Readers looking for an analysis of the speeches that shaped Cicero's political career will not find it in this book – a surprise which underscores how closely our concept of a Roman orator-statesman is bound up with his famous example, due in large part to the fact that his are the only speeches from this period that have survived intact. Expanding from the Ciceronian focus of her first book, Cicero's Role Models: the Political Strategy of a Newcomer (2010), v.d.B. here turns the spotlight on Cicero's fellow senators, probing the impact of oratory on their political careers. This study draws on her work with the Fragments of the Republican Roman Orators project examining non-Ciceronian oratory (p. ix) and offers an accessible and provocative reconsideration of the place of oratory in Roman public life and political culture.

The book consists of eight chapters divided into two parts, with a general introduction and conclusion applying to both parts. Part 2 dominates the book in size and substance, comprising six case studies tracing the oratory and political careers of Gaius Gracchus, Pompey, Caesar, Piso Caesoninus, Cato the Younger and Antony. Each of these chapters has a corresponding appendix which supplies a comprehensive and fully-referenced chronology of the subject's oratorical activity. A bibliography, index locorum and subject index complete the volume.

Part 1 provides a contextualising preface to the case studies. Chapter 1 surveys the occasions for public oratory that were available at each career stage, in the courts, contiones and Senate. The discussion emphasises the scope for communicating one's ability and ideology both verbally and non-verbally in each setting, as well as the practical limitations imposed by audience expectations and formal rules governing participation. Chapter 2 investigates how oratory could complement – or offset the absence of – other electoral advantages such as ancestry, wealth, patronage, military exploits and charisma. The chapter concludes with a brief historical account of evolving attitudes towards oratory in first-century bc Rome, including ‘the perception of oratory as an important means to political influence’ (p. 65), which threatened the traditional privilege of the elite. An explanation of the relevant ancient sources and how they are used is located in the latter half of the introduction (pp. 11–21).

The case studies present an eclectic mix of oratorical strategies and profiles, from the ready eloquence of Gracchus and Caesar to the reticence of Pompey. All are unified, however, by v.d.B.’s attention to oratory as a communicative medium that rewarded politicians who could craft and promote a claim to power in a consistent and credible way. She emphasises Gracchus’ use of the tribunate and contional oratory to position himself as the continuator of his brother Tiberius’ popularis programme, the lifelong consistency of Cato's reputation as an unyielding Stoic with the image he broadcast by word and manner when he delivered his speeches, and Caesar's combination of oratory and published speeches to sustain a public image as ‘a great orator, a credible politician and a protector of the rights of the people’ (p. 177).

V.d.B.’s analysis of the oratorical activity of Pompey, Piso and Antony carefully sifts through often hostile evidence to argue that all three men were effective speakers and used oratory to promote their claims to power. Her treatment of Pompey's recusatio and dissimulatio in this regard is particularly interesting. On the basis of repetition and consistently positive results for his public image, she identifies these traits as a deliberate strategy that ‘compelled people to accord him and his expressions full attention when it mattered’ (p. 144). Combined with behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, disguising his views allowed Pompey to focus his oratory on presenting the persona of an accomplished and capable leader, rather than a command-hungry one, thus turning oratorical self-promotion into self-projection. Piso is presented as a probable example of typical practice: a moderate politician whose connections and noble auctoritas carried the weight of his ambitions so that he had no need to seek oratorical opportunities beyond his obligations in the senate. Although it is strange to think that the average orator-statesman was more statesman than orator, v.d.B. is right to point to Piso's example as a warning against ‘underestimating the oratorical skill and political impact of politicians not singled out by history as the greatest’ (p. 203). Finally, the examination of Antony's known oratorical activity (no secure fragments survive) indicates that he was a willing and able speaker who embraced the unique political opportunities of civil war, but whose oratory did not always convey a convincing leadership persona. The contrasting of the positive impact oratory had on his public image when he controlled the means to effect his agenda (esp. his speech at Caesar's funeral) with his diminished credibility when his policy relied on external factors such as funding (esp. his military contio that failed to dissuade two legions from defecting to Octavian for higher pay) reinforces the central theme of the case studies that oratorical substance mattered more for political success than style alone.

There is much to think with in this book, and much to like. It is clearly written and organised, amply demonstrates the scope for meaningful reconstruction of the oratorical activity of men other than Cicero, and takes a broad view of oratory that encompasses skill (i.e. eloquence), participation (giving speeches) and outcome for individual speeches as well as oratorical practice across a career. Although this book is not about Cicero, he is rarely out of sight or mind as an example or source, and the reader who is already familiar with his career will make their own comparisons as they read the case studies. V.d.B. also frames her inquiry as a search for alternatives to Cicero's model and a test of his claims about oratorical skill being a prerequisite to political success (esp. pp. 10, 289).

A word may be said in this connection about the critique of the Brutus in the conclusion, ‘Towards a New Brutus’. It is not the case, as is claimed, that Cicero's criteria for inclusion in his catalogue of orators are ‘oratorical ability and political outlook’ (p. 289). His main criterion is historical (no living orators), and the dialogue itself differentiates between oratorical skill and the political ends to which it was used. This misunderstanding ends the book on an indecisive note by redirecting the reader's attention away from the main theme of how elite politicians used oratory towards the discrete problem of defining who is or is not an orator – a problem that was already resolved in the introduction by ‘distinguishing between politicians who spoke only when necessary and politicians who sought out oratorical occasions’ (p. 6) instead of attempting to apply the Roman technical dichotomy of bonus orator/malus orator.

These reservations should not detract from v.d.B.’s achievement in producing an enlightening study of a subject that deserves attention. Beyond the merits of her analysis, the extensive appendices are an invaluable point of reference and excellent introduction to working with the fragments and testimonia pertaining to the politicians of the case studies. V.d.B.’s lists of passages improve on E. Malcovati's lists in Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta (4^th ed. 1976) and anticipate the publication of a completely new edition developed out of the Fragments of the Republican Roman Orators project.