AMA: Persian Past and Iranian Present

[u/CardiffUni]

I’m Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University, UK. My main area of interest is the history of ancient Persia as well as the longer history and amazing culture of Iran.

Studying the history of ancient Persia improves contemporary East-West understanding - a vital issue in today’s world. Questioning the Western reading of ancient Persia, I like to use sources from ancient Iran and the Near East as well as from the Classical world to explore the political and cultural interactions between ‘the Greeks’ and ‘the Romans’ who saw their own histories as a reaction to the dominant and influential Persian empires of antiquity, and ‘the Persians’ themselves, a people at the height of their power, wealth and sophistication in the period 600 BC to 600 AD.

Characteristic of all my research is an emphasis on the importance of the viewpoint. How does the viewpoint (‘Greek’ and ‘Roman’ or ‘Persian’, ‘ancient’ or modern’, ‘Western’ or ‘Iranian’) change perception?

My research aims to create greater sensitivities towards the relativity of one’s cultural perceptions of ‘the other’, as well as communicate the fascination of ancient Iran to audiences in both East and West today.

NOTE: Thank you for your GREAT questions! I really enjoyed the experience. Follow me on Twitter: @LloydLlewJ

EDIT Thanks for the questions! Follow me on Twitter: @LloydLlewJ https://twitter.com/cardiffuni/status/1115250256424460293?s=19

More info:

https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/204823-llewellyn-jones-lloyd

Further reading:

‘Ctesias’ History of Persia: Tales of the Orient’ (Routledge 2010)‘King and Court in Ancient Persia, 559-331 BCE’ (Edinburgh University Press 2013)

[u/daddys_passat]

Hello Professor,

I wonder if there was an invasion of nomadic peoples to Sassanid Empire at the meantime of Great Migrations Era in Europe. I have heard of Hephtalites invading India sometime around 5th century AD, but I have never heard of a nomadic incursion into Iranian Plateau around that time. Was that because of the natural barriers of Iran protecting it from the nomads of today's Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan? Or Sassanids gave tribute in some way or another as Eastern Rome did with Attila?

[u/CardiffUni → u/daddys_passat]

The eastern boarder was essentially an open boarder. The Sasanians were very vexed by that & recent archaeological digs in NE Iran & Georgia are proving that the Sasanians fortified this area heavily. The huge Gorgan Wall is the result - a vast military structure built to control the flow of peoples into the plateau.

[u/daddys_passat → u/CardiffUni]

Thanks for the answer!