Interesting bits & pieces, but written in a disconnected style.
Read Apr 2005 ( )

From the title I expected the whole book to be a travelogue of the philhellene Emperor Hadrian's many journeys through the empire. It also included biography and a psychological study of the man. Epigraphs began each chapter, alluding to the theme of each, then excerpts from the [fictitious] memoirs of Julia Balbilla, friend of Hadrian's disliked, if not hated, empress, Sabina. Julia accompanied them on their travels. There was a good deal of history and info dumping, discussion of sites in Rome and ruins of those in other parts of the Roman empire and much speculation on what might have happened, since there is not much primary source material on Hadrian. The book did present Hadrian as a very complicated man, capable of kindness and of cruelty and coldness when it suited him. He could hold grudges for decades, at real or imagined slights. I did get a better picture of his personality.

My heart went out to the childless Sabina, who resented him for his antipathy towards her at first; but to protect herself, she cultivated the hard shell of indifference towards him. A marvelous fictional portrayal of the empress is given in the historical mystery [Semper Fidelis]; in it she plays an important role. Although Hadrian traveled to Greece, Judaea, Britain, and other places, much of the travel section was spent in Egypt, the land where his beloved male lover Antinous died. There was at least a whole chapter devoted to theories on his death and another on his possible final resting place. I enjoyed the chapters on the Pantheon and the extensive material on his villa at Tibur [Tivoli]. But I was disappointed the author made only fleeting references to his third great architectural wonder: Hadrian's Wall and there was no speculation as to the reason for building it in the first place. I did like the fact that "stone from Hadrian's Wall ... was placed [in the British Military Cemetery in Italy] at the wish of the citizens of Carlisle, to commemorate those servicemen from Cumbria killed in the Second World War." The book was enjoyable, once I accepted it on its own terms and didn't expect more from it than it could give. ( )

Always interested in reading about ancient Roman history, and this book is well-written and researched. Covers a period (2nd century A.D.,) I was not that familiar with. ( )

Hadrian, interesting gay emperor. ( )