The Roman Empire in the Flavian Period comp. by R. Stoneman and R. Wallace (review)

124 Book Reviews dressed by Peter Serracino Inglott, Barry Collett and Henry Frendo. Serracino Inglott assesses the use of the 1919 Sette Giugno, when the British killed four Maltese during the ‘liberty and bread’ riots, by Thomas Pynchon in his 1963 novel V. Collett, in dealing with the Belardinelli Affair, rather than telling the story of one inept spy, describes the British reaction to Italian agitation and interest in Malta in the 1930s. Frendo, in his treatment ofthe developing polarity between the Maltesenationalists, dubbed ‘pro-Italians’by the pro-British, andthe Imperialists andItalophobes, discussesthepoliticsoflanguageineducationand employment, and its role in the construction of nationality. According to Frendo, Italianità, a politicaloutlookassertingMalteseinterestsagainst British imperialism, had been a force long before theadventofMussoliniandFascism.Theentryby PeterVassallo also deals with themodem period, thoughthesubjectsofhisarticleareratherperiph­ eral to Malta itself. He deals with the interaction between Romantic writers who traveled to Malta in the early nineteenth century. Inanarticle, whichperhapsthrows lightonthe mentality of the leaders of the Knights, if it does not have anything else to do with Malta or the Mediterranean, David Allen examines the career and the outlook of an individual Knight Com­ mander, Philippe de Lonvilliers de Poincy. De Poincy was instrumental in gaining proprietorial rights forhisOrderovertheFrenchsections ofSt. Christopher, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, andSt. Croix in the Caribbean. The articles, which do not specifically deal with Malta or the Order of St. John ofJerusalem, do fit the broader Mediterranean focus of the conference and areexcellent additions tothe vol­ ume. DennisMackSmithcontributedanextremely interestingarticleontheItalianarmisticein 1943. Mack Smith blames Victor Emmanuel and the Badoglio government for failure to agree quickly to an armistice and subsequently to provide the cooperation and assistance to the Allies, which had been promised and might well have saved Italyfromayearandahalfofdevastatingfighting on its soil. One could only wish that Mack Smith would have included his documentation with the paper. The other paper by Fred Halliday deals withIslamic fundamentalism and its challenge to thesecularstate. Thoughofnecessity, he assesses the impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he moves full center to the Mediterranean with an analysis oftheIslamistrevoltagainstthemodern­ izing state in Tunesia. Finally, in a somewhat disarming paper for a conferenceontheMediterranean,DominicFenech questions Mediterraneanregionality asacontem­ porary subjective reality. Fenech concludes that, while the concept of Mediterranean regionality continues tohave some utility, otherinterests and identities are today paramount to all the riparian states. Fenech, however,recognizes thehistorical and geographic coherence of the Mediterranean world, a coherence which is evident in thepapers assembled in this book. Bernard Cook Loyola University New Orleans The Roman Empire in the Flavian Period, compiled by R. Stoneman and R. Wallace. Published by Routledge and the Classical Association. Printed by Philip Print Ltd. Cartography: CarteBlanche. Design: Mapworld. Price: £18.50. Size: appr. 136.5cm. by 37 cm. Thismaprepresentsthegeographical confines of the Roman Empire under Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, a period which saw no further colonisation since Vespasian’s predecessor. The map could be handled more easily if it had a wooden edge and string to hang from, since maps often have to be moved from one class-room to another. Given in modern dimensions, it gives the altitude levels of land, butnotsea,andithasnolatitudinalorlongitudinal indications, which would have been useful for locating places when moving from another map to it, or for tracing modem names from ancient sites. It distinguishes between provinces, colonies, towns, fortresses and mountain peaks, but the distinction mark used between colonies and military sites is nil. Not all mountain peaks are given, as in the case ofMount Vesuvius. No distinction is made between a town and the capital city of its province. Not all seas are mentioned, as in the case of Mare Adriaticum. One does not understand why Paphus and Cnossus are well spelled in the Latinised form, but not Thasos and Chios, to mention only a couple of the same region. Some islands are not mentioned at all, as Melita and Cossura, but other similarly small ones are, as Tenos. Other Book Reviews 125 islands are not even shown, example, Aegates Islands. Egypt is incomplete, and areas beyond the confines ofthe RomanEmpire, as the east of Germany, are ignored. Names of rivers and lakes are given, but not of important roads. The map could have been more portable if slightly smaller, and could be...