Over the past few decades there has been increased engagement with Roman military bases as sites of religious, cultural, social, administrative, economic and military activity. C. makes a significant contribution to this area of research, offering a snapshot of life in a legionary fortress in the decades surrounding the turn of the third century ce. The work centres around the publication of sixteen inscribed objects with known archaeological contexts in the Roman legionary fortress at Apulum in Alba Iulia, Romania (for recent rescue excavations see e.g. N. Gudea, C. Inel and O. Oargă, ‘The Roman camp of Apulum. Archaeological research in the Principia’, in: L. Vagalinski and N. Shankarov [edd.], Limes XXII: Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, Ruse, Bulgaria, September 2012 [2015]). In addition to contributing this concise and thoroughly examined corpus to the scholarly discussion, C. seeks to contextualise the evidence within the histories of Apulum, the Roman military, Dacia and the Empire. To achieve this, one stated aim is to draw upon the ‘archaeological weight’ of the evidence – that is, their established archaeological contexts – to ‘maximise’ their historical value (pp. 9–10). C. is right to do so; for such epigraphic materials with established archaeological contexts are rare.

Following the preface (Chapter 1), C. gives a succinct yet detailed overview of the history of Dacia, Apulum and recent excavations (Chapter 2). Whilst archaeologists may find themselves wanting more on the archaeology of the site (pp. 17–18), the chapter offers a comprehensive background for the uninitiated. Chapter 3 opens with a discussion of Roman principia, the headquarters at Apulum and the current consensus of its excavators, before diving into several studies of the monuments found in the courtyard and eastern entrance of the principia, including a building inscription and a ceremonial altar that refer to Serapis (nos 1–2) and a statue base for a statue group of the Severan imperial family (no. 3). Chapter 4 turns to the basilica on the western side of the principia, where the statue base for a statue of Caracalla was found (no. 6). Chapter 5 looks to the row of smaller rooms running along the west of the basilica, where two monuments (nos 7–8) were found near to the aedes (‘shrine’), including a decorated altar to Mars dedicated by an exercitator equitum legionis or ‘exercise master of the legionary cavalry’ (C. trans., p. 86) – a most interesting position discussed at length (pp. 93–8). Chapter 6 is concerned with the last monument from the principia, a small statue base (no. 9) from the armamentaria (‘armoury’). Chapter 7 studies monuments discovered elsewhere at Apulum (nos 10–16), such as an altar (no. 10 = AE 2017, 1193) to a Genius centuriae (‘spirit of the century’) discovered in 2017 near a barrack block in the praetentura dextra (the forward portion of the fortress) – an exciting find.

Most analytical work occurs in these chapters. The monuments, sometimes discussed together, are given a brief profile (e.g. dimensions, holding information, date, findspot), before transcripts of their inscriptions are provided, followed by expanded and reconstructed transliterations and often, but not always (e.g. nos 11–12), translations. Where relevant, alternative reconstructions are evaluated (e.g. pp. 75–6, no. 6). Once introduced, key features of the contents and, sometimes, decorations and locations of each of the monuments are studied in detail and extrapolated upon to discuss either broader themes, like imperial favour (pp. 55–9), military hierarchies (pp. 168–72) and the use of the expression ‘collega’ in military contexts (pp. 114–16), or themes specific to Apulum, such as the prosopography of certain figures like Valerius Valerianus, who is interpreted to have been a custodes armorum (‘keeper of the weapons’, pp. 116–18), and the purpose of certain spaces, like the apparent carcer (‘prison’) in the rententura dextra (the rearward portion of the fortress, pp. 152–3). C. is adept at synthesising these two orders of discussion, as seen with the evidence regarding a sanctuary to Serapis in the principia (nos 1–2), which, among other things, C. argues, represents local military elites’ attempts to display loyalty to Caracalla and his household, as well as perhaps the earliest evidence of the cult being adopted in an official setting (pp. 25–34). This argument is adapted from work published elsewhere (G. Cupcea, D.-A. Deac, C. Inel, Bibliotheca Isiaca IV [2020]). Throughout, C. considers various comparanda from Dacia and beyond (appendices i–x, tables 1–10).

Chapter 8 surveys other epigraphic discoveries from Apulum (table 10, all of which are published in I. Piso, Inscripţiile Daciei Romane. Vol. III, Dacia Superior. 5, Vols. 1–2. Apulum [2001]), discussing the frequency of certain divinities or emperors, for instance. This fleshes out the epigraphic landscape of Apulum by providing background against which the corpus published in the preceding chapters 3–7 can be contextualised. Indeed, it may have been more effective as an introductory chapter. Chapter 9, the epilogue, offers several concise syntheses, addressing what the corpus reveals about epigraphic practices within the camp and, in turn, what this reveals about the relationship between Dacia and the Severans. Here, C. convincingly demonstrates how Apulum is a microcosm of the favour shown by the Severans to the Dacian provinces. The closing paragraphs (pp. 192–3), describing the varied topography of epigraphic expression in the fortress along with the monumental and vibrant nature of camp life, are particularly engaging, and one is left wishing more space was dedicated to similarly vivid descriptions.

The book has a useful index of names and terms, along with a suite of over 40 detailed and informative maps, site plans, illustrations and photos (pls 1–39, figs 1–32b). That said, the plan of the principia (pl. 3, fig. 4) is perhaps too small, considering its importance for locating the monuments discussed in chapters 3–6. Although technical and untranslated Latin terms are used, this should not be an issue in view of the intended audience of the Tyche Supplementband series.

One strength of the work lies in its detail. C. is an expert in matters of military epigraphy and Dacian history, and this expertise is put to good use. Whether leveraging this expertise to problematise the sequence of centurial ranks on account of the information provided by a tombstone of a primus hastatus posterior found reused in a fourteenth-century wall (no. 16, pp. 167–72) or drawing upon a range of comparanda to demonstrate that a base for a statue of Julia Domna in the courtyard of principia is testament to her standing across the social strata of military life and her importance to the Severan dynasty (no. 4, pp. 54–62), C. truly extracts a great deal of historical information from this corpus. The publication of a corpus with such detailed archaeological contexts inside a military base is another strength. The conclusions made surrounding the division of spaces for different types of monumental and epigraphic practices in the principia (pp. 187–8), for example, will be of great interest to scholars of military religion and commemorative culture. Although some archaeologists may question whether more could have been drawn from the spatial and topographical contexts of these monuments, C. has undoubtedly brought these objects with significant ‘archaeological weight’ into the limelight and contextualised them historically in extreme detail, thus offering a robust case study and/or comparanda for more archaeologically and theoretically concerned research on Apulum and other military sites, opening up promising new lines of investigation. Incorporating the insights offered by this book into attempts to reconstruct digitally the principia of other sites such as Novae (A. Tomas and J. Kaniszewski, Antiquity 97 [2023]) is just one such exciting prospect, of which there are no doubt many more.