Richard Payne

Payne’s research focuses primarily on the dynamics of Iranian imperialism, specifically how the Iranian (or Sasanian) Empire successfully integrated socially, culturally, and geographically disparate populations from Arabia to Afghanistan into enduring political networks and institutions. He is also keenly interested in the challenges of writing premodern global history and in including a greater diversity of voices – nationally and culturally – in the historiography of the ancient and early medieval worlds. He is currently involved in collaborative projects in Berlin, Paris, Buenos Aires, and New Delhi and teaches in the University of Chicago study abroad programs in Morocco, Turkey, and France. His recent book, A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity, explores the problem of religious diversity within the empire, showing how Syriac-writing Christians could create a place for themselves in a political culture not of their own making. He is currently at work on the role of Zoroastrian religious institutions and the intersection of ideological and material dimensions in Iranian history.