In recent years, there has been intense debate about the reality behind the depiction of maritime cityscapes, especially harbours. Visualizing Harbours in the Classical World argues that the available textual and iconographic evidence supports the argument that these representations have a symbolic, rather than literal, meaning and message, and moreover that the traditional view, that all these media represent the reality of the contemporary cityscapes, is often unrealistic. Bridging the gap between archaeological sciences and the humanities, it ably integrates iconographic materials, epigraphic sources, history and archaeology, along with visual culture. Focusing on three main ancient ports - Alexandria, Rome and Leptis Magna - Federico Ugolini considers a range of issues around harbour iconography, from the triumphal imagery of monumental harbours and the symbolism of harbour images, their identification across the Mediterranean, and their symbolic, ideological and propagandistic messages, to the ways in which aspects of Imperial authority and control over the seas were expressed in the iconography of the Julio-Claudian, Trajan and Severii periods, how they reflected the repute, growth and power of the mercantile class during the Imperial era, and how the use of imagery reflected euergetism and paideia, which would inform the Roman audience about who had power over the sea.

This is a history of the hydropolitics of the Nile Valley from 1900 to 1988. Attempts to develop the Nile and control its waters are of vital significance to the future of the inhabitants of Egypt, the Sudan, Ethiopia, and East Africa. Acute drought and heavy flooding in the Nile Basin have brought disaster in the past, and the history of the area is the story of human effort to control the precious waters of the river. Written by Robert O. Collins, distinguished authority in the field, this highly interdisciplinary study will appeal to those interested in the environment, politics, third world development, anthropology, zoology, and economic history. Robert O. Collins, University of California, Santa Barbara, was the author Africa: A Short History and Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster (with J. Millard Burr), as well as many other titles available from Markus Wiener.