Overview
Date/time interval
Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 22/05/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course provides a comparative overview of the development of political communities and state formations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia between 1000 and 330 BC. Adopting an integrated historical, archaeological, and cultural approach, it examines the main models of political organization, their evolution, and mutual interactions within the broader transformations of the first millennium BC.
Students will acquire analytical tools to understand the diversity of political structures across the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds, the processes of state formation and imperial consolidation, and the cultural and political interactions between East and West.
Students will acquire analytical tools to understand the diversity of political structures across the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds, the processes of state formation and imperial consolidation, and the cultural and political interactions between East and West.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the history of Ancient Western Asia and the Greek world in the Archaic and Classical periods. A general understanding of the chronology of the 1st millennium BC and the main geographical areas (Anatolia, Levant, Mesopotamia, Aegean) is recommended.
Teaching Methods
Lectures with interactive discussion and comparison between historical, archaeological, and cultural perspectives. Selected sessions will include short student presentations and thematic seminars.
Assessment Methods
The final assessment consists of an individual oral examination aimed at evaluating the student’s understanding of the main topics and their ability to connect historical and cultural contexts. Clarity of exposition, analytical skills, and comparative reasoning will be taken into account.
Texts
A selected bibliography will be provided during the course.
For general background reading:
M. Liverani. 2013. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy, Routledge (sections on the 1st millennium BC).
Osborne, James F. 2021. The Syro-Anatolian City-States: An Iron Age Culture. Oxford University Press.
Weeden, Mark. 2023. “The Iron Age States of Central Anatolia and Northern Syria.” In The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume IV: The Age of Assyria, edited by Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller, and D. T. Potts. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687632.003.0046.
During, Bleda S. 2020. The Imperialisation of Assyria: An Archaeological Approach. University Press. http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108778701.
Radner Karen, Moeller Nadine, and D.T. Potts (eds.). 2023.The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume IV: The Age of Assyria. Oxford University Press.
Wiesehöfer, Josef. 2009. “The Achaemenid Empire”. In: Ian Morris, Walter Scheidel (eds.) The dynamics of ancient empires: State power from Assyria to Byzantium. Oxford University Press: 66-98.
Jacobs, Bruno, Rollinger, Robert (eds.). 2021. A companion to the Achaemenid Persian empire. John Wiley & Sons.
For general background reading:
M. Liverani. 2013. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy, Routledge (sections on the 1st millennium BC).
Osborne, James F. 2021. The Syro-Anatolian City-States: An Iron Age Culture. Oxford University Press.
Weeden, Mark. 2023. “The Iron Age States of Central Anatolia and Northern Syria.” In The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume IV: The Age of Assyria, edited by Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller, and D. T. Potts. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687632.003.0046.
During, Bleda S. 2020. The Imperialisation of Assyria: An Archaeological Approach. University Press. http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108778701.
Radner Karen, Moeller Nadine, and D.T. Potts (eds.). 2023.The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume IV: The Age of Assyria. Oxford University Press.
Wiesehöfer, Josef. 2009. “The Achaemenid Empire”. In: Ian Morris, Walter Scheidel (eds.) The dynamics of ancient empires: State power from Assyria to Byzantium. Oxford University Press: 66-98.
Jacobs, Bruno, Rollinger, Robert (eds.). 2021. A companion to the Achaemenid Persian empire. John Wiley & Sons.
Contents
The course is structured in thematic and chronological units, exploring the main regional contexts and political transformations between 1000 and 330 BC:
1. The Aegean between the Minoans and the Mycenaeans (CZ)
2. Transition in the Aegean: post-Mycenean and EIA (CZ)
3. Transition in Syria and Anatolia: formation of the Syro-Hittite City States I (MEB)
4. Syro-Hittite City States II: history (MEB)
5. Syro-Hittite City States III: archaeology (LDA)
6. The Neo-Assyrian Empire I (MEB)
7. Archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian empire II (LDA)
8. Periphery and expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (LDA)
9. The Levant I (MEB)
10. Tyre between the empire and the Phoenician colonization (LDA)
11. The question of mobile population in Western Asia: Arameans, Cimmerians and Skythians (MEB)
12. The formation of regional polities in IA Anatolia: Phrygia & Lydia (LDA)
13. Archaic Greece: the Polis between Aristocratic Elites and Monarchic Forms of Power (CZ)
14. The Achaemenid Empire: formation (MEB)
15. Achaemenids and the Greeks of Asia: from the Ionian Revolt to the End of the Greco-Persian Wars (CZ)
16. Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire (LDA)
17. Perception and Representation of the Achaemenid Empire in the Greco-Roman Tradition and Beyond: From Classical Historiography to European Romanticism (CZ)
18. From Achaemenid to Hellenistic: Alexander in the East (CZ)
1. The Aegean between the Minoans and the Mycenaeans (CZ)
2. Transition in the Aegean: post-Mycenean and EIA (CZ)
3. Transition in Syria and Anatolia: formation of the Syro-Hittite City States I (MEB)
4. Syro-Hittite City States II: history (MEB)
5. Syro-Hittite City States III: archaeology (LDA)
6. The Neo-Assyrian Empire I (MEB)
7. Archaeology of the Neo-Assyrian empire II (LDA)
8. Periphery and expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (LDA)
9. The Levant I (MEB)
10. Tyre between the empire and the Phoenician colonization (LDA)
11. The question of mobile population in Western Asia: Arameans, Cimmerians and Skythians (MEB)
12. The formation of regional polities in IA Anatolia: Phrygia & Lydia (LDA)
13. Archaic Greece: the Polis between Aristocratic Elites and Monarchic Forms of Power (CZ)
14. The Achaemenid Empire: formation (MEB)
15. Achaemenids and the Greeks of Asia: from the Ionian Revolt to the End of the Greco-Persian Wars (CZ)
16. Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire (LDA)
17. Perception and Representation of the Achaemenid Empire in the Greco-Roman Tradition and Beyond: From Classical Historiography to European Romanticism (CZ)
18. From Achaemenid to Hellenistic: Alexander in the East (CZ)
Course Language
English
Degrees
Degrees (2)
THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART
Master’s Degree
2 years
THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART
Master’s Degree
2 years
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People
People (3)
Professore associato
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