THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Princeton University, PhD '09
BIOGRAPHY
A historian of the Iranian world in late antiquity, ca. 200–800 CE, 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.
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.
Recent Research / Recent Publications
- Co-editor, with Marcelo Campagno, Carlos García Mac Gaw, et al., Desigualdades Antiguas: Economía, Cultura y Sociedad en el Oriente Medio y el Mediterráneo (Buenos Aires, 2023).
- Co-editor with Rhyne King, The Limits of Empire in Ancient Afghanistan. Rule and Resistance in the Hindu Kush, circa 600 BCE–600 CE (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2020).
- Editor, Visions of Community in the Post-Roman World: The West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, 300–1100 (Routledge, 2016).
- Co-editor with Myles Lavan and John Weisweiler, Cosmopolitanism and Empire: Universal Rulers, Local Elites, and Cultural Integration in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean (OUP, 2016)
Awards for A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity (California, 2015):
- World Award for Book of the Year, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History, American Philosophical Society
- Ehsan Yarshater Prize, International Society for Iranian Studies
- Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion
Named a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in 2013.