BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 409 In her conclusion, Mairs claims a place for the Hellenistic Far East in post-colonial studies and suggests a category of hybridity, a biological metaphor adapted from postcolonial studies (185).10 However, on the last page, she reiterates Tarn’s wish to consider these areas as “integral part of the Hellenistic oikoumenē” (188). Given the problems of the evidence, a reference book on the Hellenistic Far East is still only a desideratum. Future research will benefit from Mairs’s post-colonial revision of the evidence. Some dialogue with the Continental debate on “transferts culturels”11 would be a useful next step. Sorbonne University Giusto Traina Diodorus Siculus and the World of the Late Roman Republic. By Charles Edward Muntz. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017. Pp. xii, 304. It seems that Diodoran scholarship is finally thriving. Indeed, toward the end of the previous century, a series of studies undertaken by Catherine Rubincam and Kenneth Sacks marked a welcome turn in the neglectful treatment of Diodorus.1 Two more recent additions, Michael Rathmann’s Diodor und seine Bibliotheke: Weltgeschichte aus der Provinz (Berlin and Boston 2016) and the monograph under review here, further acknowledge, in varying degrees, the value of Diodorus and his Bibliotheke. In the opening chapter, Muntz explains his approach: in contrast to scholars who have focused on Diodorus’ sources, he is interested in Diodorus’ own contribution to the controversial debates of the late Roman republic, for example, on the origins of civilization, the relationship between myth and history, the nature of ruler cult, and the best form of government. In agreement with the opinion that the Bibliotheke is much more than the sum of its sources,2 Muntz explains that Diodorus employs various sources while discussing a single topic in Books 1–3 and, since selection and summarization “themselves are creative acts” (26), the author’s own impact on his narrative must be considered. This impact, I might add, is also the result of the manner in which Diodorus collected his material and the types of sources that he used. His personal travels, for instance, are of great importance to Muntz’s study, since they took place mainly in Egypt and therefore have a decisive influence on Book 1, devoted to the ancient Egyptians. Chapter Two demonstrates convincingly that the first three books form a unit within the Bibliotheke. Muntz claims that the historian showed originality in organizing his material in the absence of any precedent for a history that combines the variety of 10 I discuss “hybridity” in the Roman context in G. Traina, “Romanizzazione, ‘métissages,’ ibridita ̀: alcune riflessioni,” MEFRA 118 (2006) 151–158. 11 B. Legras, Transferts culturels et droits dans le monde grec et hellènistique (Paris 2012) 7–14; F. Muccioli, “Transferts culturali e cultuali nell’oriente ellenistico: A proposito di alcuni recenti modelli interpretativi,” Sileno 43 (2017) 121–148. 1 For example, C. I. Rubincam, “The Organization and Composition of Diodoros’ Bibliotheke," EMC/CV 31 (1987) 313–328; K. Sacks, Diodorus Siculus and the First Century (Princeton 1990). 2 See, for example, C. I. Rubincam, “Cross-References in the Bibliotheke Historike of Diodoros,” Phoenix 43 (1989) 39–61; K. Sacks, “Diodorus and his Sources: Conformity and Creativity,” in S. Hornblower (ed.), Greek Historiography (Oxford 1994) 213–232; I. Sulimani, Diodorus’ Mythistory and the Pagan Mission: Historiography and Culture-Heroes in the First Pentad of the Bibliotheke (Leiden and Boston 2011). 410 PHOENIX sources that he used. Furthermore, Diodorus structured Books 1–3 according to his own perception of the world, placing ancient Egypt at the center, and sketching the current limits of the Roman empire, as well as its future possibilities for expansion. Discussing Diodorus’ geography (a map would have been helpful), Muntz mentions the islands of Iambulus and the Hyperboreans, noting that Diodorus locates them at the edges of the universe. In fact, Diodorus’ incorporation of these islands—and four other utopian islands—into the real map of the world, locating them on its extremities, is noteworthy. Although Muntz rightly acknowledges that “the Bibliotheke may well be mapping out potential future Roman conquests” (53), I would suggest that Diodorus may have also intended to offer a supportive...
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Jun 24, 2024
Ivan Yu Vorobyov 
Open Access