Michael Iliakis

Dr Michael Iliakis studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Crete, and holds a PhD degree in Ancient History from the University of Liverpool, where his studies were funded by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. His studies concentrate on the history and culture of the Achaemenid Empire and on the relations between ancient Greeks and Iranians during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. His research interests include the Hellenistic kingdoms (especially the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms), the Scythians, ancient Greek historiography, epigraphy, economic history, mobility and mercenaries. He is presently preparing the manuscript of his doctoral dissertation, entitled “The Bactrian ‘Mirage’: Iranian and Greek Interaction in Western Central Asia,” for publication by Edinburgh University Press. He has presented samples of his work in conferences and scholarly audiences. He is a scientific collaborator of the Section of Greek and Roman Antiquity, Institute of Historical Research, of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens. He has participated in various excavations with the most recent one being “Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project” in Greece, where he has worked as database manager (2017, 2018, 2019) and apotheke manager (2018, 2019). He currently works as a Postdoctoral Researcher for HERITΛGE.  

Publications (selected)

• • Iliakis, M. (2021), “Flipping the Coin: Alexander the Great’s Bactrian-Sogdian Expedition from a Local Perspective”, in Seen From Oxyartes’ Rock: Central Asia Under and After Alexander, Third Meeting of the Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network (14—16 November 2018), L. Stančo, & J. Havlík, (eds), Praque, XX - XX
  • Iliakis, M. 2013, “Greek Mercenary Revolts in Bactria: A Re-Appraisal”, Historia 62.2, 182 – 195