Aspects of Empire in Achaemenid Sardis

Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre proposes a fresh approach to understanding the Achaemenid Empire based on her study of the regional capital, Sardis. This study uses archaeological, artistic and textual sources to demonstrate that the two-hundred-year Persian presence in this city had a profound impact on local social structures, revealing the region's successful absorption, both ideological and physical, into the Persian Empire. During this period, Sardis was a centre of burgeoning creativity and vitality, where a polyethnic elite devised a fresh culture - inspired by Iranian, Greek and local Lydian traditions - that drew on and legitimated imperial ideology. The non-elite absorbed and adapted multiple aspects of this culture to create a wholly different profile of what it meant to be Sardian. As well as successfully bringing together information on the Achaemenids, this book is also an excellent contribution to empire studies.

List of figures
Preface
List of abbreviations
1. Sardis in the Achaemenid empire
2. Textual sources and the effects of empire
3. The urban structure of Achaemenid Sardis: monuments and meaning
4. The urban structure of Achaemenid Sardis: sculpture and society
5. Inscriptions: Sardians in their own words
6. Mortuary evidence: dead and living societies
7. Personal signifiers: Sealstones
8. Achaemenid bowls: ceramic assemblages and the non-elite
9. Conclusion: Imperialism and Achaemenid Sardis
Appendices
References
Index.