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The Arsacids

Payravi Conference on Ancient Iranian History IV: Contextualizing Iranian History: The Arsacids (ca. 250 BC – 224 AD)

Poster © Kourosh Beigpour

Payravi Conference on Ancient Iranian History IV: “Contextualizing Iranian History: The Arsacids” organized by Touraj Daryaee, Matthew Canepa, and Robert Rollinger, will take place Feb. 28-March 2, 2022 and focus on the archaeology, history, numismatics, and religions of the Arsacid Empire. The event will be held in-person at the University of California, Irvine’s Jordan Center for Persian Studies with several options to participate remotely, either through the livestream on the UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture‘s FB page or through the webinar: https://bit.ly/UCIPayravi2022

Conference Program

(all times PST)

Day 1 February 28th

  • 9:35 Convening and Welcome from the Organizers
  • 9:40 Introduction: Touraj Daryaee and Robert Rollinger

Section I: The Rise and Transformation of the Arsacid Empire (Chair: Robert Rollinger)

  • 10:00-10:45 Rolf Strootman: The Arsacids – The Beginnings
  • 10:45-11:30 Krzysztof Nawotka: The Arsacid Empire and Hellenism
  • 11:30 -12:15 Leonardo Gregoratti: How to Fix an Empire: Artabanus and Vologases

Section II: Archaeological Perspectives on the Arsacid Empire (Chair: Matthew P. Canepa)

  • 14:00-14:45 Barbara Kaim: The Archaeological Sources – Iranian Highlands and The East
  • 14:45-15:30 Carlo Lippolis: The Archaeological Sources – Mesopotamia and the West
  • 15:00 -15:45 Vito Messina: Residences – Royal and Regional
  • 15:45-16:30 Lucinda Dirven: The Arsacid Empire and Religious Lives

Day 2 (March 1st)

Section III: Restoring the Parthians to their Central Place in Iranian History – the Role of Coinage. [hybrid format]

  • 10:00-11:20 A conversation with Vesta Curtis, Fabrizio Sinesi and Michael Alram (moderated by Matthew P. Canepa)

IV: Historiographical Reflections

  • 11:40 – 12:25 Stefan Hauser: Arsacid Histories – Modern Scholarship

IV: The Arsacids and their Neighbors: Conflict and Coexistence (Chair: Robert Rollinger)

  • 14:30-15:15 Nikolaus Leo Overtoom: The Parthian Military in the Formation and Expansion of the Arsacid Empire.
  • 15:15-16:00 Charlotte Cohen-Lerouge: Arsacid History – the Western Sources: Problems and Challenges
  • 16:00-16:45 Jake Nabel: The Arsacid Empire and its Western Neighbors

Day 3 (March 2nd)

Section V: Kings, Courts, and Elites [hybrid format]

  • 10:00-11:00 Round Table Discussion (Moderated by Touraj Daryaee) Edward Dąbrowa: The Arsacid Empire – King and Elites?
  • Giusto Traina: Armenian kings, the Armenian nakharar and the Parthians
  • Irene Madreiter: Arsacids Court Life: between fact and fiction

Section VI: Sources and Economies [hybrid format]

  • 11:30-12:30 Round Table Discussion (Moderated by Rahim Shayegan)
  • Hamidreza Pashazanous: The Chinese Sources
  • Philip Huyse: Arsacid History – The archival and epigraphic sources (Nisa, Avroman, Seleukeia, Assur)
  • Kai Ruffing: “Economies” of the Arsacid Empire

Section VII: The Arsacid Empire in an Interconnected Ancient World (Chair: Layah Bigdeli)

  • 14:30-15:15 Sören Stark: Kurgans in Western Sogdiana and the Arsacids
  • 15:15-16:00 Christoph Schäfer: The Arsacid Empire and the Maritime Silk Roads
  • 16:00-16:45 Khodadad Rezakhani: The Arsacids and their trans-Eurasian contexts