The history of Macedonia has received considerable attention in recent years, but the present work approaches the subject in the original and accessible format of a Lexicon. The work focuses on the time of the royal dynasty that Hellenistic sources call the Argeads and classical authors call the Temenidai or Herakleidai (p. 102). The period covered ends with the murder of the last of these kings, Alexander IV, c. 310 bc. Its beginning is placed with the ‘mythic foundation of the Argead Empire’ (p. 8), which is dated to around the mid-seventh century bc. However, the period down to the late-sixth century bc is treated relatively thinly because of the scarcity of historical documentation. The geographic coverage of the Lexicon involves the north Aegean and other territories ruled by the Argeads, but also extends to other areas that interacted with Macedonia, from Sicily to India. The coverage of these areas is limited to the period of the Argeads; for example, the entry for Egypt begins with its conquest by Alexander III and ends with the death of Alexander IV.

The Lexicon includes 247 entries of varying length (extending from a long paragraph to a few pages), each provided with select bibliography. Most entries are dedicated to: individual Argead rulers and notable personalities in their courts, ancient authors who wrote on Macedonia, Macedonian institutions, cities and regions in the north Aegean and beyond, Greek and non-Greek states that interacted with Macedonia and their leaders. Fewer entries treat mythological figures and historical events while a range of entries fall under the rubric of culture.

One third of the entries are compiled single-handedly by Müller, who has drawn from her previous work on Argead Macedonia. Her co-editors Heinrichs and Pownall, who have also made important contributions to the field, have added a total of roughly 60 entries, while the remaining c. 100 entries are written by 41 scholars from different institutions in Europe, North America and Oceania. This collaboration has produced an authoritative, meticulous and up-to-date reference work for ancient history, which is essential for those interested in Macedonia, the Greek world and beyond.

The Lexicon is explicitly designed to address ‘scholars as well as students of (Ancient) History and Classics’ (p. 7) and serves this purpose very well by engaging closely with ancient literature, epigraphy and numismatics. The treatment of archaeology as rather marginal to the scope of the work does not align with current developments in the field of classical and Mediterranean studies, which promote integrated discussions of text and material culture. The illustrations are well chosen, but the addition of maps would have been useful. One hopes that the anticipated success of the work will encourage the editors and the publisher to produce a revised and expanded online edition, particularly since several encyclopedic works on ancient Greek and related history are moving online to allow for periodic updates and for the addition of ample illustrations.