Brian Hobley is well known as Chief Archaeologist for the Museum of London 1973–89. This study, however, is the culmination of a lifetime’s work, which started with his excavation at the Lunt Roman fort at Baginton (near Coventry) of a (still) unique circular feature, which he identified as a gyrus or fenced corral for animals. After retirement, his Master of Studies thesis on circular symbolism, at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, went on to form the basis of further extensive study in Europe and the Mediterranean regions, culminating in this publication. Hobley has chosen to begin his book with a quotation from Marcus Tullius Cicero that ‘To be ignorant of the past [history] is to remain a child. For what is the worth of a human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?’. This is an early indication that Hobley does not subscribe to that archaeological school of thought that advocates the (mere) cataloguing of archaeological remains, but to the arguably more scholarly pursuit of the analysis and interpretation of those remains – something he readily admits can rarely be achieved ‘without a conscious or unconscious ideological agenda’ of one’s own.

The book has over 800 pages and is divided into ten parts and forty-five chapters, each with its own illustrations and descriptions as well as useful information on their sources.

Part One, ‘The Circle as Symbol’, comprises three chapters: ‘The Nature of Symbolism’, ‘Symbolism in the Greco-Roman World’ and ‘Imaging the Gods’. Each chapter has subdivisions such as cognitive archaeology, the use of iconography, the talismanic function of buildings and cosmic piety.

Part Two, ‘The Sun as a Universal Symbol’, comprises nine chapters. These include ‘Solar Symbols in the Middle East’ (for example, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt), ‘Solar Symbols in Megalithic Europe’ (for example, spirals, solar crosses, rhomboids and zig-zag motifs) and ‘The Sun and The Celts’ (for example, gold, amber and faience and animals closely associated with solar imagery). The chapter ‘Symbols in Mycenae and Crete’ includes the Cretan (or classical) labyrinth, and Hobley boldly states that no Neolithic or Bronze Age examples occur in the British Isles. In fact, scholarly opinions remain polarised regarding Rocky Valley (Cornwall), with a more recent paper than the one referenced identifying possible pecking of the design consistent with techniques found in Bronze Age Europe, reworked with iron tools at a later date (Nash 2008). The remaining chapters cover ‘The Greco-Roman Sun’, ‘The Celestial Sphere’, ‘The Advent of Apollo’ and ‘Circularity and Centrality in Greek Thought and the Celestial Axis’.

Part Three, ‘Neolithic and Bronze Age Circular Structures’, comprises two chapters: ‘The Neolithic/Bronze Age Circular World-View’ and ‘Stonehenge, Henges and Round Barrows’. Sections include Yeavering, Silbury Hill, Stonehenge and Avebury as well as timber circles, roundhouses and concentric burials.

Part Four, ‘Greco-Roman Circular Structures’, comprises four chapters: ‘Round Altars, Mundus/Offering Pits and Heröons’, ‘Ancient Circular Town Planning’, ‘The Tholus’ and ‘The Symbolic Meaning of Tholi’.

Both Part Five, ‘Circularity in Rome’, and Part Six, ‘Rome and the New Architecture’, cover ‘The Roman Circus’, ‘The Roman Theatre’, ‘The Forum Romanum’, ‘The Dome in Roman Monumental Architecture’, ‘Arches, Vaults and Sacred Gateways’, ‘Apses and Hemicycles’, ‘Circularity in Sacred Palaces’ and ‘Circularity at Roman Military Sites’. This last chapter includes a reconsideration of the function of The Lunt at Baginton which, to date, maintains its unique status among Roman forts owing to its large, circular, fence-walled structure with a single, trapezoidal entrance. Part Seven, ‘Roman Celestial Iconography’, has two chapters: ‘The Apollonian Solar Family at Rome’ (for example, Venus, Mithras, Mercury) and ‘The Circle of The Zodiac’ (for example, origins of the Greco-Roman zodiac, the Decans and the zodiacal calendar).

Part Eight, ‘The Cosmic Master-Builders’, comprises six chapters covering the sacred buildings of Augustus, Agrippa and Hadrian and includes Augustus’ influence on the Circus Maximus, rotunda tombs and the Palatine Temple of Apollo (as well as Agrippa’s Pantheon, Hadrian’s Pantheon, mausoleum and villa at Tivoli, among many other structures).

Part Nine, ‘Circular Symbolism in Roman Life’, comprises five chapters: ‘Circles of Death and the Afterlife’, which includes a section on Etruscan antecedents, ‘Solar Discs and Sacred Sun-Cakes’, ‘The Rosette’, which includes a look at its significance in Mesopotamia and Assyria, ‘Solar Headwear’ (for example, the radiate crown and nimbus) and ‘Cosmic and Celestial Shields’.

Part Ten, ‘The Solar World of Christianity’, discusses pagan monotheism (specifically an all-powerful male solar god) and early Christianity, including Mithraism, the solar cycle, the Christian year and circular symbolism in Christian churches.

The index is extensive, as is the bibliography and the section on illustration sources. Also included is a very useful glossary of Greek and Latin terms. While providing a vast corpus of material, this book is written in a style that is unpretentious, clear and concise, rendering it easy to read and understand. Although one may read it from cover to cover, its size and vast extent of data is more likely to lend itself to being used as a very useful reference book. Either way, it would be a valuable addition to any archaeological or anthropological library and will become an essential source for those concerned with religious/solar/circular symbology, particularly in the Greco-Romano archaeological record.