Customer Reviews

Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.

Although I cannot top the review of reviewer #2 I feel compelled to add my 2 cents worth. I just now finished this book. I spent 4 days of my life reading it and I am a much better person for having done so. Following Hadrian made ancient Rome come alive for me. Although I was expecting (and a little disappointed)not to walk on the wall with Hadrian as he toured Britian, I spent my time, nonetheless, in crazy clamoring Rome and along the verdent banks of the Nile. In between the Jews were crushed in Judea, a homosexual lover dispatched, monuments were built and the possible inner mind of a giant of history laid bare for me to explore. I really like ancient Roman and Greek history and the blending of the two 'mind-sets' was very helpful for me to see the continuing intellectual struggle between these two cultures. A struggle that was continuing even 2 centuries after the Romans had conquered the Greeks.(and the Egyptians, Macedonians,Iberians, British, Gauls etc. etc.) The inclusion of a fictional (but historical) narrarator was a gentle and poetic way to navigate among the bloodshed and carnage of the intrigue and the warfare. Bottom line, unless you are already very familiar with Hadrian, this is a book that will not talk over your head but will never insult your intelligence.

Elizabeth Speller put much thought and care into this book. Made me go to the internet to look for photos of the ruins she brought to life in Egypt and Tivoli. If you are slogging your way through Roman history, FOLLOWING HADRIAN will offer an oasis of information that reads like a novel and is unafraid to fill in the blanks. (See all my reviews if you like Greco-Roman history)

Hadrian is one of those Roman Emperors who seems to have his name stuck on a lot of ancient monuments - the wall in Britain, The Pantheon in Rome and the villa at Tivoli outside Rome are the most obvious ones. However, if you don't know much about him aside from this it comes as a surprise that he spent so much of his reign outside Rome touring the provinces and that he identified more with Greece than Rome.

However, while you might expect a tour of the Roman provinces in Hadrian's time based on the title of this book, it's not really what you'll be getting when you read it. The only areas dealt with in detail in regards to his travels are Greece and Egypt. The rest of his visits get passing mentions, but no real detail - except to explain the Jewish revolts and Hadrian's savage response to it.

Each chapter of the book is prefaced with an imaginative reconstruction of a memoir by Julia Balbilla one of the known attendants in his wife Sabina's train. While these memoirs are well written, they are somewhat distracting and seem to take up a large portion of the book. I feel I know a lot more about Hadrian than I did before reading this book, and I also feel I know some interesting facts about ancient Rome I didn't know before, but having said that this book can also be tedious in spots and doesn't seem to give the Emperors travels their true justice.

Memoirs of Hadrian

Route 66 AD

I'm a big fan of Roman history and wanted to get into the head of this particular imperator with a unquenchable thirst to travel to the furthest reaches of his vast empire at a time when it was at its largest. I brought this book to the beach with me over the last few weeks and really enjoyed that not only does it do a thorough job of decribing Hadrian as a man, it gives you a fairly in depth perspective of the customs of the countries he visited nearly 1,900 years ago.

Jullia Balbilla is an ancient lady traveling companion to Empress who lives in the shadow of Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian parades through Judea making the soldiers parade before him in the desert heat before the Jewish Revolt before the Emperor's imperial entry into an Egyptian frontier town. Julia accompanys the Emperor Hadrian visiting the Nile delta with his favorite aging Bithynian boy toy Antinious in tow to the mysterious cults where the priests in the temples sacrifice for the everlasting life of the Emperor or whoever happens to be visiting. She carves a poem or two on the base of the singing Colossi of Memnon and then she goes on to narrate the diefication of the mysteriously drowned Antinious who becomes a God in the spoiling twighlight of Hadrian's reign.

Following Hadrian by Elizabeth Speller claims tofollow the Emperor Hadrian as he travels around his vast empire. It does in fact only cover a trip into Egypt in detail.

Speller gives a good biographical sketch of Hadrian and a very compelling assessment of his character. After those chapters the book pretty much ends. Speller relies on invented diary entries by an historic poetess to fill pages and clumsy attempts at irony and endless foreshadowing to give her narrative impetus.

This book is not a travelogue filled with the sights, sounds, dangers and pleasures of a lost world. For that read Tony Perrot's "Route 66 A.D." "Following Hadrian is a trek though the desert, dusty, dry and monotonous. It is an essay for a scholarly journal padded out into a book.

The author is a scholar, and her knowledge of this period of history (first and second centruy of the common era) shows itself in many ways. She also writes beautifully, particularly as her fictional diarist. Much of this is history, much is speculation, and the diary entries are outright fiction. I found the combination interesting and entertaining.