This volume is or at least intends to be exactly what its title suggests: a new history of Molossia based on the inscriptions of Dodona. This quite outstanding study deals with the re-evaluation of previously published inscriptions and their incorporation into a new history of Molossia and ancient Epirus, based on a new and quite radical dating.

The book is divided into four parts. M. begins with a short presentation of the established view concerning the history of ancient Molossia and its division into three phases: the Molossian koinon (c. 400–330/328 b.c.), the ‘Epirote Alliance’ (328–232 b.c.) and the Epirote koinon (232–167 b.c.). This introduction is essential for the understanding of the text, since this is the view that M. challenges throughout the book. A presentation of the inscriptions follows. M. focuses on the 27 surviving slave manumissions and relates them to other known inscriptions from Dodona, especially dedicatory inscriptions. There follows a long but interesting discussion concerning the dating and the ‘new history of Molossia’. The book ends with a series of detailed and useful indexes and appendices (epigraphical appendix, index locorum, etc.). The general layout is excellent and the material is well organised. Illustrations are sufficient and of good quality, mostly drawings and photographs of the inscriptions and a few simple, but well-made and comprehensive maps. The book is printed in a (rather expensive) paperback edition of good quality following the standards of the Habes series.

M. sets an ambitious target: to challenge the old, established dating and interpretation of the Dodona inscriptions and to suggest a new historical narrative of the history of Molossia in the fourth and third centuries b.c. Her ‘opponents’ are previous scholars (Franke, Cabanes, Dakaris, etc.) who, according to M., have dated the inscriptions wrongly. M.'s weaponry is quite strong. She exhaustively scrutinises the inscriptions, taking full advantage of recent discoveries, publications and research (with an extensive and up-to-date bibliography) and addresses each inscription individually as well as in connection with the others. The study is thorough and remarkably complete. All literary sources are included and presented in the footnotes and in the appendices; inscriptions are of course M.'s primary target and offer the main support for what she aspires to be a ‘new history of Molossia’. She leaves no loose ends by thoroughly presenting all views and references (in footnotes, often resulting in pages where the footnotes almost displace the text) and by separating the dating criteria into ‘strong’ and ‘weak’, a useful division which she follows throughout. The presentation of the inscriptions ends with a summary, including a comparative table of letter types and a table with a comprehensive presentation of the dating of the inscriptions.

M. suggests that some of the most important inscriptions of Dodona date to the first half of the third and not to the fourth century b.c. This, however, is not her actual goal, and she proceeds to re-evaluate the history of the Molossian state including its formation and transformation. This is the volume's most important contribution to the study of ancient Epirus, extending in the third chapter, where M. elaborates on what she calls ‘seven points of difference’. Based on her new dating she readdresses the issue of the foundation of the Molossian ‘state’ in the fourth century, the role of the Molossian kings, the Molossian expansion in Epirus, the troubled period of 330–328 b.c., the development of a Molossian identity and finally the relations between the Molossians and their neighbours, the Thesprotians and the Chaonians. The narration is eloquent and based on literary and epigraphic evidence. M.'s new history can be summarised as follows: Molossia was not a strong federal state during the fourth century but a monarchical one, whose expansion after the occupation of Dodona around 400 b.c. was meagre and largely depended on the Aeacides' Macedonian allies (or foes); Dodona formed a religious centre of the Epirotans and not a political one; during the fourth century ‘more chaos and less constitutional activity’ marked the turbulent history of Molossia and its kings, resulting in the gradual creation of a Molossian identity towards the end of the century; during the third century and until the (accidental) end of the monarchy in 232 Molossia continued to be a monarchic kingdom working alongside a Molossian community; finally, the relationships between the neighbours of the Molossians (the Chaonians and the Thesprotians) were based on alliances and not on subordination.

Probably the best part of the book is the presentation of M.'s conclusions in Chapter 4, ‘A New History of Molossia’. Here M. exploits all her sources and eloquently combines them to create a precise, detailed and exciting history of Molossia from the fifth century b.c. to the Roman conquest and the tragic devastation of the region by the Roman troops. The chapter is relatively short and can easily be read independently by the non-specialised reader who wants to get a general idea about the history of Molossia.

The book, however, is not easily approachable by someone who has no knowledge of the history and archaeology of ancient Epirus. Apart from a very short presentation of the established views concerning the division of Molossian history, no further information is offered concerning the history or topography of ancient Molossia and Epirus (not even a map documenting the basic ancient cities and the ancient borders is included). That would not be a problem in other areas of ancient Greece, but with Epirus, which is a very specific and unique cultural and historical unit of the ancient world, a wider introduction would have been helpful and would have widened the number of its potential readers.

M.'s meticulous scrutiny of sources and bibliography often weighs down the flow of the text and renders its reading quite tiring. Pages whose larger part is covered by small-font footnotes and just a few lines of text are not ideal for any reader, even the most specialist ones. Fortunately M. divides the chapter on the epigraphic evidence and its study from the historical chapters (still, many references support her narration), thus making the former more easily approachable.

M.'s study is an excellent and truly radical approach to the history of Molossia, boldly re-evaluating old sources and bringing new life to the study of ancient Epirus, a book bound to provoke lively discussions and arguments. Combining an exhaustive study of the evidence with an eloquent narrative it will become a vade mecum for scholars of the history and archaeology of Epirus.