The volume consists of an introduction and six parts with a varying number of contributions, 37 in total, written by researchers from very wide-ranging fields of expertise.

The contributions of Part 1, ‘Material Culture and its Impact on Social Configuration’, all take their point of departure in specific monument groups ranging over a broad span of topics. For example, F.K. Yegül investigates the role of bath culture and bath complexes in the Roman perception of body culture. Another aspect of public life is treated by M. Zarmakoupi who deals with theatres, amphitheatres and circuses, and links the refinement and monumentalisation during the Middle to Late Republican periods with military expansions, increase in wealth and the need for displays of political status by the military elite. The public aspect is further investigated by S. Hales who explores the private sphere of Republican houses under the pretext of demonstrating that the social implications of these houses were directed towards public status statements rather than merely private retreats (p. 65). Another group of monuments which combine private and public aspects are funerary monuments, treated by S. Diebner. Here emphasis is on local customs and variations from region to region. The very short section on northern and eastern Italy would have benefited from K. Lomas's in-depth work,Footnote ¹ which would fulfil the need for a comparative study of the eastern/central coastline which Diebner feels is missing (p. 73). It is a very challenging task to set out to describe the burial cultures of so many different regions and the result must be selective by definition. An example of this is the section on Etruscan funerary culture which is packed with information beginning as far back as the ninth century b.c.e., but unfortunately only devotes six lines to the essential questions of interrelations between Etruscan and Roman cultures. Fortunately, this is treated in Chapter 23 by P.G. Warden, but a cross reference would have been helpful here. In discussing the funerary culture of Apulia it is stated that ‘it is difficult to identify any direct or indirect influences from the eastern Mediterranean’ (p. 76) and that ‘inspiration had likely been drawn from other cities in the area’ (p. 76). However, S. Steingräber (Arpi-Apulien-Makedonien: Studien zum unteritalischen Grabwesen in hellenistischer Zeit [2000]) has convincingly demonstrated strong cultural links between Apulia and the eastern Mediterranean areas – based on funerary evidence. In the contribution on Black-gloss pottery R. Roth presents a valuable and nuanced picture of this important pottery class and persuasively demonstrates that a thorough analysis of the fabrics, vessel shapes, size, surface treatment and decoration leads to a much more diffuse and varied picture of the production and consumption than previously assumed for this class of pottery. He finishes with an impressive and highly useful section on further readings. More pottery is presented in the following chapter on amphoras and shipwrecks by F. Laubenheimer, while coins and their use in the dating of archaeological contexts is E.'s subject. She rightly demonstrates the need for more contextual approaches by numismatics underlining the importance of the contribution of numismatic evidence when accurately processed and interpreted. The first section is rounded off by a valuable chapter on weapons and the Republican army by A.L. Goldman, as well as skeletal analysis by S. Kirkpatrick Smith and population studies by E. Lo Cascio.

Part 2, ‘Archaeology and the Landscape’, takes its point of departure in the interactions of civilisation with nature and landscapes. A.J. Ammerman investigates the landscape transformations of early Rome through the methods of environmental archaeology; H. Fracchia's chapter on survey and land use concludes that close attention must be paid to determining factors such as regional history, local social, political, cultural, topographical and geomorphological conditions when looking for a broader interregional phenomenon such as a ‘Roman landscape’. The theme is continued by H. Goodchild on agriculture and the environment, and a return to the Roman Republican military world by M. Dobson, this time from the perspective of the army camps. Religious rituals and their spaces is treated by A.B. Griffith encompassing a wide range of material from visual representations, votives, sanctuaries, springs, groves and other landscape features, as well as theatres.

Part 3, ‘Archaeology and Ancient Technology’, covers the theme of ancient technology seen from an archaeological perspective and features chapters on orientation of towns and centuriation by D.G. Romano, on scientia on stone and concrete by M.D. Jackson & C.K. Kosso, on aqueducts and water supply by A.T. Hodge, on roads and bridges by R. Laurence, on villas and agriculture by J.A. Becker, and on ports by S.L. Tuck. All these themes bind together a comprehensive presentation of important Republican infrastructural fundamentals.

Part 4, ‘The Archaeology of Identity’, introduces a significant and highly potent research field within classical archaeology that has been especially booming in the past decade or so. The contribution by T.D. Stek on Italic identities and Romanisation serves as a theoretical and research historical introduction to the remaining chapters which comprise valuable contributions on Etruscan elites by P.G. Warden, on Poseidonia/Paestum by M. Gualtieri, on Samnium by M. Suano & R. Scopacasa and on Early Roman identity by I. Edlund-Berry.

Part 5, ‘The Archaeology of Empire during the Republic’, opens up the geographical range, competently guiding the reader from Mid-Republican and Late Republican Rome (P.J.E. Davies and E.) to Cosa (S.L. Dyson), Late Republican Sicily and Sardinia (R.J.A. Wilson), Republican Africa (D.L. Stone), Hispania (I. Rodá), Palestine (J.A. Overman) and finally Greece (M.C. Hoff). The first contribution on Late Republican identity by M.J. Versluys would perhaps have been more at home thematically in Part 4, but can also be seen to bridge the two parts.

Part 6, ‘Republican Archaeology and the Twenty-First Century’, rounds off the volume with the shortest section encompassing just two contributions: one on computer technologies at Pompeii by M. Anderson and one on archaeology and acquisition by M.M. Miles.

With such wide-ranging topics and a varied spectrum of contributions as is the nature of a Companion the task of its editor is indeed challenging. However, E. has assembled an impressive, coherent collection of research articles on the archaeology of the Roman Republic. The topics are wide-ranging and there is ‘something for every taste’ within the many different aspects of Roman Republican life. The only obvious topic missing completely is sculpture – freestanding, architectural and portraiture which is only mentioned in passing in the contributions, if at all. This seems a bit odd since sculpture and portraiture is one of the major research fields of the Roman Republican material legacy. While the overall impression of the Companion is impressive, some contributions would have benefited from more illustrations, after all this is a Companion on a visual, material research field. The suggested further readings are generally useful although some are markedly more exhaustive than others. In general, this is a highly competent and recommendable starting point for anyone interested in the state of the art of Roman Republican archaeology and its many fields of intersection.