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Empire, authority, and autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia / Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre.

By: Language: English Publication details: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2013.Description: xxvi, 374 p. : ill. ; 26 cmISBN:
  • 9781107018266
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • DR481 D87 2013
Contents:
1. Introduction : Assessing Achaemenid Anatolia -- An "Authority-Autonomy" Framework of Interpretation -- A Brief Overview of Achaemenid History -- Anatolia -- Chapter-by-Chapter Overview -- Divide and Conquer, or Conquer and Unify? -- 2. Governing Anatolia : Part I. Administering Anatolia -- Part II. Combining the Practical and Ideological -- 3. Controlling Anatolia, guarding the empire : The Military in Achaemenid Anatolia -- Catalogue of Achaemenid Military Presence in Anatolia -- 4. Eating and drinking with class and style : Feasts Fit for a King -- Dining and Status in Persia -- Feasting and Human Society -- Eating Utensils and Dining Behaviors -- Value-Laden Cups of Precious Metal -- Value-Laden Cups of Clay -- 5. Dealing with the dead : Lydia -- The Western Seaboard : Ionia and Mysia -- Hellespontine Phrygia -- Central Anatolia : Higland Phrygia, Cappadocia -- Black Sea Coast -- Armenia -- Southeast -- Cilicia -- Pisidia -- Lycia -- Caria -- 6. Worshipping the divine : Continuity of Cults -- Accretion of Cults -- Artemis at Sardis and Ephesus -- The Sanctuary of Zeus at Labraunda -- Conversion of Cult? The Altar to Cybele at Sardis -- Introduction of Non-Anatolian Cults -- Royal Cult -- 7. Educating the young and old : Educating the Persian Elite -- Art and Education -- Ideology -- Religion -- Language -- Gender Matters -- Accounting -- 8. Empire and identity in Achaemenid Anatolia : Identity and Status -- Identity and Ethnicity -- Identity and Religion -- Identity and Administration -- Authority and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia.
Summary: The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE) was a vast and complex sociopolitical structure that encompassed much of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and included two dozen distinct peoples who spoke different languages, worshiped different deities, lived in different environments, and had widely differing social customs. This book offers a radical new approach to understanding the Achaemenid Persian Empire and imperialism more generally. Through a wide array of textual, visual, and archaeological material, Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre shows how the rulers of the empire constructed a system flexible enough to provide for the needs of different peoples within the confines of a single imperial authority and highlights the variability in response. This book examines the dynamic tensions between authority and autonomy across the empire, providing a valuable new way of considering imperial structure and development.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-365) and index.

1. Introduction : Assessing Achaemenid Anatolia -- An "Authority-Autonomy" Framework of Interpretation -- A Brief Overview of Achaemenid History -- Anatolia -- Chapter-by-Chapter Overview -- Divide and Conquer, or Conquer and Unify? -- 2. Governing Anatolia : Part I. Administering Anatolia -- Part II. Combining the Practical and Ideological -- 3. Controlling Anatolia, guarding the empire : The Military in Achaemenid Anatolia -- Catalogue of Achaemenid Military Presence in Anatolia -- 4. Eating and drinking with class and style : Feasts Fit for a King -- Dining and Status in Persia -- Feasting and Human Society -- Eating Utensils and Dining Behaviors -- Value-Laden Cups of Precious Metal -- Value-Laden Cups of Clay -- 5. Dealing with the dead : Lydia -- The Western Seaboard : Ionia and Mysia -- Hellespontine Phrygia -- Central Anatolia : Higland Phrygia, Cappadocia -- Black Sea Coast -- Armenia -- Southeast -- Cilicia -- Pisidia -- Lycia -- Caria -- 6. Worshipping the divine : Continuity of Cults -- Accretion of Cults -- Artemis at Sardis and Ephesus -- The Sanctuary of Zeus at Labraunda -- Conversion of Cult? The Altar to Cybele at Sardis -- Introduction of Non-Anatolian Cults -- Royal Cult -- 7. Educating the young and old : Educating the Persian Elite -- Art and Education -- Ideology -- Religion -- Language -- Gender Matters -- Accounting -- 8. Empire and identity in Achaemenid Anatolia : Identity and Status -- Identity and Ethnicity -- Identity and Religion -- Identity and Administration -- Authority and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia.

The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BCE) was a vast and complex sociopolitical structure that encompassed much of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and included two dozen distinct peoples who spoke different languages, worshiped different deities, lived in different environments, and had widely differing social customs. This book offers a radical new approach to understanding the Achaemenid Persian Empire and imperialism more generally. Through a wide array of textual, visual, and archaeological material, Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre shows how the rulers of the empire constructed a system flexible enough to provide for the needs of different peoples within the confines of a single imperial authority and highlights the variability in response. This book examines the dynamic tensions between authority and autonomy across the empire, providing a valuable new way of considering imperial structure and development.

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