Silence is more than the absence of sound; it is a fundamental part of communication, connection and affect. Silence is on the spectrum of sound; it is an experiential, relative and nebulous phenomenon. To this rich context, Koenig makes an important new contribution and takes us on a journey exploring the physical larynx, the sound of the voice, non-verbal communication and the power dynamics of both voice and its silencing through the close examination of key Greek and Latin texts that highlight approaches to silence from different perspectives.

K. begins by setting out the context of speech, voice, vulnerability and virtus in ancient Roman society, explaining how in the imperial world loss of voice meant loss of agency and disempowerment. In her outline of the current field of research on this topic there is clear prioritisation of voices and ideas, both K.'s own and that of the wider scholarship, positioning K.'s arguments in this new work as ‘not oppositional but complementary’ (9).

Across five chapters K. uses five key imperial ancient sources — Ovid's Metamorphoses and Fasti, Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Longus’ Daphne and Chloe and Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Clitophon — to illustrate different approaches to silencing and to the power dynamic that comes with it, often in unexpected ways. Displaying sensitivity to the trauma that is often described in these texts, K. frequently presses upon the physicality and vulnerability of the voice, recognising the agency that silenced characters still have in these narratives. Ch. 1 focuses on the work of Galen, who conducted brutal, if ground-breaking, physical experiments on animal larynxes. K. explores the cruelty of this, the fascination of the ancient scientific community with voice, and the concomitant depictions of vocalisation itself as a violent struggle. Ch. 2 centres on two famously silent female figures from Ovid's Fasti: Lucretia and Tacita, ‘the mute goddess’ who can also silence others, ‘whose depiction in this text highlights the way in which silence is characteristic of divine authority’ (13). Chs 3 and 4 work in parallel, looking at the performing body as an organ of speech, exploring the physical vulnerability of the voice and discussing non-verbal methods of communication that are brought forth through the act of silencing — a ‘deprivation [that] in some way removes the restraints created by the possession of a voice’ (10). Close readings of Ovid, Achilles Tatius and Longus are all referenced here, as K. notes the patterns that emerge in their various treatments of voice and silencing. Ch. 5 looks at the phenomenon of regaining voice — both in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses and in the pseudo-Lucianic Onos. In these texts, voice, identity and transformation are central, and K. finds that regaining voice does not always translate into a concurrent restoration of agency.

Finally, K. discusses voice and power in the Bible and looks at how the torture and silencing of early Christian martyrs through the removal of their tongues can be heard to perform the ‘power of the silenced’ through Prudentius’ Peristephanon (156). K. does not shy away from the complexities of freedom and power engaged in the loss/regaining of voice, the potential for agency within suffering, or the interrelationship between silence and/as testimony (147–9). These accounts return the reader to Galen's laryngeal experiments and point towards new areas of potential future research on voice as it pertains to humanity and identity (146). The book concludes with silencing as ‘a shattering explosion of communicative power, the catalyst for a display of agency and an act of rebellion against the authority that wished to silence …’ (156).

This book is set to become essential reading for Classicists and Ancient Historians and an excellent set text of recommended or further reading for undergraduates studying Ovid's Metamorphoses, Fasti, or the Greek and Roman novel. However, the clarity, concision and accessibility of the writing means that this book would also be useful and stimulating for any reader interested in voice and silence, particularly in terms of power dynamics, embodiment, linguistics, pragmatics, communication and performance.

Precise, thoughtful and a delight to read, this slender volume packs a punch in delivering fresh perspectives on voice and silence in ancient Rome — the writing flows, the signposting is clear and K. has a strong, engaging authorial voice. The throughline of the book is the idea that communication can take place through, or despite, silencing. One highlight for me was the skilled close reading of the ancient sources — especially of Galen. K. makes it clear that her adept handling of the ancient texts is the basis of her theories, well supported by current research and pulling on ideas from interdisciplinary subject areas. In several places K. takes this close reading into the notes in order to probe a little further and to ask questions, sparking curiosity and creating starting points for exploring wider issues pertaining to the topic of silence and voice. An absorbing and useful resource in itself, one of the distinctive characteristics of this work is the way that it acts as a hub by recommending key readings for further research and investigations into this fascinating topic.