Free and open to the public
Part of the ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA LECTURE SERIES

 Speaker: Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre

 The Achaemenid Persian Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE) was enormous, incorporating thousands of miles and many different cultures within its boundaries. How could a sociopolitical entity this size manage the affairs of governance in an age before rapid transit or instant communication? Thanks to textual, visual, and archaeological materials, we can reconstruct some of the intricate and sophisticated ways this empire governed its people and the ways those individuals and cultures responded to imperial presence. The lecture includes government archives, palaces adorned with relief sculptures, food and alcohol, gender relations, mortuary remains, and communication systems — including the original Pony Express and the literal use of smoke and mirrors — in its consideration of ancient Persia. It will illuminate some of the ways in which the empire founded by Cyrus the Great was vast, complex, cohesive, responsive, and vibrant.