A richly informative and interesting collection of papers, this volume developed from a more targeted research project on the Imperial palace complex at Trier. It includes both a series of papers on the site at Trier specifically and papers on the decorative schemes of Imperial palaces of a similar period elsewhere, as well as other ‘palatial’ buildings more generally across the late antique world. The collection includes both new empirical research (for instance the analysis of types of marble at multiple sites), reports on recent excavation campaigns and wider survey pieces. It will be a useful reference work for scholars of interior decoration as well as of Imperial buildings, and it makes the relevant scholarship available to a wider, English-language audience by summarising the findings of many key individual works. The great strength of the book is the detailed presentation of multiple important sites, with evidence well explained and laid out clearly in the accompanying figures. Such figures provide the context within which decorative schemes were located, and clearly map out the relationships between building complexes and their wider settings. A minor presentational issue is that plans of buildings that include drawings of the floor decoration within each room are frequently not presented at a large enough scale to convey a clear picture of the complex geometric patterns that make up each floor, although there are usually some accompanying photographs and/or drawings that illustrate particular details and allow readers to gain a better sense of the intricacy of the designs. I also noticed small errors in English expression throughout the volume, which were occasionally a hindrance to comprehension; the volume would have benefited from a systematic proof-read by an English native speaker.

Most of the papers concentrate on the presentation of key factual information. There is a nice specific focus on interior decoration as the volume title indicates, with two exceptions. Understandably, for Trier there are papers both on the wider urban context and on specific buildings and their decoration. The other exception is the paper on Apollonia, where at the site discussed very little of the decorative scheme survives; it was perhaps worth including, however, as a contrast to some of the grander and more familiar sites. Typically, each paper focuses on a specific site, and outlines of the buildings and their settings are followed by an explanation of how the details of the interior decoration could be reconstructed from a variety of sources, including extant fragments of marble veneer, related evidence such as tile imprints and holes for the fixing of veneer to wall surfaces, antiquarian descriptions and drawings of material now lost, older excavation reports and more recent campaigns of excavation to modern recording standards.

A few papers take a more obviously interpretative approach, for instance E. Gallocchio's consideration of floor design in Imperial reception halls, which show more of a propensity to mark out the principal axis of rectangular spaces through the decorative scheme than is evident in earlier Imperial buildings. These prefer more neutral floor designs with repeating patterns that unify rather than demarcate space. The mosaic scheme at Gamzigrad described in the paper by G. Jeremić also conforms to this trend (although there is no corresponding cross-reference in Gallocchio's paper), and it exhibits other interesting features too, which could be analysed further. A labyrinth motif in Hall 1 is noted for its possible apotropaic and/or symbolic meanings, yet its depiction, surrounded by battlements and gated towers, is perhaps a reference to the overall appearance of the Gamzigrad complex itself, with its conspicuous towered fortifications and its internal complex of buildings described by Jeremić as ‘labyrinth-shaped’. An unusual stibadium complex comprises tetraconch and triconch spaces connected by a single circular room. Jeremić notes that the decoration of this room emphasises the shape of the space through its circular design (with the effect of a vortex receding into space). In the triconch room, however, we could further observe that the mosaic floor takes no account of the room shape and instead is used to unify the space, with the same rectilinear design extending throughout. The tetraconch room takes another approach again, with small emblemata surrounded by plainer floors to indicate couch settings in each of the apsed recesses. Most of the buildings discussed in the volume are dominated by geometric floor designs, and although clearly it is more difficult to take an interpretative approach to this kind of material, a similar analytical approach could perhaps be applied in some of the papers, where the evidence allows, and would assist in furthering an understanding of how the decorative schemes of these buildings may have influenced their use and how they contributed to the experience of inhabitants and visitors.

What happened after these buildings lost their Imperial and elite status? In a number of cases the later trajectory of the building complex is documented, and it is interesting to note the diverse afterlives of these once spectacular Imperial and elite buildings, including not only the predictable conversions into churches, but also use of sites for occupation by more ordinary people with the construction of wooden houses (at Gamzigrad), and even in one case repurposing as a Visigothic period cemetery (at Carranque). There is also a very useful survey by S.J. Barker, who examines both empire-wide and more regional trends in recycling practices in building decoration. Across the empire, sculptural elements were presented within new settings, but practice varies regionally, with funerary material reused in domestic contexts at Ostia, for instance, but largely avoided in Athens. Britain, with relatively little sculpture from previous periods as a target for reuse, exhibits other practices such as the stripping of small mosaic tesserae, in some cases re-laid in new designs or used as rubble in new floor foundations. Such trends reflect both the diverse previous cultural histories of different provinces and their similarly varied trajectories in the late antique period.

Although the contents are in many ways admirable, there is a missed opportunity in this volume to integrate its contributions more systematically through introductory and/or concluding discussions that would enable the editor to draw together themes in a productive way and so make more of a contribution to a synthetic narrative. Many of the individual papers, for instance, provide information about the local and/or wider Mediterranean origin of the marbles and other decorative stones used in the interior decoration, and a comparison would be instructive. We can see that, while many buildings combine regional products alongside more exotic Mediterranean stones, occasionally sourcing is more limited. (For instance, in the complex of buildings related to the Imperial palace of Galerius at Thessalonika mostly Greek marble is used in the Octagon building with opus sectile decoration.) This raises questions about supply and about the motivation for such decisions, which perhaps had a political as well as an economic context. More could also be said about how the decorative schemes assisted in creating an appropriate environment for reception and audience, even in fostering the goals of those hosting meetings within these spaces. I note that this is the first volume in a series on late Roman residences. Perhaps another volume will take the debate further and consider in greater depth how these buildings collectively contribute to our wider understanding of Imperial decision making and authority in the late Roman period.