Communication characterised and shaped modern life as well as the ancient world. An emblematic case that enables us to delve into the complexity and vastness of communication in antiquity is the ancient Mediterranean region. Focusing on its main geographical areas, Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, this volume provides a pioneering take on this pivotal subject.Footnote ¹

The introduction primarily relates the discipline to Rhetoric (p. xx), tracing the evolution of the concept of communication within the modern era and how it can accordingly be applied to: (i) a variety of contexts (commercial, religious etc.); (ii) assorted means of communication (written, oral etc.); and (iii) various communicative intentions (informative or effective), as well as how these three points are intertwined with and affect one another. However, questions remain: what are ‘communications’ in the context of the ancient world? Can today's communications terminology help explain these ancient varieties or, as Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault implied, were ancient communications part of a world that was too simple or naïve to require any terms or ideas of this kind (p. xix)? These questions go unanswered within the following pages, and equally so in the contributions that follow. Nor is a definition of ‘communication’ provided as a key to reading the entire collection. It would have been informative to provide at least a short explanation of these two points in the introduction.

The editors should nonetheless be applauded for successfully making the difficult choice of what to include among the eligible topics. Conversation, literature and linguistics, oratory as well as politics, diplomacy and society – among others – all require the deployment of communication skills. Some areas, however, are more representative than others – namely cartography, gestures, numismatics, music and artistic expression. This choice of topics is one of the major strengths of the collection, as it ultimately produces a mix of the above strands (i, ii and iii) as well as various types of sources (both archaeological and textual, along with reflections on the oral channel) that can all serve as a response to the strands mentioned above.

The eighteen essays are divided into four sections: ‘Networks’, the environmental contexts of communication; ‘Modes’, forms of non-verbal expression (art, body language, music); ‘Divinities’, interactions with Greek, Roman or Near Eastern gods; and ‘Engagements’, forms of cross-cultural communication, primarily in the Hellenistic Mediterranean and Near East.

In the opening chapter G. Parker sheds light on how communication is influenced by the physical environment (land and water), focusing on the Mediterranean – a subject that, despite its crucial importance, has not been widely studied by scholars. The effects of landscape, climate and ecology on communication between various locations are exemplified by case studies on Delos, Delphi, Ostia and Palmyra.

As a means of transmitting ideas and values, libraries are vital. M. Nicholls convincingly argues that libraries are intellectual and physical exchange points, where communication blossoms between ‘authors and readers, between groups of visitors, between speakers and audiences, between emperors and subjects, the center and the provinces, local leaders and their cities’ (p. 44). They collect not only texts, but also portraits, thus transmitting the soul of the patrons to future generations. From Hellenistic times, the practice of establishing prestigious centres of culture and learning was progressively extended into the Roman empire.

Communication throughout the long-distance Mediterranean trade routes is difficult to reconstruct, since the evidence is scant. While acknowledging this, T. Terpstra analyses the written track (letters) while also reminding us that there is an oral track (gossip and rumours) that must also be considered. Concerning letters (p. 48), much has been lost, due to the perishable nature of the materials on which the messages were written, but letters undoubtedly were sent back and forth. Of these, we have received only a small part, between the principal and the agent, as well as related documents that were in need of signatures. Oral communication (p. 55), meanwhile, must be reconstructed indirectly by considering the fact that rumours and gossip, being collective social practices, must also have been present in antiquity and by looking at urban spaces where they could be spread, for example squares, meeting places etc. (the ‘Piazzale delle Corporazioni’ at Ostia is offered as an outstanding example of this, p. 59). It thus follows that for everyone involved in the business maintaining a solid reputation was of primary importance.

Within the military sphere, it is advisable to have reliable communication methods in order to succeed, and Naiden explains how military communication in classical Greece functioned. From the planning stage to the implementation of military actions, there were two levels: one ‘vertical’, consisting of the orders given by the officers to the soldiers, and the other ‘horizontal’, encompassing word of mouth among soldiers. The officers who gave these orders thus needed the strength to ensure that their orders were obeyed and discipline maintained.

J.F. Osborne elegantly presents a number of monuments that have been studied by social scientists in order to communicate unrecognised information sets to certain audiences. Through convincing arguments, he first clarifies their production in order to explain how the monuments convey messages, before turning to the reception of these messages, or rather how they were then manipulated. The monumental statuary of the Near East during the Late Bronze and Iron Age was a rich and complex phenomenon; so an appreciation of the reception of these monuments, along with their production, is a subject of great importance that warrants significant further study.

As a channel of communication, music is equally important as art, and both feature an aesthetic and a political dimension. In his chapter, T. Power deals with the communicative power of music. There is scarce evidence of instrumental music and, with the exception of poetry intended to be sung, there is no proof of its existence. The melic poets’ texts were originally set to musical scores that, due to shortcomings in notation, were mostly forgotten by the end of the Hellenistic period and are now completely gone. It is surely no coincidence that in Greek mousike involves both these dimensions. He presents music as a form of communication that combines many things (verses, instruments, often dancing and, in Athenian drama, prose dialogue) before summarising these elements into a final argument that carries enormous persuasive power. Its complexity means it is present within the most diverse contexts and intentions, from the military, to the political, to the funerary. As an example, Solon used music throughout his entire political career ‘as a primary medium for publicizing and defending his reformist agenda’ (p. 138).

G.S. Aldrete enables us to reflect on body language, considering the gestures of various body parts and actions, such as pointing, spitting etc. within several sets of variables: staticity / dynamicity; voluntariness / involuntariness; routinising / extemporaneity. ‘The common thread is that it functions as a visual medium of communication in which information is conveyed nonverbally by the human body’ (pp. 151–2).

While the first two parts of the book show topographical and chronological variety, Part 3, ‘Divinities’, is limited to three of the many ancient religions (Ancient Near Eastern communities, the Greek poleis and the Roman empire) as well as two closely related practices (oracles and pilgrimages). S. Richardson's thought-provoking chapter on Mesopotamian communication expresses ideas and conjecture concerning the communicative pathways between men and gods, particularly how ‘Mesopotamians are supposed to have heard and been heard by their gods’ (p. 168). To this end, three issues must be taken into consideration: (i) the plurality and variety of communicative channels; (ii) the degree to which these channels were not systematised, theologically clear or liturgically sorted; and (iii) the remark that messages were as much about problems of communication as the communication problem itself (p. 168). Reflecting on these themes means we must consider that no indisputable certainty or single way of thought governed Mesopotamian ideas on mortality, destiny or the nature of good; it is thus only the ‘genre’ of communication, as Richardson terms it, which determines the outcome. In his evaluation, he considers shrinegoers, shrines and their staff, in the process reaching the notable conclusion that religious communication in Mesopotamia was imbued with pessimism.

In comparison to the previous sections (focused on a culture, religion or period), Part 4 includes broader topics, involving the ‘great-power diplomacy and cultural exchanges that are unparalleled and worldwide’ (p. xxxi). It thus follows that, within the overall editorial design, the four parts are arranged into an ascending climax towards what is less circumscribable, pivoting around the section on divine communication (Part 3).

In the closing chapter Talbert takes into account maps highlighting how these were not scientific representations but rather ‘mental maps’ with propagandistic aims. They were drawn up to emphasise the greatness and strength of the empire to observers both within and without, rather than the more worldly task of simply showing people where a particular place or topographical feature might be.

The volume is equipped with useful lists of figures, maps, tables and lesser known abbreviations as well as a five-page index and a forty-five page bibliography. The figures, mainly photographs, are black and white and have a good resolution. Prior to the introduction a three-page section provides brief information on the authors of the contributions. The majority of the contributors are Classicists and historians, along with an art historian, an oriental studies specialist and a Near-East scholar. In spite of this, the text considers communication among a variety of peoples – Egyptians, Hittites and Mesopotamians as well as Greeks and Romans.

The book was initially conceived as a handbook and was later turned into a collection of essays. As a result, most contributions are arranged as surveys rather than as critical and interpretative discussions of the topics; the discussion is also not exhaustive in any of the temporal or geographical areas considered. Nevertheless, the editors have certainly succeeded in their editorial choices both from an organisational and from a thematic standpoint, offering a ‘broader and more rewarding canvas’ (p. xvii) devoted to this pivotal topic as well as pointing out the general lack of scholarship dealing with it. Both these features will certainly stimulate future developments, which will consider this volume as an inspirational starting point.