Eurasian Empires in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Contact and Exchange between the Graeco-Roman World, Inner Asia and China

by Hyun Jin Kim (Editor), Frederik Juliaan Vervaet (Editor), Selim Ferruh Adalı (Editor)

The great empires of the vast Eurasian continent have captured the imagination of many. Awe-inspiring names such as ancient Rome, Han and Tang China, Persia, Assyria, the Huns, the Kushans and the Franks have been the subject of countless scholarly books and works of literature. However, very rarely, if at all, have these vast pre-industrial empires been studied holistically from a comparative, interdisciplinary and above all Eurasian perspective. This collection of studies examines the history, literature and archaeology of these empires and others thus far treated separately as a single inter-connected subject of inquiry. It highlights in particular the critical role of Inner Asian empires and peoples in facilitating contacts and exchange across the Eurasian continent in antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Genres: History

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2017

Reviews

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters
* Introduction — Hyun Jin Kim and Frederik Vervaet
* The Political Organization of Steppe Empires and Their Contribution to Eurasian Interconnectivity:
* The Case of the Huns and Their Impact on the Frankish West — Hyun Jin Kim
* Tang China’s Horse Power: The Borderland Breeding Ranch System — Jonathan Skaff
* Cimmerians and the Scythians: The Impact of Nomadic Powers on the Assyrian Empire and the Ancient Near East — Selim Ferruh Adalı*
* Honour and Shame in the Roman Republic — Frederik Juliaan Vervaet
* Honour and Shame in Han China — Mark Lewis
* Slavery and Forced Labor in Early China and the Roman World — Walter Scheidel*
* Homer and the Shi Jing as Imperial Texts — Alexander Beecroft
* The Serpent from Persia – Manichaeism in Rome and China — Samuel Lieu
* The Alans in the Southern Caucasus? — Antonio Sagona, Claudia Sagona, Aleksandra Michalewicz
* Greeks, Scythians, Parthians and Kushans in Central Asia and India — Osmund Bopearachchi
* Enclosure Sites, Non‑Nucleated Settlement Strategies and Political Capitals in Ancient Eurasia — Michelle Negus Cleary*
* Conclusion — Hyun Jin Kim, Frederik Juliaan Vervaet, and Selim Ferruh Adalı

This book discusses the mysterious Kushan ruler Soter Megas (Greek for Great Savior), who is mysterious because people have found more of his coins than those of the actual ruler, Vima Taktu. So some have speculated that this is just Vima Taktu using a different name. I suspect something different. When Kujula Kadphises, Vima Taktu's father, died he was already 80 years old. This might mean that by the time Vima took power he was already old as well, and possibly infirm. In such a case it would make sense to deputize the conquest of northern India to someone else, possibly a trusted general. This might be who Soter Megas was. As to why he minted his own coins, some have suggested that it was because he was a usurper. Another possibility is that he was loyal, but it was pragmatic to issue the coins in his name because he was the person people had direct experience with, not the real emperor who lived far away on the other side of the Hindu Kush mountains. Maybe he was a sort of Aetius of the east. But I think a further indication that Soter Megas was not the same as Vima Taktu is that the Soter's successor called himself Vima Kadphises. He takes the name of both his father and his grandfather, something no future Kushan ruler did, to emphasize that he is the real deal and authentic descendant of the legitimate rulers. I don't think he would have needed to do that had not the Soter been a prominent leader not part of the family.