Paul J. Kosmin (born 1984) is a historian of the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

, the centuries after the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

that saw the spread of Greek culture and language across the Eastern Mediterranean and western Asia. His main focus is the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

, the Greek successor state (

diadochi The Diadochi (; singular: Diadochus; from grc-gre, Διάδοχοι, Diádochoi, Successors, ) were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The War ...

) that ruled Syria, Babylonia, Persia, and various adjoining regions at its height. He is a professor of Classics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Biography

Kosmin attended Balliol College at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and graduated with a degree in Ancient and Modern History. He did his graduate program at

, where he completed a Ph.D. in Ancient History and wrote his dissertation on the

. Afterward, he attained an associate professorship in the Classics department at Harvard in 2012, and was given the named professorship of John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities in 2014. In 2014, he published ''The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire'', a popular adaptation of his dissertation on how the Seleucid Empire controlled its territory. In 2018, he published ''Time and Its Adversaries in the Seleucid Empire'', a book on the Seleucid era, the Ancient Macedonian calendar, the cultural impact of timekeeping in the Hellenistic world, and related topics. ''Time and Its Adversaries'' was a joint winner of the

Runciman Award The Runciman Award is an annual literary award offered by the Anglo-Hellenic League for a work published in English dealing wholly or in part with Greece or Hellenism. The award is named in honour of the late Sir Steven Runciman and is currentl ...

in 2019. Kosmin has since collaborated with Andrea Berlin, a Professor of Archeology at Boston University, on several volumes of scholarly research. The two edited ''Spear-Won Land: Sardis from the King's Peace to the Peace of Apamea'' in 2019. ''Spear-Won Land'' is a compilation of journal articles and research on the city of Sardis in Asia Minor while it was under Seleucid rule until the Peace of Apamea, which saw it transferred to the Roman-allied Kingdom of Pergamon. In 2021, Kosmin and Berlin edited a collection of articles on the latest archeological findings and scholarship on the final stages of the

Maccabean Revolt The Maccabean Revolt ( he, מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167–160 BCE and ended ...

and the early

Hasmonean kingdom The Hasmonean dynasty (; he, ''Ḥašmōnaʾīm'') was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from BCE to 37 BCE. Between and BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, an ...

, ''The Middle Maccabees: Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom''. Kosmin was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 2021.Guggenheim Fellows: PAUL J. KOSMIN
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosmin, Paul J. 1984 births Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Classical scholars of Harvard University Historians of antiquity Scholars of ancient Greek history Living people