askhistorians

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I've visited several newly-built Buddhist temples in Mongolia, which started springing up after the Soviet Union fell. How did the Soviets manage to suppress Buddhist culture in theoretically independent Mongolia? Was the religion widely practiced there before the Soviet era?	69
In 1697 a group of Moroccan pirates occupied the English island of Lundy and used it as a base for capturing slaves. How did they go about capturing English slaves, and why did it take so long for the English crown to dislodge them?	69
How would an ancient Roman dress rakishly? Were there Roman dandies? How did they stand out from their peers?	69
The Athenians made dying illegal on the island of Delos in the 6th Century B.C., eventually deporting everyone living there so they couldn't break the law. Was the island heavily populated? How big of a logistical feat were the deportations? When and why did the island become reinhabited?	68
What sort of armor, weapons, and troop types were in use among sub-Saharan Africans around 100 A.D.?	68
Sparta famously killed newborn infants that its elders deemed unfit. But Plato promotes infanticide for eugenic reasons, and the Carthaginians sacrificed babies in religious ceremonies. Was infanticide fairly widespread in the ancient world? Did most societies practice it in some form?	68
Birds just up and leave northern climates come winter. Premodern people must have seen them streaming off, sometimes in neat formations winging through the sky. Where did premodern people think all those thousands of birds were headed off to? Where did equatorial peoples think the birds came from?	68
Old English has the word "friþwefer," usually translated as "hostage bride" or "peaceweaver". Was there a difference between a hostage bride and a woman married off to cement a political or economic alliance? Were they literally hostages?	67
I'm a slave recently purchased by a rich Roman aristocrat for use as a servant in his fancy city house. What precautions will my master take to ensure I don't bash his head in while he sleeps?	67
The longest-running country without an interruption in the form of government is probably the Republic of Venice at 1100 years (697-1797 A.D.) What explains its remarkable longevity and political stability?	67

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