18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Speller Brings a Great but Flawed Emperor to Life, May 21, 2003
This review is from: Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire (Hardcover)
"Following Hadrian" is a quite compelling book. Hard to categorize, though; Elizabeth Speller's scholarship is impeccable; there are areas of original (and fascinating) research, but worn very lightly; yet she is not afraid to conjecture -- not least through the imagined words of the very real poet (and Hadrian's empress's closest companion) Iulia Balbilla.
It makes, as I said, for a compelling mix in which not only does the Hellenophile, restless, melancholy and endlessly-travelling Emperor Hadrian come vividly to life, but so do his surroundings, whether human or geographical, whether at home in his great villa at Tivoli; abroad in Egypt or (disastrously) Judea; or in the reeking, clattering, treacherous city of Rome, then the centre of the Empire and, it seemed, the world. The still-pronounced papal blessing "Urbi et Orbi" -- the City and the World -- takes on a new significance in the light of the world-view Speller presents.
Why Rome? Rome, I suppose, because we in the West have, ever since the Roman empire two thousand years ago, been just another, later sort of Roman. So much of our culture, our politics, our law, our understanding, and, above all, the exercise of power, derives from Rome. Particularly notable is Speller's exposition of Hadrian's disastrous -- and uncharacteristic -- attempt to invade, overturn and subdue a Semitic desert people who had aroused his anger by their response to what they saw as (what we'd now call) Rome's "cultural imperialism". Sound familiar? Regime Change? Then, it was the Jews, and the result was terrorism, guerilla warfare, an endless strain on Imperial resources, and the fateful Diaspora of the Jews. Now... now, we all know what it is, but we don't know the outcome. Yet.
But Speller has produced more than a historical tract linking past and present. "Following Hadrian" is also a deeply moving insight into the life of the then most potent human being on the planet, and the melancholical perplexity at the heart of his life. She ties together the majestic Grand Ringmaster of the Empire -- Hadrian had an understanding of power of the grand effect, particularly architectural, still unsurpassed -- with the trouble traveller, the seeker after obscure and often bizarre magical mysteries, the negligent husband, and (for which he is most famous) the lover of the young Antinous, still an icon of male beauty, whose mysterious death in the Nile -- suicide? murder? sacrifice? another of Hadrian's special effects? -- still exercises our imagination almost two millennia after it happened. If it ever did.
In sum, then, a remarkable book, as illuminating for the general reader as for an ancient historian, which belongs on student reading lists as well as on every historically-cultured person's bookshelf. Recommended without reservation.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Biography, historical novel or travelogue?, October 3, 2005
This review is from: Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire (Hardcover)
This book chronicles some of the travels of the Roman emperor Hadrian, with a discussion of his actions and the presumed underlying thoughts. Unfortunately, the trouble starts early. The author cannot decide if this is to be a biography, a historical novel or a travelogue. These elements are in constant conflict. There is some effort to present the events through the eyes of one Julia Balbilla, a friend of Sabina, the emperor's wife. These passages are only partially developed, their content highly speculative and their overall purpose uncertain. They represent one particular biased viewpoint that seems at odds with the biographical approach. These sections are interspersed with, and detract from, the better biographical sections. Unfortunately, even the biographical and historical passages are arranged in a somewhat haphazard fashion so that the reader tends to lose track of the timeline. Sections dealing with the present condition of various monuments seem out of context with the historical narrative. A working knowledge of ancient Roman history and culture is required to understand the book.
The jacket suggests that the book will cover Hadrian's travels, the buildings constructed during his reign and present a journey through the empire. Actually, only his travels to Egypt and Greece are covered. Hadrian's Wall is not mentioned. Those famous Roman monuments, the mausoleum, the Pantheon and the villa at Tibur (modern Tivoli), are mentioned, but the discussion is quite superficial. Readers interested in Hadrian and his reign should try Marguerite Yourcenar's novel Memoirs of Hadrian. That book is slow, contemplative and often difficult reading, but ultimately rewarding.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to Follow Hadrian., January 30, 2007
This review is from: Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire (Hardcover)
The author is scholarly, and her work shows a great deal of thought--but little joy. This is a difficult read! Instead of being a purely scholarly presentation, it was 50% conjecture, mixed with the idea that you would know some of the scholarly research. There were multiple times where the author assumed the reader knew things no one but a student of Hadrian would. And fully more than half of the book dealt with Antinous, not Hadrian. (The author theorizes that Antinous was a homosexual lover of Hadrian, whose death an a trip to Egypt drove Hadrian insane.) What reading this book did for me was teach me that Hadrian was a fascinating individual--and I'd like now to read something about him. Previous to this, my only knowledge of him was that he commissioned a Wall in Northern England. Now I know that he commissioned thousands of projects all over the Roman empire. It is a pity the author didn't more than mention a few. Hadrian was fascinating; this book about him isn't.
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