Studies on the imperial cult in the Greek East have been numerous, but F. attempts a specificity that makes this book particularly engaging. With this work, an expansion of her doctoral dissertation, F. initially takes as a model other large studies that describe reverence for the emperor in the Greek East as the interaction of local tradition with imperial power (see Price, Friesen). After the reign of Augustus, however, matters at the city level seem to branch away from this concept. By synthesising a large body of inscriptions of priestly titles, F. offers a ‘dual perspective’ (p. 18) that intends to explore the type of cult developing at the civic level in the cities of Asia as well as using the priesthood as a point of entry into the study of civic elite Greeks. F. effectively showcases an imperial cult well integrated into city life and of a principally local dimension.

The first chapter traces the evolution of the imperial cult in the province and introduces one of F.'s primary themes: high-priests of the imperial cult became a unifying force for the province, as multiple cults were established under this title, yet local variations persisted. F. explains that imperial cults at the city level, for much longer than those at the provincial level, seem to remain reactionary to the changing imperial families and political context at Rome. They periodically joined their civic high-priest (ἀρχιερεύς) with priests in dedication to specific imperial family members. The provincial cult, organised by the koinon of Asia, was the first to become a collective cult giving the responsibility of the entire imperial family to the provincial high-priest (ἀρχιερεὺς τῆς Ἀσίας or ἀσιαρχής). F. shows that, apart from the diffusion of priestly titles, the emulation of the cult's collectivity at the civic level demonstrated an ongoing relationship of imitation between the provincial and civic cults.

Chapter 2 continues the first chapter's theme by showing that, despite the cult's collectivity and the uniformity of the ἀρχιερεύς title, local variations persisted in the priesthood's institutional role in cities. F.'s goal is to demonstrate the varied position of the priest, as she links the priesthood to several civic institutions and magistrate functions, but shows that a priest never replaced their occupation. Additionally, except for a possible diplomatic role, the priests' relationship with Roman power and any specific political role is uncertain; their duties in this sense were entirely local.

F.'s assertion in the first chapter that the imperial cult was indeed a break with established cultic practice, formed in a familiar context but without visible institutional continuity, becomes clearer in Chapter 2 but more so in Chapter 3, which concerns the role of the cult as well as the priesthood in the religion of the city. That, generally, civic high-priests were priests only for the emperors is in my mind too the greatest break with the worship of traditional divinities. F., however, while pointing out the low number of assimilations of emperors with traditional divinities, seems to miss mentioning the further break regarding the worship of benefactors in the republican period, who could easily be worshipped alongside a god. F. further analyses the many references to the emperor in priestly titles and uses them to portray a religious discourse rather than a representation of clear definitions – balancing titles from both the local system (e.g. Sebastos, Kaisar) and the Roman system (e.g. Imperator, son of theos, pater patriae). The second part of the chapter shows that the religious duties of priests, such as the consecration of temples and altars as well as the erection of imperial statues, were often shared with other priests and magistrates. What comes across most prominently in this section is the financial function of the priests and the ostentatiousness of their spending on behalf of the citizenry, which F. describes as a public forum for individuals to express their piety.

Chapters 2 and 3 taken together can give the impression that there is no one model for the priesthood in Asia. Indeed, in what may be to a frustrating degree, F. regularly mentions outliers and irregularities of overarching trends in the priesthood. But this wide scope of examining each sort of priesthood ought to be regarded favourably since it portrays an imperial cult in line with her previous theme – contrary to the uniformity of the title ‘high-priest’, there was no dominant definition for the priesthood because it was instead composed of local inconsistencies. According to F., even local variations in religious duties, such as sacrifice and monument type, were not contradictory, but simply several ways to negotiate symbolically with imperial power in an already-established system. Consequently, discussing the priesthood in the province generally comes with difficulty here – the priesthood offers some insight into the cult but cannot describe it entirely.

Despite all the priesthood's local variations, in the fourth and final chapter F. attempts to portray the priests of the emperor as a distinct group within the ruling circles of the city. Ideologically, the balance that the priests strike between a connection to Roman power and maintaining Greek social institutions creates an original place for the priests. For the people of the city, however, there was no clear and distinct group of priests. The priesthood by itself was not a sign of prestige, but civic high-priests were part of the high ruling class of the cities. Roman markers of prestige, such as citizenship (and the very few links to a senatorial career), were not unique markers for the priests. Instead, the cult was integrated into local institutions and its priests carried corresponding titles.

The emperor encapsulated a political role that was similar to the religious and institutional niches already filled by the gods in the Greek East. What is new here concerning the imperial cult is that the residents of Asia were not necessarily looking to Rome for encouragement. F. argues persuasively that the civic and local dimension of the imperial cult contributed to its endurance: overall, the priesthood became increasingly detached from the politics at Rome and one of several expected spheres of action for the local elite. The cult spread not through an ‘imperial religion’ but rather through major elements of diffusion such as the high-priesthood and local mimicry. Indeed, as F. presents it, the cult's increasing collectivity seems to have contributed to its continuous place in civic life.

F. tries to save this thesis from appearing purely political – her argument is that, by being put directly in the civic and religious life of the city, these cults were just as religious as existing cults. The imperial cult was a sign of membership in the empire, but more importantly a Greek cult, thus easily fitting into the local social organisation. What some may find lacking, though not entirely at place in a study such as this, is a larger discussion of the provincial cult. F. portrays the links between the provincial and civic cults as strong, and makes a case for the differing levels of prestige between the priests of both, but further analysis of their precise interaction beyond mimicry, and possibly cooperation, is deserved. Readers will find most interesting, however, and arguably done best in Chapters 3 and 4, F.'s close and accurate study of priestly titles and use of this point of view almost exclusively to explore the subject matter. This book should be a useful supplement for those interested in the imperial cult in the Greek East because the priest's overly localised role is mirrored in this study's specificity.