After the first corpus accomplished by W.H. Buckler and D.M. Robinson in 1932 (Sardis VII 1: Greek and Latin Inscriptions), a new corpus of Greek and Latin inscriptions of Sardis, one of the most significant cities of Asia Minor, has now been published. In the decades following the publication of the original corpus, further inscriptions of historical importance were discussed by various scholars (e.g. L. Robert, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sardes I [1964]; P. Gauthier, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sardes II [1989]; J.H. Kroll, ‘The Greek Inscriptions of the Sardis Synagogue’, Harvard Theological Review 94 [2001], 1–127; P. Herrmann, Kleinasien im Spiegel epigraphischer Zeugnisse [2016]), which are now incorporated into the new corpus.

During the memorial symposium in honour of P. Herrmann in 2019 P. provided an overview of the whole process that led to the completion of this corpus (G. Petzl, ‘Zum Inschriftencorpus von Sardeis. Einem Vorhaben Peter Herrmanns’, in K. Harter-Uibopuu [ed.], Epigraphische Notizen. Beiträge zu einer Tagung zur Erinnerung an Peter Herrmann [2019], pp. 13–27). His account shows that over a long period of time the epigraphic material passed through different hands. It was Herrmann who started the project, which came to an end after his passing away in 2002. Thereafter, C.H. Greenewalt Jr conferred it upon P. He benefited from Herrmann's manuscript (n. 12), and in 2019 he was able to complete the corpus containing the inscriptions discovered between 1958 and 2017. He dedicated the book to the memory of both Greenewalt and Herrmann, whose contributions to the inscriptions of historical content are indisputable. The corpus begins with the prefaces of the editors and the author, followed by a short overview in both English and Turkish.

The corpus gathers 486 Greek and Latin inscriptions from Sardis and its territory, which presents all the inscriptions recorded since 1958. The introduction, prefaces and the catalogue are also available on the website of Sardis excavations (sardisexpedition.org). The vast majority of these inscriptions are in Greek, whilst only a few Latin or bilingual texts have come to light. Two hundred and seventy of them are unpublished (p. 325). The catalogue begins with no. 301, although Buckler and Robinson's corpus ended with no. 228. Unfortunately, P. does not explain the reasons for choosing this numbering. It will be interesting to see which inscriptions will fill the gap. Furthermore, a chapter focusing on Sardis' territorial borders and their modifications would have been of benefit to users.

The table of contents provides a useful list of the material available. It is arranged according to the specific genres in chronological order as far as this is possible. There are no inscriptions that date from the Archaic and Classical periods.

Each inscription is presented with inventory numbers, descriptions of both the object carrying the text and the inscription itself, the publication history, an English translation and rich commentary. The latter in particular show P.'s mastery of epigraphy and the high level of his knowledge about Asia Minor. The photographs of many inscriptions are given on the same page as the text. This is obviously convenient to check the reading, but P. offers no explanation as to why he did not include the photographs of some inscriptions, which are understood to have been published elsewhere (e.g. nos 645 or 688). Also, some of the photographs are too small to be useful. It goes without saying that it is extremely helpful that P. provides a detailed index and a concordance, a map showing Sardis and its surroundings, an overall city plan together with a separate plan of the bath-gymnasium complex as well as a plan of ‘Field 55’ at the end of the book.

The corpus contains significant historical documents enhancing our knowledge of Sardis, though most of these have been already published. Highlights are the correspondence between Antiochus III the Great and his wife Laodike on the re-building of the city after its destruction (nos 307–13); a senatus consultum fragment from the late Republic concerning the Romans residing in Sardis (no. 304; cf. 327); a boundary inscription dated slightly before Caesar's death and relating to asylia rights granted to the sanctuary of the Sardian Artemis (no. 305); an Augustan decree (no. 306) revealing that the sanctuary of Athena Nikephoros possessed asylia rights as well as that the Παναθήναια and the Εὐμένεια festivals continued to exist up to that time; the famous protocol-style decree by which in c. ad 150 Sardis’ most prominent citizen Polybius, who possibly erected a statue of Cicero (Sardis VII 1, 49), was honoured; and the letter of Hermogenes, the priest of Men Askenos, complaining to Arrius Antoninus, the proconsul of Asia in ad 188/9, of the financial difficulties in performing rituals of some religious communities (no. 321).

The corpus includes 87 honorary inscriptions from the Hellenistic period down to late antiquity, which supply information about the local elites and their families. This group of inscriptions also contains dedications to Roman governors and emperors; an example of this is the honorary inscription for Tiberius, emphasising his role in restoring the city after the devastating earthquake in ad 17 (no. 222; cf. 414 and 440). It is a great stroke of luck that 78 inscriptions, many of which are honorific and dating from the imperial period, were discovered in 2013 during the excavations in ‘Field 55’ and that most of them are published in this corpus. We learn from them that many prominent men and women performed the office of high priest/priestess of the provincial emperor cult of Asia (nos 350, 352, 379, 384). The building inscriptions, dating mostly from late antiquity, may help to identify particular buildings and structures and contribute to the progress of archaeological work in the city (nos 414–31). The pantheon of Sardis, comprising Greek, Persian and local deities, is widely in accord with many cities of Asia Minor. The 79 inscriptions unearthed in the great late antique synagogue and published by J.H. Kroll in 2001 attest to the strong and influential Jewish community in the city, known from other ancient sources. They have also found their way into this corpus (nos 486–566).

The fact that the funerary inscriptions are normally composed in prose, so that there are only four epigrams, is rather astonishing (nos 688–91). It is remarkable that many funerary inscriptions were carved into cinerary chests, which are so characteristic of the Lydian region (nos 581–632). The anthroponyms published do not differ much from those found in other cities of Western Asia Minor.

This book is a valuable and meticulous work of a scholar who has devoted much of his life to the epigraphy of Asia Minor and of Lydia in particular. Having already proven his epigraphical competence by preparing the admirable corpora of Smyrna and Philadelphia, P. has met the high expectations that both the excavators of Sardis and the epigraphic community had of him. I have no doubt that this significant corpus with a rich range of content will inspire and lead to future works concerning Sardis and more widely the epigraphy of Asia Minor.