Tombs are one of the most pervasive reminders of ancient Rome; of its inhabitants in all their variety; of human lives filled with achievements, pride and familial love; and of thousands of losses that were grieved for and remembered. B.'s intention is to shed new light on the importance and value of Roman tombs, with a focus on those constructed and used during the second century ce. The objective is not to provide a prequel to B.'s earlier book on tombs and burial customs in the third century, but to challenge some prevailing views about funerary monuments through a contextual and detailed approach to the evidence. The book consists of four discrete chapters, which are linked by a focus on the city of Rome (with some evidence from Portus and Ostia) and evaluations of the choices made by different social classes, broadly defined as the elite and sub-elite.

Chapter 1 re-evaluates the evidence for senatorial tombs in the imperial period. B. argues that, after an initial decline in ostentatious tombs during the decades that followed the advent of the emperors, the senatorial elite reasserted a strong interest in using tombs to display their status and achievements. Contrary to some previous suggestions, B. is clear that ‘senatorial mausolea were neither modest nor removed from sight’ (p. 70). Although forced to acknowledge that the evidence is patchy and poorly preserved, B. is able to identify a specific tomb type associated with senators during the second century ce, the temple tomb, often with a full marble front, which embodied family pride. The interiors of these elite tombs also promoted messages that revolved around public office, triumph, victory and pietas. For senatorial families, sarcophagi with mythological decor based on Dionysiac themes were preferred; not for senators were the myths of Meleager, Endymion, Persephone or Hippolytus with their motifs of death, lament and loss.

Chapter 2 addresses a matter that has ‘mystified scholars and sparked much controversy’ (p. 79), the change from cremating to inhuming bodies, which occurred during the second century ce. B.'s position is that inhumation was the traditional method of corpse disposal in ancient Rome, a method that was always present and that began to gain fresh ground in the first century ce with the elite's greater use of marble sarcophagi. It was then the (possible) inhumation burial of the emperor Hadrian, probably within a large porphyry sarcophagus set within his new mausoleum, which acted as a catalyst for the wider adoption of inhumation. As such Hadrian may have been more of a bandwagon jumper than an innovator. B.'s summation of the evidence for earlier inhumations is useful, as is (despite the many remaining evidential caveats) the consideration of the significance of porphyry sarcophagi among the imperial family, but exploration of these two threads still does not fully address and thus answer the question, ‘Why did inhumation become a “fashion”?’ (p. 83).

The use of family tombs over extended time periods is the subject of Chapter 3. B. identifies examples of tombs, both of senators and of the sub-elite, which remained in use for more than 100 years, suggesting pride in family connections and the longevity (and also flexible definition) of an individual familia. Building a tomb was not always a necessary or preferred avenue for displaying status, since status and reputation could be more effectively conveyed by the privilege of having access to an established ancestral tomb. Collecting together the known examples of long-use tombs is extremely valuable, although addressing some cases where this aspiration failed may have further nuanced the argument.

Finally, Chapter 4 explores divine connotations in funerary commemoration. It begins with a densely written attempt to unpick the significance of presentations of mortals as gods, what this signified, how it related to ‘belief’, and it argues for ‘a more inclusive concept of divinity’ (p. 227). The evidence for temple tombs is surveyed, and by way of an overview of apotheosis imagery and (the very limited) epigraphic references to the afterlife, it is suggested that temple tombs may have implied a superior status for the individual in eternity (p. 281), which also reflected on the larger family. Both statues in formam deorum and temple tombs played with ambiguities, suggesting for the deceased divinity (if only for a limited group of viewers) and/or a special relationship with the divine and/or divine qualities, thus deliberately ‘straddling borderlines without necessarily crossing them’ (p. 290). This is a complex subject, encompassing a huge range of examples (tombs, epitaphs, statuary) that become condensed and compressed even in the 100 pages devoted to the chapter, and thus might have been better served by a book-length approach.

B.'s knowledge and selection of material (archaeological, textual, epigraphic, archival) is masterful, and the exacting details bring the tombs, which feature in this book, to life. The four chapters are billed as ‘essays’ (p. xvii) and, although there is some interweaving, the chapters stand alone, with no overarching introduction or conclusion. Despite this, the ‘essays’ do cohere to provide valuable insights into the meaning and significance of tombs during the second century ce. B. is not afraid to address the big questions: such as where were senators buried post Augustus; or why did inhumation come back into fashion? The book also challenges some of the established orthodoxy of the past 30 years about cemetery practices, such as the balance between, and significance of, exterior and interior tomb display in the imperial period. The book provides fresh perspectives on these questions and issues, to be sure not by presenting evidence that is new, but by meticulously collecting and collating a wide range of material; and one of the huge benefits of this book is rendering some of this material more accessible. Whether the questions that B. sets out are always answered in a full and satisfactory fashion is debatable. The central issues, such as changes in burial rites and the form of senatorial tombs, are reinvigorated perhaps, but are far from fully resolved; and some perspectives, such as the continuity of inhumation throughout the Roman period or the importance (and limitations) of titular epitaphs for defining tomb use and occupancy, are not new revelations.

This remains, nonetheless, an impressive and moreover engaging book. It is well illustrated and clearly written, and thus accessible to a wide audience. The level of detail, if sometimes overwhelming, combined with a clear fascination for the subject matter will enthral all those interested in Roman tombs, memory and commemoration.