A common concern amongst students of ancient history is the question how much of what we know of ancient Greece is in fact the history of a handful of ancient poleis, with Classical Athens being a prime example. Recent work on regions that in the past were considered marginal to the mainstream ancient history narratives, especially of the Classical period, has done much to re-evaluate our understanding of the Greek world. We now know much more of Asia Minor and its vibrant city culture in the Hellenistic period, and of the northern Aegean beyond the sea littoral. Archaeological land surveys and a scholarly focus on the importance of regionalism and networks have also contributed considerably to our understanding of the Greek world beyond Athens, Sparta and the southern end of mainland Greece.

Within this context, it is very fortunate that we now have F.’s new book on Ambracia and its wider region. F. rightly stresses that this region of north-western Greece has attracted little scholarly attention. This may be the result of our extremely fragmentary sources. F. certainly does a brilliant job in reconstructing the history of Ambracia from a complex and often problematic collection of sources. The focus is inevitably on the literary and (few) epigraphic sources, while archaeological remains are taken into consideration when appropriate. The book is structured chronologically with three main chapters, each covering a historical period. The first chapter is an exploration of the history of Ambracia from its foundation (by Corinth) until the Archidamian war and the important defeat in 426 bc by neighbouring Acarnania. The second chapter focuses on the period between 425 and the reign of Philip II and pays particular attention to Philip's policy in the region, as part of his larger strategy for Greece. The third chapter concludes with the history of the region within the context of the changing dynamics of the Hellenistic and early Roman world; the title of the chapter is indicative: ‘Ambracia fra l'Epiro, gli Etoli e Roma’. The final point of the book is the foundation of Nicopolis, which brings Ambracia's existence to an end. F. includes a handy conclusion written in English, which will make the book more accessible to a wider audience. Five maps nicely complement the narrative.

F.’s approach to the writing of the history of a region is relatively conservative. As would be expected from a scholar who has produced excellent work on ancient historiography (and especially Thucydides), we get a very careful analysis of the literary sources along the lines of Quellenforschung; for example, in the first chapter, F. carefully sifts through the few and often contradictory narratives to find out what the relationship between Ambracia and Corinth (the mother-city) was, what impact Corinthian tyranny had on Ambracia (a considerable impact is the answer, as the founder and his son were linked to the Corinthian tyrants’ families), what the relationship between Ambracia and the other Corinthian foundations in the region was etc. F. does pay some attention to the landscape (the course of the two local rivers, Louros and Arachthos, which seems to have changed since antiquity) and the geography of the region, but this kind of discussion is restricted to the period of the early years of foundation, when literary sources are, inevitably, scarce. Yet, how do we understand the impact of a settlement on its surroundings, which is one of the key questions of the book, unless we place it within the wider geographical region, its connections, resources and constraints? Can the few literary sources we have answer these questions? The impact of the environment is not really touched on in the rest of the book, beyond the first section; indeed, the focus is largely a traditional political, military and diplomatic narrative. Considering the growing scholarly interest in regional approaches that emphasise the role of the environment as an important factor for our understanding of social and economic history, it is regrettable that F. follows this more traditional approach. F. is right in stressing that the history of north-western Greece is largely neglected. Indeed, modern national boundaries (such as those between modern Greece and Albania) further hinder a more inclusive attempt to write the history of the region. A more expanded approach, beyond the traditional political narrative, would have produced a more groundbreaking work.

I will use one example as an indication of this. F. includes a very good analysis (pp. 29–43) of the polyandrion epigram, which he dates to the second half of the sixth century (SEG 41 [1991], 540B). He argues that the epigram relates to a cenotaph for Ambracian and Corinthian dead, who were killed on their way inland, possibly to Apollonia (another Corinthian foundation). The argument is quite ingenious and convincing; F. briefly mentions pasturage as an important feature for Ambracian interest to the north, but quickly abandons that line of argument to focus on a more traditional political and diplomatic approach. Yet, pasturage, we know, and disputes about pasturage were an extremely important concern for inter-state relations; control of pastureland was a major issue for poleis in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, as a large number of inscriptions and decrees attest (see, for example, the inscriptions collected by C. Chandezon, L’élevage en Grèce (fin Ve – fin Ier s. a.C.): l'apport des sources épigraphiques [2003]). I think more could have been said about Ambracian interest in the massive northern inland region beyond political and diplomatic narratives: the landscape and its resources, including pasturage, could offer us interpretative approaches not necessarily highlighted by our ancient literary sources.

This book is a welcome addition to our increasing interest in the relatively ‘unknown’ north-western Greek world. It will be of interest to scholars and students trying to understand the role of the region in the political, military and diplomatic narratives of the ancient sources.