Robert Rollinger: Space and Universality—The Long Life of the Achaemenid Mental Map
This lecture is part 3 of 4 of the 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series, delivered by Robert Rollinger on the theme, “The Achaemenid Persian World Empire.”
Abstract
Space and Universality: The Long Life of the Achaemenid Mental Map in Antiquity and Beyond (Sixth Century BCE – Sixth Century CE)
The Achaemenid Empire ushered a new world order, based on a novel conception of political geography, which, combined with an innovative language of power, served to legitimize Achaemenid imperial/universalist claims. The longevity and impact of the Achaemenid imperial “model” and its language of power constitute the themes of the third lecture.
About the Speaker
Robert Rollinger
University of Innsbruck
Robert Rollinger is Professor of Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck. His main research areas are the history of the Ancient Near East and the Achaemenid Empire, contacts between the Aegean World and the Ancient Near East, ancient historiography, and the comparative history of empires. Recent publications include Imperien in der Weltgeschichte. Epochenübergreifende und globalhistorische Vergleiche (co-edited; 2014), Mesopotamia in the Ancient World. Impact, Continuities, Parallels (co-edited; 2015), Alexander und die großen Ströme. Die Flussüberquerungen im Lichte altorientalischer Pioniertechniken (2013), Short-term Empires in World History (co-edited; 2020), A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 volumes (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World) (co-edited; 2021), Empires to be Remembered (Studies in Universal and Cultural History) (co- edited; 2022) or Decline, Erosion and Implosion of Empires (Studies in Universal and Cultural History) (co-edited; 2022).