Trying to encapsulate a subject as broad as the Roman Republic and a discipline as diverse as archaeology in just over six hundred pages is a difficult task. However, instead of attempting to narrow its scope, the Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic presents thirty-seven chapters (divided into six parts) on a diverse range of topics, from particular building types and specific sites, to categories of evidence and themes such as ‘identity’. To an extent, the volume is a compilation of case studies, in that each chapter stands alone and it is not expected that the book should be read cover to cover. While there is not space to comment on every chapter here, Evans’ introduction provides a helpful summary of their content (1–11). Students are one of the main target groups of the Blackwell Companion Series, and rather than necessarily presenting new research the contributions are intended to convey ‘specialist issues to a broader audience’ (11). In this the Companion is undoubtedly successful: the chapters are of a high quality and offer an authoritative introduction to, and assessment of, their respective topics. The majority also provide comments on the state of current scholarship, as well as a useful, although not exhaustive, bibliography.

Even if its title might suggest that the Companion is aimed primarily at archaeologists, E. is clear that it is also intended to be of use to ‘art historians, historians, classicists and anthropologists’ (xxii). This is a justified claim: some of the topics included are of equal relevance to these disciplines, and the chapters which consider approaches to different types of evidence are instructive for those less familiar with archaeological data (e.g. E. on numismatics (110–22), Smith on skeletal analysis (141–54), Fracchia on field survey (181–97)). The volume's collective content covers the span of the Republican period, although the last three centuries b.c. receive the most attention. Discussions occasionally venture beyond this into the Imperial period, while the chapters by Ammerman (169–80) and Edlund-Berry (406–25) look at the pre-Republican city. In part this is owing to the fact that certain developments do not simply correspond to political divisions, and also because some topics have a necessary reliance on later evidence (as commented on by Laurence (296)). The difficulty of drawing a strict division between periods is recognized by E., although it might have been beneficial for the introduction to reflect further on what is meant by ‘Republican’ beyond the standard chronological definition given (1).

One of the Companion’s strengths is that it does not focus solely on Rome, but considers the Italian peninsula more widely. Developments in the capital are often discussed with reference to situations elsewhere (e.g. Tuck on ports (323–34)), and a number of chapters specifically concern other Italian sites and peoples (of note is Warden's chapter on Etruria (354–68)). In this way the book underscores the importance of viewing the Roman Republic in a broad context. It also means that questions over Rome's ‘expansion’ being an agent for change, and the issue of ‘Romanization’ are raised throughout. In particular, they are explored in Part IV which focuses on the theme of ‘identity’, and notably in Stek's discussion on ‘de-centering’ Rome (337–53). Other contributors look across the Mediterranean in order to discuss certain topics (e.g. Laubenheimer on the exportation of wine to Gaul (97–109), Romano on centuriation at Corinth (253–67)), and this sense of Rome in the context of a wider world is the subject of Part V: ‘The Archaeology of Empire during the Republic’. Here Versluys discusses the notion of Republican Rome as part of a Hellenistic koine (429–31), and individual chapters assess Roman involvement in Sicily and Sardinia, Africa, Hispania, Palestine and Greece (primarily Athens). That the Companion considers Rome abroad is welcome, but the purposeful omission of chapters on Gaul and Illyricum — due to the alleged minimal relevant archaeology in these regions — is questionable (9–10). Wilson provides a useful assessment of Sicily and Sardinia, despite concluding that in this period ‘the cultural impact made by Rome […] was extremely limited’ (503). Stone also has relatively limited evidence for his evaluation of Republican Africa, yet demonstrates the inadequacy of the term ‘static’ to describe the province in this period (505–21). In light of these efforts, the absence of chapters on Gaul and Illyricum is regrettable. Similarly, there is a degree of inconsistency in the decision to include a chapter on Palestine — which predominantly focuses on the Seleucids and Herod — yet not to discuss Asia Minor because the archaeology of the Roman Republican period ‘cannot be differentiated from the late Hellenistic phase’ (10).

Given the subject matter of many chapters, it is a shame the number of illustrations is relatively limited and that the reproduction quality of some of those included is rather poor. For instance, small black and white photographs are not helpful in illustrating styles of fresco painting (62) or types of tuffs (274). Similarly, the lack of well-annotated maps is a problem with certain chapters, as a general audience cannot be expected to be familiar with the location or topography of ancient sites. However, this does not detract from the overall achievement of the Companion, the scholarly content and impressive scope of which ensures that it will be of use to those studying a range of disciplines.