The Translated Texts for Historians series has exceeded its stated aims of providing for students who wish to read ancient and medieval sources but who do not have the languages to do so; the Liverpool list is expanding into ever more esoteric fields and thus proving increasingly useful for scholars as well as students. Liebeschuetz's collection of political letters and speeches by Ambrose might seem less adventurous than other recent offerings, as most of Ambrose's works have been translated into English before, some more than once. Archaic translations of some of his letters can be found in Romestin's 1896 collection (Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, x), and there are less rebarbative translations of a greater number of letters in Beyenka's 1954 collection (Fathers of the Church, xxvi). However, in both, introduction and notes are insubstantial. By contrast, the translations in Liebeschuetz's volume are clear and precise, and they are accompanied by informative introductions and rigorous notes.

The first part of this volume consists of a translation of book x of Ambrose's collected letters. Towards the end of his life Ambrose published a selection of his correspondence in ten books, probably modelled on Pliny. The letters of the first nine books deal with matters personal, pastoral and theological; book x is a hotch-potch of letters and other documents relating to Ambrose's dealings with the emperors Gratian, Valentinian ii and Theodosius i. The second part of this volume consists of translations of complementary political letters from two series of letters transmitted outside the ten-book collection. Besides these, and a few pieces of relevant extra-Ambrosian material, are the two imperial funeral orations. The oration on the death of Theodosius i was long transmitted between letters 76 and 77 of book x of Ambrose's collection, so its inclusion here in that place is fitting. The inclusion of the oration on the death of Valentinian is appropriately symmetrical.

Ambrose's political thinking has been an intellectual hot potato for centuries, as Liebeschuetz points out. But interest in Ambrose has evolved especially rapidly over the last half century against the explosion in late antique studies, and various scholarly advances have transformed the field altogether since earlier translations of his works were made. These include a greater appreciation of Ambrose's indebtedness to earlier Greek scholarship, and a greater capacity to escape the seductive self-image which Ambrose creates through his texts. The essence of such scholarship is distilled admirably in Liebeschuetz's introduction and notes.

For the sake of concision, only a small proportion of the works translated will be addressed here. The letters of Ambrose and Symmachus on the altar of victory are some of the most famous and contentious texts in the history of pagan-Christian relations in the fourth century. They have been translated several times, in, for instance, a student-friendly compilation by B. Croke and J. Harries, Religious conflict in fourth-century Rome: a documentary study (1982). The translations of Liebeschuetz, and of Croke and Harries, are similarly lucid, but in Liebeschuetz there is a more precise adherence to the cadences of the text. For instance, Symmachus' Relatio iii, although intended for Valentinian ii, is, as genre dictated, formally addressed to all three reigning Augusti. In Croke and Harries, the Latin phrase from the opening of the letter in which all three Augusti are implored has simply been removed; in Liebeschuetz, it has been included. A minor point, but one which ensures that the English version represents the Latin more closely and transparently. Another difference between the two versions can be found in translations of Scripture, where Liebeschuetz sticks closely to (what he points out to be) Ambrose's peculiar Latin biblical text, while Croke and Harries go for a more broad-brush approach; thus Ambrose's quotation from Psalm xcv.5, ‘dii enim gentium daemonia’, becomes ‘for the gods of the pagans are idols’ in Croke and Harries, and ‘for the gods of the peoples are demons’ in Liebeschuetz.

Both imperial funeral orations are already available in rather less snappy translations by Deferrari in Fathers of the Church (xxii). Liebeschuetz's introduction to the oration on Valentinian addresses head-on some of the more puzzling incongruities of a Christian consolatio which eulogised a dead emperor in the sensual language of the Song of Songs. He explains sensitively the exegetical background to such a project, placing Ambrose's work against that of Origen, who was famous for his allegorical reading of the Song of Songs. This kind of introduction, coupled with full notes detailing the bigger liturgical context (on the sermon preached earlier in the day of this oration, and the particular text possibly read during this sermon), will make a difficult and provocative text more accessible and comprehensible.

Finally, quite apart from the translations and extensive notes, Liebeschuetz's book sensitively preserves a sense of how and why Ambrose edited his own works. Thus, in the introduction to letter 74, he explains that this letter appeared in one edited version in the ten-volume collection, as letter 74, and in another version. outside the collection, as ep. ex. 1a. The differences between the two are slight, although intriguing, and Liebeschuetz has included, indicated and explained them in his translation.

The question of what to include in a volume of political works by Ambrose is difficult, and Liebeschuetz has necessarily restricted himself, as indicated in the book's title, to political letters and speeches. However, there are many other texts which a reader interested in the sweep of Ambrose's political thinking should explore. No reading of Ambrose's letters to emperors would be complete without a consideration of his highly pointed treatise De apologia prophetae David. This collection is very useful as far as it goes, but it should be the first and not the only point of call for students interested in the subject. Overall, this book will be an invaluable tool for students of Ambrose, early Christian political thinking and imperial-episcopal relations.