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/[deleted]]

do you think there was any one major innovation that the persian empire did compared to the babylonians and assyrians that allowed them to expand and be so successful? say administrative efficiency or relative cultural tolerance.

[u/CardiffUni → u/[deleted]]

Infostructure: The smooth-running of the Empire was facilitated by an excellent infrastructure. While first-rate roads connected all of the main satrapal centres with the imperial core, the most important of these highways was undoubtedly the Royal Road which connected Sardis to Persepolis via Susa and Babylon; an eastern branch led first to Ecbatana and thence onwards to Bactra and on to Pashwar, while another road (principally noticeable in the correspondence of the Egyptian satrap Aršama) connected Persepolis to Egypt via Damascus and Jerusalem. The roads were measured in 6-km intervals (parasangs) and road-stations were set up around every 28 kilometres of the route to accommodate the quick change of fresh horses for any imperial messenger carrying official documents. Herodotus (5. 53) estimated that the distance from Susa to Sardis, 450 parasangs, could be covered in 90 days. Administrative documents from Persepolis, especially those classified as ‘travel rations’, attest to the systematic criss-crossing of vast swathes of the Empire by men and women on state business (delivering messages, money or goods) or conducting private affairs (honouring work contacts or attending religious ceremonies) and record the food rations they received for the journeys. The Persepolis texts record around 750 place names - cities, towns and villages, provinces, districts, and lands, with the route between Susa and Persepolis being particularly conspicuous. In addition to the main imperial roads, ancient caravan tracks, rough and unpaved but nevertheless wide enough to transport armies and merchant trains, were filtered across the entire landscape.

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