JEWISH CHILDREN IN ANTIQUITY - (H.) Sivan Jewish Childhood in the Roman World. Pp. xxxiv + 443, ills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Cased, £105, US$135. ISBN: 978-1-107-09017-0.

Abstract

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.