askhistorians

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How did the age 18 become the legal age? Is there a cultural reason why it's 18? (or 21 or 16 in other countries)	619
European travelers into China and the far east like Marco Polo are well-documented. Were there ever Chinese explorers that traveled as far as Europe?	325
How did Romans classify Latin? Was it similar to our understanding, with declensions and such, or did they organize it differently?	44
How far is the farthest Mesoamerican ball court from the “epicenter” of the ball game in Southern Mexico? Is there evidence of export of the game to eastern Central America or north of Pueblo tribes? How far did Aztec/Maya traders reach in both central america and the modern US?	25
Today, there are communities both online and irl that speculate on the fall of civilization and “prep”. Were there any writers in the Roman Empire who speculated on the end of Rome’s empire? Any other examples of pre-modern speculation on collapse? Did our idea of collapse even exist in the past?	24
I’m a minor aristocrat living in Paris in the 15th century. How difficult is to to make a full journey to central China? How about an aristocrat in the 13th century?	11
How was rule legitimized in Chichen Itza compared to southern classical Maya states?	9
Both Western and Eastern explorers of each respective area during and before the middle ages tend to have motivations outside of exploration for traveling to these distant lands. Were there any travelers who simply went to these places to see and explore them? Why don’t we read about their journeys?	5
While Roman coins, glass, and other artifacts are found in and around China, it seems as if Chinese artifacts are rarely (if ever) found in Rome or the western world. Why are there so many more Roman artifacts? Does it have to do with China's worldview or economy at the time?	5
What amount of cultural exchange and trade took place between Jurchen and Chinese traders? What about Buryat and Central Asian Muslim Traders? In general, how much contact was there between post-Classical civilizations and Siberian trade?	3

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