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Following Hadrian: A Second-century Journey Through the Roman Empire [Paperback]

Elizabeth Speller (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 April 2003
Hadrian, the great but flawed Roman Emperor, was a traveller, intellectual and patron of the arts. But he was also melancholy, volatile and involved with at least one sinister death which affected his personality and ability to rule.
Elizabeth Speller tells the story of the most powerful man on earth in the second century against a background of his travels and intrigues, and the landscape and architecture of the time, much of which remains for today’s travellers to marvel at.
Although soundly based on original sources and archaeology, the book concentrates on Hadrian the man and the atmosphere of his turbulent times.

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Review; New edition edition (7 April 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 074726662X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747266624
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,327,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

'She excels in expressing her subject's chief success: marrying the ways of Greece with those of Rome' (The Times 20030503)

About the Author

Elizabeth Speller began a peripatetic life in Oxford, lived in Italy and finally settled in Roman Corinium - Cirencester. She read Classics and then Ancient History at Cambridge as a mature student, and later taught at university. She has written for publications as varied as the Observer, the Big Issue and Erotic Review.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Biography with psychological depth 7 Oct 2002
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Hadrian, the great Roman emperor, has long needed a biography like this one. I enjoyed reading Ms. Speller's book very much.
The overall biography of Hadrian is probably known to most people. He was one of the greatest (indeed, THE greatest) Roman emperors. His reign is characterized by his travels, his philhellenism, and his love for a Greek youth named Antinoos, whose death brought Hadrian despair and misfortune. Overall, the book is very informative and creative. The author is a poet and her narrative is good. Every chapter is introduced with a narrative from Balbilla's (a poet in Hadrian's court) diary, where the young poetess talks about her time with Hadrian and his wife Sabina. This part is creative and sets the book apart from other biographies on Hadrian. Unlike Birley's bio, "Following Hadrian" has psychological depth; indeed, a little too much of it. It was nice to see some analysis on the depth of the relationship between Hadrian/Antinoos. My only complain has to do with the fact that the author focuses a little too much on Hadrian's negative qualities. Somehow, she seems to see him as a melancholy, unhappy person who doesn't smile a lot; this is the author's opinion, of course. Furthermore, she has some wild theories about the death of Antinoos (one of her theories is that Hadrian drowned him himself after a fight!)
Overall, it's an informative book regardless of its minor faults. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Roman history, psychology, anthropology, the classics....or anyone who wants to read a good book.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A unique history, unnervingly relevant for today 17 April 2003
By "platanos"
Format:Paperback
It goes without saying that anyone with any interest in ancient history will be captivated by this book. The scholarship is sound. The story of Hadrian reveals an extraordinary combination of introspective melancholy and psychologically devastating showmanship in the 'ringmaster' of the greatest Empire the world has ever known. And Speller's narrative technique -- yielding up a parallel view of Hadrian through the imagined diaries of the real Iulia Balbilla, the Empress's commpanion -- is simultaneously gripping, witty and deeply moving. I defy any reader not in the end to cry tears of compassion: for Hadrian himself; for his plain, sad wife who once, as a girl, believed that the greatest man in the world had chosen her, and loved her, only to discover she was merely a choice of convenience... I could go on. Enough to say that Speller is a poet as well as a historian, and "Following Hadrian" beautifully balances the two ways of seeing.

But, more to the point right now, Hadrian's story is eerily similar to events currently unfolding in the Middle East. Hadrian, normally the most politick of men, took on the Jews in an unprecedented act of outright hostility. In an empire held together by mutual advantage and a mixture of trade agreements, local compromises, stealth and public display, the Jews found themselves faced instead with defilement and (intended) obliteration. The result: terrorism, guerilla warfare, perpetual instability and the great Diaspora which still casts its shadow on the region and the world almost two millennia on. Will we learn? Will we EVER learn?

If there's one book Mr Blair and Mr Bush might profitably read, it is this one. If there's one book the rest of us might read, not for profit but for delight, it's also this one. In my humble opinion, a masterpiece.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Oh no -not more from Yourcenar's diaries! 23 Nov 2012
By dinner-lady
Format:Hardcover
This is basically a historical novel.
I was not "captivated" by it and found her "narrative technique" very irritating. Unfortunately she has been bequethed Julia Babilla's notorious FICTIONAL diaries by Yourcenar and 20% of the book is just this made-up sentimental tripe.
Just one example of her errors of FACT - when Hadrian sails South, Ms Speller has him go DOWN the Nile from Alexandria!
KEEP CLEAR if you want a biography of Hadrian or of Hadrianic-era history.
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