In her latest work H. undertakes a significant study of public spaces and the perception of urban atmospheres in ancient Pompeii. Her aim is to evaluate the design of urban spaces using a phenomenological approach to define the atmospheres of the ancient city. Previously, studies of space and its experience have focused on the domestic spaces of Pompeii (see M. Grahame, Reading Space [2008] and, more recently, M. Anderson, Space, Movement, and Visibility in Pompeian Houses [2023]), primarily due to the excellent state of preservation of the houses. Urban landscapes have received less attention, with a few exceptions, such as studies involving construction materials, houses and their facades (P. Zanker, Pompeji [1995]; R. Helg, Frontes [2018]) or focusing on mapping and topographical studies (R. Laurence, Roman Pompeii [2010]; E. Poehler, The Traffic Systems of Pompeii [2017]). Otherwise, as H. notes in the introduction, studies of urban atmospheres have concentrated on modern and contemporary contexts that are readily observable and subject to immediate analysis. Such approaches began in the 1960s with the seminal work by K. Lynch (The Image of the City [1960]). The excavations of Pompeii offer a rare opportunity for scholars to conduct such a study on an ancient city. The preserved remains enable H. to explore the sensory experiences, decor and materials, but also sounds and smells that constituted the ancient urban environment and their potential impact on viewers, broadly defined without differentiation in social status or gender.

H. begins with an introduction outlining the parameters of her approach and the definition of urban atmospheres in both modern and ancient contexts. Part 2, ‘Städtische Funktionsräume und ihre Atmosphären’, follows to form the bulk of the volume. H. starts by describing streets and roads, analysing construction materials, sidewalks, building facades, graffiti, religious images, and what she terms urban furniture such as fountains, altars and benches. The Decumanus Maximus, starting from the Porta Marina and continuing the Via dell'Abbondanza, receives special attention, divided into two sections east and west of the Via Stabiana. She then examines the Forum, focusing on the three ‘profane’ (p. 110) buildings – Basilica, Macellum and Eumachia building – that open onto the space. Sacred buildings follow, with detailed reconstructions of their ornamentation, building materials, votive offerings and cult statues. H. proceeds to describe the large public entertainment structures such as the Amphitheatre and the Large Theatre, along with associated structures such as the Quadriporticus and the Palaestra. Next, H. looks at the baths in the city, with a focus on the Stabian, Forum and Suburban Baths, but omitting the Sarno, Republican and Central Baths for assorted reasons of construction. Her approach is unique, preferring to compare individual spaces such as apodyteria and caldaria rather than focusing solely on individual complexes. The section concludes with a study of stores, bars, restaurants and hostels.

Part 3 focuses on atmospheres as a category of perception, where H. engages with textures including pavement types, construction techniques and materials as well as spatial movements and images in the urban layout. Once again, her approach is comparative, enabling discussion of different spaces and facades, such as the differing porticos of the Forum. Extensive attention falls on commercial establishments such as restaurants, bars and hostels. H. identifies clusters of different establishments defining the character of urban areas, noting, for instance, restaurants in quieter parts of the city and bars along the main streets. She discusses imagery, including religious themes on shops and statuary, leading to the identification of hierarchies in urban spaces due to their concentration and use in navigating the ancient city.

In Part 4 H. addresses atmospheres as categories of interpretation, building on notions of cultural and communicative memory to examine the semantics of atmospheres and how people assign meaning to them, both consciously and subjectively. She examines pairs of opposites in the built environment – old and new, foreign and native for both materials and iconography, as well as magnificent and plain. H. identifies the continuous nature of habitation and how neighbourhoods can change their character within a generation through (re-)construction and the adoption of new social, economic and cultural trends. This leads to the recognition of identifiable neighbourhoods, such as the densely packed character of the old city versus the open residential character of regio VI and the tranquil garden character of regio II.

The volume concludes with two useful appendices. The first provides a detailed list of all the decor found in restaurants, bars and grocery stores in Pompeii. The second focuses on identifying the columns found in the city, including their architectural order, material used, location and total number. An exhaustive bibliography highlights the impressive range of scholarship that H. has drawn upon for this study. Three indexes of place, ancient sources and topics assist readers in navigating the volume. Periodic summaries throughout the chapters provide a useful guide through this encyclopaedic volume, which is bursting with information, images and original ideas.

Overall, the book is impressive in its scope and range. H. provides detailed accounts of the known ornamentation of the buildings and establishments she discusses, digging deep to uncover descriptions, drawings and coloured prints, thus offering an impressive overview of long-lost and surviving decor in public spaces. This comprehensive synthesis of the built environment, consolidated within one volume, is a substantial strength, considering that one must otherwise locate such information scattered across numerous publications on Pompeii. Additionally, the volume contains many lavish illustrations, providing a wealth of information for scholars and laypeople alike. A more specialised audience, including students and scholars of art and architectural history, Classicists and those interested in phenomenological approaches, will find the volume particularly appealing for its resources and methodology.

H. introduces a new phenomenological approach to studying the built environment. Although initially sceptical, I found her approach to subjective experience highly successful. H.'s arguments are convincing, firmly situating her theories and methods within scholarly discourse. She grounds her work in solid theory as developed by Böhme and Hasse (G. Böhme, Atmosphäre [1995]; J. Hasse, Atmosphären der Stadt [2012]) as well as H. Lefebvre, who characterises produced space as the result of spatial practice, representations of space and representational space, or better described as perceived, conceived and lived space (H. Lefebvre, La production de l'espace [2000]). H. also admits the problematic and vast temporal and cultural gap between contemporary observers and the Pompeiians of two millennia ago. Nevertheless, she succeeds in introducing a multi-sensory experience into her study, including concepts such as temperature, vision, sound, emotion in the broader sound- and smell-scapes of the city.

H.'s comparative approach is original and offers fertile grounds for studies across broader urban environments and cities. Similarly, future studies could include sensory experiences as filtered through social status and gender. Particularly commendable is her focus on public space and her specific treatment of smaller spaces such as restaurants, bars, hostels and grocery stores. Although they have received more attention recently (J. Clarke, Art in the Lives of Ordinary Roman [2006] and S. Ellis, The Roman Retail Revolution [2022]) scholars have overlooked these spaces and their ornamentation. The comprehensive analysis here is a long overdue and welcome addition to Pompeian scholarship. The volume will be hard to overlook for scholars of the ancient world and those investigating built environments, offering a new model for understanding the relationship between space and its experience.