Assyria was the world’s first empire. Powerful kings marshalled professional armies, conquered vast territory (from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf), presided over a complex bureaucracy, deported thousands of workers, and accumulated harems of concubines.

In the previous millennium, its capital (Ashur) was actually a bit more egalitarian, with checks on executive dominance. What changed and why?

In this podcast, I discuss Eckhart Frahm’s fascinating new book (Assyria) alongside globally-comparative new research on imperial expansion and authoritarianism.

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