Any mention of the Roman architecture of the Gallic provinces instantly brings to mind the theatres and amphitheatres of southern France, or spectacular shrines. The portico is at first sight a poor relation, even though it was a constituent part of many of these complexes. Similarly, modern syntheses of Roman architecture tend to concentrate on the particular, rather than being rooted in a systematic and comprehensive survey. In this volume, Frakes offers an alternative approach. His stated aim is to examine the process of urban development in the three Gallic provinces of Narbonensis, Lugdunensis and Aquitania through the architectural form of the portico. This then contributes to a wider understanding of the process of Romanisation and the way power relations work within the imperial context.

His starting point is a catalogue of all known porticoes of the three provinces, which forms the substantial appendices at the end of the volume (111–453). This forms the basis for the first part of the volume: the analysis of their significance. This opens with an overview of the topic, followed by the establishment of a typology of portico types (6–10). The remainder of the first chapter deals with the theoretical issues: the topic of Romanisation, and the phenomenological model. Both these sections are somewhat patchy in their review of the existing literature, and the development of the debates in the last twenty years. Nevertheless, the section dealing with phenomenology makes it clear that F. is aligning himself with the recent approaches to built space which see them as inhabited space, which can only be understood through their relationship with human action and human experience, such as movement and the senses.

Once over this problematic first chapter, F. is on firmer footing dealing with the porticoes themselves. Ch. 2 is a review of the textual references to porticoes, not only authors such as Vitruvius who set out how to design a portico, but also the texts which provide evidence for the social significance of the portico as the product of élite display, for educating the future citizen, or for virtue and vice. Ch. 3 looks at the development of the portico in Narbonensis during the Augustan period. F. argues that just over 50 per cent of porticoes can be definitively or tentatively dated to the period between 35 b.c. and a.d. 20, with a further quarter of the sample dating to the Julio-Claudian period. Many of these are in areas with no previous examples of the portico form, and F. suggests that this may indicate an imperial agenda, even if it was implemented by the local élites. These porticoes mainly framed quadrangular spaces or lined orthogonal street grids, reinforcing a new urban concept within which the people of these towns had to operate. Many of these are from fora, and F. focuses on these to demonstrate that learning a new Roman architectural language goes hand in hand with learning a new imperial iconography, and new ways of demonstrating power through statues and inscriptions of the imperial family and the local élite within the public spaces represented by the porticoes. These elements were largely absent from non-urban temple plazas.

Ch. 4 moves on to look at representations of porticoes in Gallic art, mainly ceramics and mosaics. This is the least successful part of the work. It sits awkwardly within the overall structure, breaking up the two chapters (3 and 5) which deal with the development of the architectural form. Furthermore, the argument that there is a relationship between column-motifs as a framing device on pottery and the architectural form of the portico needs more detailed consideration for it to be accepted by the reader. From here, F. returns to the physical development of the buildings themselves, moving outwards both geographically and chronologically. The themes which emerged in ch. 3 are reiterated here: the importance of the portico in framing urban space, the use of imperial iconography in the forum porticoes. There are differences in the rural sanctuaries: here it is clear that the chronological high-point of the construction of quadriporticus occurs later, dominated by those constructed during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. In the final chapter, F. deals with the end of the portico, arguing against a blanket destruction of them in the late third century. Instead he suggests a more nuanced pattern of destruction and maintenance, as the patterns of urban living change and the imperial networks shift.

This is an interesting study; it sits comfortably within current approaches which see the meaning of space being produced by its inhabitants through activity and movement. This then adds to our knowledge of the process of cultural change through a nuanced account of the adoption which moves beyond the uncritical presence-absence considerations to present a more dynamic change which had its own temporal trajectory. There are some flaws with the work, most notably the structure as indicated. There are plentiful line-drawings of the plans of the porticoes themselves, but few plans indicating how they fit into their urban context, and no illustrations of the iconography. The bulk of the work is the catalogue, which usefully summarises a wealth of the material in an easily accessible format. However, as much of this material does not appear in the main text, it does leave the reader with the question of whether it would have been better to publish the two elements separately, since it means that this will be mainly purchased by libraries rather than individuals. Nevertheless, the volume makes a worthwhile contribution to our understanding of provincial architecture.