Hadrian: empire and conflict

by Thorsten Opper

Hadrian (r. AD 117-138) is known for his restless and ambitious nature, his interest in architecture and his passion for Greece and Greek culture. This book moves beyond this image to give a new appraisal of this Emperor, exploring the sharp contradictions in his personality and his role as a ruthless military leader, against the backdrop of the events of his 21-year reign, in which he travelled throughout his empire. As ruler, Hadrian consolidated and strengthened the empire rather than continuing the campaigns of his predecessor Trajan

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Ancient History, Research, Biography

Paperback

First published July 7, 2008

About the author

Thorsten Opper is a curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum. He has published work on ancient sculpture and eighteenth-century antiquarianism.

Reviews

[Briynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since I came across the review for it in Choice when I was doing a little collection development recon for the humanities shelves in my library. It’s just so gorgeous to look at. It’s the size of a coffee-table book and loaded with beautiful, full-page color photography of Roman statues and artifacts. The book is a companion piece to an exhibit on Hadrian put on by the British Museum, so of course the actual history presented in the text is wonderful as well.

Hadrian was an interesting guy, who had the benefit of being Emperor in an very fortunate period of Roman history. He was, almost above anything, a military man; and the book highlights the various campaigns he was involved in or commanded with an interesting, but still comfortable, level of detail. Thankfully, this book understands its purpose and firmly relegates notes and citations to the appendix. There is a nice discussion on Hadrian’s various artistic endeavors and building projects which included public spaces, an impressive estate at Tivoli, and the mausoleum that forms the basis of Castel Sant’Angelo.

I found the chapters on the social aspects of Hadrian's life fascinating. From a modern perspective, he led a rather unconventional personal life which largely centered around the teenage Antinous. And it is remarkable, if a bit disconcerting, how utterly unremarkable it was to his peers. Or, I should say, how unremarkable it was to his peers until the boy died, Hadrian had him deified, and then attempted to assuage his grief by commissioning a flood of statues, coins, and other works of art bearing his image. At that point, they too found it unusual. His relationship with his wife, the Empress Sabina, was considerably cooler. They seem to have not been able to stand the sight of one another, even though they put on a proper show in public.

I probably wouldn’t have found the motivation to read this if it weren’t for the pretty pictures, but I’m glad they were there to entice me. This was a easily-read refresher on the history of Rome’s imperial glory days, and a great introduction to Hadrian as both a man and an Emperor.

[Elizabeth Theiss Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2008 the British Museum had an exhibit on the Emperor Hadrian, a Roman ruler of the 2nd century AD. Opper's fascinating book is the catalog from the exhibit. Illustrated with artifacts from the Roman world, the book provides rich context for Hadrian's reign. Although I have read extensively about Hadrian, I learned much that was new to me.

[CLM]

This looks like a potential Christmas present for my mother, who is a big fan of Hadrian.

[Bizzaro! · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about one of my favorite emperors. A vast collection of artifacts as well as interesting insight into the work that would have gone into making the Empire as Hadrian knew it.