In principle, one may think that this volume is another textbook among hundreds of others on the history of the ancient Romans. Indeed, authors and publishing houses (including the world-renowned Oxford University Press) share a common expectation – to publish best-selling and widely-distributed books – and surveys on Roman history have proved to be an unlimited source of sales success. This book certainly satisfies such expectations, but it goes beyond that. It presents a very didactic narrative on historical issues from sexuality and gender, through crime, law and order, to ancient technology and engineering. It is interesting in at least two ways: (1) it represents a national effort of Canadian scholars ‘to provide students of Roman society with readings well suited to the introductory level’ (p. x); and (2) it takes a strong thematic approach, which makes its reading both a pleasant and rich experience for all.

Such a thematic approach is productive in countless ways, including the chance for students to engage in important and current discussions on ancient Roman culture and society. Chapter 8, for instance, clarifies that ‘ancient Roman sexual culture is different from ours’, and that the ancient Romans ‘seem not to have recognized sexuality or sexual identity, concepts to which modern analysis of sex and sexual acts have given rise’. Another important aspect of this chapter is the emphasis on the fact that ‘sexual pleasure had a positive social value in Roman Antiquity’ (p. 165), which puts some comic/polemic graffiti into a historical perspective, as one which refers to a certain Isidorus, a slave of the household, as ‘cuntlicker’ (CIL 4.4699). In other words, such a historical understanding of sexual life in ancient Roman society avoids wrong assumptions on prudery, adultery and censured sexual acts in ancient times.

The book is nicely illustrated for its scope, with timelines, figures and a detailed map of Italy and its surroundings at the end. The epilogue calls attention to the fact that the uses of Roman themes in modern society are primarily concerned with the fulfilment of the modern audience's expectations of entertainment, which often leads to ‘misrepresentation of history for current purposes’ (p. 410). There is an appendix with resources for students and a useful glossary. There are also quotations from the ancient sources and suggestions to compare common issues through all the seventeen chapters (e.g. the discussion on plebeians and patricians from Chapter 3 is referred to in the section on the Plebeian Assembly in Chapter 10). This is a very functional and didactic tool to be used for instructors in undergraduate courses on the history of the ancient Romans.

The structure of the book is one of its great strengths. Chapters are not chronologically arranged, though the authors have given plenty of thought to their order. This means the book is suitable for a thematic approach, with chapters read in an appropriate order according to individual needs, and without pedagogical prejudice.

The first two chapters (Chapter 1 by R., and Chapter 2 by G., N. and A. Sherwood) are good starters. They are an état de l'art of Roman history as it was written prior to the mid-twentieth century and after ‘the significant conceptual shifts that Roman social history brought (and still brings) to the intellectual table’ (p. 2). There is also a summary of Roman history from early Rome to the Tetrarchy.

The other chapters are more thematic. Chapter 3 (by R.) deals with class and status, as well as its changes over time and the possibilities of an upward social and economic mobility; Chapter 4 (by L. Shumka) addresses the important issue of slavery, emphasising both the resistance to slavery and its success in Rome; Chapters 5 (by A. Jeppesen-Wigelsworth), 6 (by F. Dolansky), 7 (by L. Roman), 8 (by K. Olson) and 9 (by A. Bendlin) present, respectively, discussions on the Roman household, education in the Roman world, Latin literature, Roman sexuality and gender (cf. supra), and Roman religion; Chapters 10 (by J. Vanderspoel), 11 (by B. Kelly) and 12 (by M. Carter) are concerned with political aspects of Roman society, and deal with Roman government (assemblies, the Senate and elected officials of the State), crime, courts and justice, as well as public entertainment and its political importance; Chapters 13 (by C. Whately) and 14 (by G. Fisher) may be grouped as military history, since they concern the army, ‘one of the best-documented elements of Roman society’ (p. 286), and the Roman expansion throughout the Mediterranean until the ‘reversal of Roman gains in the east (by 363 c.e.) and the collapse of Roman authority in western Europe’ (p. 324); Chapters 15 (by G.), 16 (by N.) and 17 (by B. Munro) cast light, respectively, on the economy, Roman technology, engineering (including valuable information on streets and bridges, water transport and supply, and sources of energy) and architecture.

Readers who want an exciting textbook to use in an introductory course on Roman history should consider this book as a valuable tool. Its strengths are obvious, and its success as a textbook almost assured amongst young academics. The book will certainly help students to think outside the conventional narrative box (i.e. the chronologically arranged political history of the Roman State) by addressing issues on many aspects of ancient Roman society and culture.