Robert Rollinger: Whither the Achaemenid Empire?
This lecture is part 2 of 4 of the 2022 Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series, delivered by Robert Rollinger on the theme, “The Achaemenid Persian World Empire.”
Abstract
Whither the Achaemenid Empire? Towards a New Connected History of Afro-Eurasia in Antiquity
In this lecture, the history of the Achaemenid Empire as a powerful engine of transregional connectivity, affecting all of Afro-Eurasia, is explored. Of import is not only the Empire’s capacity to boost dynamic developments, which may be qualified as an early example of globalization, but also its ability to sustain cultural individuation processes and tolerate autonomous political formations.
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).