This volume consists of five chapters, plus some introductory notes and concluding remarks. The brief introduction outlines the structure of the book. Here, B. claims to present an updated statement about the communities living around the Strait of Messina from the Archaic Age until the first half of the fifth century bc. If we exclude the recent exhibition Zankle e Rhegion. Due città a controllo dello Stretto (2017, National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, catalogue in press), curated by C. Malacrino and G. Tigano, the latest work on the subject is the timeless G. Vallet's Rhégion et Zancle (1958). In B.'s introduction, however, there is not any reference to the methodological approach with which he argues his positions with respect to the previous scholarship. The reader is forced to infer the methodology followed by B. while reading the following chapters.
Chapter 1, ‘L'area dello Stretto: insediamenti, economia e società prima dell'ascesa di Anassilao’, proceeds with an archaeological description of the main settlements connected with the Strait district. At the beginning B. dwells on the Greek names that identified the Strait, Poros and Porthmos, in order to highlight the territorial dimension and the unitary character of this region. Rightly, however, B. goes well beyond analysing the Strait strictu sensu (the poleis of Zankle and Rhegion) and extends the survey area to the communities economically and politically connected to it (Mylai, Lipara and the emporion near the Metauros river, nowadays called Petrace).
Chapter 2, ‘Oltre lo Stretto: mobilità e scambi nel Tirreno prima dell'ascesa di Anassilao’, illustrates the role played by the communities of the Strait in the second half of the sixth century bc. B. stresses the interests of the Chalcidians in the Tyrrhenian markets, engaging, together with the ceramic and numismatic evidence, the participation of the people of Rhegion in the foundation of Hyele following the defeat of the Phocaeans in Alalia (540–535 bc). The last part of the chapter analyses the historiographical course of Archaic Piracies and ‘Thalassocracies’. Here B. suggests that the information gained by the ancient sources concerning the movements of Phocaeans and Etruscans in the Tyrrhenian Sea has developed among the Chalcidian peoples living in the Strait, already in the mid-sixth century bc.
Starting from Chapter 3, ‘Gli inizi del V secolo: la crisi di Zancle e l'avvento al potere di Anassilao’, B. discusses the events that marked the rise and fall of the so-called ‘Kingdom of the Strait’ led by Anaxilas. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part concerns the political crisis of Zankle, at first occupied by Hippocrates of Gela, then reduced to a sort of ‘puppet state’ run by a group of Samians after the battle of Lade (494 bc). The second part analyses Anaxilas’ rise to power in Rhegion and the following conquest and refoundation of Zankle in Messene.
Chapter 4, ‘Messene e Reggio fino alla battaglia di Himera: il “regno dello Stretto”’, investigates the ways in which Anaxilas maintained his rule on the Strait. Regarding domestic policy, B. demonstrates the instrumental use of Anaxilas’ Messenian descent and attributes to the tyrant's ‘Messenianism’ the appearance of a cosmetic propaganda addressed to shape a common identity between Messene and Rhegion. In terms of foreign policy, on the other hand, B. shows how the international affirmation of Anaxilas was accomplished mostly through military confrontation (in particular, against Gelon) and, on an ideological level, by taking part in Panhellenic games. Finally, the last section of the chapter refers to the battle of Himera (480 bc) and its significance for Anaxilas’ tyranny.
Chapter 5, ‘Tra Himera e il koinon dogma del 461/0: la fine del “regno dello Stretto”’, analyses continuity and discontinuity between Anaxilas’ rule and the period following his death. Therefore, most of B.'s comments are dedicated to Micitus’ regency and the subsequent end of the tyrannical regime in the Strait. The last part of the chapter is devoted to the identity and citizenship issues that arose after the general reorganisation of the Sicilian poleis resulting from the so-called koinon dogma (461–460 bc). B. mostly identifies the final break in the cultural unity that had characterised the Strait in the previous decades during the ethnocentric polarisation that occurred in both Zankle (the Doric Messana) and Rhegion (the Ionian ally of Athens).
The final chapter summarises the history of the Strait and traces the key concepts presented in the book.
B.'s research undoubtedly succeeds in offering an updated picture of the history of the Strait of Messina in the Archaic period. Furthermore, in the Italian context, it is the first monograph to deal scientifically with the topic. A not insignificant merit is B.'s choice to address the research by trying to understand the ancient sources (lacking in information and sometimes contradictory) through the lenses of archaeological data. Considering the economic and geopolitical elements as evidence for arguing one's own positions is another welcomed quality. To the reader, however, B.'s text will seem to emphasise with insistence information and concepts already known and acquired in the international academic debate, such as the need to overcome the ethnic bias in the construction of the political identity of the Western Greeks. B., in fact, does not give any account of the history of the scientific studies concerning the Strait, which would have been of great help – especially for a work of synthesis like this – to understand both the status quaestionis and the methodological milieu to which B. refers. Despite this, B. demonstrates in the rich bibliography an engagement with previous scholarship, commenting in detail and with criticism and often resorting to long footnotes. Even though B. proceeds with wise caution to reconstruct the historical facts, some statements – expressed, perhaps, carelessly – seem perplexing. For instance, among the elements used by B. to demonstrate the fallacy in defining the ‘Regno dello Stretto’ in favour of the existence of ‘due entità statuali separate tra loro’ (p. 122), we find the fact that both Rhegion and Messene minted their own currency, following the principle that financial autonomy necessarily corresponds to political autonomy. In this case B. does not take the opportunity to compare his assumption with the similar situation of the Deinomenid dominion over southern Sicily, where Gela, Syracuse and Leontinoi had their own coinage despite referring to a single ruler. Although some parts of the text are sticky, and some concepts are repeatedly remarked (even through a redundant use of the first person), the book is well organised and has a rather nice and fluid style. The reading is often interrupted by the numerous quotations of ancient authors, both in Greek and in Latin; therefore an index of the used sources would have been appreciated.
Overall, thanks to a clear and agile communication strategy, the final impression is that of a work of synthesis addressed not only to an academic audience. For this reason, far from being a replacement work for Vallet (which does not seem to be B.'s goal), this concise work is highly recommended as an updated compendium for those who want to (re)familiarise themselves with the history of the Strait in the Archaic period.
