It might be a weird question, but did the ancient greeks have a ankle focus? I saw several mythological texts mentioning 'fair ankles', or something like that. Or do I misrepesent it? And if so, how was it meant in reality?

Example (source Theoi): Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 39. 3 (trans. Oldfather) "I saw the shade of Herakles, but for himself he takes delight of feasts among the immortal gods and for his wife he hath the shapely-ankled Hebe.’"

Has any modern (>1912) Chinese state government invoked the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule?

How did hydration work on the ancient battlefield? Clearly fighting all day is hard work, and they didn't have camelbaks.

Were people rotating through positions to give people a break for water, food, etc? Were battles more brief intense things than all day long events?

Did Germany conscript french soldiers after the successful capture of France? I know the Germans conscripted some captured countries (like the Czechs) into the Wehrmacht, but I had never heard of any French or Belgian or similar conscripts.

Besides the short lived expansion to the Antonine Wall, Did the Roman’s patrol and build outposts beyond Hadrian’s Wall?

Where should I go to find someone who can translate a tweet into Old Persian?

I ran across this company the other day https://dumbcuneiform.com/

And thought it would be right to preserve a dril Tweet for posterity - but figure it would be more amusing if it was actually in Old Persian rather than English transliterated into Old Persian cueniform.

https://twitter.com/dril/status/473265809079693312?lang=en

Anyone know what reddit I should be looking into?

What's the word for someone or something from the ancient city of Uruk? (i.e. Sumer -> Sumerian, Uruk -> ?)

Why do American houses built in the early twentieth century sometimes have two front doors? Usually the extra door leads directly into a bedroom from the front of the house. Was it so people could rent out rooms in their houses?

I see a lot of historical maps of Europe break the Holy Roman Empire up into multiple different sub-components (here's an example from /r/MapPorn). Is it fair to always break the Empire down like this? While the HRE had a different structure from other parts of Europe, it seems odd that it is fairly consistently shown as a composite as opposed to other nations that had their own internal power structures.

I'm reading about Roman food and drink because I find the day to day life of ancient civilizations very interesting.

I learned that wine was usually watered down by at least 1:2 and sometimes up to 1:4. Was this roughly the equivalent of adding water to modern wine we drink today or was it almost like adding water to frozen juice concentrate for them?

So it's Autumn and I'm sitting here thinking about the falling leaves. How did urban residents deal with the seasonal yard rubbish before municipalities disposed of it for them? This is a very broad question and I realise there will be a variety of answers from different times. Any answer is appreciated!

What did vikings, sailors and pirates eat and drink during their travels with boats?

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If I remember correctly pirates did not dock as much as the others, so they had to endure longer periods of being on the open sea.

Please let me know if this should be posted elsewhere or in its own thread; I have no idea how “in depth” it is.

I have noticed in some 17th-18th century paintings (and probably outside that time period) from Dutch painters that men often wear black. A black outfit-hat, suit, shoes-with a white wig. It is only in Dutch paintings that I’ve seen this. Furthermore, I saw the same thing while watching the HBO John Adams series-the Dutch men he met to cut a deal with were wearing the same outfit I’ve seen in paintings. A picture from that scene is linked here .

I’m having a hard time on Google so I thought I’d ask: is there any significance to this mostly black outfit? Or am I just noticing a cultural or fashion trend of the time? Just curious. Thanks in advance for any answers.

Do we know anything behind the reason on Celtic/Gallic peoples and art to don the moustache? Is there any insight or popular speculations behind it?

• Just a normal aesthetic/fashion that spread?

• Right of passage for the youth into becoming a man?

• Was this specifically for warriors?

Etc. etc.

How did the lifestyle of being a gladiator change throughout the history of Ancient Rome? Was it always a good occupation?

What is the difference between a normal Panzer and a Jagd version of it? For example, a Panther and a Jagdpanther.

Was the Wild West really a barren place where there was nothing to do but drink and play cards, no agriculture (I'm thinking of desert areas) and lots of duels, gunfight and criminality? Was it true that you were safe nowhere?

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If not, then how was it?

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What did Europeans call cannibals before Columbus encountered the Carib peoples, from whom the word is derived?

Did ancient greek males, at any point in history, braid their hair (as a part of a trend)? This source suggests they did, but I can't find any more information on that, and I'd be interested to see other sources.

The relevant quote: "The Minoan period is well known from pottery and paintings in the great palaces, notably Knossos, showing dancers with shoulder-long black hair. Similarly, Aegean art shows males with single or double plaits. Homer's heroes had such hair, as did the warriors at the battle of Marathon (490 BC). During the archaic period (i.e., up to about 500 BC) the male youth or kouros (Grk) wore his hair long to the shoulders or even longer finely braided—an extremely artificial time-consuming style of the privileged nobles."

What are the best scholarly biographies of Giuseppe Garibaldi in English? Has anything been published recently?

From YSEE to Wicca, Nova Roma and Kemetism amongst others. Why did so many neopagan religions se a resurgence in the second half of the 20th century?

What can I read to learn about the October 1929 stock market crash?

What percentage of New York colonists were loyal to the British Crown at the start of the American Revolution?

When guns started to be used more, was there anybody notable who used less advance weapon like a spear, sword, bow ect during a time of gun powder and bullets?

Is Xenophon's work in the Constitution of Sparta set during theArchaic Period in greece's history?

When was Egypt at its greatest extent in terms of size?

What language(s) did the Austrian Hapsburgs speak amongst themselves informally?

Did Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) and other German arsenals pay royalties to Vickers from manufacturing MG08 during WW1?

Anyone able to recommend any good books on the Bronze Age empires, or the Bronze Age collapse? I've already read 1177BC. Bonus points for anything with an audible version, as I've some spare credits. Double bonus points for the Hittites, specifically.

What were some of the biggest Native American tribes on the East Coast of North America prior to the Columbian Exchange?

Does anyone know if a good audiobook exists on the rise and reign of Chandragupta Maurya?

I can’t recall the exact moment, but I think it was a US hearing on government spending. I believe it was one senator asking another senator if a certain item was going to contribute to the defense of the US in anyway, and the response was something along the lines of ‘it won’t contribute directly to the military defense, but if we don’t fund programs like this, there’s isn’t anything worth defending’

Can anyone pinpoint this moment? I’ve tried searching for key terms online, but haven’t had any luck. I unfortunately don’t know remember anymore details