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life, are full of interesting detail and offer a good introduction to such material. However, more substantial discussions of changes (or not) in experiences of poverty, of sexuality, of ethnic identity, or of climate might have been made possible by a closer focus on socio-cultural subjects at the expense of the political. Although religion does not receive a chapter of its own, religious issues suffuse the book, consistent with B.'s scepticism about the concept's usefulness as a category in its own right (following B. Nongbri, Before Religion (2013)). This is a good example of B.'s support for and clear explanation of the most up-to-date historiographical approaches to Late Antiquity, representing a determined attempt to displace other paradigms. Ironically, and partly because of this focus on de-centring Christian narratives, the book ends up discussing Christians and Christian material at substantial length. This comes at the expense of traditional Greco-Roman religious perspectives after the third century, with the limited exception of Neoplatonic gures. Thus Libanius is mentioned only once, without reference to his religious views; Julian 'the Apostate' likewise receives a passing mention; while Ammianus and Symmachus do not appear at all. Jewish communities and sources, however, receive some interesting and well-integrated analysis. In keeping with the target audience and the conventions of the textbook format, many historiographical debates are simplied or explained in rather basic terms, and on other issues B. offers his own interpretation stridently. The prose is clear and engaging, and B.'s style is lively and forceful, inviting his readers to compare late antique and modern practices, and how it might feel to be involved in contemporary events. B. can, however, be overly didactic in characterising issues; he sometimes simplies issues of complex debate for the sake of narrative clarity, when it might be better to acknowledge the viability of a number of different academic perspectives. B. can also be rather patronising to his ancient subjects. For instance, Cosmas Indicopleustes, arguing for a at earth, is said to have been 'stuck in an unimaginatively literalist Christian worldview, one which keeps its readers bound to Scripture' (237). In fact, this particular example of exegesis (Christian Topography 3.51) is based on an allegorical rather than a literalist reading of Exodus, with Cosmas inferring that the earth is at because it reects the shape of the Tabernacle. Although individual academic readers will thus nd judgements and arguments for which they would like more proof or with which they simply disagree, clear errors of fact are rare, the most substantial being the claim that Nestorius left for Persia to proselytise after the First Council of Ephesus (165). The book is well produced and edited with few typographical errors, though Greek nouns are inconsistently given with or without accents or in the original alphabet (e.g. 23, 102, 159). Nonetheless, the book overall offers a useful and...

those in between rarely feature in the ancient sources (p. 103). Indeed, as L. knows all too well, little or no attention is paid to the lived experiences of the 'ordinary' disabled wo/ man: no first-hand account survives, and our (able-bodied) sources are indifferent to the day-today realities of living with a disability. L. has endeavoured to sketch the history of disability in Roman antiquity by creatively laying 'all the pieces of the puzzle next to each other' and drawing upon anthropological and comparative approaches in an effort to make sense of it all (p. 132). L. frequently draws upon Christian sources, which offer the richest comparative material for disability in Late Antiquity: demons and exorcisms in Chapter 2; Jesus' healing of blind, deaf and lame men in Chapters 3, 4 and 5; Gregory of Tours on blindness in Chapter 3; St Augustine on deaf-mutes and sign language in Chapter 4; Moses' speech problems in Chapter 5; and the paralysis of St Petronilla in Chapter 6. Each chapter concludes with a story from the Christian tradition, challenging readers to consider the 'impact of Christianity on notions of disability', (pagan) past, present and future (p. 188). L. has written an engaging and wide-ranging book, with ample bibliography and a dense set of footnotes. His assertion that 'cross-cultural bridges' can be built 'between the present and past' (p. 79) also recognises that, depending upon circumstances, a particular defect or disability could 'be viewed and interpreted in many different ways' (p. 169). A few spelling and typographical errors exist, and no images are included in the study, which is unfortunate, but otherwise the book is rich with information. As a first synthesis of the Roman material, L. offers a valuable resource and reference work for future study.

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