In recent years the growing interest in Roman Greece has brought forth many investigations, carried out with particular regard to the aspects, strategies and consequences of the interaction between Greeks and Romans (e.g. the conference ‘Romanisation – Romanization ?!?’ held at Heidelberg in 2017). L.'s book, which studies the portrait statues erected in the Athenian Agora in their role as ‘Repräsentationsmonumente’ in relation with Athens’ past, as well as the Athenian statuary practices for Roman citizens and the Agora as an ‘Erinnerungsraum’ (p. 11), fits well within this research trend. At the same time, the publication contributes to another research area that has developed considerably in recent years: the re-examination of previously studied statues, now investigated within their original context (on Greek portraits see, e.g., R. von den Hoff, F. Queyrel and E. Perrin-Saminadayar [edd.], Eikones. Portraits en contexte. Recherches nouvelles sur les portraits grecs du Ve au Ier s. av. J.-C. [2016]).
The book features six chapters, a short conclusion in German, English and Italian, and the catalogue of the archaeological evidence and epigraphical sources related to honorary statues erected in the Athenian Agora between 86 bc and ad 267. On the one hand, L. examines the main features of the practice following a diachronic perspective (Chapter 4); on the other hand (Chapter 5), he systematically outlines the issues surrounding the actors, the portrayed individuals, the monuments’ shape and material used, the Agora's statuary landscape as well as the main connections between Athens and the Roman Empire (p. 83).
A first problematic aspect, immediately highlighted by L., is the difficulty in identifying with certainty the location of the monuments within the Agora, as only a few were found in situ (p. 12). It was therefore necessary to apply other criteria to the selection of the monuments included in the study (p. 13). At the beginning of the book L. defines his methodology, giving the study a clear and specific approach. The chosen criteria are: reference by an ancient author, attribution of specific epithets of deities holding cults in the Agora and reference to the polis’ institutions as dedicatees. These allow L. to identify with certainty the archaeological evidence and solve the recurring problem of reusing statues and inscriptions as building materials.
However, the chronological span analysed is controversial. While the dates 86 bc and ad 267 are regarded as conventional in earlier publications, according to recent research their relevance must be re-examined. Since the book deals with social phenomena, the effects of which are analysed over a long period of time, it would have been more appropriate, in my opinion, to choose the dates of the first and last portrait statues erected in the Athenian Agora in the Roman period as the start and end points of the study. While the first half of the 80s is an appropriate starting point – the first erected portrait statue can indeed be dated to 87–84 bc –, the reason for ad 267 as the end point is unclear. Even if only a limited number of cases, some portrait statues were certainly erected in the Agora until the fifth century ad, for example of the Empress Eudocia, attested by an inscription found in front of the Palace of the Giants (The Athenian Agora, vol. 18 [2011], pp. 156–7 n. H 272). These statues are mentioned by L. in Chapter 6, in which he gives a quick overview of the Agora after ad 267, but they play no role in his analysis. Giving the impression that the beginning and the end of the phenomena under analysis are a direct response to these historical events must be avoided. L. correctly draws a comparison with the situation on the Acropolis, where Romans were honoured through the erection of portrait statues from 120 bc (pp. 128–34). Thanks to this comparison, it is possible to show that the same practice, which is a characteristic element of the Agora only after Sulla's siege, cannot be considered a direct response to this event, as it was already common elsewhere in the city earlier. At the same time, despite the decrease of new portrait statues erected in the Agora after the Heruli's capture of the city, the statuary practice did not break off.
After a detailed and clear review of previous approaches to the topic (pp. 4–9) and the methodological preface (pp. 9–13), Chapter 2 is a long excursus on Pausanias’ description of the Athenian Agora. The analysis shows how Pausanias uses the statues as a rhetorical device to introduce the stories of distinguished characters. This examination per se is interesting, but its position at the beginning of the book might confuse readers: the situation of the Agora from the second century ad onwards is only introduced afterwards, and in the following chapters L. goes back to the chronological starting point of the study, namely the Sullan period (Chapter 3). The analysis of Pausanias’ description would fit better into a general discussion of the literary sources, which are indeed witness to the erection of portrait statues in the Agora. Such a discussion does not feature in the book.
In Chapter 4 the reader is introduced to the main argument, the diachronic analysis of the evidence focusing on four phases and showing elements of continuity and discontinuity during the distinct periods. Furthermore, L. reconstructs the statuary landscape of the Agora and provides useful diachronic plans (Figs 5–8).
The systematic analysis in Chapter 5 presents the main characteristic aspects of the honorary practice in the Athenian Agora during the Roman period. A complete list of all catalogue records at the beginning of each subchapter (5.1.2–5.1.2.5) would have simplified referencing within the book. The comparison with the situation in previous times (pp. 40–6) shows a continuum not only with regard to the main areas of the square occupied by the statues (J. Ma, Statues and Cities. Honorific Portraits and Civic Identity in the Hellenistic World [2013], p. 104), but also with regard to some of the forms of representation and communication, such as for example the proximity to other statues and buildings (op. cit., pp. 118–21).
The highlighted aspects, therefore, shed light on the statuary practice within the general practice undertaken by Athens with regard to relations with Rome and its citizens. The connection between the statues and the monuments of the polis’ glorious history enables the Athenians to include new characters into the history of the city (pp. 109–18). The same strategy is used by the construction of new buildings: the faithfully copied Erechtheion architectural members used for the monopteros of Roma and Augustus on the Acropolis links the temple of imperial worship to one of the city's most sacred buildings, which is connected with Athens’ religious traditions related to the foundation of the polis (O. Dally, ‘Athen in der frühen Kaiserzeit – ein Werk des Kaisers Augustus?’, in S. Vlizos, Athens during the Roman Period [2008], p. 45). In the same way, the omnipresence of Roman emperors (e.g. portraits, inscriptions) in the Agora and the strategy of assimilating them to local deities are rightly connected by L. to the impossibility of ignoring the emperor as well as to the necessity of maintaining local religious traditions (p. 123), at the same time helping to acquaint the Athenians with their new rulers.
The volume is well edited. The only small defect is the lack of the specification bc or ad in some chronological indications (e.g. pp. 25, 39, 43, 104, 141). The book is an important building block in the field of study dedicated to examining sculptures within their context and shows how essential it is to carry out this kind of analysis with methodological rigour. The research is complicated largely due to the secondary disposition of the archaeological evidence; L. works around this difficulty convincingly, thereby establishing a methodological approach that could be useful for future studies on this subject. Furthermore, L.'s arguments and the highlighted phenomena confirm strategies already identified as specific for the interaction between Athenians and Romans, which until now have been mainly shown through architectural studies.
