Marco Ferrario (Ph.D. 2023) is an ancient historian focusing on the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia and the Eastern Īrānicate world. He published articles and book chapters on the socioeconomic history of Baktria-Sogdiana, Herodotus and his work, and the anthropology of kingship.

• Foreword and AcknowledgementsList of MapsAbbreviationsNote on Style and Spelling1 IntroductionShadows Gathering from the West1 Prolegomenon. Strange Parallels: Of Peripheries and Empires2 Thundering Zeus. Alexander in Baktria. Anew, Again, Why?3 Dead Men Tell Tales. Discours de la méthode4 Outlook of a (Hi)Story: Empires and Central Asia; Central Asia and Empires5 Conclusions. A Place (Not) Far Away. Reimagining Baktria2 Scalping ElephantsSources, Where to Find, and How (Not) to Handle Them1 How Many, How Good, If at All? Writing Central Asia2 Digging Others’ Pasts. Archaeology of Knowledge3 Vispazanānām. Imperial Ethnographies, Ethnographies of Empire4 Conclusions. Wonderland to Borderland3 The Road to Oxiana: Before the Greek Came1 Introduction. Land Behind Balḫ: Cyrus in the East2 Stranger To Us People Here. Imperial Stories Of (Not So) Long Ago3 Building Empire. Teispids and their “Indians”4 Conclusions. (Re)Discovering Cyrus. Borderland Dreams of Imperial Power4 Ahuramazdāmai̯ Upastām AbaraThe Land and Its People: Sorting Things Out1 Introduction. What I Have Done in Baktria2 The Few, the Proud. A King’s Loyal (?) Subjects3 Banishment from Pairidaēza. Paradoxes of Imperial Power4 Textures and Scents of Empire. Borderland Economics5 They Called Him Dādêṛšiš6 No Rabbits in That Big Hat: Skunḫa7 Conclusions. Avam Ubṛtam Abaram. Mapping the Imperial Camp(s)5 Uno Fumavit Tota Rogo?1 Trouble in the East?2 En attendant Haxāmazdā. A Long(er) Fifth Century3 After Masistes. Navigating the Imperial Middle Ground4 The Wealth of Nations. Political Ecologies in Achaemenid Baktria5 (Mir)Shades of Empire. The World of (and Beyond) Kyzyltëpe6 Conclusions. “That My Body (Politic) is Strong”. Time and Empire in Achaemenid Central Asia6 Camels (Not Only) of the KingUniversal Rule Embedded. Sociopolitics of Achaemenid Baktria1 Parchments and Wood. Letting Locals Speak: the ADAB2 Tales Tallies Tale. Exploring Imperial Selectorates in Baktria3 Conclusions. A Kingdom for a Camel7 Lords of the MarchesBorderscapes of Ambition1 Unnerving the Satrap2 Resist and Accommodate: Satrapal Discontents3 Every Friend a Slanderer. Edges of Imperial Might4 Zero-Sum-Games? Localities of (and in) Power: A Long-Term Approach5 Unrequested Gifts and Demanding Friendships6 Conclusions. Thanks for the Memories8 Naked YearsHow Empires (Do Not) End1 Anything New on the Eastern Front? In the 7th Year of Alexander, the King2 The Viceroys. Allies, Enemies, and the Quest for the Empire3 Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife4 Worthy of a King?5 Conclusions. Nothing, Everything: (Post)Imperial Legacies9 Home of the BraveBecause Empire is a Commitment1 Prehistory of the Golden Kings2 Seleukos’ Apprenticeship3 The Chosen One: Shaping Seleukid Central Asia4 Conclusions. The Way It Was. Baktria in (and) the Empire: Lives and Afterlives10 Epilogue: A Long FarewellLegacies of Ancient PersiaBibliographyIndex of SourcesIndex of Names and Places

Marco Ferrario (Ph.D. 2023) is an ancient historian focusing on the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia and the Eastern Īrānicate world. He published articles and book chapters on the socioeconomic history of Baktria-Sogdiana, Herodotus and his work, and the anthropology of kingship.

• Foreword and AcknowledgementsList of MapsAbbreviationsNote on Style and Spelling1 IntroductionShadows Gathering from the West1 Prolegomenon. Strange Parallels: Of Peripheries and Empires2 Thundering Zeus. Alexander in Baktria. Anew, Again, Why?3 Dead Men Tell Tales. Discours de la méthode4 Outlook of a (Hi)Story: Empires and Central Asia; Central Asia and Empires5 Conclusions. A Place (Not) Far Away. Reimagining Baktria2 Scalping ElephantsSources, Where to Find, and How (Not) to Handle Them1 How Many, How Good, If at All? Writing Central Asia2 Digging Others’ Pasts. Archaeology of Knowledge3 Vispazanānām. Imperial Ethnographies, Ethnographies of Empire4 Conclusions. Wonderland to Borderland3 The Road to Oxiana: Before the Greek Came1 Introduction. Land Behind Balḫ: Cyrus in the East2 Stranger To Us People Here. Imperial Stories Of (Not So) Long Ago3 Building Empire. Teispids and their “Indians”4 Conclusions. (Re)Discovering Cyrus. Borderland Dreams of Imperial Power4 Ahuramazdāmai̯ Upastām AbaraThe Land and Its People: Sorting Things Out1 Introduction. What I Have Done in Baktria2 The Few, the Proud. A King’s Loyal (?) Subjects3 Banishment from Pairidaēza. Paradoxes of Imperial Power4 Textures and Scents of Empire. Borderland Economics5 They Called Him Dādêṛšiš6 No Rabbits in That Big Hat: Skunḫa7 Conclusions. Avam Ubṛtam Abaram. Mapping the Imperial Camp(s)5 Uno Fumavit Tota Rogo?1 Trouble in the East?2 En attendant Haxāmazdā. A Long(er) Fifth Century3 After Masistes. Navigating the Imperial Middle Ground4 The Wealth of Nations. Political Ecologies in Achaemenid Baktria5 (Mir)Shades of Empire. The World of (and Beyond) Kyzyltëpe6 Conclusions. “That My Body (Politic) is Strong”. Time and Empire in Achaemenid Central Asia6 Camels (Not Only) of the KingUniversal Rule Embedded. Sociopolitics of Achaemenid Baktria1 Parchments and Wood. Letting Locals Speak: the ADAB2 Tales Tallies Tale. Exploring Imperial Selectorates in Baktria3 Conclusions. A Kingdom for a Camel7 Lords of the MarchesBorderscapes of Ambition1 Unnerving the Satrap2 Resist and Accommodate: Satrapal Discontents3 Every Friend a Slanderer. Edges of Imperial Might4 Zero-Sum-Games? Localities of (and in) Power: A Long-Term Approach5 Unrequested Gifts and Demanding Friendships6 Conclusions. Thanks for the Memories8 Naked YearsHow Empires (Do Not) End1 Anything New on the Eastern Front? In the 7th Year of Alexander, the King2 The Viceroys. Allies, Enemies, and the Quest for the Empire3 Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife4 Worthy of a King?5 Conclusions. Nothing, Everything: (Post)Imperial Legacies9 Home of the BraveBecause Empire is a Commitment1 Prehistory of the Golden Kings2 Seleukos’ Apprenticeship3 The Chosen One: Shaping Seleukid Central Asia4 Conclusions. The Way It Was. Baktria in (and) the Empire: Lives and Afterlives10 Epilogue: A Long FarewellLegacies of Ancient PersiaBibliographyIndex of SourcesIndex of Names and Places

Marco Ferrario (Ph.D. 2023) is an ancient historian focusing on the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia and the Eastern Īrānicate world. He published articles and book chapters on the socioeconomic history of Baktria-Sogdiana, Herodotus and his work, and the anthropology of kingship.

• Foreword and AcknowledgementsList of MapsAbbreviationsNote on Style and Spelling1 IntroductionShadows Gathering from the West1 Prolegomenon. Strange Parallels: Of Peripheries and Empires2 Thundering Zeus. Alexander in Baktria. Anew, Again, Why?3 Dead Men Tell Tales. Discours de la méthode4 Outlook of a (Hi)Story: Empires and Central Asia; Central Asia and Empires5 Conclusions. A Place (Not) Far Away. Reimagining Baktria2 Scalping ElephantsSources, Where to Find, and How (Not) to Handle Them1 How Many, How Good, If at All? Writing Central Asia2 Digging Others’ Pasts. Archaeology of Knowledge3 Vispazanānām. Imperial Ethnographies, Ethnographies of Empire4 Conclusions. Wonderland to Borderland3 The Road to Oxiana: Before the Greek Came1 Introduction. Land Behind Balḫ: Cyrus in the East2 Stranger To Us People Here. Imperial Stories Of (Not So) Long Ago3 Building Empire. Teispids and their “Indians”4 Conclusions. (Re)Discovering Cyrus. Borderland Dreams of Imperial Power4 Ahuramazdāmai̯ Upastām AbaraThe Land and Its People: Sorting Things Out1 Introduction. What I Have Done in Baktria2 The Few, the Proud. A King’s Loyal (?) Subjects3 Banishment from Pairidaēza. Paradoxes of Imperial Power4 Textures and Scents of Empire. Borderland Economics5 They Called Him Dādêṛšiš6 No Rabbits in That Big Hat: Skunḫa7 Conclusions. Avam Ubṛtam Abaram. Mapping the Imperial Camp(s)5 Uno Fumavit Tota Rogo?1 Trouble in the East?2 En attendant Haxāmazdā. A Long(er) Fifth Century3 After Masistes. Navigating the Imperial Middle Ground4 The Wealth of Nations. Political Ecologies in Achaemenid Baktria5 (Mir)Shades of Empire. The World of (and Beyond) Kyzyltëpe6 Conclusions. “That My Body (Politic) is Strong”. Time and Empire in Achaemenid Central Asia6 Camels (Not Only) of the KingUniversal Rule Embedded. Sociopolitics of Achaemenid Baktria1 Parchments and Wood. Letting Locals Speak: the ADAB2 Tales Tallies Tale. Exploring Imperial Selectorates in Baktria3 Conclusions. A Kingdom for a Camel7 Lords of the MarchesBorderscapes of Ambition1 Unnerving the Satrap2 Resist and Accommodate: Satrapal Discontents3 Every Friend a Slanderer. Edges of Imperial Might4 Zero-Sum-Games? Localities of (and in) Power: A Long-Term Approach5 Unrequested Gifts and Demanding Friendships6 Conclusions. Thanks for the Memories8 Naked YearsHow Empires (Do Not) End1 Anything New on the Eastern Front? In the 7th Year of Alexander, the King2 The Viceroys. Allies, Enemies, and the Quest for the Empire3 Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife4 Worthy of a King?5 Conclusions. Nothing, Everything: (Post)Imperial Legacies9 Home of the BraveBecause Empire is a Commitment1 Prehistory of the Golden Kings2 Seleukos’ Apprenticeship3 The Chosen One: Shaping Seleukid Central Asia4 Conclusions. The Way It Was. Baktria in (and) the Empire: Lives and Afterlives10 Epilogue: A Long FarewellLegacies of Ancient PersiaBibliographyIndex of SourcesIndex of Names and Places