In his account of the lead-up to the assassination of Julius Caesar, Nicolaus of Damascus describes how the dictator alienated many at Rome by failing to rise when the senators approached him en masse to announce the award of new honours: Caesar was at the time on the site of his new Forum, arranging contracts for the work. Nicolaus subsequently noted the irony that Caesar met his death at the foot of the statue of his great rival Cn. Pompeius (Nic. Dam. 78, 83, 90), which was displayed in the curia constructed by Pompey as part of his theatre–portico complex in the Campus Martius. Building projects thus acted as a physical backdrop to the fraught political rivalries of the Late Republic. How Pompey and Caesar’s buildings also served collectively as a means of political communication is the focus of Zampieri’s book.

Z. begins by arguing for the relevance of the concept of ‘propaganda’ in this context, before looking in turn at the multiple deities, divine qualities and historical figures — Venus, Felicitas, and Scipio Aemilianus, to take just three examples — which served, in differing ways, as points of reference for Pompey and Caesar. She then turns to Pompey’s monuments — the Temple of Hercules located close to the Circus Maximus; the Temple of Minerva (of uncertain location); and the theatre–portico complex on the Campus. Subsequent chapters deal with different phases of Caesar’s building activity in the city: his original initiatives, while still campaigning in Gaul and Britain, to monumentalise the Saepta and to expand the Roman Forum; the construction, following Caesar’s seizure of power, of the temple of Felicitas on the site of the Sullan Curia; and then his various initiatives in the city from 46 b.c. onwards, characterised by Z. as a period of increasing autocracy. These include the second phase of the Forum of Caesar, marked by the construction of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, Caesar’s work on locations for spectacle including the Circus Maximus and a new stadium in the Campus Martius, and the large-scale projects for the city planned by Caesar in the latter stages of his dictatorship, but achieved only in modified form, if at all. The Conclusion provides a diachronic overview of Pompey’s and Caesar’s initiatives in the city, highlighting the close association of Pompey’s buildings with the institution of the triumph and his aspirations as world conqueror, but also how the layout of his theatre–portico complex echoes the relationship of the Curia and Comitium, and thus Pompey’s loyalty to the traditional political structures of Rome. While Caesar seeks to outdo his rival both as conqueror and builder, his work on the Saepta and re-positioning of the Rostra in the Forum also underline his emphasis on the authority of the Roman People.

This is a complex story, and Z. lucidly guides us through a series of sometimes hotly debated topographical topics. She engages closely with important recent archaeological work in the city of Rome, including Delfino’s examination of the Forum of Caesar and the studies of the Theatre of Pompey by Monterroso Checa, Packer and Gagliardo: there is a detailed discussion of how the Temple of Venus Victrix in Pompey’s theatre might have related structurally to the cavea, for example.

Z. also provides detailed discussion of the sculptural and decorative programmes associated with Pompey’s complex on the Campus and the Forum of Caesar, arguing that many of the decorative themes relate to the ideological and political concerns of the two men. She herself admits that some of these references are very subtle; while it would have been clear to all that Caesar’s Saepta rivalled the nearby Theatre of Pompey, for example, understanding the griffins and decorative ‘meanders’ on the frieze of the portico of the Forum of Caesar, and on the cornice of the temple of Venus Genetrix, would have required a more expert eye.

The political commentary offered by Z. has a rather ‘traditional’ tone in places: the informal alliance of Pompey, Caesar and Crassus is referred to as the ‘first triumvirate’, and there are numerous references to ‘factions’. Caesar, for example, is described as the ‘new leader of the popularis faction’. Engaging with the work of scholars such as Brunt, Millar and Mouritsen, who have in various ways critiqued this sort of framing of Republican politics, in addition to the bibliography referenced here which specifically focuses on Pompey and Caesar, might have suggested possible further lines of approach. Debates about the social composition of those involved in active politics at Rome might fruitfully be put into dialogue with Z.’s comments on the diverse viewers of the monuments and their decoration. Similarly, studies of ‘political culture’ (e.g. by K-J. Hölkeskamp), which highlight the monumental settings in which Republican politics took place, could potentially contribute to contextualising Z.’s assessment of Pompey’s and Caesar’s buildings. A particular strength of her approach, however, is the emphasis throughout on the complex and rapidly changing political contexts in which decisions about building projects were being made.

Z. has helped to remind us that large-scale building projects at Rome did not begin with Augustus. In fact, we might note that Caesar’s activities as a builder were specifically commemorated on his pyre, with the funeral couch covered by a model of the Temple of Venus Genetrix (Suet., Iul. 84). Monuments were, as Z. rightly concludes, ‘a fundamental part of the political game’.