
Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Curless
-
By:
-
Anthony Everitt
Acclaimed British historian Anthony Everitt delivers a compelling account of the former orphan who became Roman emperor in A.D. 117 after the death of his guardian Trajan. Hadrian strengthened Rome by ending territorial expansion and fortifying existing borders. And - except for the uprising he triggered in Judea - his strength-based diplomacy brought peace to the realm after a century of warfare.
©2009 Anthony Everitt (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















Loved it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great insight to a Roman Emperor
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
For that reason it's highly understandable that we have to paint chapters of Hadrian's life in shades of "most likely" or "under his mentor who we have record of." And Everitt keeps a steady hand filling in the pieces of a man for whom much of his career was spent as a supporting player before succeeding Trajan. Everitt walks a fine line between speaking with too much certainty and digressing into the speculative caveats of writing about the ancient world.
All of Everitt's Rome works must have taken considerable research, familiarity with sources, and checking in with experts. This is why I'm left rewinding the book a few times to make sure I heard correctly. Historical artifacts are described at least twice as depicting "figures holding ears of corn" which is impossible considering corn wouldn't come from the new world for over another millenia. Also a translation of a sarcastic comment about someone's "bar-fly and fast food" lifestyle chose to use the phrase "pub dweller" and word "burgers" for the food he subsists on. What?
I enjoyed the book a lot, but these little things make me question thoroughness on the bigger things.
A strong bio with some head scratching oddities
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Historically, Hadrian has always been an under-appreciated emperor, so I was glad to see his biography tackled by Everitt. It also makes sense to try and bookend Everitt's trilogy with Hadrian. However, whether it is due to the lack of abundant historical information on Hadrian (as Everitt notes himself) or due to Everitt trying too hard to make Hadrian's reign fit into his neat (1.2.3.) pattern, this biography just sags and disappoints given Everitt's claim that Hadrian "has a good claim to have been the most successful of Rome's leaders."
In the end, it feels like Everitt was trying to do too much (Bio of Hadrian, triptych of the Roman Empire, etc) with too little. It reminded me of the architect Apollodorus' critique of Hadrian's own temple of Venus and Rome, the book was simply "too tall for the height of the cella."
A Biography "too tall for the height of the cella"
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not a lot Going on Here
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very enjoyable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great overview of Hadrian's reign
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not as good as Augustus or Cicero
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
With regards to the story, I think the author does a fantastic job with such little limited information available, and the author goes about different routes to predict what could have happened during Hadrian's life based on known events that would have occured during his lifetime. I appreciate that.
I will definitely be looking into the author's other books on antiquity.
Great story, good work
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great Biography
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.