Classics

Under the Republic, virtus was consistently defined by its association with battle. By the 3 rd century C.E., however, personifications of Virtus are regularly found on hunting reliefs. This shift in the definition of virtus-from an exclusively military quality to one displayed by other activities-is one of

Greek, and especially Athenian, women, once assumed by scholars to have been relegated to a life of "oriental seclusion," have recently been restored to their place in the public life of the polis through growing recognition of their indispensable contributions to the religious life of the city. 1 As we become more aware of the degree to which women's rituals were part of ancient Greek public consciousness, it remains to try to locate these acts not only in the physical polis, but also in the social imaginary. Never as invisible as Greek women, Roman women also performed gender-segregated rituals whose social importance needs to be similarly reevaluated. 2 As we attempt this task, however, we come face-to-face with a paradoxical combinationrespect and awe along with innuendo and at times even outright derisionsuggesting deep ambivalence about women's ritual role in these ancient societies.

Greek, and especially Athenian, women, once assumed by scholars to have been relegated to a life of "oriental seclusion," have recently been restored to their place in the public life of the polis through growing recognition of their indispensable contributions to the religious life of the city. 1 As we become more aware of the degree to which women's rituals were part of ancient Greek public consciousness, it remains to try to locate these acts not only in the physical polis, but also in the social imaginary. Never as invisible as Greek women, Roman women also performed gender-segregated rituals whose social importance needs to be similarly reevaluated. 2 As we attempt this task, however, we come face-to-face with a paradoxical combinationrespect and awe along with innuendo and at times even outright derisionsuggesting deep ambivalence about women's ritual role in these ancient societies.

HISTORY with no indication of how much reliance he is placing in the literary accounts. Stoneman is aware of the problems of using such stories to reconstruct events, so the reader is sometimes left uncertain what point he is trying to get across. And this leads to a question. What is the intended readership of this volume? As I have indicated, it is not easy to recommend it as an introductory book for students-presumably that was not what Stoneman was intending to write. But equally Stoneman does not have a particular argument to make about Greek oracles: this is a work of synthesis, bringing together ideas about oracles ancient and modern and, to its credit, from all periods in between. But a general reader who knows something about oracles will discover a great deal here, and I suspect that there will be few scholars who will not learn something from it.