Le Tibre. Fleuve de Rome dans l'Antiquité. Préface de Ch. Picard. - GALL, J. Le,

Paris, 1953. 367,XXXIVp. ills.(B&W photographs and line drawings). Sewn. Series: Publications de l'Institut d'Art et d'Archéologique de l'Université de Paris, Tome 1. (Rare).Antiquarian
Into this volume ?Le Gall compresses a history of the of the river of Rome, an account of its appearance and importance in antiquity, and a discussion of the bridges spanning it, the works along its banks, and the administration which controlled it. The mass of material is great, as is the literature concerning it. To have a synthesis of this kind is valuable in itself, but it is the more valuable because it has been exceptionally well done. (?) The book is constructed on a clear and workable plan. the first section considers the geographic and hydrographic factors, and emphasises in particular the the Tiber is not on the general pattern of Mediterranean rivers (?). This leads to a consideration of the floods and their causes, and to the river as a geographical feature giving birth to a settlement at its most important crossing. The next three sections follow an historical pattern, treating of the river (a) down to the ciceronian age, (b) during the early Empire, and (c) in the third century after. The general plan of each is the same, but of the three that dealing with the classical period is the longest and most important. There is, not unnaturally, some overlap; but in spite of that, and in spite of the mass of documentation, the text is readable and generally free from encumbrances. The complementary footnotes are full and detailed, and allow Dr. Le Gall to elaborate on his text without marring the clarity of his presentation.? (A.G. WOODHEAD in The Classical Review, (New Series), 1954, pp.278-279). From the library of Prof. Carl Deroux.