Royal Palace Institution in the First Millennium BC

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The first millennium BC saw two great powers embracing the East-West the Achaemenis and Hellenistic empires. These papers examine how their powerful new kings created palatial institutions suitable to reign subjugated lands with old monarchic traditions. The royal palace, both the building and the institution, is therefore used as a means of examining a range of topics including the relationship between the conquered and conqueror, kingship, the development of monarchic roles and the cultural exchange between East and West. Using archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence, the papers examine pre-Achaemenid Cyprus, Assyria and Babylon, Achaemenid central and peripheral palaces, Hellenistic palaces in Macedonia, Caucasian Iberia, Albania and Syria, royal Macedonian gardens and Parthian palaces of the Arsacid dynasty.