Americans, "If we hadn't done that, the Japs (sorry) would have faced a lot of retaliation and lynchings after Pearl Harbor" From what I've seen, this kind of "benevolent" racism pops up quite a bit in American history.

Was there a lot of pushback to the internment when it happened from segments of the American population? I figure there was probably a lot less than there would be today, due to segregation still being in effect as well as a different national feeling about nationalism and race. Was there a serious national debate about it though, or did most people feel like my grandmother; that the US government was protecting itself against infiltration as well as protecting the "good" Americans of Japanese descent?

For example, the post about swords in medieval Europe had a comment of trade linking British Isles to India. How long ago could these connections have been established?

Such as a group of senators that believed in less governmental control, how much to invest in infrastructure and war, etc., that mimic past or current U.S. political structures?

First of all: I don't care what is the "correct" side to drive on, I am merely curious.

I understand that certain countries drive on the left because of jousting and right handedness, but surely there is some kind of historical reasoning to driving on the right also. What is it?

I've heard a few different stories from people here in Texas along with conflicting versions from various web sources. Can anyone give a clear record of this tradition?

I'd prefer to know about any nation, however England, Austria, Germany, and France are pretty big.

And how did they learn that horses could be rode?