Located 20km east of Rome, Gabii was one of the most important cities of Latium during the early and middle Republican periods. While much has been done in recent years to improve our understanding of urbanism in the late Republic and, especially, the imperial period, the same cannot be said about the initial phases of urbanisation in central Italy. Innovative topographical survey and landscape studies, integrating a wide range of data sources, have been conducted on only a handful of Italian sites, specifically the Etruscan cities of Veii and Vulci, and the Latin city of Gabii. The publication under review derives from the major ongoing fieldwork at the latter site, led by Nicola Terrenato. The project draws on a number of scholarly traditions, deployed in an original and sophisticated analytical and presentational framework. A mid-Republican house from Gabii by Rachel Opitz and her colleagues is an online publication that provides both an innovative format and a significant contribution to the study of urbanism. It therefore offers the opportunity for debate about publication formats, as well as helping to define various research agendas for the coming years.

The publication begins with a detailed introduction explaining in clear and intelligible terms the technical format of the information, the rich and innovative methodological background to the study and the present state of knowledge about Republican-period urbanism, especially in southern Etruria and Latium. Attention then turns to the development of the Gabii research project and to the key questions that it set out to address: the emergence and earliest phases of urbanism in central Italy, the relationships between cities and between city and countryside, and the organisation of public and private spaces.

The publication exhibits a number of innovations in terms of presentation and format. First, and most obviously, it was planned and structured from the outset as a digital publication using an evolved form of hypertext. The innovation, however, also extends to the narrative, text and illustrations, which tell the story of Gabii's historical development from an unusual perspective: the in-depth analysis of features and events evidenced within a single residential structure, the so-called Tincu House. Another interesting aspect lies in the rejection of the traditional structure of scientific publications—that is, starting with the presentation of data, followed by analysis and interpretation, contextual discussion and, finally, conclusions. Here, by contrast, the authors cut straight to the chase, starting with their overall interpretations and pointing the reader, via links, to the more detailed evidence, analysis and explanations in the following chapters (the latter titled simply ‘Story’, ‘More’, ‘Details’ and, finally, ‘Apologia’). Many readers will join the reviewer in appreciating the merits of this kind of framework in providing a clear pathway through the often shifting nature of hypertext publications. The quality of the writing should also be mentioned—lucid, economical and sometimes even ‘catchy’—in no way does it invoke the kind of tedium that so often disfigures lengthy and detailed scientific publications.

And the innovations do not end there. Two further state-of-the-art elements come in the form of the 4D interactive display of the excavated building plot and its dwelling phases, and through direct and integrated access to the full excavation database. Together, these provide the reader with all of the basic information on the stratigraphical units and the ability to interrogate them with a variety of research tools, along with nearly 3500 photographs and drawings, in addition to a matrix indicating the relative positions of each unit and their interrelationships. The result of this editorial strategy is highly effective, not least in creating a much shorter and more accessible publication. The structure facilitates and greatly improves the reader's ability to follow the descriptions and interpretations of the various stages of activity on the Tincu House plot. It also allows the authors to reduce dramatically the visual apparatus within the main text (only four principal illustrations, excluding those featured in the supporting data), along with two plans of the excavations and two of the site in its wider territorial context. Paradoxically, this enriches the accessibility and clarity of the publication while consistently making available all of the detailed evidence that the authors have used in constructing their interpretations. In this way, readers can navigate their personal pathways through the publication, following their own particular interests.

Among the most important conclusions is that the Tincu House represents one of the best examples of domestic architecture from the formative phases of urbanisation in Italy. Of no less interest is the authors’ reading of the overall layout of the city, highlighting the indisputable imprint of a deliberate planning process by a central authority, which was able to bring political will and a degree of developmental control over an extended period of time. In this way, the Tincu House is placed within the context of occupational activity on adjacent plots of land and, above all, in relation to the development of the wider urban fabric. Some scholars may question whether the layout of Gabii that is now emerging through geophysical survey and excavation can be associated with an orthogonal urban plan. But, as at Veii and Vulci, it seems more or less undeniable that the urban structure represents the outcome of deliberate planning, strongly conditioned, of course, by local topography, which in the case of Gabii, located on the rim of a volcanic crater, permits elements of regularity, if not strict orthogonality.

Regardless, the way in which the authors relate the events at the Tincu House to the wider transformations across the city is completely convincing. Ideally, future work would apply a similar approach to the suburban areas and surrounding countryside so as to relate the wealth of data from the central area to a comprehensive understanding of the broader context within which the city was founded and developed.

This publication constitutes indispensable reading for those seeking to understand urbanisation processes. Moreover, readers will be inspired by an innovative approach to fieldwork, analysis and presentation through a format that lacks the traditional materiality of a site report but which documents and explains the complexity of the archaeological evidence, both effectively and with clarity. It is an admirable account of a carefully structured, broad-ranging and important research project.