It is ten years now since the publication of the first Blackwell Companions. Characterized by their comprehensive, expert and up-to-date treatments, these volumes have become staples of undergraduate reading lists and trusted introductions to new fields, and this latest is a worthy addition to the collection. The line-up of contributors is extremely impressive, with most chapters written by the very scholars whose names immediately sprang to my own mind on seeing their titles. Yet less-established scholars have not been overlooked, ensuring an important injection of fresh perspectives and ideas. I found the thought-provoking and well-theorized chapter by Sobocinski, an independent scholar, on ‘Visualizing Architecture Then and Now’ a particularly strong testament to the benefits of this approach.

As the editors explain in their introduction, the chapters are organized into four broad groupings. Chs 1–6 cover the chronological development of architectural forms, chs 7–10 the design and construction processes, chs 11–20 individual architectural types, and chs 21–25 receptions within and beyond antiquity. The balance of space devoted to each grouping and the range of individual topics covered within seemed to me appropriate and thorough. I did wonder, though, whether chs 20 (Revell on Romanization) and 21 (Laurence on Streets and Facades) had accidentally been reversed, since Revell tackles provincial receptions of ‘Roman’ types, while Laurence explicitly dubs streets ‘a particular form of architecture that is linear’, even if they might not be a traditional ‘type’.

The chronological chapters begin around 1000 b.c. and end with the Tetrarchy. This span is more extensive than most major reference works, allowing for a vivid account of the evolving character of Roman architecture, even within a social framework which favoured traditionalism. Concrete is, of course, a major player in this story. Davies argues that the construction possibilities which it presented to late Republican politicians ultimately facilitated the fall of the Republic, while Quenemoen explores the practical and socio-political factors which allowed its full potential not only to be realized, but also to be absorbed into the existing vocabulary of Classical architecture. The explanatory frameworks used to account for change are generally sophisticated, encompassing political pressures, cultural exchange between Rome and its empire and the impact of new materials and technology. But Becker's chapter on the earlier first millennium b.c. sometimes elides the distinction between correlation and causation. It is not enough to attribute changes in domestic and cult architecture to the process of urbanization, when that process itself requires explanation, and was most likely driven by the same wider social and political factors.

Scholarly interest in ancient architectural design and construction has blossomed over the past twenty-five years, as is amply recognized by the four chapters on different stages of the process: the input of architect and patron (Anderson), pre-building design methods (Senseney), materials and techniques (Lancaster and Ulrich) and labour and construction (Taylor). All are able to draw on major new approaches, and often also new evidence, which were not available a generation ago. Lancaster and Ulrich's chapter, the longest of the four, is a quasi-encyclopedic review of individual materials and their uses, which is likely to be consulted most as a point of reference, but also offers valuable insights into the processes of cultural interaction and long-term socio-economic trends within the Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Taylor demonstrates the potential for even the most grandiose élite monuments to cast light on the lives of otherwise voiceless individuals, if they are also understood as the workplaces of large and diverse labour forces.

The architectural types examined in the third part of the book include urban and non-urban sanctuaries, fora, funerary monuments, spectacle buildings, bath buildings, insula blocks, domus and villas. Clearly, each of these has its own specific history and character, but they were also built by the same people and communities. The explicit discussion of key themes such as architectural evolution, regional variation and the human use of built space across all of these chapters ensures that a collective story of local identities, élite display and regional interactions emerges. Highlights for me included Stek on non-urban cult places, who offers a sophisticated account of the interplay between local and peninsula-wide developments in Republican Italy, and Frakes on fora, who demonstrates clearly how communities could use these complex, evolving spaces to express both local and wider identities at the same time.

These themes culminate in Revell's typically lucid and thought-provoking chapter on ‘Romanization’. Revell sets out some of the methodological biases which have caused scholars to exaggerate empire-wide homogeneity, and makes a strong case for looking at function rather than form when assessing Rome's architectural impact on the provinces: or indeed vice versa. Finally, four closing chapters tackle receptions of ancient architecture through discussions of Vitruvius and his influence, Roman and Fascist ideology, the visualization of architecture, and approaches to conservation. The consistent strength of these chapters is their exploration of two-way dialogues between present and past, which include not only analysing later uses and abuses of ancient architecture, but also asking what new insights modern practices can cast on their ancient equivalents. Thus, for example, Sobocinski is able to offer new readings of building depictions on ancient coins by comparing them with modern reconstructions, while Aylward likewise illuminates the haphazard yet significant rôle of ancient conservation practices by comparing them with modern norms.

Throughout the volume, cross-references alert readers interested in (for example) a particular archaeological type to further discussion of its chronological context, technical underpinnings or reception in other chapters. This is extremely valuable for bringing out the thematic dialogues which inform the volume, although it does draw attention to the fact that some authors present particular interpretations as settled while others reveal them as contested. Differences of opinion are of course productive, but only if both parties explicitly articulate their positions: and this could have been achieved through the editorial process. The book closes with an invaluable glossary, complete with references to relevant illustrations elsewhere and its own images of column capitals, followed by a consolidated bibliography and extensive index.

The primary remit for an individual Blackwell Companion chapter is to offer an up-to-date account of current scholarly debates, rather than a major original contribution to them. Most here follow this brief, though of course some offer new lines of argument (for example, Davies, Quenemoen, Frakes, Sobocinski) or tackle under-explored topics (for example, Mayer, Aylward). What makes the collection as a whole worthy of more than just a place on undergraduate bookshelves, though, is what it reveals about the state of Roman architectural studies as a field. Though traditional chronological and typological frameworks are still employed, thematic dialogues around issues of political power, social interaction, cultural change and the relationship between technology and ideology unfold throughout the book, revealing that the potential of architectural material to illuminate these aspects of ancient life is now widely shared and accepted. The greatest long-term achievement of this book may be to make that potential accessible to scholars who do not normally work with material culture.