Organized by Robert Rollinger, Julian Degen and Erich Kistler (Innsbruck)
in cooperation with Bernhard Palme and Florian Schwarz (Vienna)
Mon 19 October – Thu 22 October, 2026
Innsbruck, Austria
- Palais Claudiana (Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 3)
Kindly supported by
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Commission “Transformation Processes and Empire in the Ancient Afro-Eurasian Worlds”
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [Grant-DOI: 10.55776/COE8], Cluster of Excellence “EurAsian Transformations. Resources of the Past & Challenges of Diversity”
Embassy of France in Vienna
University of California, Los Angeles, Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World
More about this conference (one page, 80KB)
Programme
Programme Folder (version 17 Jul 2026)
17:00-18:00 Introduction
18:00-19:00 Keynote 1: Josef Wiesehöfer (Universität Kiel)
Das Perserreich und der Westen: Eine lange Geschichte von Selbstverständnis, Verständigkeit und Missverstehen
(will be held in English)
Buffet Reception
Section 1: The Eastern Mediterranean in Comparison
Chair: Erich Kistler (University of Innsbruck)
09:00-09:45 Frank Daubner (Universität Trier)
Alexander at Siwa: Sparta, Cyrene and the Reconfiguration of Borderlands
09:45-10:30 Panos Christodoulou (European University Cyprus)
In the Name of the King: The Battle of Cnidus (394 BC) and its Aftermath
Coffee Break
11:00-11:45 Astrid Lindenlauf (Bryn Mawr College)
Material Narratives of Persian Destruction and Greco-Persian Encounters in Athens, Eretria, and Miletos
11:45-12:30 Krzysztof Nawotka (Uniwersytet Wrocławski)
Epigraphic Habit and the Western Borderlands of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Lunch Break
Section 2: Greece
Chair: Hans-Joachim Gehrke (Universität Freiburg)
13:30-14:15 John O. Hyland (Christopher Newport University)
The Great King’s Apprentice? Kimon of Athens in the Achaemenid Borderlands
14:15-15:00 Jeffrey Rop (University of Minnesota Duluth)
Herodotus, Athenian Imperialism, and the Persian Expedition to Marathon
Coffee Break
15:30-16:15 Hilmar Klinkott (Universität Kiel)
Darius Beyond the Sea and Greece as Imperial Maritime Borderland
16:15-17:00 Janric van Rookhuijzen (Universiteit Leiden)
The Achaemenid Attack on Athens and the Archaeology of Memory on the Acropolis
Coffee Break
17:30-18:15 Raimund Schulz (Universität Bielefeld)
The Empire as Warning: Aeschylus, the ‘Persians’, and the Sea
Conference Dinner
Section 3: Macedonia & Thrace
Chair: Bernhard Palme (Universität Wien)
09:00-10:00 Keynote 2: Sarah P. Morris (University of California, Los Angeles)
Persians in the North Aegean: The Hellespont and the Troad
Coffee Break
10:30-11:15 Dilyana Boteva-Boyanova (St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia)
Thoughts on the Western Borders of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in Ancient Thrace under Darius I and Xerxes I
11:15-12:00 Vasiliki Saripanidi (Université libre de Bruxelles – FNRS)
The Temenid King under the Great King: Archaeological Insights into the Impact of Achaemenid Rule on the Macedonian Kingdom
Lunch Break
Section 4: The Black Sea
Chair: Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine)
13:00-13:45 Luis Ballesteros Pastor (Universidad de Sevilla)
The Great King’s Journey around the World: Achaemenid Rule over the Black Sea
13:45-14:30 Anca Dan (École normale supérieure – CNRS, Paris)
The North-Western Corner of the World: Greco-Persian Entanglements in the Northern Aegean and the Black Sea
14:30-15:15 Leah Lazar (University of Manchester)
Northern Anatolia between Athens and Persia
Coffee Break
Section 5: The Anatolian Worlds
Chair: M. Rahim Shayegan (University of California, Los Angeles)
15:45-16:30 Leticia R. Rodriguez (University of Houston)
Non-Conformity by Design: Borderland Bodies in Achaemenid Anatolia
16:30-17:15 Emma Petersen (University of California, Los Angeles)
Being Achaemenid in Anatolia: A View from Deve Hüyük
Coffee Break
17:45-18:30 Lara Fabian (University of California, Los Angeles)
tba
18:30-19:15 Marco Ferrari (Sapienza Università di Roma)
Iranian Dynasties in Anatolian Environments. Reshaping the Identities of Empowered Elites in Achaemenid North-Western Anatolia
Section 6: Western Asia Minor
Chair: Florian Schwarz (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
09:00-10:00 Keynote 3: Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre (University of Colorado Boulder)
The Creation of Empire in Achaemenid Anatolia
Coffee Break
10:30-11:15 Denise Demetriou (University of California, San Diego)
The Westernmost Borderlands of the Achaemenid Empire: Carthage, Sicily, and Etruria
11:15-12:00 Lâtife Summerer (Arkın University, Kyrenia/Cyprus)
Imperial Footprint or Local Resilience? Reassessing Achaemenid Influence in Anatolia
Lunch Break
13:00-13:45 Cinzia Tuena (Universität Basel)
Satraps and Sibling-Spouses. Reassessing Hekatomnid Power in the Achaemenid West
13:45-14:30 Naoise Mac Sweeney (Universität Wien)
Anti-Achaemenid Resistance in Cilicia and the “Becoming” of the Greeks
Coffee Break
15:00-15:45 Dominique Lenfant (Université de Strasbourg)
The Persian Achaemenid Power and Democracy
15:45-16:30 Kai Ruffing (Universität Kassel)
The Aegean Islands and the Economy of Empire
16:30-17:00 Concluding Remarks
Dinner