Speaker Bio

Dr. Rhyne King received his PhD at the University of Chicago and is currently a Faculty of Arts and Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Toronto. He researches the social, economic, and political history of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which stretched from the Mediterranean coast to Central Asia from 550-330 BCE. His research engages with the global history of empire, and he also studies the interdependencies between the Achaemenid Empire and its neighbors in Greece, South Asia, and Central Asia. His first monograph, The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire, appeared with the University of California Press in 2025.

Recapping the Academic Seminar “Toward a Global Ancient History: Athenian Silver, Mediterranean Trade, and the Persian Political Economy, 520-330 BCE” on 3 February 2026

On 3 February 2026, Dr. Rhyne KING, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto, delivered a seminar at CUHK entitled “Toward a Global Ancient History: Athenian Silver, Mediterranean Trade, and the Persian Political Economy, 520-330 BCE.”  In his presentation, Dr. KING advocated for a global approach to ancient history by emphasizing the interdependencies among regions, using the circulation of silver to illustrate connections between Athens and the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

Dr. KING began with an example from Athens in 376 BCE, when the city honored the king of Sidon in Phoenicia for facilitating diplomacy and trade. This episode highlighted networks of exchange in which Athens imported grain from territories of the Persian Empire to sustain its growing population, while exporting silver in return. Persian kings accumulated substantial silver reserves, which were used for military payments and luxury vessels, illustrating the interdependencies between Athens and Persian.

Distinguishing his approach from comparative history, Dr. KING focused on the history of connections across regions typically studied in isolation and pointed out the potential possibilities of this new approach. He introduced a range of primary sources for studying the Achaemenid Empire, noting the value of texts of classical Greek historians, administrative documents in diverse languages, and archaeological evidence. He then detailed the circulation and use of silver in the Achaemenid Empire, explaining how silver entered the Achaemenid. The shortage of silver drove the Achaemenid to seek silver from external sources, leading to close trade ties with Athens. As Athens’ largest trading partner, the Achaemenid Empire exchanged various commodities—the most significant ones being grain and slaves—for Athenian coinages.

The core of Dr. KING’s analysis addressed the economy of Athens built on exploitation: the massive production of silver was exported for grain and slaves, slaves from the Achaemenid Empire worked the brutal silver mines in Athenian territory and fueled the economies of both Athens and the Achaemenid Empire, linking Mediterranean trade to Eurasian networks.

Dr. KING concluded that such interdependencies could serve as a potential example for global ancient history. He called for collaboration across disciplinary boundaries to better explore Afro-Eurasian connections and interdependencies.