Pierre Briant (born 30 September 1940 in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

) is a French Iranologist, Professor of History and Civilisation of the Achaemenid World and the Empire of Alexander the Great at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

(1999 onwards),

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and founder of the website achemenet.com. He studied History at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

(1960–1965), and reached his ''doctorat d'État'' in 1972. His works deal mainly with the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

, and related matters as

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

or the Hellenistic Era. In the words of Matthew Stolper, Briant "has shown a generation of scholars once isolated from each other that they are members of a common intellectual project of great consequence."

Works

*''Antigone le Borgne (Les Débuts de sa Carrière et les Problèmes de l'Assemblée Macédonienne)'' (1973) - doctoral thesis. *''Alexandre le Grand'' (1974, 2005) *''Rois, Tributs et Paysans, Études sur les Formations Tributaires du Moyen-Orient Ancien'' (1982) *''Etat et Pasteurs au Moyen-Orient Ancien' in Production Pastorale et Société'' (1982) *''L'Asie Centrale et les Royaumes Proche-orientaux du Premier Millénaire (c. VIIIe-IVe s. av. n. è.)'' (1984) *"Pouvoir central et polycentrisme culturel dans l'Empire achéménide (Quelques réflexions et suggestions)", in ''Achaemenid History I: Sources,structures and synthesis'' (ed. Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg), (1987) *"Institutions perses et histoire comparatiste dans l'historiographie grecque", in ''Achaemenid History II: The Greek sources'' (eds. H. Sancisi-Weerdenbur & Amélie Kuhrt) (1987) *''De la Grèce à l'Orient : Alexandre le Grand'', collection «

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

» (nº 27), série Histoire. Paris: Gallimard (1987; new edition in 2005, under the title ) **''Alexander the Great: The Heroic Ideal'', '

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

' series, London: Thames & Hudson (1996) **''Alexander the Great: Man of Action, Man of Spirit'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

" series, New York: Harry N. Abrams (1996) *"Ethno-classe dominante et populations soumises dans l'Empire achéménide: le cas de l'Égypte", in ''Achaemenid History III: Method and Theory'' (eds. A. Kuhrt & H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg) (1988) *''Darius : Les Perses et l'Empire'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 159), série Histoire. Paris: Gallimard (1992) *''Dans les Pas des Dix-Mille'' (ed) (1995) *''Histoire de l'Empire Perse. De Cyrus à Alexandre'' (1996) - in English, ''From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire'' (2002). *''Darius dans l'Ombre d'Alexandre'' (2003) *''Lettre ouverte à Alexandre le Grand'' (2008) *''Alexandre des Lumières. Fragments d'histoire européenne'' (2012) *''Alexandre. Exégèse des lieux communs, Paris, Gallimard'' (2016)

References

Briant's page at the Collège de France

External links

AchemenetAchaemenid museum
*P. Briant
Class system in Median and Achaemenid periods
in

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Briant, Pierre People from Angers 1940 births Academic staff of the Collège de France Living people 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians Corresponding members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French Iranologists Knights of the Legion of Honour French male non-fiction writers Corresponding fellows of the British Academy

Works

See also

References

External links