Within modern and contemporary design culture it is often stated that good design is invisible: you only notice it when it is poorly executed or an outright failure. The designs of ancient buildings are seldom discussed – much less critiqued – from this kind of perspective. Yet it is possible to contend that elements of ancient Greek architecture sometimes stand under a cloak of invisibility. Alongside every imposing temple or theatre there is often an assemblage of attendant structures that impart order and coherence to the general setting but do not necessary call attention to themselves. By literally and figuratively reinforcing other forms of architecture they are frequently taken for granted. Monumental staircases are a quintessential example of this situation. By definition they are ancillary, and this is why they tend to be overlooked, in both first-person experience and scholarship.

In this concise and engaging book, H. reappraises not only the design but also the underlying significance of monumental stone staircases across the ancient Greek world. In doing so, she brings new light to a corpus of material that has long remained understudied. She focuses her investigation on outdoor steps, including ramps, particularly those in sanctuaries, and excludes indoor stairs as well as those that are structurally integral to buildings such as temples, ekklesiasteria, theatres and altars. The examples selected for this study range in date from the sixth to the second century b.c.

The book is divided into two main sections: following an introduction that outlines the general topic and previous scholarship, Part 1, ‘Studying Steps’, includes three wide-ranging chapters that consider biomechanics (how the human body negotiates steps), a range of theoretical approaches, and also the particular social and political conditions associated with monumental stairs in the Greek world. Part 2, ‘Evidence of Steps over Time’, comprises five succinct chapters that survey architectural examples from 38 sites in chronological order. In addition to a short conclusion there is an appendix covering monumental steps in Hellenistic Italy, a very helpful catalogue of sites that includes basic dimensions of steps, and a meticulous and extensive bibliography that will undoubtedly prove useful to a range of scholars. The volume contains 44 plates (in actuality, 49 photographs, 48 plans and drawings, and 4 images of models). Helpfully, in some of the photographs H. uses a simple visual device – a pair of shoes – to provide both a sense of scale and to remind the reader that the staircases under consideration were once hives of human activity instead of ossified exhibits.

Indeed, it is admirable that from the very outset H. highlights the need to re-evaluate ancient sites from a ground-up, rather than top-down, perspective; that is, it is essential to place people, quite literally, into the architecture (pp. xi, 6). This experiential and participatory viewpoint is evident in the introduction where she includes a discussion of ikria (bleachers) as well as representations in Greek painted pottery of steps and grandstands that are occupied by observers both sitting and standing (pp. 9–15). Although short, this commentary is important because it sets the scene for three highly considered chapters that analyse how monumental steps are mediators and facilitators of communal human experience. Both Chapter 2, ‘Theoretical Observations’, and Chapter 3, ‘Social Effects and Political Consequences’, offer some refreshing strategies for studying ancient architecture. Put categorically, H. is not interested in chasing millimetres. Instead, she builds up a situational understanding of stairs by soliciting a range of modern voices (such as Pierre Bourdieu, Edward Casey and Catherine Bell) and ancient contexts (the pompe). Together, these illuminate how the built environment may embody custom, habit and ritual. One wishes that these chapters had been further developed and given more weight in order to counterbalance the broad chronological survey presented in Chapters 4–8.

Despite explicitly distancing the volume from the formalist methodologies that tend to predominate the study of ancient architecture (p. 5), H. ultimately resorts to building typology and chronological organisation for the analysis of her sites in Part 2. To some degree, she had to: classifying steps into manageable types (those found outdoors in sanctuaries) and dates (century-by-century) allowed her to gain purchase on copious amounts of information, and it also facilitated the cross-referencing of data and themes. The downside to this approach is that many sites are covered fleetingly; and some are explored in more than one chapter, for example, Perachora (pp. 37–8; 51–2). The complication here is that the pace of the survey precludes a deep investigation of individual stairs in light of the valuable discussions raised in Part 1.Footnote ¹

Ironically, both the scholarly methodology and the cameo appearances of the shoes in the photographs inadvertently raise a much larger issue that has to do with the conventions of architectural representation. A study of this nature is ripe for recent initiatives in digital modelling that can provide multiple views and perspectives through – not merely over and above – buildings and sites.Footnote ² Digital reconstructions are included in this volume, but they offer standard viewpoints; for example, the Sanctuary of Apollo at Knidos (Plate 22b) is illustrated with a bird's-eye view. This is not to suggest that H. should have commissioned digital models – a daunting and unfeasible task. Rather, the point to take from this is that the innovative approaches to the study of ancient sites presented in this volume also signify the need for new paradigms of architectural visualisation, digital or otherwise, in scholarship more generally. This is a highly impressive and well-researched volume that will surely stimulate readers to engage with and develop more interpretative studies of architecture well into the future.