In this book P. presents a series of studies that arise from a mixture of conferences and previous publications. Pieces previously published elsewhere, however, have been revised and updated (and in one case translated into English). Although most of the chapters focus on the late Republic or Augustan period, one struggles to see an overall theme or sense of development within the book as a whole. The chapters very much remain individual studies, which are summarised again in the conclusion without any discussion of how they might relate to each other. That said, the individual chapters offer a clear and insightful view into Roman visual culture. P.’s discussion and presentation of the material is accessible to undergraduate students or those with less expertise, while being of interest to the broader academic community.

P. begins with a study of Roman Republican wax masks and their influence on veristic portraiture. This chapter is a revised version of a paper published in 2007 (in N. Laneri [ed.], Performing Death, pp. 237–85). P. explores the display of wax masks and their role in Roman memorial culture, drawing upon anthropology to suggest that these masks had a ‘religio-magico’ role in Roman society (p. 25). He traces the origin of this particularly Roman tradition to the struggle of the orders and suggests that wax masks were invented as one method through which the patricians could demonstrate superiority over their plebeian counterparts. The exploration is detailed and well-illustrated, providing an excellent explanation of the contexts and roles of these masks, as well as the mechanics behind their production.

In the second chapter P. traces the increasing alignment of Roman individuals with the divine, with his discussion encompassing the Republican period to the reign of Trajan. Here P. emphasises the need for scholars to distinguish between official and non-official media, as well as direct and indirect representations. P. observes that the direct associations with the divine that occurred during the Republic were abandoned by Augustus, who preferred more indirect allusions, in keeping with his position as ‘first among equals’. Emperors after Augustus then increasingly have a more direct association with the divine, culminating with the reign of Trajan, where the mixing of human and divine is accepted in official media.

P. then turns to a consideration of the deification of Roman leaders, starting with Julius Caesar. A detailed discussion of the cult statue and temple of Caesar is followed by a broader consideration of the representations of deified emperors during the early principate. Here, as elsewhere, the variety of evidence used in the discussion is impressive. One very minor point: in his discussion of the radiate crown (pp. 151–2) P. might have mentioned that the monetary reforms under Nero meant that the radiate crown was transformed into a denominational symbol (meaning ‘double’ and used, for example, on dupondii); consequently its use from this period onwards is not necessarily a reflection of deification.

Chapters 4–6 focus on Augustus and in particular on the Ara Pacis. Chapter 4 examines the use of Alexander the Great by Augustus before and during the principate. P. discusses the positive and negative associations of Alexander the Great in Roman society. He suggests that the decreased use of Alexander allusions after the creation of the principate is due in part to the negative associations of Alexander, as well as the fact that, in becoming emperor, Augustus himself became the new Roman archetypal hero.

Chapters 5–6 contain a detailed discussion of the Ara Pacis, revised and updated versions of papers published elsewhere. P. begins with a consideration of what he terms the ideology of ‘peace through Victory’ (p. 181), before moving on to consider how the Ara Pacis may have been viewed by its ancient audience. Alluding to the syntactic flexibility of Latin, P. suggests that the Roman viewer may have found little difficulty in assembling the scattered imagery on the Ara Pacis into a coherent narrative. For minds used to the structure of Latin and trained in Graeco-Roman rhetoric, the Ara Pacis would have presented the opportunity to become a ‘viewer-narrator’, allowing for multiple (re)readings starting at different points, with each viewing bringing new insight or appreciation. The discussion here is of value for any who study Roman visual culture. P. then moves in Chapter 6 to a consideration of the floral scrolls of the Ara Pacis, which he rightly observes are too often understudied. He connects the various flora portrayed on the reliefs to either Dionysius (associated with Antony) or Apollo (associated with Augustus), and argues that the entire piece alludes both to the divine and to reconciliation. P. also urges us not to overlook the augural aspects of the scroll reliefs – in the Roman world divine will was often made manifest through miraculous vegetal growth or the actions of creatures like those portrayed on the altar.

In Chapter 7 P. focuses on the smaller Cancelleria (‘vicomagistri’) reliefs. He convincingly demonstrates that the two reliefs were originally joined in antiquity, that the reliefs represent the worship of the Genius Augusti, and that they likely belonged to a monumental altar, the ara gentis Iuliae. P. provides a possible reconstruction of the altar and its decoration. Chapter 8 provides a detailed consideration of Caligula and his portrayal as ‘insane’ in the surviving evidence. There is a greater emphasis on textual sources here, which P. treats with sensitivity. An appendix to this chapter considers the polychrome portraits of Caligula. P. raises the interesting point that the colours of a portrait may have differed throughout the Empire, reflecting the activity of different workshops. The book concludes with a consideration of the role of Castor and Pollux in imperial ideology, with particular emphasis on their role in the ideology of imperial succession, with its preferred ‘heir and a spare’ model.

The book is impressive in its length (550 pages) and in its lavish use of illustrations (over 250). The latter are numbered by chapter, allowing the reader easily to relocate an image if it becomes relevant later on. In addition to the black-and-white images throughout the book, there are colour plates. The latter are used to demonstrate polychromy with good effect, though one does wonder at some of the choices for inclusion (why, for instance, a colour reproduction of a wall relief of Ramesses II over other monuments discussed in the book?). Each chapter is accompanied by extensive endnotes, and by one or more appendices, which focus on a particular problem or object (e.g. an excellent discussion of the neokorate at Ephesus [pp. 116–20], or a discussion identifying Aeneas rather than Numa in the Aeneas panel on the Ara Pacis [pp. 242–7]). Ancient texts are generally presented both in the original and in English translation. The book is well edited, and contains a useful index of museums, collections and associated pieces in addition to the general index. For its images and for its discussion, this volume will prove a useful work for both scholars and students in the years to come.