askhistorians

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The Confucian classic Book of Documents describes a method of policy-making combining five inputs—the king, the ministers, the people, and two forms of divination—with a list of how to resolve discrepancies between them. Was this method commonly used in imperial China?	14
In Roman sources, it seems like “nationality” was primarily defined by laws and customs—and that this sense persisted at least into the early Middle Ages (e.g. the “Danelaw”). But by the modern era, nationality is usually defined by language. When did this redefinition occur?	13
When the Parthians and Kushans first conquered the easternmost Hellenistic kingdoms, they retained elements of Greek culture (like art and language). What was life like for actual Greeks in those empires?	12
On what principle did the Romans divide their empire into provinces? Did they try to give each province a comparable population? Or comparable income? Or comparable troops needed to defend?	12
Is there any evidence of Zoroastrianism or Manichaeism spreading among the Iranic or other steppe peoples north of the Caucasus and the Caspian?	11
Why does it seem like most (Ottoman-descended) Turkish minorities are in the Balkans rather than other former Ottoman territories? Does this reflect settlement patterns, or did other Turks assimilate into local Arab populations?	11
Henry the Fowler of Saxony is credited with switching from a Carolinian-style central monarchy to the decentralized system of duchies that persisted in Germany to early modern times. Was this system based on earlier Saxon institutions?	10
Was Thanksgiving a continuous tradition going directly back to the pilgrims via their descendants, or was it revived at some point to serve as a national holiday?	10
The Romans created the office of emperor because they were nominally opposed to kings. Do other cultures make a categorical distinction between kingdoms and empires, or are we projecting an accident of European history onto the rest of the world?	10
Procopius reports that the Vandal king Hilderic was “a very particular friend and guest-friend” of the future emperor Justinian. Should we understand this to mean that Justinian was hanging out in Carthage, or Hilderic in Constantinople?	10

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