Empire, 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, worshipped 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.1. Introduction; 2. Governing Anatolia; 3. Controlling Anatolia, guarding the empire; 4. Eating and drinking with class and style; 5. Dealing with the dead; 6. Worshipping the divine; 7. Educating the young and old; 8. Empire and identity in Achaemenid Anatolia.