Other side of the page: we will fine you 40% if we catch you, you keep the other 60%, or 100% if we don't catch you.

It means 'crap these people stole' in the indigenous language.

Being homeless (and the look on his face in the mugshot), my guess is he is regularly steamrolled by the system.

The early archeologists teams throwing rocks at each other when their digs were close was my favorite part.

Along those lines, there are some concerns about citizens fighting as volunteers in a war. The line between 'volunteer' and regular troops being sent in under the pretext of volunteer can be blurred. In the Korean War, hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens 'volunteered' to join the North Korean forces. With officers and their equipment, too. McArthur wanted to use nukes to stop them. He got relieved of his command instead.

Providing weapons while in an active conflict is generally considered taking a side in the conflict, especially if you give them for free.

This has a big impact because history has shown that basically you cannot defeat a people until they accept defeat. One of the ways to cripple an enemy and hopefully get them to give up the fight is to destroy their military production. When arms are supplied by another country, that puts their arms production out of range unless you add the supplier to the conflict and attack them, too.

The Mujahideen weren't a monolithic group. This was why there was civil war after the Soviets pulled out. I am sure the Taliban fighters received arms, training from the CIA, but nothing in Afghanistan is that cut and dry.

This is why the west had not given a blank check for Ukraine to get any weapons the ask for. If ukraine crosses into Russia, there is fear this would escalate further. Airstrikes and drones on military bases are OK, but not occupation.

Note Belorus allowing Putin to use their territory to stage the attack is generally also considered being a belligerent.

Yeah, there's an idea about fighting til the very last second to maintain 'honor'.

I would note that Italy also had a an influx of different peoples in the wake of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Obviously there were goths, but also Lombards that moved into the north.

I would also point out that trade made many aristocratic families and their corresponding cities crazy wealthy without the corresponding land and population. Their long links to the Mediterranean allowed them to develop monopolies with Eastern trade as the gateway to the Catholic west. This is probably why mercenaries were so popular - money, but not a lot of foot soldiers. This might be how they could stay divided as long as they did, and not conquered by someone else. It also made them rivals and emphasized some of their local culture as a matter of pride.