Libanius (314–393) was a Greek orator and teacher in rhetoric and his works have long been considered an important source of information about the Later Roman Empire. He spent the majority of his life in Antioch, but also resided in Athens, Constantinople, Nicaea and Nicomedia, when he was establishing his career. Scholarly interest in his works has mainly evolved around the historical and prosopographical elements present in the many surviving letters and speeches. The declamations and the progymnasmata have received little attention. Despite Libanius' undisputed value as a historical source, his works have been understudied because of their inaccessibility due to a lack of translations and critical introductions. Libanius has thus slipped out of the consciousness of most Classical scholars and has become a peripheral area of study.

V.H.'s project is to create a comprehensive critical introduction to the works of Libanius. The book covers everything from textual overviews, historical contextualisation, analyses of certain speeches, to reception studies and thoughts on who Libanius really was. The contributors are all passionate about their interest in Libanius and this shines through in a way which inspires the readers to acquaint themselves further with Libanius.

The book is structured well so that the reader can enjoy it as a whole, but also access specific chapters and parts individually. Apart from a brief introduction and epilogue, the book has three parts. Parts 1 and 2 stand out as particularly valuable and could have been given more space. The book also contains some extremely helpful appendices with surveys of Libanius' works and available translations.

In Part 1, ‘Reading Libanius’ (Chapters 1–3), the reader finds a detailed introduction to Libanius' life and the historical context in which he composed his works. Chapter 1, ‘Libanius’ Life and Life’, is written by the editor. Apart from providing a good introduction to the major events in Libanius' life, it also offers an excellent introduction to and analysis of Libanius' autobiographical work (Or. 1), referred to here as Life. Through a narratological analysis, V.H. teases out the self-promotional nature of the autobiography and brings attention to Libanius' skills as a writer and manipulator of the truth. Along the same lines, Chapter 2, ‘The Historical Context: the Rhetoric of Suffering in Libanius' Monodies, Letters, and Autobiography’, shows Libanius' skilful use of his own suffering. E. Watts argues that Libanius exploited the audience expectations in his monodies and letters with a ‘rhetorical use of grief’ (p. 56), which did not quite correspond with reality. Although Libanius suffered from long-term illness and loss of friends and family members, Watts reminds the reader that so did most men and women throughout history. What makes Libanius unique is his employment of his personal tragedies in his works and self-presentation. The final chapter in Part 1 is R. Cribiore's ‘The Rhetorical Context: Traditions and Opportunities’. Following many of the themes from Cribiore's brilliant work The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch (2007), the chapter sheds light on Libanius' career as a teacher and the context which the school provided for his rhetoric, including competing schools, the student body and communication with families and alumni.

Part 2, ‘Libanius’ Texts: Rhetoric, Self-presentation and Reception’, offers critical – and very helpful – introductions to each of the different genres present in Libanius' corpus. The first chapter (Chapter 4) is an introduction by P.-L. Malosse to Libanius' orations. Malosse gives a survey of all 64 orations, divided into four categories: political orations, orations concerning himself, festive and emotional orations, and moral discourses. Although these categories are somewhat limiting because of the complexity of most Libanian orations, Malosse skilfully presents the reader to the plethora of Libanian orations in an organised and useful way. R.J. Penella introduces Libanius' declamations in Chapter 5. Penella does an exceptional job in contextualising and explaining declamations, and convinces the reader that this is an almost completely unexplored area of research, which begs for attention. Penella highlights different themes, motifs and character types in the declamations throughout his survey and brings attention to the idea of declamations as literature and in relation to Greek literature. C.A. Gibson presents Libanius' progymnasmata (preliminary school exercises) in Chapter 6. The progymnasmata are one of the least researched genres within the Libanian works. Much like the declamations, they are difficult to understand and relate to for a twenty-first century reader. However, Gibson introduces the progymnasmata through a helpful survey and places them in the context of ancient rhetorical theory (pp. 131ff). Gibson holds the view that the school exercises ‘seem individually resistant to any historically contextualized analysis’ (p. 139) and therefore suggests that ‘broader cultural investigations may prove productive’ (p. 139). It is unfortunate that Gibson does not follow the ideas Penella presents on viewing declamations as literature, as I believe this would be a fruitful direction for the study of progymnasmata as well. The last genre to receive coverage in Part 2 is Libanius' letters, introduced by B. Cabouret. As Cabouret notes, ‘Libanius’ letter collection is the largest to have come down to us from classical antiquity’ (p. 144), and the translations have not been systematic. Cabouret offers the reader a thorough survey of manuscript tradition as well as style and occasions for letter writing, and shows how Libanius through his letters ‘weaves a web of relations but also of moral and social pressures’ (p. 159). In Chapter 8, ‘The Reception of Libanius: from Pagan Friend of Julian to (almost) Christian Saint and Back’, H.-G. Nesselrath and V.H. examine the colourful reception of Libanius from his own time, through Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages and all the way to the present. The main conclusion from Part 2 emerges quite clearly through Chapter 8: Libanius, across genre, wrote with posterity in mind, and his rhetorical skills and cultural awareness merit a modern day rediscovery of Libanius.

Part 3, ‘Contexts: Identity, Society, Tradition’, contains five chapters that investigate some of the key themes in Libanius’ works. In Chapter 9, ‘Emperors and Empire in Libanius’, H.-U. Wiemer draws a picture of Libanius' interactions with and presentations of the Emperors and the Roman Empire. In Chapter 10, ‘Libanius’ Networks', S. Bradbury shows how Libanius interacted through a ‘series of inter-connected, inter-marrying prominent families' (p. 239) and illuminates both the reach and the limits of Libanius' political and social influences. As Nesselrath observes, Chapter 10, ‘Libanius and the Literary Tradition’, is an exercise in Quellenforschung and intertextuality. The chapter builds on the works of Foerster (1877-), Norman (1964) and Schouler (1984) in a thorough discussion of what Greek authors Libanius knew and utilised in his own work. The literary tradition was an integral part of Libanius' promotion of his educational level and his Greek heritage. J.R. Stenger covers the concept of Greek identity in Libanius in Chapter 12, ‘Libanius and the “Game” of Hellenism’. Stenger explores various outlets for Hellenism and concludes that ‘Libanius’ Hellenism emerges as a flexible rhetorical device, deployed for and in social relations in a strategic, creative and at times playful manner’ (p. 292). A similar conclusion appears in the last chapter, ‘Not the Last Pagan: Libanius between Elite Rhetoric and Religion’, as P. Van Nuffelen argues that each text which treats matters of religion must be read carefully within its context. This conclusion is perhaps true of any matter treated by Libanius.

The book stands as a successful endeavour. Each chapter and section contributes to a very useful and thorough critical introduction to Libanius and his works. It shows how Libanius deserves a nuanced approach, which takes both text and context into account, and it invites its readers to bring this late-antique author back into classical research.