How come women in ancient Athens were barred from owning property or participating in democracy(things generally viewed as intellectual pursuits) even though they worshiped the female goddess Athena who was the goddess of wisdom? If the ancient Greeks didn’t believe that women even held the capacity to vote why did they make Athena a women?

Hello, I'm writing a space opera of sorts and I need help with some European culture. In the novel European countries launched ships into space that would travel for hundreds of years. Eventually cultures changed from what we know them today and turned classical culture up to eleven. for example the English have created a culture right out of the king Arthur legend, the Germans are governed by a Kaiser, and the Russians by a Tsar. I have a passable knowledge of history, but I'm rattling my brain in regards to other European countries. I'm american and the most we learned about France is the revolution and the Spanish in south america. I really just want to do some justice to the cultures of Europe so any material anyone could recommend about more specific cultural facts or give some culturally significant stories like the king Arthur legend for the English, that would be very helpful in my endeavors. Thank you kindly

I put "successful" in quotation marks, because of course there are other more or less successful countries, but looking solely on statistics, Botswana seems like the only one who has realized it's full potential and even performed better than expected, since at the time of independence it was only a desert with no prospects for future.

Yet, it has managed to stay the oldest democracy in Africa since independence, being the 33rd in the world according to The Economist democracy index. It has managed to sustain constant economic growth, mainly due to the discovery of minerals, yet this wealth hasn't been monopolized by the elite and corruption has remained low, unlike in other African states.

Due to my previous post getting removed, I'd like to specify that I'm asking about the two decades or so after independence; how didn't it turn into a corrupt and dysfunctional state?

I'm sorry if something isn't clear as my English isn't perfect and if some facts aren't correct, although I verified them before posting.

The history of them and I've also heard of enclaves so anything would be appreciated

It's commonly known that Latin America was divided between Spain and Portugal. What's less known is that when the Dutch fought for independence against Spain, they took control of Brazil which was then a Spanish possession because Spain and Portugal were united under one crown. Were there any consequences to this Dutch period in Brazilian history?

From American history or otherwise.

I have just read Bill Bryson's 'The Mother Tongue' which I found incredibly interesting. When I checked out the reviews on Amazon/Goodreads, all top reviews were 1 star pointing out errors in the text.

Is there a better book I can read on the subject?

Though many full dress uniforms evoke older forms of military attire, the uniform of the Swiss Guards stands out as particularly anachronistic. Has their uniform deviated from this design over the centuries? Would they have appeared absolutely ridiculous in the 18th century marching around with morion helmets and halberds?

"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a White has no superiority over a Black nor a Black has any superiority over a White except by piety and good action."

I'd never heard of this hadith before and I'm curious as to the reasoning behind it. Did Medieval Arab tribes have a concept of racism or colourism?

I was just wondering if anyone could shed some more light on optics behind the decision to not prosecute them. From what I've read high ranking officer's in Mussolini's army gave orders for the use of mustard gas and deliberate attacks against red cross facilities. Surely these crimes alone would warrant st least lengthy prison sentences, but it seems as most of them died years after the war free. Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani are two examples of this I found already but nothing on why they were spared. I'm guessing it had to do with political pressure or logistical issues but any further information would be great.

I have seen a lot of depictions showing hoplites wearing a tunic and the pilos helmet by the 4th Century BC. This seems like very little armor. Would Corinthian helmets and heavy armor still be used?

Basically, I am looking for info that can tell me about things that a good sailor/captain of the time would know. Be that things on the ship. Thoughts about weather conditions and what this would do about the choices of when/where to sail. Sources that show tactics used at sea, be that when keeping a distance, when boarding, being boarded.

Not as important, but could also help, if anything tells about what merchants had to do, if they had been attacked by pirates and their goods were stolen. Whether there was some kind of insurance if they could provide proof of pirates, or something akin to this. I also realize this could vary for different countries and their territories, but anything would help.

I will also love to hear your takes, but I'd prefer to also be able to read sources if possible.

So I just saw that cool parade with the Pharoahs. Just wondering how the modern Egyptian population views ancient Egypt. Like do they see themselves as Arab for example?

First, sorry if this is a topic that keeps coming up, and i am accidentally repetitive.

In a World War movie that involves escape and evasion, they often involve getting past the border of Switzerland. Sometimes its Spain, but i get that would be less common since the time after D-Day that German holdings bordered Spain was short and that Spain while neutral leaned closer to diplomatically favoring the Axis.

Anyway, it seems really crazy that everyone on both sides universally agreed to an "out of bounds zone" where if entered you can say "olly olly oxen free" and be exempt from being shot or captured.

What makes it more surreal is that it is a landlocked country directly between Italy and Germany. When the Axis is setting out to control as much of the world's land as possible, how does such a nearby and small country manage to convince them that they should have an exempt status?

I'm sure Belgium or Luxembourg would have been keen on a deal where: no invasion happens and everyone else has to move around them to fight the war because "thems the rules", but it doesn't seem like such an option was available to them. Why not?

Furthermore as an aside curiosity, since Switzerland is landlocked and very hilly, how would the logistics of escaped POWs getting back to their own country work? Surely, the neutrality would also be preventing military aircraft from using their airports. Were there civilian commercial flights still going in and out during the war, and if so: really? Like, during WWII, you could just walk up to the ticket counter and book a flight there?

The foundation is the Six Poor Travellers House in Rochester. I'm assuming these weren't people who were culturally nomadic like Roma. My understanding was that in Tudor England there were theoretically penalties to poor people moving about without some kind of authorisation, although maybe I'm misunderstanding. Would something like this be aimed at people travelling for business? Were there classes of vagrants even at that time who would travel around and look for hospitality where they could find it?

I'm also curious about the rule against "proctors" - the Wikipedia article suggests it's unclear what exactly the reasoning behind it was and it was an obscure local thing but also as a wider question if they were a kind of lawyer how likely was it that they'd even be poor?

Hi everyone,

I am currently in my second year of a history undergraduate degree, and one of my assessments this semester is to create a research proposal for an area of history that I'll study in greater depth next year for my dissertation. I have decided to study modern China since 1949, but I'm still on the fence as to whether to focus on the Maoist period, the Deng period or the transition between the two, so answers relating to any part of Chinese history in the second half of the 20th century would be appreciated.

Among my initial reading, I've found the diplomatic history of China to be really interesting. I've been pouring through Kissenger's memoirs (among other works) and I'm really intrigued to learn more about China's position of steadfast independence and its refusal to adhere to Cold War 'battle lines' even at the expense of its own isolation. This is most obvious with the PRC's break from the Soviet Union during the late 1950s and extreme political isolation during the Cultural Revolution. Then comes the incredible diplomatic u-turn in the early 1970s, when the PRC began to open to the world and form a pseudo-alliance with America based on aligned strategic interests against the Soviet "hegemony". Following that Deng's economic reforms also have international importance of course as they drew China further into the international community, especially when the PRC joined the WTO in 2001.

That's only a very broad overview of some of the diplomatic trends in modern China, which I have found fascinating to study. However, my question concerns primary sources and research methods. For the above-mentioned research proposal, I have to outline what primary sources and evidence I would use in my dissertation. However, for this history focused on diplomacy and international relations, which form some of the highest-level government decisions, how would I obtain primary sources? Are politburo minutes available to access online? How would I trace American leadership decisions? Are memos saved and published somewhere? How can I find the specific instructions given to diplomats like Zhou Enlai, and of course what issues would I encounter in terms of Chinese censorship and the PRC's shifting relationship with the internet today?

These are just some of the questions I'm grappling with as I begin to work on this proposal, so any insight from diplomatic historians or historians of modern China would be greatly appreciated. I understand this post is less of a simple "what was happening at this time?" question which are more common in this subreddit, but I hope any professional historians reading these discussions might be able to give some details about their research process.

Thanks, and I look forward to reading your responses!