Acknowledgments
This book was many years in the making, with it being the result of an interest that began in 2004, when I first read Plotinus’s recommendation to treat ourselves as sculptors do with statues. Over this long period, several friends, colleagues, and family members have helped in various ways. For making the research possible and offering feedback on the manuscript, I would like to thank Michele Bacci, Sible de Blaauw, Barbara Crostini, Francesca Dell’Acqua, James Francis, Christoph Frank, Georgia Frank, Herbert Kessler, Susanne Kubersky-Piredda, Tanja Michalsky, Daniela Mondini, Valerio Neri, Christiane Schroeder, Salvatore Settis, and Antoine Turner.
I would also like to thank the series editors, Jörg Ulrich, Anna Usacheva, and Siam Bhayro, for their feedback and support. Rebekka Föste, Kai Klemm-Lorenz, and Janna Rieke Lüttmann did an incredibly fast and thorough check of the manuscript, which assured its stylistic coherence. I thank them for it. Finally, I would like to thank Martina Kayser for assuring a quick and smooth production of the book.