Empirical Regularities Across Time, Space, and Culture: A Critical Review of Comparative Methods in Ancient Historical Research

We present an overview of recent comparative research in ancient history. While this work has provided many important insights, historians of the ancient world have not taken full advantage of the opportunities afforded by rigorous cross-cultural comparison, particularly in identifying causal factors. Ultimately, we argue that scholars of ancient history would benefit from embracing comparative approaches and pursue more rigorous analytical techniques than are currently employed in the field. This can only help ancient studies remain a relevant force in the academic community. We conclude by pointing out some current interdisciplinary projects to act as a roadmap for such engagement.