Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.01.31 Cynthia Jordan Bannon,
Gardens and Neighbors: Private Water Rights in Roman Italy. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2009. Pp. x, 310. ISBN
9780472033539. $85.00. Reviewed by Timothy Howe, Saint Olaf
College (email@example.com) Word count: 1263 words In Gardens
and Neighbors: Private Water Rights in Roman Italy, Cynthia
Bannon investigates the development and operation of private
water rights in late Republican and early Imperial Italy. "This
is a book about law and how it worked for the Romans--in
particular how law accommodated social, economic, and
environmental constraints" (1). Two questions are posed: "how
did rural landowners use legal institutions to secure an
adequate supply of water, and how did economic, social, and
environmental interests shape development of water rights?" (1).
With this study Bannon proposes to offer a "more realistic view"
of the Roman countryside. She does that and more; this
thoroughly researched study of water rights is an excelle