GradoniGSP.jpg

Biography

Advisor: Dr. Touraj Daryaee

First Field: Middle Eastern History
Second Field: World History

Specialization: Ancient Iran and the Premodern Persian World
Thematic Emphases: Ancient Economy, Numismatics, Legitimacy and Authority, Cultural Syntheses, Identity, Control and Popular Resistance

Biographic/Research Abstract:
Mark Gradoni studies the Middle East and Central Asia in Late Antiquity, particularly Sasanian Ērānšahr and the broader Iranian cultural sphere. His research seeks to incorporate art historical and archaeological methodologies for the study of material cultural production with traditional historical scrutiny of written sources to create a more integrated approach to the study of the economic and social history of the ancient Iranian world.
Mark holds a M.A. in the Humanities from Hood College, where he studied the art history and archaeology of the ancient Near East, as well as a pair of B.A.s in Ancient Studies and History from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is also a trained archaeologist, and has conducted survey and exaction fieldwork on various projects in the eastern United States, Romania, and Jordan.

Publications:
Gradoni, M.K. “The Parthian Campaigns of Septimius Severus: Causes, and Roles in Dynamic Legitimation.” In The Roman Empire during the Severan Dynasty: Case Studies in History, Art, Architecture, Economy and Literature, edited by Eric C. De Sena, American Journal of Ancient History Volume 6-8, pp. 3-23. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2013.