Bert Smith's hefty and copiously illustrated volume on the relief sculptures from the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias is as monumental an achievement as the portico complex and its decorative programme. Excavated between 1979 and 1984, approximately eighty complete and fragmentary sculpted relief panels associated with the structure and dated firmly to the mid-first century c.e. have been meticulously conserved and are currently arranged according to reconstructed display sequences in a new wing of the Aphrodisias Museum. In five substantial chapters and a conclusion, S. examines the history of the excavations, the epigraphic evidence, the architectural design, the sculptures of the Propylon, the North and the South Buildings, and finishes with discussion of Roman emperors depicted as Greek heroes within a Greek urban context. The impressive photographic evidence (high-quality black-and-white photographs arranged as plates) is supplemented by 275 line drawings of the extant inscriptions, relief panels and sculpture fragments as well as architectural plans.

The first chapter summarizes the history, excavation, location within the urban plan, and the architectural design of the Sebasteion. After providing a concise summary of the history and architectural development of Aphrodisias from 200–20 b.c.e., S. hypothesizes that the impetus for the construction of this grand, lavishly decorated complex was to reconfirm the city's close political and economic ties to the imperial court at Rome immediately prior to or after the succession of Tiberius. Aphrodisias had enjoyed the generous and economically advantageous patronage of Augustus; the final years of the first emperor's reign were accompanied by anxiety over the potential success (or failure) of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Cities throughout the Empire, especially those communities favoured by the first Princeps, were undoubtedly worried about the succession and strove to declare their steadfast allegiance.

Ch. 2 examines the structure of the aedicular entrance façade (propylon) and its sculpture. A minimum of sixteen statues of the imperial family, Aeneas and Aphrodite Prometor originally stood atop inscribed bases positioned on both the exterior and interior faces of the two-storey propylon. S. documents each surviving base and statue, noting that the ‘low’ bases were set up during the reign of Tiberius while the ‘tall’ bases belong to a commission under Gaius Caligula. The display context of the Caligulan group is less certain. The overall design and sculptural programme of the propylon demonstrates that it is one of the earliest surviving examples of the ‘Asiatic Façade’, an ornate architectural form that would becomes especially popular in Roman Asia Minor during the high imperial era.

Ch. 3 examines the iconographic programme of the North Building: a collection of personifications of ethne decorated the second storey (panels B 1–10), while images of deities (Hemera, Oceanus, Nike and the Graces, Euphrosyne and Aglaia) as well as Nero and Agrippina (panels A1–7) graced the third storey. Each panel (and, when extant, its inscribed base) has its own detailed catalogue entry and line drawing, in addition to reconstructions and findspot plans that clarify the presumed original positions of the sculptures. S. concludes that the universal gods and their placement alongside images of Nero and presumably more members of the imperial dynasty on the third level served as ‘frame of reference’ allegories drawn from Hellenistic art for the more specific images of the ethne displayed in the lower second storey (86).

The well-preserved panels, relief fragments and inscribed bases from the South Building are the focus of chs 4 and 5. S. begins with the reliefs from the Corinthian third storey of the southern portico, a series of complete and fragmentary images of various gods and Julio-Claudian emperors (C 1–34). In contrast to the more officially sanctioned Roman ideology represented by the ethne panels on the North Building, S. argues that the iconography of the second storey panels on the South Building represents a more local, familiar interpretation of the relationships between imperial power and the divine as understood in the Greek East. Also different is the actual design pattern of the intercolumniations for all three storeys; for the South Building, the spaces were conceived as tripartite units, with a wider central panel flanked by narrower ‘windows’ (123).

In ch. 5, S. turns his attention to the carved marble panels that originally adorned the Ionic second storey of the South Building (D 1–51). S. states that these mythological reliefs, the best-preserved of the entire series and remarkable for their variety in subject and design, were selected deliberately to complement ‘the function and needs of the Sebasteion complex’ (197). A precise arrangement for the display of these panels is hypothesized based on findspots, from which S. concludes the selection and grouping of particular mythological episodes was less rigid than might be expected.

The final chapter tackles the complex problem of how material evidence might shed further light on the interactions between Greek cities and their Roman imperial overlords. In the case of the Sebasteion, two prominent Aphrodisian families commissioned an elaborate structure covered with imagery that articulated the mutually beneficial relationship between the city and its patron goddess and Roman power and, more specifically, the new Julio-Claudian dynasty. S. envisions a fascinating scenario whereby the two families, along with the architects and sculptors, planned the general design of the thoroughfare complex in advance, selecting imagery that required models imported from Rome (the ethne series) as well as mythological scenes already familiar to local inhabitants. The success of this ambitious project can be judged by the post-Julio-Claudian history of the Sebasteion; the complex stood relatively unaltered until the fourth century, when it became a commercial centre. In the fifth century, selected reliefs considered offensive to the Christian community, such as sacrifice scenes, were deliberately defaced. Fortunately, most of the panels suffered minimal damage and now stand visible for all to examine in the Aphrodisias Museum. For scholars and students unable to travel to the site, Smith's carefully structured, handsome publication offers rigorous analysis, thought-provoking observations and superb documentation.