This important volume focuses on the widespread interest in the possibility of a connection with and communication from the gods in the period from the late Roman Republic to the end of antiquity. Divination is broadly understood to cover a variety both of methods and of types of knowledge, which can be presented along two axes: one indicating the mode of divination, a spectrum ranging from inspired divination (e.g. oracles, visions or dreams) to conjectural divination based on techniques like augury or astrology; the other concerning the type of knowledge or the objects of divination, ranging from contingency (practical or everyday matters) to transcendence, involving the divine. This produces a grid with four quadrants (inspiration on contingency; conjecture on contingency; inspiration on transcendence; conjecture on transcendence). The various essays in this volume represent different combinations and configurations of these quadrants, and together convey an impressive view of the complexity and interrelatedness of the different facets of divination.

Part I of the volume is devoted to philosophical theories on divination, revelation and prophecy. Elsa Simonetti discusses Philo of Alexandria’s criticism of Graeco-Roman theories on prophecy against the background of contemporary philosophical and theological controversies regarding true and false prophecy, the degree of agency of the prophetic medium in relationship to the divine, and the theological and cosmological views underlying the various theories. She includes an analysis of Philo’s use of various crucial technical terms associated with prophecy and divination, such as manteia and its derivatives, stochasmos, pithanos and eikotês, epistêmê, and epignôsis. Andrei Timotin focuses on the Neoplatonic background of a text on prophecy attributed to John Chrysostom, a prologue to a commentary on Jeremiah, which provides an interesting taxonomy of all forms of inspired and inductive predictive knowledge. He argues that Pseudo-Chrysostom’s classification of prophecy is a Christian adaptation of a Neoplatonic theory of divination such as is found in Iamblichus. Unusual for a patristic text, Greek prophecy features positively in this classification. Ilaria Ramelli observes that commenting on, and allegorical exegesis of, authoritative texts as a form of revelation was a common practice among both Christians and Platonists. She looks at the theoretical and methodological intersections between pagan and Christian views and shows that Christians and Platonists also made use of texts from the opposite group in their allegorical hermeneutics. Crystal Addey discusses the dialogue between Porphyry and Iamblichus on religion, theurgy and divination in the Letter to Anebo and On the Mysteries, showing that this dialogue displays significant resemblances to oracular modes of discourse. She argues that for Porphyry and Iamblichus inspiration and dialectics are not mutually exclusive, but indeed complementary ways of knowledge acquisition.

Part II contains essays discussing the role and function of human intermediaries in the process of communication between gods and humans within different cultural contexts. Claire Hall investigates the development influenced by Hellenistic Judaism of the idealised prophet-sage of the Greek theios anêr tradition in later antiquity. She shows how the roles of sage and prophet are slowly merging in texts like the Wisdom of Solomon and in Philo’s The Life of Moses, leading to the unified figure of prophet-sage in persons like Apollonius of Tyana. Such a figure possessed both prophetic powers and universal knowledge about the world, combining a rational understanding of the world with revelatory insight. Hanna Tervanotko analyses women’s access to divine dreams in the Jewish texts of the Greco-Roman era. Although there are only accounts of the dreams of Miriam, Rebecca, Glaphyra and Stratonice, her analysis shows that the role and methods of female diviners in late Judaism were completely different compared to those of the traditional male prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The women receive dreams which lead them to take action that in turn has a societal impact, thus stepping out of the traditional roles reserved for women. Georgia Petridou looks at the application of the ‘epiphanic schema’ (a sequence of key socio-religious events, namely crisis, authorisation, resolution and commemoration) in temple narratives about iatromantic operations associated with Asclepius. She shows that epiphany and inspired divination are brought together in these narratives and that Aelius Aristides’ own healing skills and special relationship with the god were not as unusual as is often assumed. Marco Zambon considers the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies from the perspective of prophecy. He discusses the role and traits of a prophet according to how they are conceived in the Homilies, focusing on three main questions: (a) the criteria used to identify a true prophet and his witnesses; (b) the kind of truth taught by a prophet; and (c) the relationship between the truth revealed by a prophet and knowledge derived from Scripture and rational effort. His essay touches on epistemological problems such as the relation between inductive knowledge and revelation, the ontological status of the prophet and his pronouncements, and the connection between contingent predictions and transcendent truths.

The essays in Part III deal with the tension between the theological and metaphysical conceptualisation on the one hand and the practical, everyday questions which divination had to address on the other. Frederico Santangelo investigates the concept of revelation in late republican augury by analysing significant examples presented in various genres. He concludes that Roman augury is a form of divination with carefully defined parameters within which it is possible to determine the divine will, and that it is a craft in which technical skill and revelation are closely integrated. Chiara O. Tomassi discusses a Delphic oracular hexameter on pestilence quoted by Martianus Capella. She investigates the intertextual allusions and literary history of this oracle, especially in Lucian and Porphyry, and suggests that the verse had an independent circulation. She concludes that Martianus’ treatment of oracular sources bears witness to the transformation of oracular practice in late antiquity, when a Neoplatonic form of divination attempted to address eschatological and soteriological concerns. The text further illuminates significant aspects of the polemic between Christians and pagans concerning messages from the gods. Aude Busine uses an oracle by Apollo on the silence of oracles supposedly directed to Emperor Julian to show the role forged oracles played in Christian and non-Christian polemics. She suggests that the oracle was forged by the hagiographer to enhance the passion of Artemius and that the oracle itself should be located in the context of late antique ex eventu prophecies in which pagan gods predict their own demise.

Despite the large variety of motifs and texts covered in this volume, it succeeds remarkably well in providing an insightful and coherent perspective on divination and revelation and their interrelationship in later antiquity. It is highly recommended for scholars interested in late antique religion and in the polemical interaction between Christians and pagans.