Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2020 -

This compilation is the first monograph devoted to diachronic study of poliorcetics in antiquity. As harrowing then as it is today, "no other military encounter comes as close to a 'total war' experience as the siege of a major city," since it "threatens the entire community and involves every member of society directly" (p. 2). Fourteen chapters span the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Ranging from contributions devoted to the Assyrians, notable masters of siegecraft; to Egyptian practices from pre-Dynastic times through the fourth century BCE; to the development of siege technology in Classical and Hellenistic Greece, including the roles played by women; through the advent of practices in the Roman Republic (and the siege of Rome itself in 537-538 CE), contributing authors draw on literary, archaeological, and iconographic evidence, resulting in a highly useful comparative survey. These topical papers are bracketed by an introduction and epilogue, with one chapter devoted to topographical considerations of sieges generally and another taking up their afterlife, as such events continued to resonate, impacting post-classical realities while also becoming the stuff of legend. Individual chapter bibliographies are supplemented by a minimal number of maps, figures, and tables; several indexes conclude the volume. Research collections and scholars will want to acquire this book.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Editors Bowen (Institute for Research in Classical Philosophy and Science) and Rochberg (Univ. of California, Berkeley) state that the goal of this anthology is to "study a set of numerous, interacting astronomies held in the interval 300 BCE to 750 CE ... by the cultures of the various regions brought into contact by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE." The coverage goes well beyond Greek astronomy; some articles discuss the important work of Egyptian and Babylonian astronomers. Readers will gain an appreciation for the interactions between the astronomies of different cultures and their political, medical, philosophical, literary, and religious contexts. Thirty authors contributed articles in a collaboration initiated in 2012. The discussions are remarkably erudite, providing more than 60 pages of references combined. Readers will appreciate the support the excellent "Historical Glossary" section offers for understanding the technical terms in the text. Although most articles will be accessible to students at the undergraduate level, a basic understanding of astronomical coordinate systems and planetary motions will be quite helpful. This is unquestionably a unique and important reference work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.