askhistorians

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In 317 B.C. there were 21,000 Athenian citizens, 10,000 free foreigners, and 400,000 slaves living in Attica. How usual was this huge disparity in slave-owners societies?	603
Lincoln considered having the federal government buy all US slaves from their owners and then free them. It would have been expensive, but not compared to a civil war. Was the buy-them-and-free-them solution realistic?	602
George Washington and James Monroe were deists. Lincoln had irregular Christian beliefs as well. Today, a Christian failing to fall in line with a mainline branch of the religion would face major hurdles in attaining the US presidency. Did irregular religious beliefs cause blowback for these men?	541
Angkor Wat wasn't an isolated jungle temple, but part of a vast metropolis. But what did the Angkor urban area look like? Was it Rome-like but made from Bamboo instead of bricks and marble? What did the buildings look like, and what was the population density?	521
Russia reconquered Chechnya in 2000 and then squashed the local insurgents. Chechnya has been surprisingly quiet since. What did Russia do to so effectively quell guerillas on their (mountainous) home turf? How did it differ from Russia's failed counterinsurgency operation in Afghanistan?	511
Does the ubiquitous graffiti in Roman ruins indicate a high literacy rate among those living in Roman cities?	510
Barbary pirates prowled the English channel for most of the 17th century, abducting English people into slavery and taking them to Tripoli and Algiers. Hundreds were taken. Why couldn't the English Navy put a stop to this?	503
The United States has the largest rail network of any country in the world, but that's down by almost half from its historic peak. Were the mothballed rail lines a result of overbuilding due to a stock market "rail bubble?" or merely a result of subsequent competition from automobiles?	501
The Romans famously left their conquered subjects to rule themselves so long as they paid their taxes. Were these local rulers as corrupt as we'd assume they'd be? Were the Romans letting their subjects get double fleeced (flayed?)?	501
Haitian slaves rebelled against France in 1804 and gained independence. In 1803, Napoleon's attempt the reclaim the island with 20,000 men failed. So why did Haitai capitulate when the French returned and demanded an exorbitant sum of money in 1825?	497

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