Ancient Greece � History 37 A Brief History of Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece – History A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture by Sarah P Pomeroy, Stanley M Burstein, Walter Donland and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts 37 This general introduction to ancient Greece is a new and shorter version of the authors’ book Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History published in 1998 (Oxford UP). Updated and in many ways redesigned, it places greater emphasis on the social and cultural history of Greece from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period based on archaeological, anthropological, historical, literary and epigraphic sources. Expanded sections on women and family life, religion and athletics are included. 360p, 16 maps, b/w figs (Oxford UP 2004) 0195156803 Hb £45.99, 0195156811 Pb £19.99 Anthropology and the Greeks by S C Humphreys * Reprint * Humphrey’s detailed analysis of the value of applying anthropological theory to the study of ancient Greece has been reprinted as part of a series designed to guide the student through the theory of anthropology. Humphreys argues that it is impossible to examine the history of a nation without considering how it is informed by the experiences of its people. Sections examine the history of the fields of anthropology and the classics, economy and society in Greece, the social structure of the city and communication. 357p (1978, Theory of Anthropology VI, Routledge rep 2004) 0415330645 Hb £75.00 Landscapes, Gender and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience by Susan Guettel Cole The Greek polis encapsulated new concepts of territoriality and the division of land where space was divided into productive and sacred space. This study looks at how three types of landscapes, natural, human and imagined, coexisted and overlapped and how the polis ‘sharpened distinctions between purity and pollution, and created a ritual system premised on gender difference’. Focusing on epigraphic evidence in the main, Cole examines Greek ritual practice within the context of the landscape and acknowledges the importance of gender in these activities. Two of the chapters look in detail at the cult of Artemis. 292p, 3 maps (University of California 2004) 0520235444 Hb £29.95 Alexander: Destiny and Myth by Claude Mossé * English Edition * Alexander the Great has many faces and, perhaps more than other figure from antiquity, debate continues over the extent to which his personality was dominated by light or by darkness. This biography, now published in English, provides a fascinating exploration of the different Alexanders: the King, the God, the Man, and the Hero of myth. Mossé draws on all available literary and historical sources to reconstruct the bare bones of his life followed by an analysis of how the people around him regarded him. The conflict in Alexander’s personality is evident, however, this was a short life lived at full speed. This very readable and insightful biography concludes with the myth of Alexander which was alive and well in the Middle Ages, just as it is today. This English edition is introduced by Paul Cartledge. 244p (2001, Edinburgh UP Engl edn 2004) 0748617647 Hb £45.00, 0748617655 Pb £16.99 Warrior King to Great King: The Story of Alexander the Great by Raewyn Gilmour This accessible study, intended as an ‘easily read introduction to the subject’ charts the transformation of Alexander from Macedonian king to Great King, monarch of the Persian empire. In clearly-structured sections, supported by maps, genealogies and translated extracts from sources, Gilmour examines Alexander’s life and reign. The rest of the study lists and discusses Alexander’s companions, the sources, Alexander’s roles and strategies, and his military abilities. The book concludes with a chronology and bibliography. This study is by no means comprehensive nor particularly detailed but it does serve as a good well-informed starting point. 124p, b/w figs, maps (Polygraphia 2003) 1877332062 Pb £16.95 The Generalship of Alexander the Great by J F C Fuller * Reprint * General Fuller firmly believed that the military commanders of the 20th century had much to learn from Alexander the Great’s brilliance in the field and political genius. This book reprints Fuller’s matterof-fact and perceptive analysis of Alexander from the 1950s. Divided into two parts, ‘Record’ and ‘Analysis’, it presents an overview of Alexander’s military training, career and army followed by a dissection of the campaigns and battles. A final section appraises Alexander’s political qualities. 336p, b/w figs, maps (1960, Da Capo 2004) 0306813300 Pb £15.50 38 Athens and the Greek Polis * New in Paperback * The Archaeology of Athens by John M Camp A general introduction to the history and major monuments of ancient Athens from earliest times to the 6th century AD. Divided into two sections, the first providing a basic narrative history, the second focusing on individual sites. Neither section is in-depth although there are plenty of illustrations and references to further reading. A good place to start for students up to first year university level and for those visiting Athens. 340p, 277 b/w and col figs and pls (Yale UP/New Haven 2001, Pb 2004) 0300101511 Pb £14.99 Athens, Its Rise and Fall by Edward Bulwer Lytton, edited by Oswyn Murray * Special Edition * In 2003 Edward Bulwer Lytton’s 200th birthday was celebrated at his home in Hertfordshire. To mark this anniversary, a special Bicentenary Edition of Lytton’s forgotten history Athens: It’s Rise and Fall has been published. It is preceded by an introduction by Oswyn Murray in which he considers the life and work of this man of fashion who was one of the most popular novelists of his age. Murray also examines the sources for Athens, contemporary attitudes towards Athenian and Spartan history and Lytton’s romantic historical attitude. 610p (1837, Routledge special edn 2004) 0415320879 Hb £75.00 Athenian Democracy edited by P J Rhodes This reader contains a collection of articles published by various British, American, German and French scholars on the subject of the origins and practice of the Athenian democracy. Whilst the oldest article was published in 1939, most are from the 1970s onwards. They are divided into those that deal with the political institutions of democracy and citizenship, with political activity, the three crucial stages in the development of democracy (the reforms of Solon, Cleisthenes and Ephialtes) and finally, Christian Meier’s study of the conditions under which democracy emerged. 358p, 3 maps (Edinburgh Readings on the Ancient World, Edinburgh UP 2004) 0748616861 Hb £50.00, 074861687X Pb £19.99 Athenian Democratic Origins and Other Essays by G E M De Ste. Croix This volume collects together eleven essays, edited by David Harvey and Robert Parker, composed by Geoffrey de Ste. Croix in the 1960s but never published. Primarily intended for students of various levels, the essays are united in their author’s firm belief that modern scholarship should by no means underestimate the political intellect of the Athenians. The essays themselves are not updated but they are each followed by an Afterword in which the editors outline more recent developments in research. These are specialised papers, with the appearance of lectures, which examine in detail the language and themes of 5th-century legal and administrative texts as well as works by Aristotle. Other subjects include the contribution of trade to the development of early Greek colonisation, Herodotus and King Cleomenes of Sparta and the governing class of Aegina. Some knowledge of Greek is presumed. 464p (Oxford UP 2004) 0199255172 Hb £80.00 Rural Athens under the Democracy by Nicholas F Jones When one thinks of ancient Athens the image of a busy, thriving metropolis springs to mind. However, as this detailed study demonstrates, the Athenian state also included a ‘rural Athens’ which was completely distinct in society and culture from the city itself. Nicholas Jones presents the epigraphic evidence for rural Athens, for its network of villages, its social hierarchy, its patronage, its economy, its religious festivals, before considering how this alternate, rural world was depicted in urban literature and philosophy. It is not surprising to discover that the countryside and its inhabitants were both idealised by philosophers and made fun of by dramatists. 330p (Pennsylvania UP 2004) 0812237749 Hb £42.00 An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis by M H Hansen and T Heine Nielsen This is the first lexicon of all identifiable Greek city states of the Archaic and Classical periods (c.650325 BC). During this time, the eastern Mediterranean was dominated by Greeks who shared an identity based on language, religion and traditions. However, the Greek world was divided politically into some 1,500 city states, each consisting of an urban centre with its immediate hinterland. This book contains descriptions of 1,035 of these city states, organised region by region. 832p (Oxford UP 2004) 0198140991 Hb £175.00 The Greeks Overseas The Black Sea: A History by Charles King 39 The Black Sea and the countries around it have sometimes felt as though they existed on the fringes of history, on the edges of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. However, in Greek antiquity the world was centred further to the east, and in later centuries Byzantines, Ottomans, Venetians and Russians sought control of the Black Sea for the political and economical opportunities it brought as well as its rich natural resources. This interesting study begins with the Pontus Euxinus, occupied by the Greeks in the first half of the millennium BC. Charles King shows how through the succeeding centuries the Black Sea served as the meeting point or clashing point of cultures, whether Roman, Armenian, Persian, Scythian, Turks, Tatar or Mongol. Finally, the study explores the ‘division of its waters’ in the 19th century. 276p, 15 b/w pls, maps (Oxford UP 2004) 0199241619 Hb £20.00 The Cauldron of Ariantas edited by P Guldager Bilde, J Munk Hoite and V F Stollen This collection of twenty-one papers, a Festschrift for A N Sceglov of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg, focuses on the archaeological and material evidence for Greek settlement in the Black Sea region. Subjects include: Borysthenes; Archaic buildings of Porthmion; Herodotus and the Scythians; the Graeco-Scythian slave trade; epigraphy; bronze weights from Olbia; new archaeological evidence for the Chersonesean Chora ; the movement of images of Artemis; the relationship between the Bosporan kings and Athens; Sarmatian migrations; Greek architecture; amphorae; classical antiquities in Russia. English papers. 397p, b/w illus (Black Sea Studies 1, Aarhus UP 2003) 8779340857 Hb £35.95 Crimean Chersonesos: City, Chora, Museum, and Environs by Nikolay Andruschenko et al. Chersonesos was a stunning city in the ancient world, a Greek colony of the 5th century, a Roman port and imperial base and a Byzantine metropolis bedecked with fine buildings and monuments. Yet, it has also been a well kept secret due to its proximity to the centre for Russia’s Black Sea fleet which has, until now, kept visitors and scholars away. The publication of this guide to Chersonesos pre-empts a fifty-year plan by the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos and the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Texas, to explore and manage the site. This book brings to an English-speaking audience the wonderful history of Chersonesos, its monuments and environs over a two thousand year period and discusses its position as a highly influential city both in the Mediterranean and across the whole of Eurasia. 232p, col pls (National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos and the Institute of Classical Archaeology 2004) 0970887922 Pb £22.50 The Archaeology of Greek Colonisation edited by Gocha R Tsetskhladze and Franco De Angelis * New in Paperback * This collection of eight essays on the archaeology of Greek colonisation, dedicated to Sir John Boardman, has now been reprinted. Greek colonisation continues to be a much debated topic among ancient historians and archaeologists of the Mediterranean region. These classic essays focus on archaeological research, but they consider themes relevant to archaeologists and historians alike, including: the motivation for colonisation, identity and social integration; technology and trade; collaboration, competition and conflict. Contributors: A M Snodgrass, M R Popham, D Ridgway, J N Coldstream, B B Shefton, F De Angelis, G R Tsetskhladze, J Boardman. 160p, 31 b/w figs, 3 tbs (OUSA Monograph 40, 1994, Pb 2004) 0947816615 Pb £12.95 Archaic Eretria: A Political and Social History from the Earliest Times to 490 BC by Keith G Walker Recently a number of studies have sought to redress the Athenocentric view of Greek history by exploring the archaeology and history of other cities. This excellent new book presents a political and social history of Eretria on the island of Euboia based on literary, epigraphic, numismatic and archaeological evidence. Eretria’s pioneering colonies in the Levant and west, its important role in resisting Persian threats to the Aegean, the significance of its navy and its emergence as a powerful political force, long before that of Athens, are key themes throughout. The development of an early democratic system in Eretria, c.509-490, along with other features such as urbanisation, are argued to be reminiscent of those of Athens in the later 5th century. 348p, 60 b/w pls, b/w figs, 4 maps, tbs (Routledge 2004) 0415285526 Hb £65.00 40 Greek Warfare The Sword King: The Life and Legend of Leonidas of Thermopylae by Ian Macgregor Morris The Sword King is the first book-length biography of Leonidas, the Spartan king who famously commanded 300 of his heroic countrymen at the battle of Thermopylae. It also treats the legend which that action created. Morris carefully reconstructs the life: the political intrigue surrounding Leonidas’ birth, his harsh upbringing, and the combination of circumstances which unexpectedly made him king. Yet it is his death, defending Greece against the Persian invader, that has immortalised him. And this book traces his last days in detail, explaining the reasons for, and the course of, this most noble, yet mysterious of battles. 160p, illus (Britol Phoenix Press 2004) 1904675336 Pb £14.99 Thermopylae: The Battle for the West by Ernle Bradford * Reprint * ‘The three-day battle for the pass at the “Hot Gates” of Thermopylae was a critical contest in the Persian king Xerxes’s massive invasion of Greece. The bloody stand made there by Leonides and his small Spartan army in 480 BC has since become the very emblem of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice’. This great story found a great storyteller in Ernle Bradford when it was first published in 1980. In covering a range of subjects and approaches to this period of Greek history, Bradford looks at the background to each side, the Persians, Athenians and the Spartans that were to prove crucial in repelling the Persian advance. 255p, 6 maps (1980, rep Da Capo 2004) 0306813602 Pb £13.99 Salamis: The Greatest Naval Battle of the Ancient World 480 BC by Barry Strauss In 480 BC, after twenty years of war, Greece was faced with the very real threat of annihilation at the hands of Xerxes, the Great King of Persia. This very accessible book presents a gripping account of the events of that year which culminated in the largest invasion that the ancient world ever faced. The story is told from the point of view of twelve of the principle protagonists, including Xerxes, Themistocles (‘the last Athenian’), the female naval commander Artemisia queen of Halicarnassus, the eunuch Hermotimus, the Spartan Demaratus and the victorious Aminias of Pallene. This method brings the events of this tumultuous year to life, beginning with the battle of Thermopylae and ending with a blowby-blow account of the battle of Salamis itself when, against all odds, the Greeks won a great victory. The pacey narrative is supported by useful maps, while notes, references and a brief section on sources are confined to the back. 364p, 8p of b/w pls, maps (Hutchinson 2004) 0091765044 Hb £18.99 Marathon: The Crucial Battle that Created Western Democracy * New in Paperback * by Alan Lloyd In a rather informal novelistic style, this book tells the story of Marathon where the Greeks, defending their democracy, clashed with the Persians. Alan Lloyd not only brings the events to life, but provides the background history and cultural context to the clash, describing what life was like in the Greek citystates and the flowering of Athenian democracy. Originally published in 1973, the text appears unchanged. 210p (Souvenir Press 1973, Pb edn 2004) 028563688X Pb £9.99 Xenophon: The Persian Expedition translated by Rex Warner * Reprint * This volume reprints the 1972 edition of Rex Warner’s translation from 1948, complete with an introduction and notes by George Cawkwell. The translation presents all seven books of Xenophpon’s eyewitness account of the ‘attempt by a Greek mercenary army – the Ten Thousand – to help Prince Cyrus to overthrow his brother and take the Persian throne.’ The introduction sets the heroic tale in context. 375p (Penguin 1949, this edn 1972, rep 2004) 0140440070 Pb £9.99 Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars by Jon D Mikalson During the early 5th century BC, the whole future of Greece was threatened twice by Persian aggression. In both cases the Greeks emerged victorious against all odds due to sheer determination, heroism and, this book argues, faith. This interesting study argues that during these difficult years the Greek states turned to religion more than ever and that religion played an important role in the Greek victory. Supported throughout by numerous and often lengthy extracts (in translation) from Herodotus, the study searches for evidence of the Greek faith, their rituals, their reliance on portents and omens and their view of the world. 269p, maps (North Carolina UP 2003) 0807827983 Hb £33.50 Money and Its Uses in the Ancient World Money and the Early Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy by Richard Seaford 41 Many studies on Greek social history dwell on the impact that writing and literacy had on people’s lives but, as Seaford argues, the same could be said for monetisation. This study looks at the invention and spread of coinage in the 6th and 5th centuries BC and its far-reaching influence on ‘the early Greek mind’. Drawing on evidence for a premonetary society as reflected in Homeric epic, but one which shows signs of reaction to monetisation, Seaford explores the preconditions under which coinage emerged. The second part of the study examines the contribution of monetisation to the emergence of metaphysics and includes an analysis of Athenian tragedy which reflected on an established monetary system. This is a clever book which draws in many different elements such as the role of animal sacrifice, concepts of reciprocity and individualism, and includes comparative analysis with Near Eastern economies. ‘Questioning the origins and shaping forces of Greek philosophy, this is a major book with wide appeal.’ 370p (Oxford UP 2004) 0521832284 Hb £50.00, 0521539927 Pb £18.99 Money and its Uses in the Ancient Greek World edited by Andrew Meadows and Kirsty Shipton * New in Paperback * A collection of papers, delivered at two conferences held in Oxford in 1995 and 1997, looking at the use of money in the ancient Greek economy. Papers attempt to reintegrate numismatic studies with historical research by considering the theme of money and politics. Papers in the second section present case studies which cover a wide geographic area of the Greek speaking world including Turkey, Egypt, and Rhodes from the Archaic to the Roman periods. 167p, 4 b/w figs,13 tbs, 19 b/w pls (Oxford UP 2001, Pb 2004) 0199271429 Pb £30.00 The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece by David M Schaps The invention of money changed Greek society and western civilisation for good. This detailed study examines the processes that introduced coinage to Greece, the development of coins in the Near East and the fundamental ways in which coins influenced Greek behaviour. Schaps examines the idea of value, Near Eastern and Egyptian coins and alternative methods of payment. The study also examines the impact of coins on trade, government and war, the development of a paid and unpaid workforce, loans and what things may have cost. 293p, b/w figs (Michigan UP 2004) 047211333X Hb £30.00 From Coins to History: Selected Numismatic Studies by Harold B Mattingly This book gathers together seventeen essays written over the last thirty years by one of the most influential authorities on Greek and Roman Republican coins. Subjects include the early 5th-century BC coinage of Sicily, the Athenian Standards Decree and Athenian silver coinage, the coinage of Mithradates, Seleucid coinage, 2nd-century Attic prosopography, the beginnings of Roman coinage, the coinage of Julius Caesar the governor of Macedonia, Verres and the pirates, Roman Republican coinage, the Republican mint, coinage and the state. 310p, b/w illus (Michigan UP 2004) 0472113313 Hb £40.50 Systèmes et technologie des monnaies de bronze (4es. avant J.-C.-3es. après J.-C.) by Bernard Nouyon, Georges Depeyrot and Jean-Luc Desnier A detailed look at the processes and technologies involved in the production of bronze coinage from the 4th century BC to the 3rd century AD. A discussion of the techniques, alloys and technologies of producing the coins under the Ptolemies precedes the results of an analysis of coins from Gaul, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Thrace, Crete, Asia, Syria, Egypt and central Africa, Armenia and Parthia. 208p, 4 b/w pls, many tbs (Collection Moneta 19, 2000) 9074623247 Pb £47.99 The Coinage of Nysa-Scythopolis (Beth-Shean) by Rachel Barkay The city of Nysa-Scythopolis, located, uniquely for a Decapolis city, to the west of the River Jordan, was liberated from the Hasmonaeans by Pompey. Now a self-maintaining Roman city, Nysa-Scythapolis began to mint its own bronze coins, as opposed to the silver and gold coins minted centrally by Rome. This volume provides a complete illustrated catalogue of coins, divided into 97 types, minted at the city from the middle of the 1st century BC until the middle of the 3rd century AD. The catalogue is preceded by a historical background. 272p, 14 b/w pls, 25 col and b/w illus, tbs (Corpus Nummorum Palaestinensium V, Israel Numismatic Society 2003) 9659055803 Hb £75.00 42 Greek Art Greek Art in View: Essays in honour of Brain Sparkes edited by Simon Keay This book celebrates the career of Brian Sparkes, whose work in Classical archaeology has covered many diverse areas such as art, pottery, and theatre. Such interdisciplinary work is at the core of this book, which seeks to explore the relationship between different kinds of text and material culture and the ways in which these can be interpreted. Chapters include studies on the relationship between vase painting and sculpture (Karim Arafat), images on wedding bowls (Sue Blundell), and the role of pottery workshops in the choice of iconography (Robin Osborne). There is also, unusually for this kind of publication, a paper by Brian Sparkes himself, focusing on how artists and craftsmen in ancient Greece conceived the appearances of men and women and of the move from idealised naturalism to realistic naturalism. 184p, 95 b/w illus, 6 tbs (Oxbow Books 2004) 1842171372 Hb £30.00 Art and Archaeology of Antiquity Volume III by Cornelius C Vermeule The third part of the four volume set which aims to make available the most important studies of Cornelius Vermeule, the former curator of Classical Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. This volume contains studies published between 1974 and 1984 which cover a wide range of broad topics as well as including studies of specific artworks, mostly held in American collections. The many subjects include Graeco-Roman artworks in the East, the ram cults of Cyprus, numismatic art, Graeco-Roman sculpture, monuments and memorials, painting and mosaic, the Ara Pacis and Nero, Roman imperial art, crime and punishment and Alexander the Great’s souvenirs. 465p, many illus (Pindar 2003) 1899828605 Hb £150.00 Art and Archaeology of Antiquity Volume IV by Cornelius C Vermeule This final volume spans the years between 1985 and 1995. The many subjects include: the Hellenistic East, Nero’s Golden House, Roman Ostia, funerary monuments, the end of ancient art in Egypt, Pheidias, the Severan dynasty, Troy and Germanicus Caesar. 548p, many illus (Pindar 2003) 1899828613 Hb £150.00 Also available: Volume I by C C Vermeule (2001) 1899828109 Hb £175.00 Volume II by C C Vermeule (2001) 1899828117 Hb £190.00 Hygieia in Classical Greek Art by Iphigenia Leventi Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health, had two associations, with the cult of Asklepios and with Athens. This volume, originally a thesis, discusses these two distinct roles and the different ways in which classical Greek sculptors portrayed this popular goddess. Half of the book comprises an illustrated catalogue of artworks which are divided into sections on Hygieia Hope and Hygieia Athens. These include both original classical votive reliefs and sculptures as well as Roman copies. The catalogue is preceded by a discussion of the cult and iconography of Athena Hygieia in Attika, particularly on the Athenian Acropolis, the iconography on vase painting and reliefs and the classical statuary types of all facets of the goddess. English text, Greek summary. 199p, 89 b/w pls (University of Athens, Faculty of Philosophy Archaiognosia, Supplementary Volume 2, 2003) 9608313090 Pb £45.00 Magna Graecia: Greek Art from South Italy and Sicily by Michael Bennett and Aaron J Paul During 2002 and 2003 an exhibition of Greek art from southern Italy and Sicily was held in Cleveland and Tampa. To accompany it, this volume presents a colour catalogue of 81 works of art, including sculptures, vases, terracottas, reliefs, jewellery and other metal work. The catalogue is preceded by six specialist essays which place these artworks in their archaeological and cultural context. They focus on: The Euboeans and the West: art, epic poetry and history; Agrigento: profile of a Greek history; Black-figure pottery in Magna Graecia and Sicily; Sculptural styles of Magna Graecia; Demeter and Persephone in Western Greece: migrations of myth and culture; Sanctuaries of Magna Graecia and Sicily. The splendid colour catalogue, which fills over half the book, is arranged by region and covers Paestum, Taranto, Reggio Calabria and Sybaris, Syracuse, Gela, Agrigento and Palermo. The study closes with a glossary and a list of deities, heroes and mythological creatures. 312p, many col and b/w illus (Cleveland Museum of Art 2002) 0940717719 Hb £37.50 Greek Art and Archaeology Vases en voyage de la Grèce à l’Etrurie introduced by Jean-René Jannot 43 Accompanying an exhibition on the archaic Greeks and Etruscans at the musée Dobrée in Nantes (2003-7), this large volume presents a visual and textual history of objects and images from the 7th to 2nd centuries BC. The early chapters look at the development of the collection through its major collectors of the 18th and 19th centuries. The main part of the volume features a discussion of the history of the Greeks and Etruscans supplemented with photographs and descriptions of objects from the exhibition. Most of the 200+ objects comprise decorated vases and figurines depicting gods and heroes, ritual scenes, men, women and beasts, along with a number of coins from Greece, Macedonia and southern Italy. French text. 223p, many col pls (Somogy 2004) 2850567159 Hb £32.00 Die Grabreliefs auf Zypern von der archaischen bis zur römischen Zeit by Elena Poiatzi This study on the reliefs of grave monuments from Cyprus dating from the Archaic to Roman periods is based on an illustrated catalogue of 124 examples now held in museums in Cypress, across Europe and in the United States. The reliefs, which mainly depict female, male or lion figures, are described and discussed in detail, along with a consideration of their symbolism. The catalogue is preceded by a chronological discussion of stylistic developments. German text, English summary. 236p, 68 b/w pls, map, tbs (Bibliopolis 2003) 3933925428 Hb £32.50 Light on Stone: Greek and Roman Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art photographs by Joseph Cosica, Jr, text by Elizabeth J Milleker In 1999 the galleries of Greek and Roman sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were refurbished, a process that has simply brought the statues to life. This ‘Photographic Essay’ of art dating from the 6th, 5th and 4th centuries BC exploits the effects that the artificial and natural light, floating in through skylights in the vaulted ceiling, has on the sculptures. The casting of shadows and other light effects soften what can be rather harsh and austere marble statues, transforming and reinventing them for a modern audience. The photographs are stunning and are accompanied by an introductory essay and notes on each artwork by Elizabeth J Milleker. 100p, 44 pls (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2003) 0300096925 Hb £14.50 The Propylaia to the Athenian Akropolis II: The Classical Building by William B Dinsmoor and William B Dinsmoor Jr William Dinsmoor began his study of the Propylaia in 1908, and his son took up the study in 1962. Part 2 combines their work and is the first complete and exhaustive documentation of the innovative and unique structure which served as a monumental entrance to the Athenian Acropolis. The authors describe the building in minute detail, and include much information that is no longer accessible on the site because of restoration, weathering, or loss by other means. Part 1 reconstructed the architect Mnesikles’ planning of the building during the course of its construction. Part 2 gives the complete account of Mnesikles finished building, complemented by William Dinsmoor Jr’s drawings. c500p, 215 illus (American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2004) 0876619413 Hb £95.00 Corinth IX, iii: Sculpture: The Assemblage from the Theater by Mary C Sturgeon This volume (with Corinth IX, ii) completes the presentation of the sculptures excavated from the Theatre in Ancient Corinth by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Most of the sculptures were discovered during the early campaigns of 1896, 1902-1910, and 1925-1929. Mary Sturgeon’s analysis of the findspots leads to a reconstruction of sculptures on the Roman scaenae frons of the second quarter of the 2nd century AD. Her stylistic analysis of the sculptures yields important new information on the subjects, dates, and use of sculptural assemblages in Roman theatres. The inscriptions from the Theatre also provide valuable insight into the honouree, patron, and date of the scaenae frons. Corinth’s Hadrianic Theatre can now be visualised as one of the most prominent and most elaborately decorated monuments in the Roman city. 400p, 92 b/w illus, 1 col illus (American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2004) 0876610939 Hb £60.00 44 Greek Literature Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome: An Anthology edited by I M Plant One would be forgiven for assuming that literature was solely a male occupation during antiquity with the notable exception of Sappho. This anthology aims to show otherwise by presenting new translations of the works of 55 Greek and Roman women. What the anthology does show, however, is that very little poetry by women survives from the Golden and Silver Ages of Latin literature (1st centuries BC and AD), possibly because it was not acceptable for women to publish. Each of the 55 women is introduced with a brief biography and discussion followed by very readable English translations of their verse or prose. Not surprisingly this journey through over a millennium of literature begins with Sappho. It ends with Eucheria (late 5th or 6th centuries) whose satirical poem targeted a potential admirer. The anthology concludes with a glossary, a list of attested female authors and a chronology. 268p (Equinox 2004) 1904768016 Hb £65.00, 1904768024 Pb £16.99 Theatres for Action: Papers for Chris Dearden edited by J Davidson and A Pomeroy This volume, a supplement to the Prudentia journal, presents sixteen papers that reflect Chris Dearden’s research into the historical context of Greco-Roman literature and the relationship between Athens and the rest of the Greek world. Contributors discuss: the proem of the Odyssey; the 5th-century chorus; the death of Aeschylus; violence and pain in Greek tragedy; Herodotus’ use of sources; mask types in Greek tragedy; 4th-century south Italian vase painting; 4th-century oratory; Theocritus; Plautus’ Cistellaria; Roman pantomime; Suetonius’ Nero; Virgil’s presentation of Aeneas’ wars; phallic wordplay in Lucian; and Dionysus. 237p (Polygraphia 2003) 18877332100 Pb £14.95 The Homeric Hymns translated by Diane Rayor The Homeric Hymns were sung to audiences at festivals and banquets long before the advent of writing in Greece. This volume presents English translations of 34 beautiful poems which celebrate the attributes of the god or goddess to which they are dedicated. Diane Rayor’s introduction discusses the date and survival of the hymns, their religious meaning and performance. The notes, with a glossary, are confined to the back of this well-presented book. 164p (California UP 2004) 0520239911 Hb £22.95, 0520239938 Pb £9.95 Homeric Responses by Gregory Nagy This book, much of which has been previously published in different formats, presents a series of essays in which Nagy examines the oral origins of Homeric epic and explores the relationship between the poet, and his poem, and his audience. This largely philological and linguistic reading of the Iliad and Odyssey is targeted at undergraduate level. Extracts are in Greek and in English translation. 100p (Texas UP 2003) 0292705530 Hb £30.50, 0292705549 Pb £12.95 Hesiod’s Ascra by Anthony T Edwards Hesiod’s poem Works and Days provides detailed and quite personal insight into the life of a peasant in the small hamlet of Ascra in southern Greece during the 7th century BC. This in-depth analysis of the value of the poems as a historical and social document makes interesting reading. Edwards explores what we can learn from Hesiod about ancient Greek agricultural communities, the agricultural regime and local politics as well as the background to the quarrel that Hesiod describes between himself and his brother over family inheritance. One major theme of the poem and the study is the relationship between a small rural community and ‘the city’ which exploited peasant society, dispensed justice and laws and was to be avoided at all costs. 208p (California UP 2004) 0520236580 Hb £29.95 The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle by Jonathan S Burgess You could be forgiven for thinking that Homer was the only major source for the Trojan War but you would be wrong. All too often overlooked and dismissed is the role of the Epic Cycle, a collection of poems concerned with the origins of the gods, the Theban War and the Trojan War. Although none survive, elements of them are contained within the works of other writers. Here, Burgess ‘challenges Homer’s authority on the history and legends of the Trojan War’ by placing him within the context of the Epic Cycle and by comparing the two sources and their purpose. 295p, 24 b/w illus (Johns Hopkins UP 2001, Pb 2004) 0801866529 Hb £35.00, 080187890X Pb £16.50 Greek Literature 45 Soliciting Darkness: Pindar, Obscurity and the Classical Tradition by John T Hamilton Pindar is regarded as one of the greatest Greek lyric poets but, to put it plainly, his poetry is difficult. Soliciting Darkness looks at whether Pindar’s poetry has been misunderstood and awaits enlightenment, or whether we should just accept that his reputation of darkness and obscurity is correct and that he is in fact an incomprehensible poet. This specialist study includes many extracts from Pindar’s poems and from the works of European scholars, all with an English translation. 348p (Harvard UP 2003) 0674012224 Hb £29.95, 0674012577 Pb £17.95 Sophron’s Mimes: Text, Translation and Commentary by J H Hordern Sophron of Syracuse, a possible contemporary of Euripides, has been largely forgotten but his comical mimes were greatly admired across the Hellenistic world for hundreds of years after his death. This study, the first for many years to present Sophron’s entire extant corpus, publishes the Greek text of 171 brief mimes, with notes and facing English translations, and followed by commentaries. The introduction discusses the style and content of these humorous and often bawdy sketches in prose which included mimes for men and mimes for women, many of which described incidents from everyday life. 202p (Oxford UP 2004) 0199266131 Hb £50.00 Thukydides und Perikles: Der Historiker und sein Held by Wolfgang Will The 5th-century Greek historian Thucydides greatly admired the Athenian statesman and general Pericles, regarding him as incorruptible. This detailed volume examines the relationship between the ancient historian and his hero, contrasting Thucydides’ treatment of Pericles with that of other contemporaries such as Alcibiades. The final section examines and contrasts Plutarch’s presentation of Pericles and discusses Pericles’ reputation today. 410p (Habelt 2003) 3774931496 Hb £70.00 Reproducing Athens: Menander’s Comedy, Democratic Culture, and the Hellenistic City by Susan Lape New Comedy as a poetic genre emerged in Greece at the same time as the Macedonians began to undermine the Athenian democracy. Traditional scholarship has regarded romantic comedy, such as the plays of Menander, as having no political content or comment on contemporary beliefs and events. Susan Lape disagrees and in this reassessment of Menander’s romantic plays, she argues that they are a key source in realising the ways in which the Athenians defended their democracy against threats from the new Hellenistic kingdoms. 294p (Princeton UP 2004) 0691115834 Hb £26.95 The Politics of Greek Tragedy by D M Carter The topic addressed by this volume has been a subject of much scholarly debate in the last thirty years or so; but it is one that does not often find its way specifically into the more accessible accounts of Greek tragedy. The fact is that tragedy, no less than the satirical comedies of Aristophanes or the sculptures of the Parthenon, involved a highly political dimension. This book provides provocative analyses of the political aspect in several tragedies (referred to in modern translations). Carter includes a chapter on the ‘reception’ of political tragedy, alluding to recent productions of the Greek plays which have taken an overtly political stance. 128p (Britol Phoenix Press 2004) 1904675166 Pb £8.99 Telling Tragedy by Barbara Goward * New in Paperback * In this book, Goward explores the narrative strategies that sustain the complex relationship between the tragic poet and his audience. She discusses how stories were transformed into drama by Aeschylus, and how narrative patterns were successfully adapted by Sophocles and Euripides in the last decades of the 5th century. 214p (Duckworth 1999, Pb 2004) 0715631764 Pb £16.99 The Hero and the City: * New in Paperback * An Interpretation of Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus by Joseph P Wilson This specialised study provides an in-depth reading of Sophocles’ last play, focusing on the ambiguous role of its hero Oedipus. Wilson also focuses on particular sections of the tragedy, notably the verse in which Theseus offers Oedipus Athenian citizenship. Other sections discuss the different voices of the play, the role of the chorus, Sophocles’ treatment of religious issues and the death and status of Oedipus himself. Extracts are translated. 208p (Michigan UP 1997, Pb 2004) 047208688X Pb £14.50 46 Greek Literature Sophocles: Trachiniae by R C Jebb, introduction by Barbara Goward The 19th-century Cambridge scholar Richard Jebb produced editions of Sophocles’ plays between 1883 and 1896 which had ‘a profound influence’ on subsequent scholarship. This volume, which is part of a series designed to make Jebb’s classic work available again, presents a facsimile of the 1892 edition of Trachiniae with an introduction by Barbara Goward that considers Jebb’s interpretation. The Greek text and facing English translation are accompanied by copious notes. 223p (Bristol CP 2004) 1853996424 Pb £16.99 Sophocles: Philoctetes by R C Jebb, introduction by Felix Budelmann This volume, part of a series, presents a facsimile of Richard Claverhouse Jebb’s classic edition of Philoctetes from 1898. The Greek text, with a facing English description and lots of notes, is preceded by an introduction in which Felix Budelmann discusses Jebb’s significant contribution to Sophoclean scholarship. 267p (Bristol CP 2004) 1853996416 Pb £16.99 Sophocles: Antigone by R C Jebb, introduction by Ruby Blondell This volume presents a facsimile of Richard Claverhouse Jebb’s classic edition of Antigone from 1900. The introduction by Ruby Blondell places the edition at the forefront of Sophoclean scholarship and discusses Jebb’s interpretation. The Greek text and English translation are accompanied by extensive notes. 288p (Bristol CP 2004) 1853996475 Pb £16.99 The Works of Archimedes Volume 1: The Two Books On the Sphere and the Cylinder by Reviel Netz This volume, the first in a project to publish translations of the works of one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians of all time, presents an English translation of both books of On the Sphere and the Cylinder. It also includes English translations of the ancient commentary by Eutocius. 375p, diagrams (Cambridge UP 2004) 0521661609 Hb £75.00 Labored in Papyrus Leaves edited by Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, Elizabeth Kosmetatou and Manuel Baumbach During 2001 a new collection of epigrams by Posidippus (3rd century BC) was made available to scholars for the first time. This collection of twenty papers, from a colloquium held at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, marks the occasion and approaches the epigrams, and Hellenistic poetry as a whole, from a variety of perspectives which reflect the importance of this collection to Hellenistic literature, history, philology, papyrology and epigraphy. These are specialist papers and, although the epigrams are presented in Greek and English, a knowledge of Greek is presumed. 377p (Center for Hellenic Studies 2004) 0674011058 Pb £16.95 Greek Literature and the Roman Empire: The Politics of Imitation by Tim Whitmarsh * New in Paperback * A highly detailed and specialised analysis of 2nd-century AD Greek literature which investigates the ways in which Greek authors explored and promoted ‘Greekness’ during this period. Focusing on texts by Dio Chrysostom, Philostratus, Plutarch and others, Whitmarsh looks at imitation and interplay between Greece and Rome and considers how Greek cultural identity survived in the face of Roman power and ideology. 377p (Oxford UP 2001, Pb 2004) 0199271372 Pb £22.99 Empedocles: An Interpretation by Simon Trépanier Debate surrounds the consistency of the philosophy of Empedocles (5th century BC). Scholars have argued that Empedocles wrote two works which presented conflicting philosophies. This specialised study, originally a thesis, argues that Empedocles wrote only a single poem, Katharmoi, which had only one, united philosophy which directed the reader towards the purification of the body. Trépannier’s argument centres ‘on the relationship between literary form and philosophical ideas’ and, as such, is based on a detailed analysis of the text with additional consideration of Empedocles’ medical theories and mysticism. Extracts are in Greek with English translation. 289p (Routledge 2004) 0415967007 Hb £55.00 Greek Philosophy What is Ancient Philosophy? by Pierre Hadot 47 * New in Paperback * Surrounded as we are by so many new editions, translations and commentaries on Greek and Roman philosophical texts, it is easy to lose sight of the origins of ancient philosophy as well as its relevance as a method of achieving happiness in the 21st century. This study, itself a philosophical work, discusses the meaning of the terms philosophia and sophia before examining the message of each ancient school during the Hellenistic, Roman, early Christian and, to a lesser extent, medieval periods. Aimed primarily at students, this accessible and useful book provides much food for thought. 362p (1995, Harvard UP English edn 2002, Pb 2004) 0674013735 Pb £10.95 Philolaus of Croton: Pythagorean and Presocratic: * Reprint * A Commentary on the Fragments and Testimonia with Interpretive Essays edited and translated by Carl A Huffman Before this book’s first publication in 1993, the previous study devoted to Philolaus, ‘the foremost of the early Pythagoreans’, had appeared in 1819. Therefore this commentary on both genuine and more spurious fragments was timely. Each fragment is presented in Greek with an English translation, a commentary and a discussion of the fragment’s authenticity. The first half of the book, however, comprises a discussion of Philolaus life, writings and philosophy, set within the context of 5th-century Pythagoreanism. A knowledge of Greek is presumed. 444p (Cambridge UP 1993, rep 2004) 052141525X Hb £90.00 Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Aristotle and the Metaphysics by Vasilis Politis This guidebook is intended as a ‘painless’ introduction for students to Aristotle’s Metaphysics which, as Politis explains in straightforward terms, aims to answer the question ‘What is being?’. Extracts are presented throughout in English translation. 344p (Routledge 2004) 0415251478 Hb £45.00, 0415251486 Pb £9.99 Does Socrates Have a Method? * New in Paperback * Rethinking the Elenchus in Plato’s Dialogues and Beyond edited by Gary Alan Scott Traditionally, the ‘Socratic Method’ has been interpreted as the exchange of ideas, or dialogue, between teacher and pupil. More recently scholars have begun to dispute that Socrates even has a method at all and, therefore, it is time to re-examine Socrates’ way of philosophosing in the dialogues, his ‘elenchus’. This book presents sixteen specialist studies, some of which originated at a conference held in New York in 1997, which discuss Plato’s dialogues searching for clues to the form and purpose of Socratic argument, if there is any, while redefining the terminology. As a whole the collection itself is intended as a healthy dialogue between a range of perspectives. 327p (Pennsylvania UP 2002, Pb 2003) 027102173X Hb £36.50, 0271023473 Pb £20.50 Ideal and Culture of Knowledge in Plato edited by Wolfgang Detel, Alexander Becker and Peter Scholz Thirteen English-language papers, the proceedings of a conference held in Frankfurt in 2000, examine the culture of knowledge that surrounded Plato, contrasting it with Plato’s idealised theory of knowledge. These specialised and annotated papers closely examine a number of Platonic texts including the Republic, Symposium and Gorgias. Extracts are in English translation. 288p (Philosophie der Antike 15, Steiner 2003) 3515083375 Hb £38.00 Plato Unmasked: The Dialogues Made New translated by Keith Quincy Plato has the reputation for being difficult, particularly among modern readers outside philosophical circles. This volume approaches Plato’s works from a completely different perspective. Assuming some prior knowledge of Plato, Quincy presents ‘condensed’ translations of parts of the texts, revealing the central arguments, while omitting his ‘mind-numbing’ garnishes and ‘absurdities’. The extracts are translated into very readable English, with no notes (except for occasional historical notes) and are sometimes introduced by a brief discussion that sets the scene, turning these dialogues into dramatic pieces, full of context. 559p (Eastern Washington UP 2003) 0910055904 Hb £29.95 48 Plato The Midwife of Platonism: Text and Subtext in Plato’s Theaetetus by David Sedley This detailed analysis of a ‘problematic dialogue’ contributes to the debate surrounding the phase of the Theaetetus and its presentation of a ‘pre-Platonic’ Socrates. Sedley argues that the dialogue belongs to Plato’s mature phase but that its Socrates is the Socrates of the earlier dialogues who is ‘unwittingly preparing the ground for Plato’s mature doctrines’. The study, therefore, examines the gap between Theaetetus’ persona, Socrates, and its author, Plato. This book is clearly aimed at those who have an indepth knowledge of its subject. 201p (Oxford UP 2004) 0199267030 Hb £30.00 Plato through Homer: Poetry and Philosophy in the Cosmological Dialogue by Zdravko Planinc This detailed analysis of Plato’s writings argues that ‘it is by reading the dialogues as works of literature that we might best begin to understand Plato... on his own terms’. The study is based on the premise that Homer’s Odyssey was Plato’s most influential source and that, in Socrates, Plato created a new Odysseus undergoing his own journey and homecoming. Throughout his study, Planinc compares episodes, characterisation and remarks from the Odyssey and the dialogues, in particular Timaeus, Phaedrus and Critias. 134p (Missouri UP 2003) 0826214797 Hb £27.95 Plato: Symposium edited and translated by C J Rowe * Reprint * The Symposium is a complex piece which is perhaps as widely read as any of Plato’s works apart form the Republic. A new translation with a substantial body of notes which cater for those who have little or no Greek and give equal weight to the dialogue as a piece of philosophy and literature. This edition is an Open University set text. 220p (Aris and Phillips 1999, reprinted 2004) 085668614X Hb £35.00, 0856686158 Pb £16.50 Plato: Gorgias translated by Walter Hamilton and Chris Emlyn-Hughes * Revised Edition * In this new edition Chris Emlyn-Jones has revised Walter Hamilton’s translation of Plato’s dialogue in which the politician Callicles, the rhetorician Gorgias and Socrates debate the nature of government. The translation includes a commentary and is followed by notes and a glossary. Emlyn-Jones’ introduction discusses the text, the dialogue genre and Plato’s relationship with Socrates. 155p (Penguin Classics 1960, rev edn 2004) 0140449043 Pb £7.99 The Letter of Speusippus to Philip II by Anthony Francis Natoli This volume provides the Greek text with facing English translation of Plato’s 31st Socratic Letter. This letter was composed in response to Philip II’s hostility towards Plato for his meddling in Macedonian affairs and, as a result, his withdrawal of support from the Academy. The study includes an extensive commentary and an introductory discussion of the function of this public letter, its historical background, its rhetoric and its authenticity. 196p (Historia Einzelschriften 176, Steiner 2004) 3515083960 Pb £28.00 The Atlantis Syndrome by Paul Jordan * New in Paperback * In The Atlantis Syndrome, Paul Jordan maps the invention, abandonment, and rediscovery of the concept of Atlantis from Plato’s invention of Atlantis in his moral tale of the ruining of Athens, to the present day ‘alternative archaeologies’ which use his analogy as their foundation. Jordan argues that contemporary archaeology has gone far beyond the need for an Atlantis to explain the distant human past and outlines contemporary archaeological thinking about human evolution, prehistory and classical history and society. Ultimately he takes in turn several of the more popular books on the Atlantis theory and critically analyses their evidence and approach. In this way he effectively shoots down several modern heroes of the modern cult of Atlantology, looking at the underlying motivations for their writings. He also warns of the ‘colonialist and missionary condescension’ enshrined in their hyperdiffusionist ideas. This is a fascinating and much needed contextual analysis of the ‘Atlantis Syndrome’ and should be read by anyone interested in this subject. 309p, many b/w maps, diagrams and illustrations and 23 b/w pls (Sutton 2001, Pb 2003) 0750935189 Pb £8.99 Religion in the Ancient World Oracles in the Ancient World by Trevor Curnow 49 Oracles were not only a feature of ancient Greek religion, they also existed in Egypt, Italy, Turkey and eastern Europe. This ‘comprehensive guide’ presents a gazetteer of these special places arranged alphabetically by country beginning with Albania and ending with the two recognised oracles of Bath and Lydney in the United Kingdom. The majority of the entries, not surprisingly, cover oracles in Egypt, Greece and the Hellenistic Near East. The entries include a full description of each site as it survives today as well as a discussion of its past, deity, structures and, where appropriate, inscriptions and archaeological history. The introduction discusses the nature of oracles, asking why people consulted them, how they worked and how they survive today. Includes a glossary. 180p, 63 b/w pls, maps (Duckworth 2004) 0715631942 Hb £25.00 Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden * New in Paperback * In the Greek and Roman worlds, as in many other ancient societies, if you wanted to know about the future an option was to consult the dead. Here we enter the world of ghosts, zombies, sorcerers, shamans, witches and oracles, we visit tombs, battlefields, oracular shrines and delve into the underworld to discover why and how people invoked the dead and consulted their wisdom. Ogden’s fascinating book on ancient necromancy brings together a great deal of source material, producing the first comprehensive survey of the subject. 313p, 16 b/w illus (Princeton UP 2001, Pb 2004) 0691119686 Pb £16.95 Women’s Religions in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook edited by Ross Shepard Kraemer This excellent sourcebook contains hundreds of primary texts translated into English, expanded and revised for this new edition. Covering women’s religion from the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD, it contains a wealth of material grouped thematically relating to many different types of women. The texts are taken from a number of religions and have been translated from many languages. They include documents to and from women, epitaphs, inscriptions, vows and donations, religious offices held by women, royal women, female participation in festivals and ritual practices as well as the worship of particular deities including Dionysus and Artemis. Originally published in 1988 as Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons, Monastics: A Sourcebook on Women’s Religions in the Greco-Roman World. 487p (Oxford UP 2004) 0195170652 Hb £50.00, 0195142780 Pb £16.99 The Imperial Cult in Latin West. Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire, Volume III, Part 3: The Provincial Central; Provincial Cult by Duncan Fishwick Provincial centres were places where cult could be offered to the emperor, as well as being administrative headquarters, recreational and entertainment centres, and focal points for state and emperor ideology. This third part in the series looking at provincial cult in the Roman west examines evidence from major and minor provincial centres. Tarraco, Emerita, Corduba, Lugunum, Narbo Martius, Camulodunum, Gorsium, Sarmizegetusa and Carthage are the subject of detailed scrutiny whilst other provincial sites are discussed latterly. Having toured these centres, the last section looks at particular features of provincial cult: regalia, calendar, rites, dedications and games. 397p, 112 b/w pls, figs (Religion in the GraecoRoman World 147, Brill 2004) 9004128069 Hb £85.00 The Cult of Isis in the Roman Empire: Isis Invicta by Malcolm Drew Donalson Although never acknowledged as an official cult by the Romans, Isis was particularly popular and had wide-reaching appeal among emperors and plebeians alike. This study of Isis is divided into two parts with the first section devoted to discussing the nature and characteristics of the goddess and her mythology, the cultic activities surrounding her, priests and priestesses of Isis, temple architecture and Isiac calendrical observances. The second part forms a historical survey of Isiac cult from its first introduction into Italy in the late Republic to the late 2nd century AD. Through literary, epigraphic, archaeological and artistic evidence, Donalson reveals how and why Isis was received into the pantheon of Roman gods and goddesses and the cult’s eventual suppression by Christianity. 242p, 6 col pls (Studies in Classics 22, Edwin Mellen 2003) 0773468943 Hb £69.95 50 Greco-Roman Society Women’s Influence on Classical Civilization edited by Fiona McHardy and Eireann Marshall Examples of powerful women in the ancient world have traditionally been regarded as exceptional in a male-dominated world. This collection of papers taken from the 1998 ‘An Alien Influence’ conference held at the University of Exeter, presents evidence and specific case studies of women infiltrating male dominated spheres of life, suggesting that women may have had more power in certain areas than previously thought. Using their relationships with their husbands and other male family members some women were able to play an active role in public life with direct involvement in business and other areas of public life, becoming patrons of art and architecture, donors, and finding a voice in the realms of male literature. Examples are taken from ancient Greece, Athens, Cyrene, Roman Egypt and Italy. 196p, 8 b/w figs, 2 tbs (Routledge 2004) 0415309573 Hb £55.00, 0415309581 Pb £18.99 Symposium: Banquet et représentations en Grèce et à Rome edited by Charalampos Orfanos and Jean-Claude Carrière The theme of the symposium arises in many different fields of ancient study and is a subject that can be used to access various parts of Greco-Roman society and culture. Oswyn Murray heads this collection of papers from an international colloquium held in Toulouse-Le Mirail in 2002, by looking back over the twenty years since the first such meeting held in 1984. Twenty-four other papers follow in French and English exploring the banquet itself, the banquet as a ‘scene’ (of comedy, tragedy and pathos) and its role in theatre and philosophy. 381p, 8 b/w pls (Pallas: Revue d’études antiques 61, Presses Universitaires du Mirail 2003) 2858166692 Pb £19.99 Food, Cookery, and Dining in Ancient Times: Alexis Soyer’s Pantropheon by A Soyer This unabridged republication of Soyer’s Pantropheon (1853) records the thoughts and witticisms of the first celebrity chef. Soyer’s discussion of the food of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Roman and Jews, covers a range of topics from the origins of foods to agricultural practices, from seasoning and particular favoured dishes, to serving dinner guests. Written in a charmingly old fashioned style with such exclamations as “The Greeks and Romans esteemed highly their pickles”, and “the carp occupied a very honourable rank with the Greeks and Latins”. 470p, 38 b/w illus (Dover Pb 2004) 0486432106 Pb £19.95 Luxuskritik und Aufwandsbeschränken in der griechischen Welt by Rainer Bernhardt There was little room for luxury and ostentation in ancient Greece; it was regarded as a symptom of decadence, particularly in the east. This specialised study, a thesis, examines the Greek disapproval of luxury and the curtailment of pomp during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Bernhardt compares and contrasts evidence from across the Greek world, from austere Sparta to Arabia and Persia, as well as the emerging Roman Republic. Evidence includes legal texts, philosophical works and political treatises. 423p (Historia Einzelschriften 168, Steiner 2003) 3515083200 Hb £49.95 Ancient Medicine by Vivian Nutton This well-researched study of ancient medicine from the Greeks to Late Antiquity is based on archaeological and written evidence, with all extracts translated into English. Chapters focus on doctors and diseases, mortality, medical knowledge, education and training within the Greek and Roman worlds, as well as the relationship between people and doctors, and other healers. Nutton also looks at the development of anatomy, surgery and dietetics. Whilst discussing in detail the impact of major figures such as Hippocrates and Galen, this study gives much greater emphasis to the alternatives than other books on the subject. 486p, 4 maps and plans, b/w figs (Routledge 2004) 0415086116 Hb £65.00 Manus Medica compiled by Françoise Gaide and Frédérique Biville Manus medica contains papers from a colloquium held at the University of Lumière-Lyon in 2001 on the subject of the actions and official roles of doctors in ancient Latin medical texts. The contributors adopt linguistic, philological and historical approaches to ancient Latin texts and, through such evidence, discuss the place of the doctor and his work, literary references to his role and related terminology. Evidence from authors such as Celse, Scribonius Largus, Cassius Felix and Gargilius Martialis, is presented and most of the Latin extracts are not translated. French text. 272p (l’Université de Provence 2003) 2853995496 Pb £19.99 Prejudice and Slavery 51 Restraining Rage: * New in Paperback * The Ideology of Anger Control in Classical Antiquity by William V Harris Rage and anger were emotions under close scrutiny in many Classical texts, in tragedy, history and in philosophical works. This book explores how ancient writers and philosophers were concerned over controlling or preventing rage and how they thought this could be achieved. From the divine anger of the gods to everyday life, rage in male-female relationships, politics and intellectual life, Harris argues that this was a dominant theme in Classical culture and attempts to control anger were ultimately a response to social and political conditions. 468p (Harvard UP 2001, Pb 2004) 0674013867 Pb £12.95 The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity by Benjamin Isaac It may come as no surprise to most that the Greeks and Romans, both known for their sense of ethnic superiority and pride, for their aggression against ‘foreigners’ and ‘barbarians’ and for their reliance on the slavery of other peoples, knew all about racism. This in-depth study examines the historical and literary evidence for Greek and Roman attitudes towards other peoples, including Near Eastern populations, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Greeks (with Roman eyes), Gauls, Germans and Jews. Isaac also examines the opinions of other Greeks and Romans, such as Polybius and Cicero, who expressed concern about the moral corruption that went hand-in-hand with conquest and plunder. 563p, b/w illus (Princeton UP 2004) 0691116911 Hb £29.95 Slaves and other Objects by Page Dubois Slaves were an integral element of every aspect of ancient Greek life and yet they have become invisible. This extremely interesting study argues that classicists are uncomfortable with Greek slavery, that it gets in the way of their appreciation of Greek culture and philosophical ideals. However, ‘the distorted, beaten, whipped, tortured, tattooed, often comic body of the slave’ cries out to be seen and ‘must be seen’. The first half of the study examines ‘objects’ and the place of these everyday objects in museum collections and in scholarship. Many of these objects if they were not made by slaves were used by them. Dubois also searches for archaeological evidence of the slave in house plans, the function of slaves as sexual objects and how slavery scarred the human body of the slave. The second half of the study focuses on ‘texts’ and the treatment of slavery in dramatic and philosophical texts. It may come as a surprise that Plato had been a slave and Dubois considers the impact of this hidden piece of biography on Plato’s writings. Finally, Dubois considers more recent attitudes towards slavery, namely African slavery, and how this attitude was inherited from Aristotle. As Dubois says in her conclusion ‘The presence of ancient slaves has left its mark on the West, in its moment of legal, philosophical, literary, and artistic beginnings; yet they have often remained disturbingly unseen, disavowed, and invisible’. 290p, 24 b/w illus (Chicago UP 2003) 0226167879 Hb £31.50 Die Beendigung des Sklavenstatus im Altertum by Ingomar Weiler Slaves accounted for a large proportion of the Greek and Roman population and yet, as this study proclaims, they had no voice. The only accounts of slavery that exist were written by free men. Weiler’s detailed study examines the nature of ancient slavery from a range of perspectives, including historical and anthropological, and also makes comparison throughout with the more recent experiences of slaves and ex-slaves in America and the Caribbean. Weiler also considers the ways in which slavery could be terminated, including escape and emancipation, using literary, epigraphic and philosophical sources. German text. 356p (Forschungen zur Antiken Sklaverei XXXVI, Steiner 2003) 3515082085 Pb £38.00 Sklave der Stadt: Untursuchungen zur öffentlichen Sklaverei in den Städten des Römischen Reiches by Alexander Weiss Weiss’ detailed study, a thesis, of the public role of slaves in the cities of the Roman empire is based on an extensive catalogue of inscriptions which are presented in Latin or Greek. This is preceded by an annotated discussion of Roman civil servants, the public duties of the personal servants of high-ranking officials, the place of slavery in Roman urban administration and religious cults, the legal status of slaves, city workshops and the city’s strict social and administrative hierarchy. German text. 265p (Historia Einzelschriften 173, Steiner 2004) 3515083839 Pb £36.00 52 Sport and Festival Games and Festivals in Classical Antiquity edited by Sinclair Bell and Glenys Davies The Greek and Roman year were divided into festivals and games even more than our year is today. This volume presents fourteen papers, half of which originated at a conference held in Edinburgh in 2000, which examine the archaeological, material and documentary evidence for ancient sports and festivals, making comparison between Greek and Roman habits and placing the events in their political and religious setting. 153p, b/w figs (Archaeopress BAR S1220, 2004) 1841715808 Pb £28.00 Sport and Festival in the Ancient Greek World edited by D Phillips and D Pritchard This collection of fifteen papers originated at the conference ‘Olympia and the Olympics: Festival and Identity in the Ancient World’ held in Sidney in 2000 as part of the preparations for the Sydney Olympics. It considers how sport and festival affected the ancient Greek city and how the values of the athletes pervaded Greek culture. To accompany the main focus, on the ancient world, the book also examines the sometimes troubled relationship between research on ancient Greek sport and the modern Olympic movement. The papers are divided into six thematic sections: Olympia and the Olympics; Athletic poetry and Olympic mythology; The origins of athletic and choral competitions; Athens and its festivals; Athletics, education and philosophy; Curating the ancient Olympics. 416p, b/w figs (Wales CP 2003) 0954384512 Hb £45.00 Ancient Greek Athletics by Stephen G Miller A considerable number of academic and popular studies on ancient sports have been, and are due to be, published in this Athenian Olympic year (throwing the opening statement of this book into some doubt: ‘Ancient Greek athletics as a field of study does not suffer from overpopulation’) but this study stands out among the best. Miller draws on recent archaeological and historical discoveries to discuss in comprehensive detail all aspects of games and athletic competitions in ancient Greece. Supported by numerous photographs, often in colour, and illustrations of sites and objects that depict competitions, the scholarly text describes in detail the origin of athletics, the Olympic Games and other festivals, the role of women in this male domain, the relationship between an athlete and a hero, Greek recreation, the gymnasium, sport as entertainment, professional athletes and the political side to competitions. Includes a glossary. 288p, many col and b/w illus (Yale UP 2004) 0300100833 Hb £25.00 Arete: Greek Sports From Ancient Sources by Stephen G Miller * Third Edition * Coinciding with the return of the Olympics to Athens, Miller’s fascinating source book has just been made available again in an expanded third edition. Greek and Roman writers, in the compiler’s own translations, provide insights into ancient sports of every type, as well as the role of games in society, the female contribution, the organisation, their survival in the Roman world and their importance for ancient foreign policy. 275p, b/w figs (California UP 1991, Pb 3rd Edn 2004) 0520241541 Pb £14.95 The Road to Olympia: Origins of the Olympic Games by André Bernand The Olympic Games is arguably the most tangible legacy of our Greek heritage with its place of origin, Olympia, among the most enigmatic sites of antiquity. Supported throughout by colour images of artworks and remains from Olympia and other sporting venues, this well-presented study examines the idea behind the Olympics, the philosophy of a healthy body mirroring a healthy mind, family honour, the ritual of the Games, other games and festivals, the type of events, and the possibilities of dishonour and corruption. Includes a glossary. 300p, many col pls (Periplus 2003) 1902699467 Hb £50.00 Olympische Götterspiele: Wettkampf und Kult by Ulrich Wegner To coincide with the return of the Olympic Games to Greece, Olympische Götterspiele celebrates the rich legacy of the games which combined so effectively religion and competition. Supported throughout with colour photographs of Olympia and other sites, vases, sculptures and friezes, as well as photographs of similar scenes from modern Games, the book discusses the history of religious sport, looking at evidence from Egypt, Mycenae and Homer. Further sections examine other Hellenic games, the religious rituals, the competing states, the ideology of the ancient Games, the types of sports and arena, associated literature and music, and the legacy of the Olympics through the Roman period to the present day. 208p, many col and b/w illus (Thorbecke 2004) 3799501185 Hb £22.50 Hellenistic Cities Die Elfenbeinplastiken aus dem Hanghaus II in Ephesos by Maria Dawid 53 This large-format paperback illustrates and discusses the spectacular Roman ivory carvings and sculptures from reliefs in Hanghaus 2 in Ephesus. Dawid dates the reliefs to the reign of Trajan and places the pieces in their historical and artistic context. Finally, the study discusses the fully rounded statue fragments that survive, particularly the portrait heads of three family members, and reconstructs the theatre and military scenes of the reliefs. German text. 81p, 44 b/w and col pls, b/w figs (Forschungen in Ephesos VIII/5, OAW 2003) 3700132077 Pb £34.50 The Guide to Xanthos and Letoon by Jacques Des Courtils This book forms part of the celebration of 50 years of archaeological excavation at the sites of Xanthos and Letoon in Anatolia. In essence an archaeological guide, Jacques Des Courtils presents an outline history of the site of Xanthos, occupied from the 7th century BC to the 11th century AD, and the sanctuary at Letoon, before taking the reader on a tour of the sites. An ‘easily accessible summary’ that provides a synopsis of 50 years of excavation work, accompanied by lots of photographs and illustrations. 173p, 73 b/w and col pls and figs (Ege Yayinlari 2003) 975807055X Pb £12.50 Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis by Achtim Lichtenberger This substantial study of late Hellenistic and Roman cult and culture in the cities of the Decapolis is based on the detailed analysis of numismatic, archaeological and epigraphic evidence. As a whole this material provides invaluable evidence for the relationship between religion and politics in the region as it moved from Phoenician to Greek to Roman control. 656p, figs (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Pälastina-Vereins 29, Harrossowitz 2003) 3447048069 Hb £135.00 Hierapolis of Phrygia (Pamukkale) by Francesco D’Andria * English Edition * This archaeological guide to the Hellenistic city of Hierapolis in Turkey combines comprehensive historical background and description for the visitor with a synthesis of the excavations carried out by the Italian Archaeological Museum over the last fifty years. With the aid of colour photographs and reconstruction drawings, D’Andria guides the reader and traveller around each section of the ruins, looking at its Plutonium (the site of a holy spring), Agora, baths, latrines, theatres, temples, tombs, streets, gates and artworks, whilst exploring the chronological development of the city, particularly after the devastating earthquake of AD 60. 240p, many col illus (Ege Yayinlari Engl edn 2003) 975807069X Pb £12.95 Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors by Barbara Burrell Some Greek cities in the eastern Mediterranean identified themselves as neokoroi or ‘temple wardens’, meaning that they possessed a temple dedicated to the cult of the Roman emperor. Therefore, although these cities were Greek in so many ways the ultimate power lay in the hands of the Roman governor and the emperor himself. In order to explore this relationship, Burrell’s study examines and catalogues the evidence and also considers its reliability and partiality. This evidence comprises literary sources, coins, inscriptions and the archaeological record which may, in some cases, help identify the temple itself. Each section focuses on a particular city, such as Pergamon, Miletos, Ephesos and Sagalossus, and includes a discussion and catalogue. Final chapters examinethe temples and statues, religious festivals, the officials and the Roman powers. 422p, 197 b/w pls (Brill 2004) 9004125787 Hb £115.00 Hatra: Geschichte und Kultur einer Karawanenstadt im römisch-parthischen Mesopotamien by Michael Sommer The Hellenistic city of Hatra in Mesopotamia, now a stunning ruin in the desert, became part of Roman Parthia in the early 2nd century AD. Its location between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers ensured its importance as a resting place on the trade route between the east and west. Supported throughout by colour photographs of the well-preserved remains of the city, its architectural flourishes and its statues, Sommer’s study examines Hatra’s strategic position between the two mighty powers of Rome and Parthia, the city’s political organisation and rulers, its use by nomadic tribes, its religion and its extraordinary temples. German text. 83p, many col illus (Bildbände zur Archäologie, Von Zabern 2003) 3805332521 Hb £28.50 54 Etruscan and Roman History * English Edition * The Etruscans: Art, Architecture and History by Federica Borrelli and Maria Cristina Targia Originally published in Italian, this book forms a good, well-illustrated introduction to the Etruscans from the point of view of their art, history and culture. Borrelli and Targia look at three broad periods in Etruscan history between 720 and 27 BC with brief discussions, and lots of photographs with descriptive captions, on subjects such as writing, temple architecture, pottery, grave goods, images of the ancestors, painted tombs, foreign imports and cultural influences from others areas. 143p, many col pls (British Museum Engl edn 2004) 071412253X Pb £9.99 Discs of Splendor: The Relief Mirrors of the Etruscans by Alexandra A Carpino Over three thousand bronze mirrors survive from the Etruscan civilisation and their intricate decoration, often on both sides, and their broad range of styles make them unlike any other mirrors from the ancient Mediterranean. They also provide valuable insights about Etruscan metalworking and, from the iconography, Etruscan mythology. This study, a thesis, comprises a catalogue of all known Etruscan relief mirrors as well as others of more doubtful provenance. These mirrors, the rarest, are characterised by the fact that the decoration on the reverse is not engraved but cast in relief. The catalogue is arranged chronologically, covering the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, and it includes a full description and discussion of the mirror’s iconography, its workshop and its chemical composition as well as bibliographic information. The book includes photographs of the mirrors and reconstruction drawings of the designs. 156p, 120 b/w and col pls (Wisconsin UP 2003) 0299189902 Hb £33.50 The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic edited by Harriet I Flower During a five hundred year period Rome was transformed from a small city, one among many in central Italy, to the capital of a Mediterranean empire. This period also saw the rise and fall of the Republican political system primarily due to rampant ambition. This companion does not claim to be comprehensive, instead it suggests different perspectives from which to approach the Republic. It also serves as an introduction to the sources. Fifteen contributions are included, divided into sections on: Political and military history; Roman society; Rome’s Empire; Roman Culture; The influence of the Roman Republic. Some familiar names in Roman studies discuss in clear terms a range of subjects within these broad themes such as: the Roman army and navy, the Roman household, women, religion, Rome’s relations with Greece and Carthage, literature, art and spectacle. Contributors: Jean-Jacques Aubert, T Corey Brennan, Phyllis Culham, Elaine Fantham, Harriet I Flower, Erich S Gruen, KarlJoachim Hölkeskamp, Ann L Kuttner, John E Lazenby, Kathryn Lomas, Stephen P Oakley, David Potter, Jörg Rüpke, Mortimer N S Sellers, Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg. 405p, b/w illus, maps (Cambridge UP 2004) 0521807948 Hb £55.00, 0521003903 Pb £19.99 Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic by R Morstein-Marx The contio was an informal, non-voting form of popular assembly where orators used their finely honed skills and rhetorical techniques to direct popular opinion. Although the audience were informed participants in Roman public and political life, this was not a platform for reasoned debate. In this study Robert Morstein-Marx places the contio in its institutional and historical context and reveals how orators such as Sallust and Cicero viewed this form of public political discourse. He discusses how the contio removed the likelihood of a more active and assertive role for the Roman citizenry and how the elite used it to rout their opponents and ‘to generate the impression of overwhelming popular concensus behind their projects’. 313p, 5 b/w figs, 2 maps (Cambridge UP 2003) 0521823277 Hb £50.00 Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Rome by Mike Corbishley Primarily targeted at a young readership, this book introduces the Roman world through colour photographs of sites, places, objects and works of art from across the empire, accompanied by straightforward prose with pertinent words highlighted in bold. The list of contents takes the form of a selection of thematic ‘trails’ designed to help the reader follow a certain path through the entries, such as trade and transport, everyday life, country life, engineering, warfare and religion and ceremonies. The book also includes maps and colour reconstruction drawings. 160p, many col illus (British Museum 2003) 0714130214 Hb £15.99 Emperors and Empresses Emperors don’t die in bed by Fik Meijer 55 * English Edition * Many Roman emperors are better known for the circumstances of their death than their achievements during life and it is clear from the sources that the position of emperor was a perilous one. This study of the final days and deaths of Roman emperors from Julius Caesar in 44BC to Romulus Augustulus in AD 476, is now translated into English. In it Fik Meijer presents the history of imperial succession and paints a picture of the increasing vulnerability of emperors, the unstable position they held, and the threats made to themselves and their throne. A well-presented and well-written study. 183p, b/w figs (2001, Routledge Engl edn 2004) 0415312019 Hb £50.00, 0415312027 Pb £14.99 Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture by Eric R Varner The condemnation of memory inexorably altered the visual landscape of Rome. Representations of ‘bad’ emperors, such as Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus, or Elagabalus were routinely reconfigured into likenesses of victorious successors or revered predecessors. Alternatively, portraits could be mutilated or even executed in effigy. From the late 1st century BC until the 4th century AD, the recycling and destruction of images of emperors, empresses and other members of the imperial family occurred on a vast scale and often marked periods of violent political transition. This volume catalogues and interprets the evidence for damnatio memoriae, revealing it to be at the core of Roman cultural identity. 552p, illus (Monumenta Graca et Romana 10, Brill 2004) 9004135774 Hb £135.00 Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A Barrett * New in Paperback * This is the first biography in English of one of Rome’s most famous and infamous women, Livia (58 BC-AD 29), wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, who dominated imperial politics for decades. The first half of the study presents a chronological history of her extraordinary life followed by a thematic exploration of the huge influence she had which was a continuous source of contention between Livia and Tiberius. Almost half of the book comprises appendices, sources and notes, leaving the first part of the study more accessible to general readers. 425p, 29 b/w illus, 4 plans (Yale UP 2002, Pb 2004) 0300102984 Pb £14.00 Aurelian and the Third Century by Alaric Watson * New in Paperback * The mid 3rd century AD was a time of crisis and transformation for the Roman empire and yet the role of the emperor Aurelian in this crisis has been overlooked. This is an in-depth study of Aurelian who, like so many other emperors, was elevated by the army in AD 270 only to then be assassinated by it in 275. The enormity of the task that faced Aurelian becomes clear with Watson’s discussions of the Gothic invasions of the Balkans, the weakening Rhine frontier, war against Zenobia in Asia Minor and political rivals and rebels. Sections also examine Aurelia’s association with a new solar cult, his relations with the senate and army and his economic policy. Finally, Watson discusses the sources and the problems of chronology. 303p, 4 b/w illus, 4 maps (Routledge 1999, Pb 2004) Der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius Probus und seine Zeit by Gerald Kreucher Kreucher’s thesis provides a detailed study of the life of Marcus Aurelius Probus who rose through the army ranks to become emperor in 276 only to be killed by his own men in 282. Initially, Kreucher examines and lists the sources for Probus, followed by a heavily annotated discussion of the reign of Tacitus, whom Probus succeeded, Probus’ campaigns in Germany and Asia Minor, the evidence for his rival emperors, his relations with Rome, his downfall and Probus’ contribution to the great 3rd-century crisis. 298p (Historia Einzelschriften 174, Steiner 2004) 3515083820 Pb £38.00 The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian by J Allan Evans * New in Paperback * From very lowly beginnings, Theodora (?-548) became the wife of the emperor Justinian and his partner in government. Evans traces how this transformation came about, reviewing her childhood and early life, before moving on to her years in power. She was a champion of causes for women, for the poor and disadvantaged, but was she an opponent of the emperor as well as his supporter? Evans looks at her friends and enemies, at her policies, and at the rift she caused within the Christian church. 146p (Texas UP 2002, Pb 2004) 0292702701 Pb £15.50 56 Rome at War Rome at War: Farms, Families and Death in the Middle Republic by Nathan Rosenstein In 133 BC the tribune Tiberius Gracchus issued his lex agraria to redistribute land amongst veteran soldiers and the poor. In his interesting and perceptive study Nathan Rosenstein re-examines the reasons for this agrarian crisis that Gracchus, so unpopularly, responded to. Past studies have argued that an increase in large plantations manned by a rapidly growing population of slave labourers had damaged Rome’s farmers and small holders. However, Rosenstein argues that there is little archaeological or documentary evidence for this and looks instead to the consequences of warfare, particularly the war against Hannibal. Rosenstein discusses in detail the nature of the Roman family, the amount of labour required to make a success of a farm and, set against this, the consequences of losing that labour (and the potential of fathering the next generation of farmers). Sections also examine methods for quantifying the numbers of men killed in battle or through disease following injury. The numbers are enormous. 339p (North Carolina UP 2004) 0807828394 Hb £33.50 Vegetius: Epitoma rei militaris edited by M D Reeve Vegetius’ manual on warfare was one of the most influential ancient texts during the Middle Ages. This book draws on over 200 surviving manuscripts to present the Latin text of the Epitoma preceded by a lengthy discussion in English which focuses on textual matters. 180p (Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford UP 2004) 0199264643 Hb £35.00 Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science translated by N P Milner This edition remains the best translation of Vegetius’ manual. 192p (Liverpool UP 1993, 2nd edn 1996) 085323910X Pb £15.99 Hannibal by Theodore Ayrault Dodge * Reprint * Originally published in 1891, Michael Grant claims (on the front cover) that “This book… has never been bettered”. This account of the life and actions of one of the most famous generals in world history tells how his extraordinary achievements were brought about through his ‘visionary character’ and determination. 682p, b/w figs, maps (Pb rep Da Capo Pb rep 2004) 0306813629 Pb £17.50 Excavations at Dura Europos: Final Report VII: Arms and Armour and other Military Equipment by Simon James The ancient city of Dura-Europos, destroyed by a Sasanian Persian siege in the AD 250s, was an important regional centre of commerce, government and military control under the Seleucid, Parthian and Roman empires. During excavations in the 1920s and 1930s it became famous for finds such as a painted synagogue and early Christian chapel. Not the least spectacular of the discoveries in this ‘Pompeii of the Syrian Desert’ were the remains of the town’s garrisons and siegeworks and massive quantities of military artefacts. The latter comprise perhaps the most important single collection of arms, armour and other equipment to survive from the Roman period. Its colourful painted shields and horse armour, for example, are unequalled. It also holds vital importance for our knowledge of the material culture of the military in the eastern frontier lands of the Roman world. This book provides a complete catalogue of the military artefacts, most of which are now housed in Yale University Art Gallery, and analyses and assesses their cultural affiliations and uses. The archaeological evidence from the site is combined with the equally rich and rare textual and representational evidence in the form of papyri, graffiti and wall-paintings, not to mention the buildings of the city themselves, to examine the ways in which material culture actively creates and expresses identity, in this case of Roman soldiers of Syrian origin. 456p, 141 b/w & 13 col illus (British Museum Press 2004) 0714122483 Hb £95.00 The Roman Army in Jordan by David Kennedy * Second Edition * This is an updated and revised second edition of a handbook originally prepared for the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies in Amman, Jordan in 2000 – a reflection of the growing importance of Roman studies in Jordan in recent years. In Part A, there are chapters on Roman Jordan, the evidence for the army, geography and environment. In Part B there are 15 chapters surveying, region by region, the evidence of forts, towers, roads, literary texts, inscriptions and excavations. 235p, col illus (Council for British Research in the Levant, 2004) 0953910210 Pb £25.00 Roman Society Legitimacy and Law in the Roman World: Tabulae in Roman Belief and Practice by Elizabeth A Meyer 57 This detailed study of Roman tabulae draws together Roman history and law in its investigation into how and why writing on tablets became so important within Roman culture. Used as a system of ordering the state, the legal system, religion, the cosmos and society, Elizabeth Meyer explores the use of tabulae in Italy and across the Roman provinces from the Republic to the reign of Justinian. Their impact on the legal system, in particular on the courts, jurists, the emperor and law, is discussed in detail. 353p, 9 b/w illus, tbs (Cambridge UP 2003) 0521497019 Hb £50.00 A Casebook on Roman Family Law by Bruce W Frier and Thomas A J McGinn Laws governing marital relationships, paternal powers and the transmission of family property were radically different during the Roman period. This book introduces these laws to undergraduate students and asks them to evaluate how these laws would have impacted on the lives of Romans. A total of 235 cases are presented, written by Roman jurists. These are hypothetical cases but they played a significant and intentional role in the development of Roman law and would have been applied to actual cases. Each Latin law is followed by an English translation and a referenced commentary. 506p (Oxford UP 2004) 0195161858 Hb £60.00 Matrona Docta by Emily A Hemelrijk * New in Paperback * Subtitled ‘Educated women in the Roman elite from Cornelia to Julia Domna’, the author describes and discusses the place of upper class women in the world of education. She discusses the various factors that influenced the type of education received, including family history and social position, class and wealth, marital state and lifestyle. Finally she explores the writings of women and addresses the question of why so little survives. 382p, 5 b/w pls (Routledge 1999, Pb 2004) 0415341272 Pb £19.99 Cities, Peasants and Food in Classical Antiquity by Peter Garnsey, edited by Walter Scheidel * New in Paperback * Here are 16 essays by Peter Garnsey on Roman cities, their relationship with the rural economy and, above all, the mechanisms by which they were supplied with food. From the role of the broad bean in Roman nutrition, to the builders’ associations of ancient Sardis, this is a wide-ranging collection of previously-published work. Each essay is followed by a summary of today’s ‘state-of-play’ and an updated bibliography.336p (Cambridge UP 1998, Pb 2004) 0521892902 Pb £22.99 Gladiator: Film and History edited by Martin M Winkler The film Gladiator sparked a welcome revival in Roman history and culture among both academic circles and cinema audiences. This collection of ten essays has been inspired by the film. In it contributors examine the context of Gladiator from historical and cinematic perspectives. They discuss the film’s sources, the historical events and personalities depicted, the modern political and moral overtones and the merits of Ridley Scott’s interpretation of the past. As a result this book provides an interesting mix of studies with such varied themes as: the traditions of historical cinema; the role of the Hollywood academic consultant; Commodus; gladiators and bloodsport; the Colosseum; the film’s vision of Fascist Rome; Gladiator and contemporary American society; the politics. The book concludes with English translations of the film’s major sources and a chronology. 215p, 26 b/w illus (Blackwell 2004) 1405110430 Hb £50.00, 1405110422 Pb £15.99 Gladiatoren: Das Spiel um Leben und Tod by Fik Meijer For almost eight hundred years men and women from all levels of Roman society were entertained by battles for life and death in the arena. This study draws on documentary evidence, as well as contemporary artworks and grave stones, to discuss the history of gladiators, looking at their daily lives, their place in society, their cost and earnings, the arenas they fought in, their fights against other gladiators or animals and their depiction in film. Meijer also considers how gladiatorial combat influenced the Roman disposal of heretics and, most famously, Christians in the arena. Translated from the Dutch into German. 228p, b/w figs (Patmos 2004) 3760823033 Hb £15.00 58 Roman Society and Culture Pompeii: A Sourcebook by Alison E Cooley and M G L Cooley Pompeii’s buildings with their elaborate wall paintings were not the only things to be preserved by the volcanic eruption of AD 79. A large number of written records also survived which provide an invaluable record of a city that, according to this study, was not particularly extraordinary, fashionable or important but has survived as a ‘time-capsule’ of Roman life. This very accessible study presents English translations of texts about Pompeii or, particularly, those found in Pompeii, from dedications on grand public monuments to gladiatorial advertisements and graffiti and labels. The initial sections focus on sources as well as accounts of the AD 79 eruption, including letters by Pliny the Younger. The other sources are arranged thematically and cover leisure, religion, politics and public life, tombs and commercial life. Finally, the book presents extracts from 18th- and 19th-century excavation reports. 254p, b/w illus (Routledge 2004) 0415262119 Hb £50.00, 0415262127 Pb £16.99 The Gardens of Sallust: A Changing Landscape by Kim J Hartswick During the 1st century BC the historian Sallust developed a spectacular garden which occupied a large area in the north-western section of Rome. It gave pleasure to the people of Rome for several hundred years. This is not a book about Roman horticulture, instead Hartswick approaches the gardens as a work of art, considering the cultural context of the gardens, the changes made to it by a succession of emperors after Sallust’s death and the large number of sculptures the gardens contained. Fully illustrated sections examine the building fever that followed the discovery of numerous sculptures from the gardens in the 1880s, the evidence, now much destroyed, of the original garden architecture, the location of Sallust’s house, and numerous other features, including the base of an obelisk, an elaborate vestibule and the ‘circus of flora’. Sculptures have been discovered from the gardens for centuries and they are now widely dispersed. One section of the book gathers these together and illustrates statues of deities, youths and maidens, Amazons, defeated Gauls and other barbarians, nymphs, friezes and Egyptian sculptures. 219p, many b/w illus (Texas UP 2004) 0292705476 Hb £41.95 The Emperor’s Needles: Obelisks in Rome by Susan Sorek Today there are more obelisks (thirteen) surviving in Rome than in Egypt. They were brought there in the first four centuries AD by successive Roman emperors. This unique book traces the history of the obelisk and the role played by Rome in their preservation. 128p, illus (Bristol Phoenix Press 2004) 1904675301 Pb £13.99 Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response by Peter Stewart For a book reputed to be about Roman statues, you may think that the illustrations are rather sparse, but this study is more about representation than art per se. Based on his dissertation, Peter Stewart’s book examines Roman statuary as a collective entity that had a significant role within society rather than viewing it merely as art and images of likeness. Focusing primarily on Rome from the end of the Late Republic to the early 3rd century AD, this book begins by emphasising the extent to which the Roman world, whether public, private or religious, was crowded with statuary. Although it is all too easy to make assumptions about ancient art through a modern pair of eyes, Stewart explores the language with which Roman discussed and described statuary, their expectations of what a statue should be, its function, its iconography and Roman reactions to it. This book places Roman statuary firmly within a social and cultural, rather than artistic, context. 333p, 48 b/w illus (Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation 2003) 0199240949 Hb £65.00 Vitruvius on Architecture by Thomas Gordon Smith Vitruvius presented his Ten Books on Architecture to Augustus in c.25 BC. This work, the culmination of a lifetime of designing buildings and studying Greek texts and practices, set out to outline all of the rules of Greek architecture and it became the most influential architectural work of antiquity and the Renaissance. This richly-illustrated and attractive study aims to highlight Vitruvius’ principal rules and ideas by presenting a translation of five of the ten books accompanied by photographs of representative buildings and decorative features from across the ancient world as well as building plans and elevations. The introductory commentary puts the case for Vitruvius’ continued relevance to the 21st century. Includes a glossary. 232p, col pls, many b/w pls (Monacelli 2003) 1580931278 Hb £40.00 The Roman Empire Rome and Its Frontiers: The Dynamics of Empire by C R Whittaker 59 This volume collects ten articles by C R Whittaker, most of which have been previously published over the last ten years, that discuss what Rome’s frontiers reveal about Roman imperialism, expansionism and society. They also reflect on the debate surrounding the movement from ‘free’ frontiers in the early Imperial period to defensive and militarised frontiers during the reign of Hadrian. Other subjects include the literary evidence for invasions, the Roman perception of maps and frontiers, supplying the army at Vindolanda, the Roman view of India, Indian and Roman trade, immigrants, past scholarship on Roman frontiers. 246p, 7 b/w illus (Routledge 2004) 0415312000 Hb £55.00 Romanisation und Resistenz in Plastik, Architektur und Inschriften der Provinzen des Imperium Romanum: Neue Funde und Forschungen edited by Peter Noelke Rome’s expansion could be met with one of two responses, romanisation or resistance, and evidence of both of these responses can be found in the art, architecture and inscriptions of Rome’s provinces. This well-presented book presents sixty papers, all richly illustrated, which form the proceedings of an international colloquium on provincial Roman art held in Köln in 2001. Arranged geographically, the contributions consider the artistic evidence province by province: Britain, Gaul and Germany, the Danube region and Dalmatia, Greece, Spain and Italy. The majority of papers are in German but eleven are in English. 722p, many b/w illus (Von Zabern 2003) 3805330898 Hb £62.50 Rei Cretariae Romanae Favtorvm Acta 38 (Rome 2002) A collection of 49 papers on the manufacture and use of ceramics across the Roman world, which form the proceedings of the 23rd RCRF congress held in Rome in 2002. Arranged geographically, the international papers discuss ceramic evidence from: Rome and Ostia; Roman Italy; the Danube; the east; North Africa; Spain; Gaul and Germania. A range of different pottery-types are discussed, although terra sigillata and amphorae recur throughout, and the papers include analyses of production, trade and function as well as essays on the social and economic context of the pots. Fifteen papers are in English, the rest are in Italian, German, French or Spanish. 383p, b/w illus (RCRF 2003) Pb £48.00 The Ripa Pannonica in Hungary by Zsolt Visy This volume examines the results of 200 years of archaeology and antiquarian research in the Pannonian Danube border to identify and describe the Roman remains of this river frontier or ripa. Mostly comprising a gazetteer of sites, particularly military installations, and findspots, the study identifies Roman roads and roadside structures, castles, forts and watchtowers. Visy finally considers the influence of the Danube on the physical and political development of Pannonia. 166p, 180 b/w pls, 28 maps (Akadémiai Kiadó 2003) 9630579804 Hb £65.00 Les graffittes antiques de la cité des Aulerques Cénomans (G.A.C.A.C.) by Gérard Guillier and Marianne Thauré This catalogue of inscriptions on ceramics, from the ancient city of Aulerques Cénomans, modern-day Le Mans, includes 538 examples, 231 of which are described and illustrated in full, the rest being listed (as drawings) at the back. The different types of graffiti, their possible function and creators, their archaeological context and date are discussed in relation to examples from Le Mans and Allonnes, plus other sites in the area. French text. 298p, b/w figs and pls, tbs (Monographies Instrumentum 25, Monique Mergoil 2003) 2907303791 Pb £30.50 Découvertes monétaires: Des sites gallo-romains de la forêt de Compiègne (Oise) et des environs dans leurs contextes archéologiques by Marie-Laure Berdeaux-Le-Brazidec This large volume combines a corpus of Gallo-Roman coins found in the forest of Compiègne and surrounding areas with a broader discussion of the context in which they were found. Material from both public and private numismatic collections is presented in the catalogue which forms part of the main text. Detailed investigation into the types of settlement, cemeteries, sanctuaries in which the coins were discovered leads to a synthesis of money and its circulation in this region from the Empire to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. French text. 588p, b/w figs, tbs (Archéologie et Histoire Romaine 11, Monique Mergoil 2003) 2907303783 Pb £42.00 60 The Roman Empire * Reprint * Old Provence by Theodore Andrea Cook First published in 1905, this volume reprints Cook’s account of the history of Old Provence, based on his explorations of a region in which many Roman and medieval sites and monuments survived in the landscape. Both Roman and medieval volumes are produced together here, with sections examining the earliest inhabitants of the region, Marius’ campaign and the Romanisation of Provence, as witnessed most spectacularly by the amphitheatres of Arles and Nîmes, and the daily life and religion of Roman Provence. The second half of the book focuses on medieval Provence. 421p, b/w illus (1905, Signal 2001) 1902669193 Pb £12.99 El teatro y el anfiteatro de Augusta Emerita: Contribución al conocimiento histórico de la capital de Lusitania by Rosalía-María Durán Cabello This revised thesis aims to add to our knowledge of Hispano-Roman architecture in the Lusitanian capital of Augusta Emerita through an exploration of its theatre and amphitheatre. The author looks in detail at the construction methods employed, the building fabric, construction phases, appearance and dating of each site, revealing a complex picture of original building works and structural change. Spanish text. 273p, 22 plans, b/w figs (Archaeopress BAR S1207, 2004) 1841715700 Pb £35.00 Restos óseos de necrópolis tardorromanas del Puerto de Mazarrón, Murcia by Josefina Zapata This detailed examination of the remains of 218 individuals from two late Roman cemeteries in use between the 4th and 6th century AD at Mazarrón in Murcia provides important insights into a period that has not been well studied in Spain. Laboratory analysis of these remains, including trace elements and DNA markers, has been used here to examine, not only the age and sex profiles of individuals, but to provide further information on palaeopathology, palaeodiet, nutritional levels, and possible familial relationships. Spanish text; English foreword. 251p, b/w figs, tbs (BAR S1214, 2004) 1841713538 Pb £46.00 Die Römer zwischen Alpen und Nordmeer edited by Ludwig Wamser This substantial and richly illustrated survey of Roman Germany accompanies an exhibition that was held in Munich during 2000. Over fifty specialist contributions are included, all supported by photographs of exhibits and reconstruction drawings, maps and plans. The contributions are divided into thematic sections and discuss such subjects as: the Augustan invasion of 15 BC, early contact between Romans and Germans, the first structures, a soldier’s life on the Limes, civilian life, towns, cities, crafts and objects, daily life, politics, Late Antiquity, cult and religion, transport, the arts, archaeology. The book concludes with an illustrated catalogue of over 250 objects. German text. 464p, many col and b/w illus (Albatross 2004) 3491961084 Hb £25.00 Die römischen Wandmalereien aus dem Stadtgebiet der Colonia Ulpia Traiana I: Die Funde aus den Privatbauten by B Jansen, C Schreiter and M Zelle et al Xanten on the Rhine was one of the principal Roman cities of Germania and extensive excavations have taken place there for years. This volume focuses on the painted wall plaster recovered from the private dwellings of the city. Considering each insula in turn, the book presents an illustrated catalogue of fragments, including colour drawings and photographs of selected pieces and reconstruction drawings of the paintings. An additional section focuses on the highly decorative schemes of two insulae in particular while specialist reports examine the actual construction of the plastered walls. 284p, 243 col and b/w illus (Xantener Berichte 11, Von Zabern 2001) 3805328737 Hb £72.00 Heldenbergen in der Wetterau: Feldlager, Kastell, Vicus by Wolfgang Czysz This substantial two-volume work presents the results of excavation at the Roman fort and vicus of Heldenbergen immediately to the south of the Limes in Germany. Detailed sections explore the phases of the fort’s construction, mostly dating to the reign of Vespasian, its impressive cellars and pottery kilns, and the settlement’s decline. Specialist reports discuss the environmental remains and finds, including animal bones, wood, terra sigillata stamps, coins, glass, metal objects, ceramic vessels and lamps and graffiti. The second volume contains the plates and fold-out plans. 2 vols: 489p, 143 b/w pls, fold-outs, b/w illus (Limesforschungen 27, Von Zabern 2003) 3805328346 Hb £105.00 Roman Germany and Austria Das römische Prunkportal von Ladenburg by Ernst Künzl and Susanna Künzl 61 Excavations on the site of the Roman city of Lopodunum, modern-day Ladenburg, have uncovered some of the most elaborate Roman bronzes of southern Germany, many of which came from ostentatious doors. These door fittings and door knockers form the subject of this well-illustrated report. In addition to bronze plates, rings and discs, excavations have also uncovered door knockers worked into the shapes of all manner of exotic creatures, including lions and ‘sea leopards’ as well as human figures and heads. All of these are illustrated, often in colour, accompanied by a discussion of the excavations, the archaeological provenance of the bronzes, the houses they came from and what they reveal about the city and its population. The authors also consider iconographic evidence from other sources, such as wall paintings which depict doorways, in order to explore the symbolism of the doorway in Roman culture. German text. 404p, many b/w and col illus, fold-outs (FBZFB 94, Theiss 2003) 3806218293 Hb £59.50 Lopodunum IV: Die Kleinfunde aus den römischen Häusern an der Kellerei in Ladenburg by Thomas Schmidts The latest volume to report on excavations (1981-1985 and 1990) in the Roman city of Lopodunum in southern Germany focuses on the small finds recovered from Roman houses and cellars. The objects, which are examined by type, include brooches, jewellery, military equipment, toilet and medical implements, household and religious items and tools. An illustrated catalogue is preceded by an interpretation of the objects and a discussion of their archaeological provenance. German text. 160p, 67 b/w pls (FBVFB 91, Theiss 2004) 3806218781 Hb £32.50 Die Fundmünzen der Römischen Zeit in Deutschland: Abteilung V Hessen, Band 3 Kassel edited by Helmut Schubert This volume, part of a long-running project to catalogue the entire corpus of coins from the Roman period in Germany, is the last of three to focus on Hessen, in particular Kassel in the north of the region. Roman and Celtic coins from over seventy findspots are included, with details of legend, date and mint where known. Previous volumes are also available, please ask for details. 99p, maps (FMRD V.3, Von Zabern 2003) 3805332858 Hb £40.00 Die römischen Amphoren aus Mainz by Ulrike Ehmig This two-volume work provides a comprehensive analysis of Roman amphorae, so useful for understanding Roman trade and tastes in food, discovered in Mogontiacum, modern-day Mainz in Germany. Making comparisons throughout with amphorae from Augst, Ehmig discusses the types of amphorae discovered, the range of products they contained based on the evidence of stamps and inscriptions, notably Spanish olive oil and fish sauce. Further attention is then paid to the stamps themselves and the names that they reveal, the Spanish origin of many of the amphorae, Germanic forgeries of Spanish amphorae, vessels produced locally and the significance of the archaeological context of the amphorae. The first volume presents the data and discussion; volume two comprises the illustrated catalogue of vessels, stamps and painted inscriptions. 2 vols: 547p, 136 b/w and col pls, many b/w illus (Frankfürter Archäologische Schriften 4, Bibliopolis 2003) 3933925509 Hb £90.00 Untersuchungen zu den Gräberfeldern in Carnuntum 2: Die menschlichen Skelettreste des römerzeitlichen Gräberfeldes Petronell-Carnuntum südlich der Zivilstadt (Notgrabungen 1984-1986 by Barbara I M Schweder and Eike-Meinrad Winkler This volume provides a morphological examination of the human skeletal remains discovered during the excavation of a Roman cemetery to the south of Carnuntum in Austria. The technical report begins with a catalogue of graves and continues with analyses of bone and skull measurements, a demographic analysis of the population and a discussion of the preservative qualities of the sarcophagae. 135p, 29 b/ w pls, tbs (Der Römische Limes in Österreich 43, OAW 2004) 3700132425 Pb £49.95 62 Roman Literature Comedy and the Rise of Rome by Matthew Leigh Plautus and Terence wrote their plays to be performed in public festivals in Republican Rome during the 2nd century BC. As products of their time, these comedies reflected events, in particular, Hannibal’s invasion of Italy and Rome’s initial conquest of Greece. Rather than treat history merely as context for Roman drama, this specialised study argues that history and drama should be seen as being ‘in constant dialogue with each other’ and that the plays dramatise their authors’ need to understand the transformations that were taking place around them. Extracts are presented in original Latin or Greek with English translations. 241p (Oxford UP 2004) 019926676X Hb £50.00 Slaves, Masters and the Art of Authority in Plautine Comedy by Kathleen McCarthy * New in Paperback * This detailed investigation of the master-slave relationship in the plays of Plautus is based around a close reading of four comedies: Menaechmi, Casina, Persa and Captiva from the early 2nd century BC. McCarthy argues that the unlikely hero-figure of a slave served as a medium though which the citizen audience could poke fun at the authorities while, conversely, they could also enjoy the fact that the master, the victim of the slave’s trickery, stole the best lines. Plautus’ skilful manipulation of the audience’s empathy and his keen understanding of social behaviour are the themes of this study. Extracts in Latin with English translation. 231p (Princeton UP 2000, Pb 2004) 0691117853 Pb £16.95 Subjecting Verses: Latin Love Elegy and the Emergence of the Real by P Allen Miller Latin love elegy was a short-lived but highly influential literary genre, perhaps lasting as little as fifty years or, more generously, from 56 BC to the death of Catullus in c.AD 17. This study explores the rise and decline of love elegy placed firmly within the context of social and political change within the Roman world as the oligarchic republic became the Roman Empire. This is at times a highly challenging study. The works of Catullus, Propertius, Gallus, Tibullus and Ovid are discussed, with Latin extracts also translated into English. 318p (Princeton UP 2004) 0691096740 Hb £26.95 Ovid: Metamorphoses translated by David Raeburn A new translation of one of the most entertaining and influential masterpieces of antiquity. The verse translation is followed by notes and a glossary index and preceded by an introductory discussion by Denis Feeney. 723p (Penguin Classics 2004) 014044789X Pb £8.99 P. Ovidi Nasonis: Metamorphoses edited by R J Tarrant In this new edition of the Metamorphoses Tarrant ‘has freshly collated the oldest fragments and manuscripts and has drawn more fully than previous editors on the twelfth-century manuscripts, the earliest extant witnesses to many potentially original readings’. The Latin text is preceded by an introduction, also in Latin. 534p (Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford UP 2004) 0198146663 Hb £20.50 Octavia: A Play attributed to Seneca edited by Rolando Ferri Octavia, a play traditionally attributed to Seneca, focuses on three days in AD 53, during which Nero divorced and deported Octavia and married Poppaea Sabina. Ferri’s introduction considers the authorship claim, arguing that the play was actually written later in the 1st century, after the deaths of Nero and Seneca, and that it would be almost inconceivable that Seneca would have written such a dangerous play. Ferri also considers the style and content of the play, contrasting it with other works, and looks at the play’s historical and political context. Octavia itself is presented in Latin followed by a comprehensive commentary. 471p (Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 41, Cambridge UP 2003) 0521823269 Hb £70.00 The Tragedy of Nero’s Wife: Studies on the Octavia Praetexta edited by Marcus Wilson In the mid 16th-century this most brutal and gory of Roman plays, Octavia, was translated into English for the first time, becoming a major source for numerous Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights, including Shakespeare, before it was forgotten. This collection of six papers, with an introduction, reassesses the play, now enjoying a revival, discussing its significance, its hotly-debated authorship, its relation to the works of Seneca, its style and content, its place within Roman drama and Tacitus’ treatment of Octavia’s story in the Annals. 159p (Prudentia Vol 35 No 1, Polygraphia 2003) 1887332097 Pb £24.95 Roman Literature Pliny’s Catalogue of Culture: Art and Empire in the Natural History by Sorcha Carey 63 The sections of Pliny’s Natural History that cover art history have traditionally been studied in isolation from the rest of the work and have been regarded as an ‘encyclopedic’ source for Greek masters and masterpieces in particular. Sorcha Carey argues that only by studying these sections within the broader context of the Natural History can we explore Pliny’s aims and concerns within the setting of Roman imperial politics and culture. This book explores, through Pliny and the Natural History, Roman attitudes towards art and their appropriation of the Greek past, highlighting the fact that this work was created within a profoundly Roman context. Individual chapters examine the overall aims of the encyclopedia, the relationship between art and nature expressed in the Natural History, and visual representation of Roman space: Augustus’ trophy at La Turbia and Agrippa’s map. 208p, 9 col pls, 60 b/w figs (Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation, Oxford UP 2003) 0199259135 Hb £60.00 Statius: Silvae edited and translated by D R Shackleton Bailey This is a new edition and translation of Silvae, a collection of 32 poems written at the end of the 1st century AD which describe special events or occasions. The book begins with an introduction of the text and recent scholarship. 438p (LCL 206, Harvard UP 2003) 0674996046 Hb £14.50 Statius II: Thebaid Books 1-7 edited and translated by D R Shackleton Bailey This volume presents Latin text with facing translation of the first seven books of the epic Thebaid, composed at the end of the 1st century AD, which tells of the struggle between the two sons of Oedipus for the crown of Thebes. This edition includes a new discussion by Kathleen M Coleman on recent scholarship surround Statius’ epics. 459p (LCL 207, Harvard UP 2003) 0674012089 Hb £14.50 Statius III: Thebaid Books 8-12, Achilleid edited and translated by D R Shackleton Bailey This volume completes Statius’ epic Thebaid, which recounts the struggle of Oedipus’ sons for the crown of Thebes, and presents the extant text of the unfinished Achilleid, an account of Achilles’ life. 441p (LCL 498, Harvard UP 2003)0674012097 Hb £14.50 Aulus Gellius: An Antonine Scholar and his Achievement by Leofranc Holford-Strevens * New Edition * The 2nd-century scholar Aulus Gellius wrote his most famous work, Attic Nights, to entertain and interest the reader during long winter’s nights in Attica. A miscellany of facts and discussions, it sought to broaden the reader’s cultural horizons. This study of Gellius focuses on the man rather than his intellectual or literary world and begins by looking at his life, acquaintances and parentage. HolfordStrevens then turns his attention to the language and style of Gellius’ work and the Greek and Latin sources that he consulted, including the works of orators, poets, historians, philosophers, as well as scientific, medical and legal texts. 436p (Oxford UP 2004) 0199263191 Hb £70.00 Cleomedes’ Lectures on Astronomy edited by Alan C Bowen and Robert B Todd Cleomedes, philosopher and teacher, delivered a series of lectures to his students on the subject of astronomy around AD 200. This book contains the first English translation of The Heavens with an introduction to Cleomedes, his work and intellectual context, and includes detailed notes and technical drawings. Bowen and Todd discuss Cleomedes’ links to the doctrines and treatises of Posidonus, as well as the basic principles of astronomy and cosmology found within Cleomedes’ work, for example his ideas on planetary motion, lunar eclipses and phases, and calculating the size of the sun. 238p, b/w diagrams (University of California 2004) 0520233255 Hb £36.95 Selected Letters of Libanius from the Age of Constantius and Julian translated and introduced by Scott Bradbury Between 355 and 365 AD Libanius of Antioch wrote well over 1200 letters which as a group ‘play an important role in making the age of Constantius II and Julian the Apostate the best-documented period of the ancient world.’ This volume presents English translations of 183 of these letters which provide a representative sample of the types of people Libanius wrote to. Each letter begins with a brief summary while the introduction discusses Libanius’ life and career and his compulsive letter-writing. 290p, map (Translated Texts for Historians 41, Liverpool UP 2004) 0853235090 Pb £16.50 64 Roman Britain TRAC 2003: The Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Theoretical Archaeology Conference, Leicester 2003 edited by Ben Croxford, Hella Eckhardt, Judy Meade and Jake Weekes Twelve papers: Samian and consumer choice in Roman London (Gwladys Monteil); Pottery consumption and identity in Essex (Martin Pitts); Notes on spoons and mortaria (Hilary Cool); Remembering and Forgetting in the Provinces (Hella Eckhardt); Ephemeral monuments and social memory in Roman Britain (Howard Williams); Tomb robbing and the transformation of social memory in Roman Knossos (Dimitris Grigoropoulos); Landscapes in late Iron Age and Roman period in the Ouse valley (Judy Meade); Writing different histories, humanities and social practices for the RomanoBritish countryside (Adrian Chadwick); Experienced landscapes from intentional sources (Alessandro Launaro); Did curse tablets work? (Philip Kiernan); The social identity of health in Roman Britain (Rebecca Gowland); The origins of Romano-British archaeology and its historiography (Leslie Hepple).160p, b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2004) 1842171356 Pb £24.00 Dolaucothi-Pumsaint: Survey and Excavation at a Roman gold-mining complex 1987-1999 by Barry and Helen Burnham Dolaucothi, near the modern village of Pumsaint in south-west Wales, is the only site in Britain where the Romans are known certainly to have mined for gold. The main workings, which are thought to span various phases of exploitation from the pre-Roman through to the present, can be traced over a distance of more than a kilometre. This volume reports on a series of investigations carried out at this important complex over a period of 12 years. These investigations have helped to clarify several aspects of the mine’s development, the technologies involved, and the impact of the mines on the wider cultural and environmental landscape during the later 1st and 2nd centuries, when the Romans had a major presence in the Dolaucothi area. The volume includes reports on: the new excavations and survey of the Roman fort and vicus at the village of Pumsaint; the excavation and survey of various leat systems which supplied water to the mines; excavations in the vicinity of a possible mill complex; the geophysical survey of the east side of the fort at Pumsaint; excavations in the vicinity of a possible bath-house; geophysical survey and excavation in the vicinity of the Roman road from Llandovery to Pumsaint; and an overview of the recent detailed surface survey of the mine workings. 344p, 206 b/w figs, 37 tbs (Oxbow Books 2004) 1842171127 Hb £60.00, special pre-publication price £48.00 Roman Carmarthen: Excavations 1978-1993 by Heather James The Roman town of Moridunum, on the site of modern-day Carmarthen, lay at the very edges of Roman Wales and little is known about it. This report presents the evidence from a series of excavations around the town in order to answer questions about the Roman presence in the town, particularly the puzzle of why no evidence of a vicus has been discovered despite the existence of a fort. The report, which focuses on each site in turn, also includes a discussion of the establishment of Moridunum and its trading links with other centres, an analysis of the phases of the fort and illustrated specialist reports on the finds and environmental remains. 398p, many b/w illus (Britannia Monograph Series 20, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 2003) 0907764304 Pb £60.00 Roman and medieval Cripplegate, City of London: Archaeological excavations 1992-8. by Elizabeth Howe and David Lakin This volume presents the results of work from five separate developer-funded excavations between 1992-8. Bronze Age field ditches were sealed by domestic buildings relating to the expansion of early Roman London after AD 70, contemporary with the timber amphitheatre located nearby beneath the Guildhall. The masonry fort was built in the early 2nd century AD and there was no evidence of a longsuspected predecessor. The fort’s buildings seem to have gone out of use around the end of the 2nd century AD and its southern defensive ditch was backfilled. Extensive reoccupation came with the establishment of burgage plots after AD 1050. Twelfth-century development included buildings with cellars and evidence of bone- and metalworking. Birds of prey and high-quality pottery and glass imply the presence of a high-status person or property in the 13th century, but little survies from after this time.160p, 93 b/w illus, 22 tables (MoLAS Monograph 21, 2004) 190199242X Pb £13.95 Late Antiquity and Early Christianity Approaching Late Antiquity: The Transformation from Early to Late Empire edited by Simon Swain and Mark Edwards 65 What was new in Late Antiquity and what made it distinct from what preceded? Those are the questions that these fourteen papers and introduction, collected from seminars held in Oxford and Warwick, endeavour to answer. Contributors approach the transition from a variety of perspectives, examining changes in key areas of culture and society between 200 and 400 AD. Subjects include: economic change; the decline in infrastructure to the north of Rome; Diocletian’s Egypt; Roman law; citizenship and law; emperors and armies; the Church; religion under Constantine; imperial churchgoing; Late Antique art; mummy portraits from Egypt; poetry and literary culture; philosophy. 487p, 29 b/w figs (Oxford UP 2004) 0199267146 Hb £75.00 The Expansion of Christianity: A Gazetteer of its First Three Centuries by R L Mullen The question of how Christianity, originally an eastern cult, became the major religion of the western world and beyond, has been discussed by many authors but here, Roderic Mullen adds an empirical basis to how it spread. Mullen’s gazetteer is compiled from primary literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources including the New Testament, Christian writers, lists of attendance at early council meetings, martyrological and hagiographical writings, churches and other associated buildings. Divided into Asia, Europe and Africa, each chapter has a general discussion, a catalogue of documented sites and a list of possible early Christian sites. 407p, maps (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 69, Brill 2004) 9005131353 Hb £80.00 The Apostolic Fathers Volume 1 edited and translated by Bart D Ehrman This is a new Loeb edition of six texts which provide invaluable insights into Christian life and thought during the early years of the faith. The authors of these disparate texts were ‘traditionally believed to have been the followers or companions of the apostles of Jesus’. The volume presents the Greek text and facing English translation of the First Letter of Clement, the Second Letter of Clement, the Letters of Ignatius, the Letter of Polycarp, the Martyrdom of Polycarp and Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. 443p (LCL 24, Harvard UP 2003) 0674996070 Hb £14.50 The Apostolic Fathers Volume II edited and translated by Bart D Ehrman This volume completes the new Loeb edition of texts by the Apostolic Fathers, traditionally believed to have been the followers of Christ’s apostles. The texts, presented in Greek with facing English translation, comprise: Epistle of Barnabas, Papias and Quadratus, Epistle to Diognetus and The Shepherd of Hermas. 481p (LCL 25, Harvard UP 2003) 0674996089 Hb £14.50 Augustine’s City of God: A Reader’s Guide by Gerard O’Daly Augustine wrote his most influential work, City of God, in response to the Gothic sack of Rome in 410 for which the Christians were blamed. Its aim was to persuade pagans to convert whilst also strengthening the perseverance of Christians in the face of this unpopularity. At the heart of this book lies a detailed commentary on the City of God. It is preceded by a discussion of the early 5th-century background to the text and the City of God’s place as the culmination of a tradition of apologetic writing. O’Daly concludes with a consideration of Augustine’s sources, his other texts and their influence. 323p (Oxford UP 1999, Pb 2004) 0199270813 Pb £18.99 Famine and Pestilence in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Empire: A Systematic Survey of Subsistence Crises and Epidemics by Dionysios Ch. Stathakopoulos From 284 to 750 AD the Byzantine Empire enjoyed a period of great prosperity, politically, economically and demographically, followed by decline. With this very much in mind, Stathakopoulos’ study examines incidents and periods of crises, both natural and human-induced, and epidemics, from the reign of Diocletian to Justinian. The discussion is based on a large catalogue of examples compiled from various sources, which occupies two-thirds of the book. This typology of crises includes everything from short-term shortages of food to famine, as well as epidemics of Small Pox, gastro-intestinal diseases, various infections, poisonings and plague, which are then all set within a political and military context. 417p, 9 tbs (Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Monographs Volume 9, Ashgate 2004) 0754630218 Hb £49.50 66 The Rediscovery of the Ancient World Impact of Classical Greece on European and National Identities edited by Margriet Haagsma, Pim den Boer and Eric M Moormann These thirteen papers, from a colloquium held at the Netherlands Institute at Athens in 2000, examine European scholarship’s fascination with classical Greece during the 19th and 20th centuries. Arranged geographically and then thematically, the papers discuss Greek attitudes towards classical archaeology and literature, Dutch Neoclassicism, Germany and Neoclassicism, Alexander the Great and the Persian Wars. One paper is in French, the rest are in English. 279p, b/w illus (Gieben 2003) 9050633986 Hb £62.50 The Contribution of Early Travel Narratives to Historical Geography of Greece by Malcolm Wagstaff In this lecture, delivered at New College, Oxford in May 2003, Wagstaff examines why scholars have used the travel narratives of early West European travellers, how they have used them and the types of information they contain. Looking in particular at those who travelled to Greece in the ‘long’ 18th century (1685/90-1830), he addresses the methodological problems in using them as a source, warning that they should not be plundered unreservedly for the data that they contain. 15p, 1 fig, 2 tbs (The Twenty-Second J. L. Myres Memorial Lecture 2004) 0954664701 Pb £5.00 Athens and Attica: Journal of a Residence There by Christopher Wordsworth * Reprint * This volume reprints an account by William Wordsworth’s nephew, a classical scholar of considerable merit, of his tour of Greece in 1832. Wordsworth’s descriptions of the ancient sites are steeped in learning and a deep love of Greek literature and culture. It also provides a snapshot of Greece at a time when it was just recovering from Turkish rule and could still be a perilous place for visitors. 240p, 2 b/ w illus, maps (1836, Archaeopress 2004) 0953992330 Pb £16.99 Strolling Through Athens: Fourteen unforgettable walks through Europe’s oldest city by John Freely * Reprint * In emphasising that Athens is not and should not be treated as an ‘outdoor museum’, this guide to Athens takes in the major archaeological sites, monuments and museums within a series of leisurely strolls. Beginning with an outline of the history and topography of the city, the main chapters are based around walks through the winding streets, around the Agora, Parthenon, visiting the theatre of Dionysus and taking in sites and monuments from the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman Turkish and early modern period. 361p, 13 b/w figs, 16 maps (Penguin 1991, I.B. Tauris Pb 2004) 1850435952 Pb £12.99 Classical Scholarship and Cultural Transference edited by Chryssanthi Avlami and Susanne Stark, with a preface by Oswyn Murray The mechanisms at play in the process of exchange between British, French and German intellectual traditions as they attempt to engage with the study of Greek and Roman history are the focus of this unusual anthology of prefaces. The book makes accessible frequently rare though significant documents which have been collected in the libraries of three countries, and includes introductions to works by authors such as Gibbon, Barthelemy and Droysen, translators’ prefaces to their renderings of foreign texts, and periodical reviews. (Legenda, European Humanities Research Centre 2004) 1900755939 Pb £35.00 By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy by George Gissing * Reprint * At the close of the 19th century the Victorian novelist Gissing embarked on a journey, at times perilous, across southern Italy. This volume reprints Gissing’s eloquent account of his travels, the people he met along the way, the ancient sites and the dangers and hardships he encountered as he endeavoured to satisify his ‘Mediterranean passion’. 159p, b/w illus (Signal 2004) 1902669673 Pb £12.99 Ancient Greece in Film and Popular Culture by Gideon Nisbet As the 21st century began, no less than seven production companies were declaring their intention to turn Alexander the Great into a wide-screen hero. This book explores the changing fortunes of the heroes of Greek myth and history in the melting pot of popular culture. Using little-known examples, classicist and film fan Gideon Nisbet charts the hidden history of Greece in the 20th-century imagination, from film to science fiction and comics. 128p, 24 illus (Bristol Phoenix Press 2004) 1904671233 Pb £9.99