SOME RECENT REVIEWS FROM SCHOLIA:

Scholia Reviews ns 16 (2007) 45.

Roger Beck, A Brief History of Ancient Astrology. Brief Histories of the Ancient World. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Pp. xiii + 159, incl. 10 figures, 4 tables, notes, bibliography and index. ISBN 1-4051-1074-0. UK£21.95. Further Details.

Robert Hannah
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

This book is a welcome addition to the series of ‘Brief Histories of the Ancient World’ produced by Blackwell. David Young’s A Brief History of the Olympic Games (2004) is at present the only other horse in the stable, but two more are in preparation, on Roman Law and on Ancient Greek. There is also from Blackwell the longer- established ‘Brief Histories of Religion’ and several stand-alone titles with the same ‘Brief History’ remit. The ‘Ancient World’ series as projected seems somewhat eclectic in its choice of topics -- all valuable, but hardly unified -- and one may wonder whether they could have been published as stand-alone titles also, but this impression may change over time as the series develops. Volumes in this series aim to offer ‘concise, accessible and lively accounts of central aspects of the ancient world. Each book is written by an acknowledged expert in the field and provides a compelling overview, for readers new to the subject and specialists alike’ (p. ii). For me, this new book fulfils this broad aim admirably.

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Scholia Reviews ns 16 (2007) 42.

Fergus Millar, The Greek World, The Jews, and the East. Volume 3: The Greek World, the Jews, and the East. Studies in the History of Greece and Rome. North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Pp. xxvii + 516. ISBN 0-8078-3030-5. US$29.95. Further Details.

Lisa R. Holliday
Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

The Greek World, the Jews and the East completes a three-part series of the collected articles of Fergus Millar. The previous collections, sub-titled The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution, and Society and Culture in the Roman Empire dealt with the rise of Rome and Roman expansion.[[1]] This volume focuses on the Greek east, covering the period from the conquests of Alexander through the fifth century C.E.

The articles are organized into three groups, 'The Hellenistic World and Rome', 'Rome and the East', and 'Jews and Others'. The topics covered are broad, ranging from studies of individual regions like Phoenicia in 'The Phoenician Cities: A Case-Study of Hellenization' (pp. 32- 50), to the effect of increased trading routes on the east in 'Caravan Cities: The Roman Near East and Long Distance Trade by Land' (pp. 275-99). In all of these works, Millar’s emphasis on the necessity of an expansive historical context is evident in the diversity of sources he utilizes and his ability to look beyond the period in question to later and earlier developments. This approach allows him to explore the period and location in question from new and often insightful perspectives.

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