WOLSKI, JÓZEF

 

WOLSKI, JÓZEF (b. Tarnów, Poland, 19 March 1910; d. Kraków, 2 October 2008), distinguished Polish historian, whose research has had an enduring effect on the study of ancient Iranian history. He completed the famed King Jan III Sobieski gymnasium in Kraków. After graduating from Jagiellonian University (1928-32), he became an assistant of Prof. Ludwik Piotrowicz who had studied classical philology at Jagiellonian University with K. Morawski and then in Berlin with Eduard Meyer and Otto Hirschfeld (1912-14). E. Meyer, a historian of the Graeco-Roman world and of the Orient, largely influenced L. Piotrowicz. In turn, Piotrowicz’s methodology and his broad perspective of historical processes (his research embraced Greek and  Roman, as well as Near Eastern, history) made a strong impression on young Wolski’s scholarly formation and his later attitude toward research.

Wolski’s master’s thesis titled “Arsaces I, the founder of the Parthian state,” was accepted as a doctoral dissertation (1936). He published it in Polish in the journal Eos (part I: Eos 38, 1937, pp. 492-511; part II: Eos 39, 1938, pp. 244-266). Later, in 1974, it appeared in French: “Arsace Iᵉʳ, fondateur de l’État parthe,” in Commémoration Cyrus, 1974). The topic, lying at the intersection of Iranian and Hellenistic history, was promising, and its detailed scrutiny yielded new findings. Due to difficulties in reconciling the source evidence, the figure of Arsaces has  given rise to contradictory views; some scholars (such as W. W. Tarn) have even doubted  his existence. Contrary to the scholarly communis opinio, Wolski demonstrated that the accounts of Strabo, Pompeius Trogus (in the epitome of Justin), and Appian give a sound base for a reconstruction of the establishment of the Arsacid kingdom. These ancient authors show that the subjugation of Parthia proper by Arsaces I and the establishment of Arsacid rule in Khorasan took place during the so-called War of the Brothers fought between Seleucus II and Antiochus Hierax (ca. 240/239-237 BCE). At the same time Wolski rejected the then-preferred evidence given by Arrian, establishing a new chronology of events. Wolski’s dissertation not only marks the real beginnings of Parthian studies in Poland, but it also represents a significant turning point in the study of Parthian and Seleucid history altogether, because his work set modern research in a wholly new direction. A topic often considered peripheral to ancient history would become a matter of paramount importance.

The young, energetic scholar, supported by Piotrowicz, worked on his habilitation concerning the collapse of Seleucid rule in Iran in the third century BCE. The 60-page dissertation was readied in 1938 and the first of two parts was published in 1939 (“The collapse of Seleucid rule in Iran in the 3rd century BCE,” Eos 40, 1939, pp. 23-47). Before World War II, in 1939, Wolski sent German translations of his doctoral dissertation and a portion of his habilitation to three distinguished scholars: W. W. Tarn (Cambridge), E. Bickerman (Sorbonne), and M. Rostovtzeff (Yale University). While Tarn and Bickerman remained rather reluctant to accept new proposals, M. Rostovtzeff wrote Wolski in August 1939 acknowledging his achievements, and agreed with his new interpretation of Iran’s history in the third century BCE. He invoked Wolski’s findings in his opus magnum The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World (Oxford, 1941, p. 1425).

In the fall of 1939, Wolski was scheduled to leave on a scholarship in France. Tragically, Poland was treacherously assaulted in September 1939 by Nazi Germany and its allied Soviet Union. On 6 November 1939, the Germans arrested almost 200 professors of Jagiellonian University, including Wolski. He was first incarcerated in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and then in Dachau. In 1941 he was released from the camps and returned to Kraków. From 1942/3 he taught at underground Jagiellonian University, an activity which was punishable by severe repressions, including death.

In June 1946, Wolski published his postdoctoral dissertation in French (“Leffondrement de la domination des Séleucides en Iran au III-e siècle av. J.C.,” Kraków, 1947) and won habilitation at Jagiellonian University. At the height of Sovietization and communist terror (1945–1956), Wolski and his family shared the same fate of all Poles as their country fell under the despotism of the Soviet Union and its backers. Despite such obstacles, Wolski devoted himself to scholarly pursuits. In 1945 he became a member of the Historical Commission of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU). In 1952, communist authorities dissolved the PAU. In 1946, Wolski started work at Łódź University, where he was appointed Professor Extraordinary in 1948. He was removed from his post, however, and replaced by a member of the communist party in 1952. He next found himself at Wrocław University (1952-58). After L. Piotrowicz suddenly died, Wolski took the Chair of Ancient History at Jagiellonian University (1958), which he headed until his retirement in 1980. In 1962, he became Professor Ordinary. He had an impressive record in research and teaching, serving as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and History at Jagiellonian University (1965-68) and as Chairman of the Committee for the Study of Antique Culture at the Polish Academy of Sciences (1977-79).

Beginning in 1960, Wolski became deeply involved in direct international contacts, especially with scholars in Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, and Hungary. His first foreign visit was made possible by a scholarship from the Ford Foundation (1960). He traveled for three months in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and France. It enabled him to make the personal acquaintance with such scholars as A. Simonetta, G. Le Rider, and A. Aymard. The tour ended with a visit in Germany, where Wolski was cordially welcomed by H. Bengtson at Würzburg. In the decades that followed, Wolski attended many international conferences and was invited to lecture all over Europe. Wolski and Franz Altheim, a German polymath active in Halle before World War II and then in Berlin, established a long and fruitful working relationship. F. Altheim specialized (together with his adopted daughter, Ruth Stiehl) in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world, Iran, and Central Asia. Altheim saw to it that Wolski’s major works were published in German (in Der Hellenismus in Mittelasien, Darmstadt, 1969). A true friendship likewise developed between Wolski and J. Harmatta, a Hungarian orientalist. Wolski particularly valued his friendship with the Belgian archeologist, L. Vanden Berghe. In Europe Wolski’s name became a hallmark of advanced Polish research into the ancient world. He always published in renowned scholarly journals, including Eos, Iranica Antiqua, Klio, Historia, Syria, Berytus, Tyche, among others. His output comprises more than 200 articles, dozens of reviews, and several books.

After the fall of Poland’s communist dictatorship, Wolski enthusiastically joined in the work of a restored Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in 1989. This in part led him to publish his research in the form of books, which until now had appeared as articles. The first was L’Empire des Arsacides (Acta Iranica 32, Leuven, 1993), followed by The Seleucids: The Decline and Fall of Their Empire (Kraków, 1999, also published in Polish with supplements). The last volume was Seleucid and Arsacid Studies. A Progress Report on Developments in Source Research (Kraków, 2003).

Already in his doctoral dissertation, Wolski disproved beliefs then prevailing in scholarship, by employing a sound methodology based on a rigorous philological analysis of determining the best source tradition of a given subject. By drawing on his creativity and skill as a scholar, Wolski was able to reconstruct historical processes which enabled him to establish their broad political implications. Because of his use of both exacting methodology and refined historical approach, many of his studies remain of fundamental importance to the field. Wolski’s basic approach is best articulated in the works concerning the beginnings of the Parthian state, but he also attempted to analyze a number of other political issues and social as well as cultural aspects in Parthian history (see, e.g., “L’aristocratie parthe et les commencemets du féodalisme en Iran,” 1967; “Die Parther und ihre Beziehungen zur griechisch-römischen Kultur,” 1983). He devoted much attention to the eastern frontiers of Parthia, consistently maintaining that Parthian history should be seen as closely linked to peoples of Central Asia (cf., e.g., “Les débuts de l’Etat parthe et ses contacts avec l’Asie Centrale,” 1996). Wolski kept working on Parthian history throughout his life, adding new arguments and often engaging in discussions with specialists representing different stands. Wolski stressed the significance of the Parthian epoch in the whole history of Western and Central Asia and highly estimated achievements of the Arsacids, demonstrating that they were the true heirs of the Achaemenids and supporters of Iranian traditions. His achievement was most firmly to reinforce the growing conviction of the high importance of Iranian states in ancient history.

Many of Wolski’s works concerned the Hellenistic period, especially the roles played by Alexander the Great and the Seleucids in Iran (e.g., “Alexandre le Grand et l’Iran,” 1985–1988; “L’hellénisme et l’Iran,” 1989), while others dealt with the Achaemenids and the Sasanians (“Darius III's peace offer to Alexander of Macedon after the battle of Issus, 333 BC: an historical evaluation,” 2004; “Arsakiden und Sasaniden,” 1969). Wolski devoted much study to the history of the Greeks in Bactria (Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan), a subject closely linked with his interests in the Parthians and the Seleucids (“La problème de la fondation de l’État gréco-bactrien,” 1982).

While Wolski’s research tended to focus on Hellenistic and Parthian Iran, he also published studies on other subjects in ancient history, especially on Greece and Rome. In his polyhistoric approach, he consciously followed the heritage of L. Piotrowicz and E. Meyer. He had a particular liking for the history of the relations between Greece and Persia in the sixth and fifth century BCE (“L'influence des guerres médiques sur la lutte politique en Grèce,” 1971; “Medismos et son importance en Grèce à l'époque des guerres médiques,” 1973). Another area of interest to him was Roman political relations with Iran (“Sur l’authenticité des traités romano-perses,” 1992) and the causes of the fall of Rome seen by analogy with the history of Iran (the concept of war on two fronts) (“Le rôle et l'importance des guerres de deux fronts dans la décadence de l'Empire romain,” 1980). Wolski strongly accentuated a need to use various sources in historical research, including archeological, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence. It is little wonder then, that his former students include no small number of scholars who integrate into their craft such diverse fields as history, numismatics, epigraphy, and archeology. Wolski also stressed that the Western approach to the history of Iran must be free from exaggerated Eurocentrism (cf. “Antike Geschichtsschreibung und der Alte Orient im Lichte der Enteuropäisierungtendenz,” 1984). Wolski’s publications found readership in Iran: the book L’Empire des Arsacides (Leuven, 1993) was translated into Persian (Šāhanšāhi-ye Aškāni, Tehran 1386 Š./2007).

Wolski reviewed more than 50 doctoral dissertations, 40 habilitations, and 30 professorial qualifications. His students are engaged in numerous learned bodies and institutions throughout Poland. Despite his concentration camp experiences, he succeeded in keeping very fit, and almost to the end of his days he remained an active scholar. In 2004, Wolski published his memoirs, Kraków comes first (Kraków), an impressive work to conclude the life of an equally impressive man.

Bibliography:

Bibliographies of Wolski’s studies.

E. Dabrowa and M. Salamon, in Hortus Historiae, Kraków, 2010, pp. 5-17.

Obituaries.

M. Salamon, “Józef Wolski. Expert in Parthian History, Historian of Antiquity,” Palamedes 3, 2008, pp. 9-16.

M. J. Olbrycht, “Józef Wolski 1910-2008; an Epitaph,” in M. J. Olbrycht, ed., Orientis Splendor. Studies in Memory of Józef Wolski (=Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia 1), Rzeszów, 2010, pp. 7-17.

Select list of Wolski’s publications on Iran.

“Arsaces I, założyciel państwa partyjskiego,”  38, 1937, pp. 492-513; Eos 39, 1938, pp. 244-266 (review by H. Markowski, Philologische Wochenschrift, 60, 1940, pp. 99-104).

“Załamanie się panowania Seleucydów w Iranie w III w. przed Chr. (part 1),” Eos 40, 1939, pp. 23-47.

“Arsace II,” Eos 41, 1940-1946, pp. 156-65.

“L’effondrement de la domination des Séleucides en Iran au III-e siècle av. J.C.,”  in Bulletin International de l’Academic Polonaise des sciences et des lettres. Classe de philologie-Classe d’histoire et de philosophie, Supplément 5, Cracovie, 1947, pp. 13-70.

“Studia nad organizacją monarchii Arsacydów,” in Polska Akademia Umiejętności. Sprawozdania z czynności i posiedzeń 48, Kraków 1947, pp. 24-26

“Le problème d’Andragoras,” Ephemeridis Instituti Archaeologici Bulgarici [Bulletin de l'Institut Archéologique Bulgare] 16 (=Serta Kazaroviana), Sofia, 1950, pp. 111-14.

“Chronologia ruchów separatystycznych w Iranie w III w. przed Chr.,” Polska Akademia Umiejętności. Sprawozdania z czynności i posiedzeń 51, Kraków 1950, pp. 285-288.

“Les études sur le texte de Strabon,” in Charisteria Thaddaeo Sinko oblata, Varsaviae, Wratislaviae 1951, pp. 385-394.

“Remarques critiques sur les institutions des Arsacides,” Eos 46, 1952/1953, pp. 59-82.

“Parthian and Iranian Titles in the Parchment No. 10 from Dura,” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 7-8, 1954, pp. 285-294.

“Pausanias et le problème de la politique spartiate (480-470 av. J.-C),” Eos 47, 1954, pp. 75-94.

“The Decay of the Iranian Empire of the Seleucids and the Chronology of the Parthian Beginnings,” Berytus 12, 1956-1957, pp. 35-52.

“Pausanias et le problème de la politique spartiate” = “Pausanias und das Problem der spartanischen Politik,” Bibliotheca classica orientalis, 1958, no. 6, pp. 353-55.

“L’historicité d’Arsace Ier,” Historia 8, 1959, pp. 222-38.

“L’état parthe des Arsacides. Essai de reconstitution de son évolution intérieure,” Palaeologia 7, 1959, pp. 325-32.

“Z problematyki badań nad historią hellenistyczną,” Meander 14, 1959, pp. 527-38.

“L'empire de Rome et les peuples avoisinants du Proche-Orient,” Eos 50, 1959-60, pp. 61-68.

“Rzym i ludy azjatyckiego pogranicza Imperium,” in VIII Powszechny Zjazd Historyków Polskich w Krakowie, vol. 1: Historia starożytna, Warszawa, 1960, pp. 63-76.

“Irańczycy i ich rola w upadku hellenizmu” (“Les Perses et leur rôle dans le déclin de l'hellénisme”), Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Komisji Naukowych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Oddział w Krakowie 4 (styczeń-czerwiec) 1960, pp. 270-72.

“Les Iraniens et le royaume gréco-bactrien,” Klio 38, 1960, pp. 110-21.

“Arsace II et la généalogie des premiers Arsacides,” Historia 11, 1962, pp. 138-45 (reprinted in Die Araber in der Alten Welt, Bd. 2, Berlin 1965, pp. 370-78).

“Ateny i Sparta w okresie wojen perskich” (“Athènes et Sparte à l'époque des guerres médiques”), Meander 16, 1963, pp. 187-200.

“Achemenidzi i Arsacydzi. Ze studiów nad formowaniem się tradycji staroirańskich,” Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Komisji Naukowych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Oddział w Krakowie 7 (lipiec-grudzień) 1963, pp. 442-444.

Actes du Xe Congrès international de papyrologues, Varsovie-Cracovie, 3-9 septembre 1961, ed J. Wolski, Wrocław 1964.

“Neuere Ergebnisse und Entwicklungen der althistorischen Forschung in Volkspolen,” Das Altertum 10, 1964, pp. 172-182.

“Aufbau und Entwicklung des parthischen Staates,” in Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte der Alten Welt, Bd. I Berlin 1964, pp. 379-388.

“Rola i znaczenie wojsk najemnych w Partii” (“Quantum apud Parthos milites mercenarii valuerint”), Eos 54, 1964, pp. 155-162.

“Program polityczny państwa partyjskiego,” Eos 55, 1965, pp. 152-159.

“Elam, Perse, Armenie,” in Introduction bibliographique à l'histoire du droit età ethnologie juridique, Vol. V/A, Bruxelles 1965, pp. 1-19.

“Le rôle et l’importance des mercenaires dans l’état Parthe,” Iranica Antiqua 5, 1965, pp. 103-115.

“Z najnowszej problematyki i osiągnięć badawczych historii starożytnej basenu śródziemnomorskiego,” Nauka Polska 13, 1965, pp. 28-37.

“Les Achéménides et les Arsacides,” Syria 43, 1966, pp. 65-89.

Historia powszechna. Starożytność (General History. Antiquity), Warszawa 1965, (461 p.) (11 editions till 2007).

“Les recherches modernes sur l'histoire des Parthes,” in Mélanges offerts à Kazimierz Michałowski, Warszawa 1966, pp. 735-40.

“Les changements intérieurs à Sparte à la vielle des guerres médiques,” Revue des Études Anciennes 69, 1967, pp. 31-49.

“L’aristocratie parthe et les commencemets du féodalisme en Iran,” Iranica Antiqua 7, 1967, pp. 133-44.

“L'influence des guerres médiques sur les formes de la lutte politique en Grèce,” Przegląd Historyczny 59, 1968, pp. 416-27.

“Arsakiden und Sasaniden,” in Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte und deren Nachleben: Festschrift für Franz Altheim, Bd. I, Berlin 1969, pp. 315-22.

“Die Iranier und das griechisch-baktrische Königreich,” in Der Hellenismus in Mittelasien, Darmstadt 1969, pp. 255-74.

“Das Problem des Andragoras,” in Der Hellenismus in Mittelasien, Darmstadt 1969, pp. 275-280.

“Der Zusammenbruch der Seleukidenherrschaft im Iran im 3. Jahrhundert v.Chr.,” in Der Hellenismus in Mittelasien, Darmstadt 1969, pp. 188-254.

“Ateny i Sparta a kwestia Greków małoazjatyckich,” Sprawozdania z Prac Naukowych Wydziału Nauk Społecznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk 12 (2), Wrocław 1969, pp. 21-25.

“Les Grecs et les Ioniens au temps des guerres médiques,” Eos 58, 1969-70, pp. 33-49.

“Ateny i Sparta a kwestia Greków małoazjatyckich,” in Zeszyty Naukowe UJ 232. Prace historyczne 30, Kraków, 1970, pp. 17-36.

“Powstanie cesarstwa Iranu i jego rola w dziejach starożytnych,” Kultura i społeczeństwo 15, 1971, pp. 71-80.

“L'influence des guerres médiques sur la lutte politique en Grèce,” in Acta Conventus XI “Eirene” diebus XXI-XXV mensis Octobris anni MCMLXVII habiti, Wratislaviae, 1971, pp. 641-47.

“Progressivität und Konservatismus in Sparta und Athen im Zeitalter der Perserkriege,” Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 2, 1972, pp. 74-82.

“Μηδισμός et son importance en Grèce à l'époque des guerres médiques,” Historia 22, 1973, pp. 3-15.

“Okres perski, okres hellenistyczny i rzymski,” in Archeologia Palestyny, Poznań-Warszawa-Lublin 1973, pp. 339-75.

“Arsace Ier, fondateur de l’État parthe,” in Commémoration Cyrus (Acta Iranica 3), Tehran 1974, pp. 159-99.

“La constitution de l’empire d’Iran et son rôle dans l’histoire de l’Antiquité,” Iranica Antiqua 1, 1974,pp. 71-83.

“Z problematyki historii Iranu w dobie wczesnych Arsacydów,” Kwartalnik Historyczny 81, 1974, pp. 3-18.

“Andragoras était-il iranien ou grec?,” Studia Iranica 4, 1975, pp. 159-69.

“Le classi inferiori della populazione nel regno dei Parti,” in Storia sociale ed economica dell’età classica, Milano 1975, pp. 55-61.

“Les Parthes et leur attitude envers le monde gréco-romain,” in Assimilation et résistance à la culture gréco-romaine dans le monde ancien. Travaux du VIe Congrès International d’Études Classiques, Madrid, septembre 1974, Bucuresti-Paris, 1976, pp. 455-62.

“Filhellenizm Arsacydów,” in Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska. Sectio F, 29, 1974 (Lublin, 1976), pp. 1-9.

“Iran und Rom. Versuch einer historischen Wertung der gegenseitigen Beziehungen,” in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, Teil II, Bd. 9, Berlin and New York, 1976, pp. 195-214.

“Z najnowszej problematyki badań nad historią Wschodu starożytnego,” Meander 31, 1976, pp. 349-59.

“L’origine de la relation d’Arrien sur la paire des frères Arsacides, Arsace et Tiridate,” AAASH 24, 1976, pp. 63-70 (reprinted in Studies in the Sources of the History of pre-Islamic Central Asia, Budapest, 1979, pp. 67-74).

“Les Parthes et leur attitude envers le monde gréco-romain,” Dialogues d’Histoire Ancienne, 2, 1976, pp. 281-88.

“Untersuchungen zur frühen parthischen Geschichte,” Klio 58, 1976, pp. 439-57.

“L’Iran dans la politique des Séleucides,” AAASH 25, 1977, pp. 149-56.

“Les Parthes et la Syrie,” in Acta Iranica 12, Tehran, 1977, pp. 395-417.

“Rola wojen dwufrontowych w upadku Cesarstwa Rzymskiego,” in Historia i współczesność 3: Problemy schyłku świata antycznego, Katowice, 1978, pp. 11-25.

“Formowanie się tradycji irańskiej w świetle monet,” Wiadomości Numizmatyczne 22, 1978, pp. 186-89.

“Points de vue sur les sources gréco-latines de l’époque parthe,” in Prolegomena to the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia, Budapest, 1979, pp. 17-25.

“Les ilotes et la question de Pausanias, régent de Sparte,” in Schiavitù, manomissione e classi inferiori nel mondo antico [Università degli Studi di Padova. Pubblicazioni dell'Istituto di Stona Antica — XIII], Roma, 1979, pp. 7-19.

“L’Arménie dans la politique du Haut-Empire Parthe (env. 175-87 av. n. è.),” Iranica Antiqua 15, 1980, pp. 251-67.

“La frontière orientale dans la politique de l'Iran des Arsacides,” Folia Orientalia 21, 1980, pp. 235-44.

“Les sources de 1’époque hellénistique et parthe de l’histoire d’Iran,” AAASH 38, 1980, pp. 137-45 (reprinted in From Hecataeus to Al-Huwārizmî, Budapest, 1984, pp. 137-46).

“Le rôle et l'importance des guerres de deux fronts dans la décadence de l'empire romain,” Klio 62, 1980, pp. 411-23.

“La place et rôle de l'époque Arsacide dans l'histoire de l'Iran,” Rocznik Orientalistyczny 41, 1980, pp. 145-50.

Actes du colloque international sur l'idéologie monarchique dans l‘Antiquité, Cracovie-Mogilany, ed. J. Wolski [Zeszyty Naukowe UJ 536. Prace Historyczne 63], Kraków 1980.

“Caucase et Mer Noire entre Rome et les Parthes,” in Actes du XVe Congrès International des Sciences Historiques. Rupport II: Chronologie, Bucarest, Paris, 1980, pp. 27-36.

“L’aristocratie foncière et l’organisation de 1’аrméе parthe,” Klio 63, 1981, pp. 105-12.

“La problème de la fondation de l’État gréco-bactrien,” Iranica Antiqua 17, 1982, 131-146.

 “Die Parther und ihre Beziehungen zur griechisch-römischen Kultur,” Klio 65, 1983, pp. 137-49.

“Les rapports romano-parthes et la question de l’Arménie,” Ktèma 8, 1983, pp. 269-77.

“Les relations de Justin et de Plutarque sur les esclaves et la population dépendante dans l’empire parthe,” Iranica Antiqua 18, 1983, pp. 145-57.

“Sur le «philhellénisme» des Arsacides,” Gerión 1, 1983, pp. 145-56.

“Les monarchies hellénistiques et les Parthes,” in Actes du VIIe Congrès de la Fédération Internationale des Associations d’Études Classiques I, Budapest 1983, pp. 367-79.

“Antike Geschichtsschreibung und der Alte Orient im Lichte der  Enteuropäisierungtendenz,” Klio 66, 1984, pp. 436-42.

“La périodisation de l'époque parthe en Iran,” Folia Orientalia 22, 1981-84, pp. 13-21.

“Thémistocle, la construction de la flotte athénienne et la situation internationale en Méditerranée,” Rivista Storicha dell’Antichità 13-14, 1983-84, pp. 179-92.

“Le titre de “roi des rois” dans l'idéologie monarchique des Arsacides,” AAASH 30, 1982-84, pp. 159-66.

“Les Séleucides et l’héritage d’Alexandre le Grand en Iran,” in Studi Ellenistici 1, Pisa 1984, pp. 9-20.

“La politica iranica dei primi Seleucidi,” in Atti e Memorie dell'Accademia Patavina di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 96 (1983-1984). Parte III: Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti, Padova 1984, pp. 189-203.

“Die abhängige Bevölkerung im Partherreich,” in Antike Abhängigkeitsformen, Berlin 1985, 80-87.

“L’Asie Mineure et la Méditerranée dans la politique des Parthes,” in XVe Conference internationale d’Études Classiques «Eirene» (=Thracia 7), Sofia 1985, 31-36.

“Dans 1’attente d’une nouvelle histoire de 1’Iran arsacide,” Iranica Antiqua 20, 1985, pp. 163-73.

“Rzym i państwo Partów w I wieku p.n.e.,” Kwartalnik Historyczny 91, 1985, pp. 222-33.

“Hérodote et la construction de la flotte athénienne par Thémistocle,” Storia della storiografia 7, 1985, pp. 113-22.

“Wielkie rody irańskie i ich rola na przełomie starożytności i średniowiecza,” in Zeszyty Naukowe UJ 663. Prace historyczne 74, Kraków, 1985, pp. 21-27.

“Imperium Parthicum. Przyczyny wzrostu i upadku” (“Imperium parthicum. Les causes de son essor et de sa décadence”), Eos 74, 1986, pp. 183-92.

“Le couronnement de Tiridate par Vologèse Ier comme roi de l’Arménie: échec de Néron et de l’empire romain,” in Neronia III: Actes du IIIe Colloque international de la Société internationale d’études néroniennes, Roma, 1987, pp. 167-78.

“Taqsimbandi-ye asr-e Pārti dar Irān” (“The Periodisation of the Parthian Period”), Majalla-ye bāstān-šenāsi va tāriḵ/Iranian Journal of Archaeology and History 1/2, 1987, pp. 18-20.

“Les commencements de l’empire parthe,” Gerión 6, 1988, pp. 9-19.

“L’héritage d’Alexandre le Grand et les Arsacides,” in Zu Alexander d. Gr.: Festschrift G. Wirth zum 60. Geburtstag, Bd. II, Amsterdam 1988, pp. 991-1006.

“Alexandre le Grand et l'Iran. Contribution à l'histoire de l'époque séleucide et arsacide,” AAASH 31, 1985-1988, pp. 3-11.

“L’époque parthe entre 1’hellénisme et l’iranisme,” in Colloque «Histoire et cultes de l’Asie Centrale preislamique. Sources écrites et documents archéologiques, Paris, 1988, pp. 110-113.

“L’importance des sources iraniennes pour l’histoire de l’Iran,” in Munera philologica et historica Mariano Plezia oblata, Wrocław, 1988, pp. 217-24.

“Die gesellschaftliche und politische Stellung der großen parthischen Familien,” Tyche 4, 1989, pp. 221-27.

“L'héllénisme et l'Iran,” in Mélanges Pierre Leveque II: Anthropologie et société, Besançon 1989, pp. 439-46.

“Sur l'impéralisme des Parthes Arsacides,” in Archaeologia iranica et orientalis. Miscellanea in honorem Louis Vanden Berghe II, Gent, 1989, pp. 637-50.

“Alexandre le Grand. Légende et réalité,” in Neronia, 4. Alejandro Magno, modelo de los emperadores romanos, Bruxelles, 1990, pp. 100-109.

“Czy państwo Sasanidów było rzeczywiście nowoperskie?” (“L'empire des Sassanides était-il réellement néo-perse?”), Eos 78, 1990, pp. 147-54.

“L'époque parthe entre l'hellénisme et l'iranisme,” in Histoire et cultes de l'Asie Centrale préislamique, Paris, 1991, pp. 49-55.

“Sur l’authenticité des traités romano-perses,” Iranica Antiqua 27, 1992, pp. 169-87.

“L'archéologie et l'Iran parthe,” in Studia Aegaea et Balcanica in honorem Lodovicae Press, Warszawa 1992, pp. 167-71.

L’Empire des Arsacides,  Acta Iranica 32, Leuven, 1993.

“La politique impérialiste de Rome à l’égard de l’Iran: ses formes et ses effets,” in Études sur l’histoire gréco-romaine (=Studia z dziejów Grecji i Rzymu), Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis – MCDXXXV, Antiquitas - 18, Wrocław 1993, pp. 223-28.

“La propagande pacifiste dans l'impérialisme parthe,” in Šulmu, 4. Everyday life in ancient Near East, Poznań 1993, pp. 303-8.

Starożytny Rzym we współczesnych badaniach. Państwo Społeczeństwo Gospodarka. Liber in memoriam Lodovici Piotrowicz, ed. J. Wolski, T Kotula, A. Kunisz, Kraków 1994.

“Rzymska polityka na Wschodzie. Imperializm rzymski w konflikcie z imperializmem irańskim,” in Starożytny Rzym we współczesnych badaniach. Państwo SpołeczeństwoGospodarka. Liber in memoriam Lodovici Piotrowicz, Kraków, 1994, pp. 81-103.

“Środkowoazjatyckie plemiona irańskie — nomadzi czy ludność osiadła?” (“Les tribus centro-asiatiques dans l'antiquité. Nomades ou sédentaires?”) in Nunc de suebis dicendum est... Studia archaelogica et historica Georgii Kolendo ab amici et discipuli dicata, Warszawa 1995, pp. 261-64.

“Rok 53 przed Chrystusem. Data przełomowa w dziejach imperializmu rzymskiego,” in W 2500-lecie powstania Republiki Rzymskiej. Studia historyczne, Katowice 1995, pp. 20-30.

“The Arsacid Parthians,” in History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development. Vol. III: From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D., London, New York, Paris, 1996, pp. 129-31.

“Les débuts de l’Etat parthe et ses contacts avec l’Asie Centrale,” in La Persia e l’Asia Centrale da Alessandro al X secolo, Roma, 1996, pp. 179-85.

“Quelques remarques concernant la chronologie des débuts de l’Etat parthe,” Iranica Antiqua 31, 1996, pp. 167-78.

Imperium Arsacydów, Poznań, 1996.

“Néron, politique réaliste,” in Neronia V. Néron: histoire et légende. Actes du Ve Colloque international de la SIEN (Collection Latomus. Vol. 247), Bruxelles, 1999, pp. 11-20.

“Problem wspólnego źródła do historii Partii u Strabona i Pompejusza Trogusa,” in Amicorum Dona. Studia dedykowane Profesorowi Stefanowi Skowronkow, Kraków, 1998, pp. 221-26.

“L’archéologie et l’histoire ancienne: l’Iran à la lumière des nouvelles sources archéologiques,” in Centenary of Mediterranean Archaeology, 1897—1997, Kraków, 1999, pp. 129-34.

Dzieje i upadek imperium Seleucydów, Kraków, 1999  (with two supplements: M .J. Olbrycht, “Seleucids and the culture of their epoch,” pp. 135-208; J. Bodzek, “The Catalogue of Seleukid coins in the National Museum of Kraków,” pp. 209-35).

“Znaczenie pewnych elementów epigrafìcznych i ikonograficznych na monetach partyjskich dla rekonstrukcji procesu historycznego,” Notae Numismaticae 3/4, Kraków, 1999, pp. 95-101.

“Servitia, ich funkcja i znaczenie w społeczeństwie irańskim okresu Arsacydów,” in Electrum 4, 2000, pp. 95-100.

“Arsace Ier, était-il le premier roi couronné des Parthes?” in Les civilisations du bassin méditerranéen. Hommages à Joachim Śliwa, Kraków, 2000, pp. 455-58.

“Notes from the History of Hellenistic Propaganda: Seleucids vs Arsacids,” in Studia Archaeologica. Prace dedykowane Profesorowi Januszowi A. Ostrowskiemu, Kraków, 2001, pp. 411-15.

“Remarques critiques concernant le progrés de la méthodologie antique,” in Le monde romain et ses periphéries sous la République et sous l’Empire  (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis - MMCCLII, Antiquitas – 25), Wrocław, 2001, pp. 173-77.

The Seleucids: The Decline and Fall of Their Empire, Kraków, 1999 (Polska Akademia Umiejętności, Rozprawy Wydziału Historyczno-Filozoficznego, T. 91).

“Remarques critiques concernant le progrés de la méthodologie antique,” in Le monde romain et ses périphéries sous la République et sous l’Empire (Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 2252, Antiquitas 25) Wrocław 2001, pp. 173-77.

“Le classi inferiori della popolazione nel regno dei Parti,” in Erkos: studi in onore di Franco Sartori, Padova, 2003, pp. 285-91.

“Schöpften Strabon und Justinus aus der gleichen Quelle bei der Darstellung der frühen Geschichte Parthiens,” Latomus 62, 2003, pp. 373-80.

Seleucid and Arsacid Studies. A Progress Report on Developments in Source Research, Kraków 2003 (Polska Akademia Umiejętności, Rozprawy Wydziału Historyczno-Filozoficznego, T. 100).

“Morze Egejskie terenem konfliktów państw greckich,” in Portolana. Studia Mediterranea 1, Kraków 2004, pp. 41-46.

Šāhanšahi-ye Aškāni, Tehran, 1386 Š/2007 (Persian translation of: L’Empire des Arsacides, 1993).

Reviews.

Ph. Łoziński, The Original Homeland of the Parthians, s'Gravenhage 1959, in Gnomon 32, 1960, pp. 374-75.

J. Reinhardt, Weltgeschichte der Standortentwicklung der Wirtschaft in der Klassengesellschaft I, Berlin 1961, in Deutsche Literaturzeitung 84, 1963, pp. 164-66.

K.-H. Ziegler, Die Beziehungen zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich, Wiesbaden, 1964, in Orientalische Literaturzeitung 61, 1966, 18-20.

H. Kreißig, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Seleukidenreich, Berlin, 1978, in Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 11, 1981, pp. 137-40.

K. Schippmann, Grundzüge der parthischen geschichte, Darmstadt, 1980, in Gnomon 54, 1982, pp. 43-46.

G.L. Hammond, Atlas of the Greek and Roman World in Antiquity, Princeton, 1981, in Gnomon 55, 1983, pp. 262-63.

D. M. Lewis, Sparta and Persia, Leiden, 1977, in Folia Orientalia 22, 1981-84, pp. 305-6.

M. Schottky, Media Atropatene und Grossarmenien in hellenistischer Zeit, Bonn 1989, Latomus 53, 1993, pp. 439-440.

(Marek Jan Olbrycht)

Originally Published: January 1, 2000

Last Updated: June 26, 2013