AskHistorians

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When did the now widely-used architectural technique of 'spotlighting' prominent landmarks and buildings at night in order to create a dramatic effect first arise? Are there any architects or architectural/sculptural movements that could claim to be proponents of this technique?	4
At what point did Palm Trees become synonymous with Southern Europe rather than considered imports? i.e. when you picture the 'South of France,' you think of the blue sea, white sandy beaches, and Palm Trees. Same with Portugal, Italy, Spain. Yet Palm Trees are African/Middle Eastern in origin...	4
How was it physically possible for such an incredibly TINY city like Venice to amass an empire?	4
Why is historical 'Venice City' so small? What's the reason islands further in the lagoon - such as Lido, Le Vignole, and Sant'Erasmo - were never built on in 1000 years of Venice's existence...?	4
Has a Jewish Synagogue (or the ruins of one) ever been found at a Pre-Christian Pagan Roman site WITHIN ITALY? Either a free-standing Synagogue by itself or its ruins or within an ancient site like Oplonti?	4
If historians have never been able to create a detailed map of Pagan Roman Italy (I have not seen one anywhere) does this not imply that there may be scores of totally forgotten Roman towns and villages still lying undiscovered under the ground?	3
Why did no indigenous form of Roman Jewry develop within Italy or imported Roman offshoots of Mainstream Judaism, even though one and the other (the Roman Empire and Judaism) overlapped and came into close contact with one another?	3
Would any Ancient Greeks in Greece have been aware that some contemporary Hellenic peoples (in Bactria and India) were following a religion called Buddhism? If yes, did any Greek Buddhist art or literature ever find its way back to Greece?	3
Are historians able to create an accurate map of Pagan Roman Italy at any time before 300 AD which would include most of its cities, towns and hamlets, or is re-creating a map to this level of detail no longer possible due to loss of knowledge?	3
Did Italian Catholic churches ever evolve from displaying religious art towards more secular content (Roman themed Art, Historical or Landscape Paintings etc) or has such an evolution never occurred? Are there at least individual instances of happening and did this cause controversy?	3

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