Led in part by contemporary concerns about climate change and the instability of our current natural environment, scholars of the ancient world have turned their attention towards the natural environment in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Of course, ‘the environment’ is a broad term, and academic work within this topic has been varied – previous works have covered environmental change as a whole, discussions of ‘landscapes’, or been as narrow as specific features of the natural environment such as rivers, mountains, seas and trees. I.'s Conceptions of the Watery World (CWW) and Using and Conquering the Watery World (UWW) are the latest within this environmental focus, seeking to bring together all aspects of water in the ancient Mediterranean in two packed volumes.

Previously, academic works focusing on the ancient environment have considered climate instability and environmental change in Graeco-Roman antiquity (P. Horden and N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea [2000]; J.D. Hughes, Environmental Problems of the Greeks and Romans [2014]). I. takes less of a climate change focus, but rather presents a highly nuanced approach to interactions between aspects of water in the ancient Mediterranean – some of which is linked to human effects on the natural environment and some of which is presented as water's effect on society and culture. In exploring one aspect of the natural environment while covering almost every conceivable form of it, CWW and UWW build on previous works dealing with only one aspect of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity (e.g. B. Campbell, Rivers and the Power of Ancient Rome [2012]). The sheer scope of I.'s works, both in terms of aspects of water discussed and time span included, draws together specific water forms and broader contextual watery concerns in a new way. CWW and UWW collate everything you could think of to do with water in two volumes – including sea and rivers, as well as springs, sea creatures, swamps, even rain and clouds. In a way, CWW together with UWW aim to be a definitive resource on all things ‘watery’ in the ancient Mediterranean. The sheer scope and level of detail makes these works incredibly useful for scholars of water in the ancient environment, while the careful discussion of water in its context is relevant for anyone with a broader interest in the natural environment.

I. freely admits relying heavily on written sources for the basis of her discussion, yet the frequent detailed inclusion of archaeological and artistic sources adds an extra depth of richness to her work. Where artistic sources are referred to, they are often accompanied by a line drawing representation, which helpfully elucidates the details of the evidence for a potentially unfamiliar reader. It is these helpful considerations, figures and glosses for ancient authors within the text that I feel is a particular strength of I.'s work. The clearly considerate nature of her writing makes it accessible to a wide range of readers – from undergraduate students, to Classicists, to multidisciplinary researchers –, a clear benefit for future research in this area.

Although both volumes are closely linked, and frequent references throughout the texts suggest that both volumes are intended to be read together, each monograph functions independently; as such, I will summarise the content of each separately.

Conceptions of the Watery World is split into three parts: ‘Interpreting the Watery Framework’, ‘Explaining Watery Phenomena’ and ‘Imagining the Watery World’. ‘Interpreting the Watery Framework’ covers the philosophy, cosmogony and physics of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity. I. deftly weaves considerations of the experienced natural environment (landscape and climate of the land) with summaries of key philosophical schools of thought, drawing out overlapping qualities of water within each. From this broader discussion, CWW then moves to philosophical theories specifically dealing with the sea and lakes, and then mirroring the same approach for rivers and springs in the third chapter. The riverine discussion particularly benefits from the inclusion of short river case studies, where discussion of the Ister, Phasis, Indus and Nile draws out the individuality of each river within its own environment (p. 71). This is another strength of I.'s work – while the scale of both texts is monumental, the author takes great care to consider the individual aspects of each environment and historical context.

‘Explaining Watery Phenomena’ aptly demonstrates the large scale of the work, covering watery weather and the role of water in health and disease. ‘Watery Weather’ begins with a discussion of conceptions of the hydrological cycle in Graeco-Roman antiquity, before moving on to a thoughtful description of almost every aspect of watery weather you could think of – clouds, rainbows, storms, rain, hail, before finally covering extreme weather events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. I found the range of watery weather discussed a real highlight, where unpicking every aspect of how water interacts with the weather cycle demonstrates the all-encompassing nature of water in the lived environment – and provides a rich starting point for future research into the less discussed aspects of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity.

The third section, ‘Imagining the Watery World’, focuses mostly on the sea: biological marine creatures, mythical marine creatures, water and the divine, and sailor cults. Again, I. has incorporated a wide range of considerations, carefully elucidated by clear maps and illustrations. The chapter on mythical sea creatures tends to follow a rationalising approach, briefly covering Capricorn and hippocampi, before discussion of familiar and more unfamiliar sea monsters. The rationalising approach to this discussion continues I.'s trend of highlighting the unique contexts of the natural environment in Graeco-Roman antiquity, but I do wonder if the case studies could have benefited from more discussion of (or referencing towards) the more literary aspects of the sea monsters.

‘Water and the Divine’ goes back to discussions of natural science, where I. seems most comfortable, and briefly includes some coverage of water and death – this is a broad topic, and I. does well to summarise the most relevant ideas within CWW's interests. The discussion of sailor cults completes coverage of the divine, comprising several individual case studies of popular cults of Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite, Isis and Venus as well as a brief summary of maritime ruler cults. The particular strength of this chapter is the inclusion of a range of archaeological and literary sources as well as a lovely section on some of the less formalised rituals and superstitions of sailors.

CWW's conclusion briefly summarises the content and ends with a suggestion of the ‘nebulous’ qualities of water which make it so difficult to define. The conclusion that the intellectual world of Graeco-Roman antiquity was ‘earnestly anthropocene’, where nature exists to be used (p. 194), indicates the direction of Using and Conquering the Watery World – the more strongly argued of the pair of works.

Using and Conquering the Watery World begins with a brief summary of CWW and then directs the focus towards human use of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Once again, UWW follows a tripartite structure: ‘Controlling and Harnessing Water’, ‘Engaging with the Watery World’ and ‘The Sea and “National Identity”’. ‘Controlling and Harnessing Water’ covers water rights, the specific laws and administrative issues surrounding water in Greece and Rome in order to guarantee its safety and continuous supply. The second chapter discusses the role of water in urban planning, focusing mostly on water quality and purification, before a brief foray into pollution and war. This chapter is a whistle-stop tour through lots of different sources and contexts, which provides a varied view but results in a slightly muddled feel. The third chapter, ‘Urban Hydraulic Engineering’, covers all manners of collecting and transporting water, including cisterns, baths and, of course, aqueducts. The detailed descriptions of the structure and operation of these aqueducts is a real strength of the work, where I. readily embraces the technical details in an accessible way. This section ends with ‘Marine Hydraulic Engineering’, which considers ports, harbours, canals and lighthouses, well illustrated by case studies from across Graeco-Roman antiquity.

‘Engaging with the Watery World’ marks a transition from discussion of water in general to a more specific focus on the sea. The fifth chapter, ‘Sailing and Navigation’, goes into great detail describing the processes of launching, anchoring, propulsion, even including a particularly interesting section on the role of divers and swimmers in maritime processes. I. cogently argues for the use of narrative sea charts in the ancient Mediterranean by carefully picking out examples in a range of literary texts which particularly show the idea of specific maritime ‘highways’. ‘Maritime Trade and Travel’ builds from the description of the process of sailing to trade across the ancient Mediterranean. I. deftly utilises evidence from more recent underwater excavations to show the range of goods transported, and neatly summarises trade routes and lengths of journeys in an easily usable table – that kind of condensed and easily accessible evidence is a real strength of I.'s work, where it is clear that the author has considered their readers and ease of use. The seventh chapter, ‘Harvesting the Barren Sea’ consists of small discussions of each major product (tuna, molluscs, salt and garum, purple dye) and the income generated across the Mediterranean through these trades.

Part 3 comprises of a chronological journey through uses of maritime imagery in national identity, starting with the Minoan Thalassocracy and ending with Roman narratives of conquest over the sea and the peoples within it. The political uses of the sea in the Archaic period are thoroughly explored with references to Homeric epic and detailed examination of maritime imagery on Archaic coinage. The discussion of Hellenic Thalassocracies necessarily covers Athenian supremacy in detail, and it addresses Hellenistic uses of the sea for political ends through the case study of Demetrios I of Macedon, which helps to focus the discussion on specific imagery, rather than recounting various vying powers. The artistic evidence used throughout this section is once again illustrated by simple yet clear line drawings, which help elucidate the details of the material for the reader.

Finally, Part 3 concludes with a discussion of Rome in relation to ‘Oceanus Domitus’. This chapter begins with a brief note about the role of the river Tiber in Roman identity before turning towards the role of the sea – I would have loved to have seen more about the role of rivers in Roman conquest narratives as a particularly fruitful comparison to the sea; as it stands, the brief description of the Tiber highlights its importance, only to be neglected in favour of the sea for the rest of the chapter. This small criticism aside, the wide-ranging coverage of the political role of the sea across Roman history is impressive – I. begins with the Punic Wars, moves to Pompey the Great and Sextus Pompeius, through to Actium, Caligula and the conquest of Britain. Once again, this chapter is characterised by careful discussion of the numismatic evidence, highlighting the importance of maritime imagery specifically, alongside historical and literary sources. The small section on naumachiae nicely demonstrates the continued appeal of maritime imagery throughout the imperial period and the importance of marking victories over aspects of the watery world.

UWW ends by acknowledging the potential long-term climate consequences in some ‘uses’ of the watery world, and suggests future research may focus on specific environmental changes in the waters as a result of human activity. I. once again highlights the duality of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity, where it could be something to be controlled or ‘used’ for the benefit of humanity – yet can still challenge that control through raw power and unpredictability.

Both CWW and UWW are furnished with an appendix – a table of ancient ‘thinkers’, their ‘provenance’, language, approximate dates of activity and their major ‘scientific’ works or areas of scientific contribution. This table provides a helpful list of ancient writers used within CWW and UWW, giving a (very) brief individual context to each of those writers. I am a little hesitant to call some of the more literary works ‘scientific works’ (e.g. Virgil's Aeneid, listed on the final page of the appendix); but overall this serves as a nice summary for those less familiar with ancient sources.

Both CWW and UWW are primarily a wide-ranging journey through the different roles of water in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Throughout CWW I. rattles through a range of different aspects of water, highlighting that different philosophical traditions had different conceptions, different areas of the Mediterranean had different understandings of water based on their specific experiences – the variety of material displayed is one of the greatest strengths of this work, yet this does make it incredibly difficult to really pin down specific conclusions; as such, the argument is rather nebulous.

UWW takes more of a stance, arguing that water was valuable as it could be used, specifically with techne and human skill. This mostly works for the discussion in UWW, as it largely focuses on specific procedures used to guarantee a water supply, architectural interactions with water and the importance of maritime imagery in political narratives of conquest. It could have been fruitful to give more consideration to how aspects of the watery world resisted that ‘use’, if only to expand beyond anthropocentric concerns.

Both CWW and UWW are persuasive in their argument that water permeated almost every facet of life in Graeco-Roman antiquity – the sheer scale of the works, combined with the inclusion of almost every possible consideration of water in its many forms clearly highlights its centrality to Graeco-Roman life and culture. Through focusing on both water in its own environment and philosophical considerations, as well as more technical works of water engineering and the legality of water, I. highlights the lived reality of not only thinking about water in the ancient world, but also in working with it. This combination of both philosophical and physical works really well, and it draws out the totality of water in all its forms in Graeco-Roman antiquity.

Within CWW and UWW I. is keen to emphasise the role of scientific enquiry when discussing some ancient sources (CWW, p. 17: ‘from myth to reason’). This sometimes appears a little like needing to validate the thoughts of ancient writers from a modern perspective, but I recognise that this could be a useful process for emphasising enquiry and evidence for an undergraduate audience. As such, this minor quibble does not detract from the overall quality of both works, which are considerate of a range of ancient perspectives, without prioritising one particular period or area over another.

Incredibly detailed and well considered, both CWW and UWW are assets for any scholar with an interest in water in the ancient world. The careful explanations of ancient sources and their various contexts mean that both would also be suitable for undergraduates or scholars outside the discipline of Classics. If you need anything to do with water in Graeco-Roman antiquity, chances are you can find it in these two volumes!