Let's start at the very beginning: that is, at the beginning of the history of Rome. This latest volume of the Oxford Readings in Classical StudiesFootnote ¹ makes a clear case for the virtue of reprinting old articles even in an age of supposedly wide digital availability. An obvious virtue here is the fact this collection includes no fewer than seven articles that have been translated into English for the first time. In making this collection, the editors hope to show the continuing lively debate on the nature of the ancient historiographical tradition. Rather than taking a particular editorial line, the collection includes scholars with differing views as to the reliability of this tradition when it comes to early Roman history. That being said, it is not surprising that scholarship that aims wholeheartedly to uphold the historicity of the traditional accounts is definitely outnumbered by studies demonstrating instead the construction of historiographical tradition(s). Nonetheless, Andrea Carandini begins the collection by arguing once more for the congruence of the archaeological evidence and the literary tradition. The articles that follow vary somewhat in approach and in degrees of scepticism – for instance, Fausto Zevi admits a historical core to stories about Demoratus and the Tarquins, whereas Michael Crawford is forthright in his rejection of historicity in the earliest list of Roman colonies. The editors have taken the helpful decision to focus rather more on ‘stories’ than individual authors and this certainly helps shape a thought-provoking collection that can be read with profit rather than just put on the shelf for future reference. In particular, the editors’ suggestion that this volume could profitably be given to students in place of a single ‘authoritative’ version of the history of early Rome, so that they can see that there are indeed different ways of ‘doing’ ancient history, is persuasive. Finally, any selection of papers is, of course, subjective but an article focusing rather more particularly on non-literary historical traditions might have rounded out the picture more fully.

The issue of the (lack of) reliability of ancient historiography is never far away in discussions of the first ecclesiastical historian proper, Eusebius of Caesarea, labelled by Burckhardt as ‘the first thoroughly dishonest historian’, as well as ‘the most objectionable of all eulogists’.Footnote ² However, this excellent new introductory book on Eusebius does much to move scholarship on towards a more nuanced view.Footnote ³ In fact, it does more than provide a bland introduction, laying out a promising agenda for future study of Eusebius, presented here as an important innovator and literary figure rather than as a mere court propagandist with a love for excessive citations. Johnson has done well to produce what is more than a safe student textbook but is in fact a lively, thought-provoking, and even agenda-setting study.

Ancient historiography of a different sort again is represented by David Wardle's new translation of Suetonius’ Augustus.Footnote ⁴ The text is accompanied by a very substantial historical commentary, which will be greatly appreciated by students without Latin, as nothing comparable has previously been available. The translation itself, based on the Teubner edition, aims for clarity above all else. Wardle's Introduction takes a measured, sensible approach to both text and author: he describes Suetonius’ portrait as ‘subtle’ (39). It is for the commentary, however, that libraries and individuals will wish to buy this volume, which will surely be used with great profit.

Purely literary approaches to Roman history, however, will never suffice on their own. Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller preface the second edition of their now classic account of the Roman EmpireFootnote ⁵ by commenting that there has been no book in the last twenty-eight years that has set out to do what theirs sought to do: that is, to give a synthetic account, including discussion of economy, society, religion, and culture. This new edition confirms very clearly the importance of the work. It is indeed striking that a book with similar aims has not been written to usurp the original in all this time. This is surely to be lamented as this new edition only heightens the need for more properly integrated studies of the Roman Empire, ones that are alive to a broad range of sources and approaches, and that embed a study of the more familiar high politics and culture in the society and economy. For this new edition, rather than provide a full revision of the text, the authors have adopted a more minimalist approach, which largely involves providing bibliographical addenda (on occasion written by external specialists). Nonetheless, there are two new chapters: the first, ‘Introducing the Principate’, which briefly but clearly outlines the political situation, is a highly useful addition; the second, ‘Enemies of Rome’, written by Martin Goodman, is only slightly new, having been commissioned for a French edition of the book in 1994, but nonetheless welcome. Therefore the overall structure remains and bears up well: broadly speaking, Part One is introductory but also deals with structures, politics, and administrations, Part Two focuses on the economy, Part Three on society, and Part Four on religion and culture. The new bibliographical addenda provide helpful updates on how research has moved on since the mid-1980s, showing neatly how the different areas of scholarship have developed in this time. We see changes of focus and approach, as well as instances of how new bodies of evidence have made a substantial change to scholarship. This is particularly notable, for instance, in the chapters dealing with the ancient economy, where the influence of economic theory on the one hand and a substantial amount of evidence from land survey on the other have made a big impact. These bibliographical discussions are valuable but are clearly more likely to be used by scholars than students and this makes me rather lament the lack of a fully revised second edition that would integrate this synthesis of recent scholarship fully into the original text. Ultimately, however, this new edition has much to offer readers and scholars at all levels and it is to be hoped that it will be placed at the heart of our teaching and understanding of the Roman Empire.

If we are looking for a fully ‘integrated’ study of Roman history, there is a fascinating example in Katherine Blouin's new account of the Nile Delta.Footnote ⁶ This is a rich example of the ‘new environmental history’, an impressively interdisciplinary examination of one small area, the Mendesian Nome, of the north-eastern Nile Delta that will surely be of interest to scholars from many different disciplines. Blouin's starting point is that it is impossible to write a history of the region without starting from its geography, and this is ably demonstrated in the analysis that follows. The crucial ‘geo-morphological’ fact in the history of this area is the sifting up of the Mendesian branch of the Nile beginning in the Hellenistic period, with important consequences. The so-called ‘Carbonized Archive’ from Thumis represents a key source, but archaeological evidence and a whole range of literary sources are also brought to play in this case study, or, indeed, ‘micro-history’. Such a close-up interdisciplinary study enables Blouin to look afresh at known historical phenomena: the widespread anachorēsis (absence of tax payers) of the second half of the second century ad on the one hand and the contemporaneous revolt of the Boukoloi on the other. Blouin convincingly shows the combination of fiscal pressures from the Roman state and agrarian problems, as well as the long-term socio-hydrological problems that led to social crisis and unrest in this period, which was then distorted and stereotyped by such writers as Cassius Dio. Another excellent monograph in the Oxford Studies on the Roman Economy series, the volume shows the potential for truly interdisciplinary study as well as that of micro-history, and is it to be hoped that more will follow in this vein.

A brief mention is also merited for a book which strays somewhat outside the usual chronological boundaries of these pages: a detailed study of medieval Rome by a historian whose work on the transformation of the classical world in the Early Middle Ages has been hugely influential.Footnote ⁷ In this study, focusing on the period 900–1150 (the period of the Reform Papacy), Rome (the largest city in Europe until c.1100, when it was overtaken by Milan) is set firmly in its Italian context, rather than being treated, as so often, as a case apart. Wickham's monograph in fact provides a model for writing urban history, showing the importance of combining literary sources and archaeological evidence. Rome is analysed within its regional context – in particular, in relation to its large agricultural hinterland, the Agro Romano. Chapters focus on the urban economy, urban society, topography, and ritual, before turning to the turbulent political events of 1050–1150. In this way, political crisis is understood as part of a properly embedded urban history, which is itself embedded in its regional context. Although the evidential basis for dealing with classical and late antique cities is different, this study has clear pointers for scholars in our field.

A brief mention, too, for a second second edition: this time of an example from the ever-burgeoning field of the Companion, in this case to the Roman Republic.Footnote ⁸ This edition includes three new chapters and therefore works in some measure to fill in the lacunae of the first edition, which presented a vision of the Roman Republic rather too traditionally focused on high politics, with the society and economy left somewhat in the margins. Brent Shaw's new chapter on slaves and freedmen and Saskia Hin's on demography (alongside a third by Josiah Osgood on Roman power and imperialism in the West) are therefore to be welcomed. A slight haste in the production of this volume is unfortunately clear in the presence of several typographical errors.

I shall conclude with something that really is completely different: a fictitious ancient manual on slave management.Footnote ⁹ Jerry Toner sets out to provide a fresh look at Roman slavery by encouraging us to see it through the eyes of a largely genial aristocratic Roman slave owner of the imperial period, a certain Marcus Sidonius Falx. The Roman love of the manual is well known and this conceit works very nicely indeed. Falx takes us through a number of key topics in Roman slavery (starting with the purchase of slaves, and including sex, punishment, slave revolts, and manumission). At the end of each chapter Toner provides commentary: each of Falx's chapters, we see, is derived from a sprinkling of ancient sources as well as modern scholarship. Falx is not presented as a pantomime villain, with his views showing an interesting mix of Stoic-tinged moralizing and a clear eye for the bottom line. His general geniality provides a number of intentionally jolting moments for the reader – such as when Falx tells us, matter-of-factly, that he has a slave prison on his estates, or when he comments that ‘It is perfectly normal for an owner to derive sexual pleasure from his young slaves’ (69). Thus in this readable account, clearly aimed a wide audience, Toner neatly demonstrates how deeply slavery was naturalized in the mentality of elite Romans. As an example of how to write popular history in a manner that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, this volume scores highly indeed.Footnote ¹⁰