The epigrapher's bible, the Guide de l’épigraphiste (2010⁴) opens with a chapter on traités, initiations and bibliographies, as well as general introductions. The absence of English-language works which might be included in the category of traités is a long-standing gap. Among these traités three grand works dominate: R. Cagnat's Cours d’épigraphie latine ((1914²), ‘vieilli mais non remplacé’), I. Calabi Limentani's Epigrafia latina ((1991⁴), ‘manuel classique’) and J.-M. Lassère's Manuel d’épigraphie romaine ((2007²), a two-volume monster). By contrast, the Guide recognizes distinguished anglophone contributions both among general introductions — Fergus Millar in M. Crawford (ed.), Sources for Ancient History (1983), 80–131 and John Bodel's Epigraphic Evidence (2001), alongside works by Louis Robert and Albert Rehm — and in the category of disciplinary initiations — A. E. Gordon's Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy (1983) and L. Keppie's Understanding Roman Inscriptions (1991/2010). The title of Alison Cooley's impressive Manual of Latin Epigraphy might lead the unwary to think the gap has been filled. However, in the 2013 supplement to the Guide it has been added to the category of initiations (http://www.antiquite.ens.fr/IMG/file/pdf_guide_epi/2013_supplement.pdf). It is not a traité, that is to say, a work which seeks to be comprehensive in its guidance for what the new Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (2015) chooses to call the ‘militant epigrapher’ (that is, one actively publishing or republishing an inscription). In fact the Manual rather defies classification, since in many ways it combines the strengths of Gordon and Keppie as practical initiations to epigraphy with the historical reach of Millar and Bodel.

It is, in other words, very important to be clear what this book is, and what it is not. The book itself only states its purpose in a paragraph on the back cover (there is no introduction): ‘This book advances our understanding of the place of Latin inscriptions in the Roman world. It enables readers … to appreciate both the potential and the limitations of inscriptions as historical source material.’ To that end, some two-thirds of this substantial volume consists of two immensely rich, and richly illustrated, essays on ‘epigraphic culture’ (firstly in the Bay of Naples and secondly in the Roman world). The third section, rather misleadingly entitled a ‘technical guide’, more narrowly ‘provides guidance on deciphering inscriptions face-to-face and handling specialist epigraphic publications’ (principally CIL). Anyone seeking substantial help on technical aspects of epigraphy will find themselves quickly pointed to the traités and other specialist works such as I. Di Stefano Manzella's Mestiere di epigrafista (1987) — although basic lists of epigraphic editing conventions, the coverage of CIL, of consuls, and of imperial names and titles are included. In this respect, as one would expect from an epigrapher of C.'s standing, the level of up-to-date and international scholarship that is referenced throughout for every point is exemplary, and means that this volume easily supercedes any existing treatment of Latin epigraphy in English (including, in this respect, the excellent new Oxford Handbook, with which it now finds itself in direct competition, since that too eschews the ‘militant’ epigrapher while being constrained in its referencing by the handbook format). The volume's richness can, however, be rather hard to access: this book is meant to be read, not used for reference. Especially in the absence of a bibliography (all references are confined to the footnotes), anyone attempting to pursue something specific becomes extremely dependent upon the index, and that has its limitations (for example, looking up ‘punctuation’ or ‘interpunct’ will leave you disappointed, although 382–3 with nn. 108–9 do reference two key discussions).

How should you use this book then? To whom will it appeal? Some of the best bits reflect C.'s own interests and past work. There are quite excellent mini-essays, for instance, on the birth of epigraphic scholarship in the Renaissance (362–70, hidden under the title ‘working with stemmata’), the problem of renaissance and early modern forgeries (383–98), or the epigraphic document as monument rather than objective or archival text (220–8); there is a valuable overview of (Latin) Christian epigraphy at 228–50. The author's interests take the lead on occasion: the section on ‘reading and viewing’ is a mere three pages on literacy, followed by a fifteen-page section on the ‘afterlife’ of inscriptions (310–25). Although every guide to Latin epigraphy includes a survey of CIL, this is a particularly sensitive one, and both students and non-epigraphers in general will benefit enormously from the further section that follows on ‘How to use CIL’ (346–50). On the other hand, we are increasingly in need of a comparable section on ‘how to use digital tools for epigraphy’; but there is little sense of the digital revolution here, only brief summaries of five of the principal online databases, preceded by a single sentence to the effect that they can be used to identify texts and search for illustrations, bibliography and linguistic parallels (332–3) (compare now Tom Elliot in the Oxford Handbook, and in general www.currentepigraphy.org).

The heart of this book, however, in several ways, is a long essay on the subject of ‘epigraphic categorization’ (127–220). As C. herself observes (128), ‘This section will risk sacrificing clarity of vision … in order to try to offer a more subtle picture of the overlapping functions of different types of inscription, and above all to emphasize how examining inscriptions in their original physical location can offer insights into the motivations behind their production.’ Traditional epigraphic categories are discussed across the following ninety pages without a break (simply highlighted when they arrive by the use of bold text), and with a constant effort to deconstruct. The primary aim is to place them in both their monumental and cultural context (220). In this C. undoubtedly succeeds, and epigraphers and historians of every level will gain something from this essay. The volume as a whole is rich in case studies, often based around original studies or reassessments of material (especially in the first section, for example, nn. 123, 168, or the final case study which is a new edition of CIL XIV 2071), and some ninety texts are worked through in panels as models of epigraphic publication and commentary. With these latter above all, the work offers scope for use as a training manual, after the traditional model of Gordon and others (although some caution is necessary, as these are occasionally marred by editorial slips: for example, the text presented in no. 8 (40) omits all the square brackets which the accompanying photograph show to be necessary (fig. 1.12); likewise no. 89 (438 with figs 3.23–4)). It is unfortunate that the promised online resources (335 n. 30) do not seem to have materialized.

This, then, is primarily a socio-historical study of Latin epigraphy as a cultural phenomenon. Indeed, we get two bites at the cherry, firstly as a phenomenon in the Bay of Naples, and then more broadly in the Roman (but still mainly Italian) world. A reader might justifiably choose to read either Section One or Section Two depending on their range of interests, since there is substantial overlap, even repetition, between the two essays (for example, on instrumentum domesticum, 82–104 and 185–207). Anyone, student, ancient historian, even ‘militant epigrapher’ will benefit from this book, and should read it. It wears its learning lightly, but brings together a vast range of material and a very detailed knowledge of Italian epigraphy in particular, to make a strong case for how we should engage with one of the fundamental sources for our understanding of the world of the Roman High Empire. Along the way it has a very great deal to say about the discipline's methodological underpinnings and history and the ‘Technical Guide’ is at its heart a sustained attempt to make one realize what the use of CIL entails, practically and intellectually; but it is not a manual.