Roman Pottery: Fine-Ware Imports

Examples of Roman period red-gloss and red-slip pottery generally termed terra sigillata found during excavations in the Athenian Agora form the focus of this volume. These finewares, like the other tablewares of the first seven centuries A.D. discussed here, were all imported - a very different situation to earlier periods where Athens was known as a great ceramic-making center, and perhaps the result of mass destruction of potters’ workshops during the Sullan sack of 86 B.C. While the image of a demolished pottery industry is tragic, the consequent conglomeration of finewares from many parts of the Roman Empire in one city makes the Athenian Agora a tremendous source of comparanda for archaeologists working all round the Mediterranean. Written by the world’s leading expert on Roman pottery, this huge catalogue illustrating and identifying multiple shapes and types of decoration will therefore be an essential reference book. The importance of this volume for the archaeology of the Mediterranean cannot be overstated. It will prove invaluable for decades to come for a wide range of scholars dealing with the Roman world. The manuscript is a tour de force: comprehensive, up-to-date, well researched, and well written Jennifer Neils, Case Western University.