Mirrored Trajectories, Diverging Systems: Argead Macedon and Qin Compared

Event details Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Time: 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM Location: Leavey Library (LVL) - 17 - 650 West 35th Street , Los Angeles, CA 90089 Type: Lecture / Talk / Workshop Campus: University Park Campus Department: Academic Innovation & Research Engagement (AIRE), Center for the Premodern World Audience: Students, Faculty/Staff About this event Argead Macedon and the Zhou state of Qin had a uniquely parallel historical experience. Emerging from being fringe states to producing Alexander the Great and the First Emperor of China, then rapidly collapsing into periods of interstate violence, the mirrored trajectories of these two polities offers and ideal case study for comparative history. In this talk, these polities will be compared in a causal narrative analysis from their earliest origins through to the reins of Alexander the Great and the First Emperor, with brief remarks on the collapse that followed them. By comparing them this way, elements of Greek and Zhou cultures that often go underapprecaited as causal factors in history are clearly highlighted. Official event details: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/mirrored-trajectories-diverging-systems-argead-macedon-and-qin-compared