More inclusive scholarly reviews.
An open-access book review journal prioritizing underrepresented scholarly voices in ancient Mediterranean studies.
Recent Reviews
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Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei
9–13 minutesRia Berg, Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei: Specchi e oggetti da toletta in contesti domestici (Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2023). 9788891327406. Reviewed by A. Everett Beek, Case Western Reserve University, aeb222@case.edu. Ria Berg’s book Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei is an archaeological study focused around the material culture of mundus muliebris, or feminine personal grooming and hygiene. Principally, the book catalogues and analyzes Pompeian artifacts associated with grooming: mirrors, unguent bottles, hairpins, tweezers, water basins,…
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Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Gre
8–11 minutesRobert Cioffi, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Greek Novel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024). 9780192870537. Reviewed by Khadija Saigol, University of Victoria, ksaigol@uvic.ca. Cioffi’s monograph,Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Greek Novel: Between Resistance and Representation explores how Egypt, Ethiopia (modern Sudan), and Nubia function as thematic loci for the ancient Greek romance novels written between the first and the third or fourth century CE. Cioffi outlines the geographic importance of the Nile River Valley and showcases how…
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Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the 12th IEMA Visiting Scholar’s Conference
12–17 minutesKevin Garstki, ed., Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the 12th IEMA Visiting Scholar’s Conference (Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, 2022). 9781950446261. Reviewed by David M. Wheeler, University of California, Davis, dmwheeler@ucdavis.edu. Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age is the second installment in the Cotsen Digital Archaeology Series and the result of the 12th annual Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA) Visiting Scholar Conference, which was held April 2019 at…
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The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean
14–21 minutesHannah-Marie Chidwick, ed. The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. 9781350240872. Reviewed by Allyson Blanck, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU, ab10542@nyu.edu. The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by Hannah-Marie Chidwick, expands a recently growing movement towards an embodied military history. Responding to a conversation evolving from the work of scholars such as Elaine Scarry, Kevin McSorley, and Joanna Tidy, who have identified…
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Global Classics
9–14 minutesJacques A. Bromberg, Global Classics (New York: Routledge, 2021). ISBN 9780367549268. Reviewed by Goran Đurđević, University of Zadar, Croatia. goran.djurdjevich@gmail.com. In Global Classics, Jacques A. Bromberg explores the challenges facing Classics in the 21st century, integrating the global turn into classical studies. His primary concerns include the question of what makes Classics global, and perhaps more importantly, what it means to study Classics within a global context. Global studies have seen significant advancements in the…
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Making and Unmaking Ancient Memory
13–19 minutesDe Marre, Martine and Rajiv K. Bhola, eds., Making and Unmaking Ancient Memory, (New York: Routledge, 2022). 9780367371449. Reviewed by Stephanie Murphy, University of North Texas, Stephaniemurphy3@my.unt.edu. The past few decades have seen a growing interest in the field of historiography.1 While previous academic generations have asked the questions of “how” and “from what sources” ancient authors composed their works (with the German tradition of Quellenforschung having reigned supreme in questions of historiography), newer generations…
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Pliny the Elder and the Matter of Memory. An Encyclopaedic Workshop
10–15 minutesAnna Anguissola, Pliny the Elder and the Matter of Memory. An Encyclopaedic Workshop. London and New York: Routledge, 2023. ISBN 9781032056227. Reviewed by Jazz Demetrioff, University at Buffalo (SUNY), jazzdeme@buffalo.edu. Pliny the Elder’s Natural History was the ultimate source for obtaining information in order to preserve traditions and knowledge during the first century CE, when free time and leisure (otium) were overshadowing business and commerce (negotium). The text was not just about collecting, however; it…
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Production, Trade, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy
11–17 minutesJeremy Armstrong and Sheira Cohen, eds., Production, Trade, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy (London and New York: Routledge, 2022). 9780367631727. Reviewed by Ulla Rajala, Stockholm University, Sweden, email rajalaullam@gmail.com. This volume originates from the conference “Exchanging Ideas: Trade, Technology, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy,” held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Not all of the papers from the conference are published in this volume, as some appeared elsewhere, particularly in its sister volume Adoption, Adaption,…
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Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters, and Wonderworker
7–10 minutesDonato Verardi, ed., Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters, and Wonderworkers (London, New York, and Dublin: Bloomsbury, 2023). 9781350121092. Reviewed by Adrien Mangili, FNS/Université de Toulouse Jean Jaurès., adrien.mangili@gmail.com. This edited volume, Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe, explores the unexpected intersections between Aristotelian philosophy and magical practices over a long span, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, marked by epistemological shifts. Donato Verardi’s introduction emphasizes the book’s focus on…
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Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate.
10–15 minutesAndrew Fox, Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate (London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). 9781350237803. Reviewed by Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod, St Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, carbuckle@stmcollege.ca. Andrew Fox’s Trees in Ancient Rome is a substantial adaptation of his 2019 PhD thesis. Through a series of case studies, the author explores the multifaceted impact of trees on the Roman mindset and cityscape. While previous approaches to…