askhistorians

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You bargain for what you're trying to buy at the local markets in much of Asia. In the west, this is virtually unheard of except for special items, like cars. Was bargaining once the norm in the US and Europe? When and why did it fade away?	165
How much was Teddy Roosevelt exaggerating when he claimed the US had freed Cuba and the Philippines, asking in return "nothing whatever save that at no time shall their independence be prostituted to the advantage of some foreign rival of ours." ?	163
We use plastic boxes for takeout. Asians - modern and historic - used banana leaves. South Americans often wrapped food in corn husks. Did premodern Westerners have an equivalent disposable "takeout" container they would have used when getting food from a street vendor or when lacking plates?	162
In Rome, powerful men would brag about how many clients they had as a way of showing off their influence. How many was it normal to accrue? Did clients double-dip and sign up with multiple patrons? Was it prestigious to sign up the poorest citizens, or only those of at least modest means?	161
Muammar Gaddafi is known as a despot, a murder, and a terrorist in western countries, but I've met several Libyans who loved him. Was his negative reputation in the west warranted by his actions, or the result of him bucking western preferences?	158
The psychedelic Mysteries were the most “exceptional and divine” of the many gifts Greece gave to Rome, and a civilizing force, according to Cicero. Can we talk about this?	157
Pyrrhus of Epirus had a mediocre military career, but Hannibal Barca, one of the greatest generals of all times, ranked him second only to Alexander The Great. Why did his ranking make sense?	156
Classical Greece had five or six dialects, including the Attic of Athens, the Doric of Sparta, one spoken on Cyprus and in Arcadia. and several others. How mutually intelligible were these Greek dialects? Could Greeks of the Classical period easily communicate across borders?	155
In a poem in the Satires, Horace says he can't wait to get home and eat a dish of chickpeas, leeks, and lagana. Was lagana an ancient Roman version of Pasta? More like a Lasagne? More like fried bread? Do we know what it was?	155
I've read Mein Kampf. It seems like trite racist material that isn't well written or original. Did the book become famous because Hitler wrote it, or because it was considered a powerful work?	153

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