Andrew R. Dyck's edition of Cicero's speech Pro Sexto Roscio is the first proper commentary on this oration in English since school editions from around 1900, such as those of E. H. Donkin (London ¹1879, ²1916; based on K. Halm, Berlin ⁸1877), St. George Stock (Oxford, ¹1890; ²1902) and J. C. Nicol (Cambridge, 1906). The recent Budé edition of the speech by F. Hinard and Y. Benferhat (2006) provides a French translation and an extensive introduction, but, in keeping with the series, the notes are on a limited scale. Inasmuch as Pro Sexto Roscio is Cicero's first extant speech in a criminal trial, one that ‘made C.'s career’ (19), it is very welcome to have an accessible text equipped with a detailed commentary, intended for the use of students and scholars, and produced by such an experienced and knowledgeable commentator of Cicero as D. This is the third contribution that D. has made to the ‘Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics’ series (preceded by Nat. D. I (2003) and Cat. (2008); cf. also his commentary on Off. (1996) and on Leg. (2004)), and it is the first volume in the ‘green and yellow’ series to be devoted to a single speech by Cicero (in contrast with D.'s own Catilinarians and J. T. Ramsey's Philippics 1–2 (2003)).

The volume basically follows the structure of D.'s earlier edition of the Catilinarians, in line with the familiar format of the series. The work opens with an introduction (1–22) on the juridical details, the historical background including the proscriptions, the major protagonists, Cicero's rôle and achievement, as well as on language and style and the text. This is followed by the Latin text (23–55) and the commentaries proper (56–209). The book concludes with an appendix on prose rhythm (210–11), a comprehensive multi-lingual bibliography (212–22), and detailed Indexes (223–42).

Despite the concise presentation required by the series, D. has managed to convey a wealth of information on a variety of aspects throughout the volume. However, a different organization of the material across introduction and commentary could have made it more immediately accessible. For instance, under the subheading ‘The charge’ (1–2), the introduction starts with a well-informed discussion of the crime of parricidium and its punishment at Rome. While this topic is undoubtedly relevant to the speech, a student reader or someone approaching the speech for the first time would have been better served by being first given an explanation of the case itself, its precise historical background and the position of the speech in Cicero's career. Only after the presentation of the court, details of the proscriptions and the date of the trial, do readers receive information about the case in the presentation of ‘The principal characters’ (5–10), while the following section on ‘The advocate's rôle’ seems rather to belong to the earlier treatment of the legal context. Where D. talks about the circumstances of the trial and the effect of Cicero's speech, he relies heavily on Cicero's own evidence, as is natural; but one misses explicit words of caution that information given by Cicero cannot be regarded as entirely objective and historically accurate.

The introduction does not include information on the structure of the speech or Cicero's argumentative techniques; comments on these points can be found spread across the actual commentary as introductions to the major sections identified by D. (preceding the line-by-line commentary on each of them), where he presents detailed breakdowns of the rhetorical steps within each part of the speech labelled on the basis of rhetorical theory. A summary of this in the introduction, with some more discussion, would have been helpful. In line with the conventions of the series, the Latin text comes without textual apparatus, for which one is referred to the recent edition of F. Hinard. A list of divergences from this edition is included; and the major ones are explained briefly in the commentary (some textual issues are discussed in greater detail in Dyck's review of Hinard's edition: Mnemosyne 62 (2009), 675–78). Absent is a corresponding list of divergences from H. Kasten's Teubner edition (1968) and A. C. Clark's Oxford Classical Text (1905), still used by many readers outside France.

Both in the introduction and in the commentary D. is particularly good at highlighting stylistic features such as prose rhythm or other elements of rhetorical style and on signalling characteristics of Cicero's early rhetoric, as well as on disentangling the complex legal and political situation and showing how Cicero places himself within it. However, a more unified and concise discussion of the literary aspects of the speech and Cicero's argumentative techniques would have been useful; the present treatment of these topics within the commentary section makes it difficult to see the bigger picture.

While a commentary hardly ever satisfies all users since there is always more that can be said and each individual is inevitably interested in a specific subset of questions, D. has done a good job in offering at least something to almost all types of reader and providing helpful insights into the context and shape of the speech. One can only hope that D.'s achievement in making the speech conveniently available will prompt more students and scholars to engage with it inasmuch as they now have an excellent starting point.