Ability to Apply Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of the course, students are expected to demonstrate the following knowledge and competences:
A general understanding of the political, socio-cultural, literary, and religious history of pre-Islamic Iran;
Awareness of specific historiographical issues concerning ancient and late antique Iran, from the 6th century BCE to the 7th century CE;
Familiarity with the main ancient sources and related interpretative challenges, depending on textual typology, language, and material support;
Familiarity with core bibliographic references and digital resources for independent study and further research.
Additional Expected Learning Outcomes
Independent Judgment:
Students will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to engage independently with the relevant bibliography on the history of ancient and late antique Iran.
Communication Skills:
Students will acquire the foundational terminology required to present and discuss historiographical issues related to ancient and late antique Iran.
Learning Skills:
Students will become familiar with the principal research tools—such as scholarly studies, source editions, and anthologies—as well as digital resources used in historical research on ancient and late antique Iran.
Many of the topics covered are closely connected—both methodologically and in terms of content—with the courses in Ancient Near Eastern History, Iranian Archaeology and Art History, Near Eastern Archaeology and Art History, and Central Asian Archaeology and Art History.
Lectures will be delivered with the support of visual materials. Online resources for Iranian studies research will also be utilized.
Examination Requirements
1) In-depth study of Wiesehöfer (2003), Stausberg (2013);
2) Teacher’s PowerPoint presentations and lecture notes.
Non-attending students must arrange the syllabus in advance with the instructor.
Assessment Criteria:
Students will be evaluated based on their ability to make connections between the primary sources (in translation) and the assigned readings; their capacity to address cross-cutting themes related to the history, cultures, and societies of ancient and late antique Iran; their synthesis skills; and their correct use of academic terminology.
For the study of ancient and late antique Iranian history:
J. Wiesehöfer, La Persia antica, Bologna, 2003.
For an overview of religious history:
A. Panaino, Zoroastrismo, Brescia, 2016.
M. Stausberg, Zarathustra e lo zoroastrismo, Roma, 2013.
For the study of literary history:
Ph. Huyse, “Inscriptional Literature in Old and Middle Iranian Languages,” in The Literature of Pre‑Islamic Iran (A History of Persian Literature Companion Volume 1), a c. di R. E. Emmerick e M. Macuch, London, 2009, 72–115.
M. Macuch, “Pahlavi Literature,” in The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran (A History of Persian Literature Companion Volume 1), a c. di R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch, London, 2009, 116-196.
Additional bibliography will be provided during the course.
The course provides an overview of the political, socio-cultural, literary, and religious history of pre-Islamic Iran, while also addressing key issues in the historiography of ancient and late antique Iran from the 6th century BCE to the 7th century CE.
1) Iran before the Achaemenids
2) Cyrus the Great
3) Darius and the Birth of the Empire
4) Darius and Xerxes vs. Greece
5) The Achaemenid Court and Imperial Administration
6) The Fall of Darius III and the Coming of Hellenism
7) The Seleucids
8) The Rise of the Parthians
9) Who Were the Parthians?
10) The Rise of the Sasanian Ardashir
11) The Sasanian Empire and Its Wars against Rome
12) Khosrow Anōšag-ruwān (“of the Immortal Soul”)
13) The Fall of the Last Persian Empire
14) The Figure of Zoroaster: Era, Homeland, and Prophetic Mission
15) Zoroastrianism between the Achaemenid and Sasanian Worlds
16) Literary and Historiographical Sources (Old Persian, Parthian, and Middle Persian)
Italian
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