Review
Reviewed Work(s): STORIA DELLA SARDEGNA ANTICA (La Sardegna e la sua storia 2) by
A. MASTINO: ROMANIA VS BARBARIA: ASPEKTE DER ROMANISIERUNG SARDINIENS.
(Berichte aus der Geschichtswissenschaft) by L. GUIDO
Review by: Peter Van Dommelen
Source: The Journal of Roman Studies , 2010, Vol. 100 (2010), pp. 266-267
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
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2 66 REVIEWS
misunderstandings and ex
stereotype' (217) of the c
would have been a good
approach has become som
herself in her popular T
'10 myths about the Rom
new interpretations offer
believe in the myths the
insight into the difficult
history of those interpre
we might call Pompeii's r
of how contingent and m
nineteenth-century inter
novel, The Last Days of Po
of a Pompeian house (8 i
novel shaped subsequent
to the site, at the same ti
offer, this book is sure to
University of Joanna Paul
Liverpool
[email protected].
doi: i o. i o 1 7/S007 543581 0000 34
A. MASTINO, STORIA DELLA SARDEGNA ANTICA (La Sardegna e la sua storia 2). Nuoro: Il
Maestrale, 2005. Pp. 583, illus. isbn 88-86109-98-9. €23.00.
L. GUIDO, ROMANIA VS BARBARIA: ASPEKTE DER ROMANISIERUNG SARDINIENS.
(Berichte aus der Geschichtswissenschaft). Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2006. Pp. 422, illus. isbn
3-8322-5009-3. €49.80.
These are two quite different books that both discuss Roman Sardinia in the widest sense of the
term. Conceived, set up and realized in very different ways, their contributions and indeed signifi-
cance could hardly have been further apart. The reason to review them jointly here is not so much
that they appeared around the same time but rather because they both claim to study the history of
the island of Sardinia as part of the Roman world and to investigate how the island's inhabitants
interacted with the outside world (Mastino, 16; Guido, i).
The differences are clear from the outset, as the former represents a synthesis of recent research
that is intended to replace the classic handbook of Roman Sardinia first written by Piero Meloni in
1975 as La Sardegna romana (revised in 1990). Attilio Mastino is furthermore not only himself a
distinguished and widely published historian and epigrapher of Roman Sardinia who is eminently
qualified to undertake this task but he is also assisted by a team of eleven historians and archaeolo-
gists who nearly all hail from his home university of Sassari and who have all added sections and
chapters on specialized topics and themes ranging from roads and villae to the Phoenician and early
medieval periods. Luca Guido's book, by contrast, is essentially his doctoral dissertation that was
defended at the University of Düsseldorf in 2005.
M.'s book is intended not just to update and to replace Meloni's handbook but also to expand on
it as a historical study of ancient Sardinia, in which the Roman period takes pride of place among
brief but succinct chapters on the Phoenician and Punic (I), Vandal (XI), and medieval periods (XII).
The other nine chapters all deal with the Roman period from the first Republican occupation in 238
b.c. until the demise of Roman administration in the early fifth century A.D. The organization of these
chapters reflects that of Meloni's seminal study, as only the first three (II-IV) are chronologically
organized and cover the course of events from Republican times until the days of the late Empire.
The remaining six are thematically organized and discuss the themes of 'economy and society' (V),
' oppida and people of Sardinia' (VI), Roman roads (VII), army and fleet (VIII), religion (IX), and
Christianity (X). As the latter chapter plus the two following post-Roman ones bring back a chrono-
logical order, it is clear that the bulk of the evidence that is discussed in the central chapters relates
primarily to the Imperial period.
In line with its character as a handbook, the text is without in-text references or notes but each
chapter is instead accompanied by a dense bibliographic essay that follows the text and provides
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I. HISTORY AND CULTURE 2 67
a wealth of background information. An extensive ch
book is efficiently illustrated and comes with extensive
One key strength of M.'s book is its explicit and res
archaeological evidence, wherever relevant. This pers
themes and topics by emphasizing those that can mo
including epigraphic, point of view, and giving less a
matters. Because of the thematic organization, M. has
logical account and has instead delivered a vivid and w
is admirably up-to-date. It provides a wealth of evide
also well contextualized and cleverly combined with m
is a perceptive and erudite study the significance of
deserves to be read widely by scholars interested in the
both north and south of the Alps as well east and west
G.'s book is altogether a very different kettle of fish
tation but mostly because it is narrowly based on epigr
to provide a grand story of Roman Sardinia. The term
but the arguments are based on a very narrow and w
it might serve as a useful source of data for epigraph
zation of the evidence, in particular the near absence of
seriously undermines the wider aspirations of the study
University of Glasgow Peter Van Dommelen
[email protected]doi: i o. i o 1 7/S007 5 43581 00003 5 3
V. HOPE, ROMAN DEATH: DYING AND THE DEAD IN ANCIENT ROME. London/New
York: Continuum, 2009. Pp. 239, 16 pls. isbn 978-1-84725-038-4. £25.00.
In this volume Valerie Hope advocates a holistic approach to Roman death, charting the path from
pre-death planning to the afterlife. Chronicling the process of dying, and noting the extent to which
it was a part of everyday life, the volume also provides an accessible introduction to the subject,
with individual chapters addressing different aspects of dying, disposal or commemoration, and
illustrated with archaeological, epigraphic and textual examples. From the start H. emphasizes a
number of interweaving themes, including gender, memory and identity, but is also keen to highlight
the significance of continuity and change, as well as interactions between the living and the dead.
These themes will be familiar to specialists, but for the undergraduate or non-specialist reader they
provide a useful structuring device for the volume and allow H. to demonstrate the benefits of an
interdisciplinary approach.
Beginning with mortality, H. summarizes the philosophical debates concerning death, wills, the
building of tombs and memory. This is followed by the many ways in which a person might die,
and the importance amongst élite circles of 'dying well', with the subsequent chapter devoted to the
funeral itself. Here H. stresses the difficulties of recreating these events without generating a funeral
that is dislocated in time and space, but argues that doing so brings this problem into focus and
raises new questions about the relevance, significance and practicality of these activities to disparate
groups within the Empire (66-7). H. also acknowledges that her narrative is focused heavily on
the city of Rome and, although occasional examples from provincial settings are highlighted, the
picture is skewed very much in favour of the Italian urban setting of the first century b.c. to second
century A.D. Ch. 4 considers the fate of the soul and the underworld, asserting that religion acted as a
'common currency' rather than something everyone believed in. Mourning and grief form the core of
the following chapter, in which the literary and epigraphic evidence for emotions are drawn together.
The final chapter examines cemeteries, highlighting the importance and limitations of information
gleaned from epitaphs. An Epilogue reasserts the key themes of the volume, in particular the central
role of the dead in the lives of the living. Here H. calls for 'more joined-up thinking' when it comes
to the various rituals, activities, and monuments caught up with Roman death (185-6).
H. advocates a less discipline-specific approach than is evident within some recent scholarship,
suggesting that examining the bigger picture may not always be detrimental. Although an inter-
disciplinary methodology clearly has its merits, the problems created by a broad brush approach
are nevertheless difficult to overcome, as demonstrated by the narrow focus of this volume and the
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