Freedom in the Political Thought of Late Antique Iran with Dr. Jake Nabel

The Workshop on Late Antiquity presents: “Freedom in the Political Freedom in the Political Thought of Late Antique Thought of Late Antique Iran,” with Dr. Jake Nabel of Penn State University.

A long tradition of scholarship on the concept of freedom in antiquity imagines it as a proprietary value of the Greeks and Romans. In other ancient cultures, the story goes, freedom was of marginal importance, and it was subordinated to other political ideals.

This narrative founders, however, in the world of late antique Iran, where freedom (āzādīh in Middle Persian) is abundantly attested as a core value of the Sasanian ruling classes. This talk will explore the concept’s manifestations in diverse evidence from Sasanian epigraphy, Zoroastrian religious literature, Armenian historiography, and documentary texts in Bactrian and Sogdian. It will also compare Iranian āzādīh with Greco-Roman freedom to reassess the narrative of ancient civilizational divergence that has often been predicated upon this political value.

Co-Sponsors

• UT Austin Center of Middle Eastern Studies
• UT Austin Institute for the Study of Antiquity & Christian Origins (in the College of Liberal Arts)
• UT Austin Department of Classics (in the College of Liberal Arts)
• UT Austin Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts & Ideas
• UT Austin Department of History
• UT Austin School of Civic Leadership

The College of Patton Hall (RLP) formerly the Liberal Arts Building (CLA), is located near the East Mall Fountain, is an impressive example of sustainable architecture. The building is home to Liberal Arts departments, centers and programs and has office and lab space for 250 faculty.