This book expresses the true interpretation of how the Romans actually commanded their army. This experience of fine officers who batteled without fear for the sake of a greater cause. The author tried to display not only factual information but true battle experiences that would help the reader understand. This book was a great piece of literature which helped me a great deal in writing my paper.

Amazing Book on Roman Life and Architecture, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Roman history.

Magnificent book: Yourcenar becomes Hadrian in order to gives us a tour through the life of this Caesar. With tender she shows us Hadrian's perspectives of the world, his love for the hellenistic, his love for Antinoo. Her outstanding performance embracing one of the major roman emperors reaches a peak of excellency when she depicts Hadrian's stance on the jewish revolt of Bar Kochba. And though she omits addresing how and why did Hadrian become antisemite, actually by way of Tacitus and other grecoroman insidious writers, her portrait of Hadrian's distate and anger over the jews remains indeed an original, yet maybe unplanned, contribution, through historic narrative, to the history and understanding of antisemitism. Between you and me: her representation is so acute that at first I even thought that she was antisemitic herself, could you believe it?. Alas, regardless of her true feelings, she actually became accused of antisemitism at the time of her admission to the French Academy.

Yourcenar is interested in sensibility and so here you get the Roman world as experienced through the eyes of Hadrian. Historical fiction at its most personal. When we think of Rome we usually think in epic form but this is a very lyrical book and Hadrian really seems to posses qualities which are reminiscent of that slightly older culture Greece. I've never read anything else about Hadrian so I don't know how true to life this account is but however real or imagined this Hadrian is Yourcenar pulls this off unbelievably well. Lives of the Ceasars this isn't but it is something rare. In examining this life so completely she allows us along with her to inhabit this other existence and ultimately we realize better what it is like to truly inhabit our own.

This book contains wonderous and perceptive insights. Yourcenar narrates as though she were Hadrian recalling his passing life. Throughout her narration, Yourcenar (as Hadrian) assigns meaning and significance to the events and people of a time long past- a significance that's aptly valid for our thoughts and our daily situations. Thought provoking quotes permeate the novel like,

"He had reached that moment in life, different for each one of us, when a man abandons himself to his demon or to his genius, following a mysterious law which bids him either to destroy or outdo himself."

"I knew that good like bad becomes a routine, that the temporary tends to endure, that what is external permeates to the inside, and that the mask, given time, comes to be the face itself"

"For my part I have sought liberty more than power, and power only because it can lead to freedom."

With quotes like these, the novel finds strength in creating an introspective thought provoking story, rather simply innumerating the historical events of Hadrian's reign. It's best read during reflective quiet moments when one needs insights rather than entertainment.

To the other reviews here, I'd like to mention Corvo's disconnection from the real world. He seems to believe that kings and popes still really ran the world like they did in 1300. His Hadrian VII persuades Europe to be carved into an Empire of the North, ruled by the King of Prussia, an Empire of the South, by the King of Italy. The American Republic, is given all of South America; the Japanese Empire, gets Siberia; and the rest of the world goes to the King of England. Uh, yeah.

This really is an astonishingly modern book. He shows in part a Church capable of corruption and deceit, but also shows a Church which has what we now call a preferential option toward the poor, and a Pope also works diligently for peace.

Here we have the hero, a poor, scholarly eccentric, who has been ill-treated by Church officials. His bishop did not like him and did not support his vocation to the priesthood, and told lies to boot. However, finally, a couple of bishops, one an Archbishop, look into his case and decide he has been dreadfully wronged. Rolfe delineates a structure of secrecy, deceit, and cover up. He did not anticipate the scandals of the cover-up of child abuse, but the structures of deceit are there, and one can still see them at work today.

Well, the old Archbishop, after much careful and challenging questioning, determines that our hero really does have a true vocation to the priesthoood, and that his studies were sufficient. He ordains him. It just turns out that the Archbishop has come back from a Papal Conclave which is in deadlock, unable to choose a new Pope. He returns to Rome with the new priest in his entourage, and lo and behold, it turns out that his ill-treatment and his case have been discussed. By the Holy Spirit, he is chosen Pope, much to his surprise. However, the Spirit no doubt gave him strength and he accepts the office, choosing the title of Hadrian VII.

Well, what kind of Pope is he? He first of all wants to be a Pope of the people, and so ensures his elections and first appearance is to the waiting crowds outside in the world. He likes going among the crowds, even though there is some danger of assassination, though he was not the traveller that J. P. II is. He insists on having his quarters built and decorated in a utilitarian way, eschewing grandeur. Having experienced poverty, he is very solicitous towards the poor and devotes a lot of Church resources towards ameliorating poverty. So, he anticipated the preferential option towards the poor.

Some have pointed out that his Pope has a great deal more influence in the world than any modern Pope has had, Hadrian VII showed himself as vitally interested in peace. Truly, the Pope would not be able to engineer a division of the world into spheres of influence for various favored powerful nations.

There is good and bad in the Church, and Rolfe's Hadrian VII sets out much of both.

Rolfe himself was quite an eccentric, and so is his Pope. The style is full of archaisms and wierd bits of learning, but Rolfe was theologically astute, too. His Hadrian is a very complex and facinating character, somewhat depressive, hard working, kind, and strange. This novel is so interesting I can forgive it a few faults. Some of it is a hoot.

The most attractive feature of this new edition of Rolfe's bizarre classic is the introduction by Alexander Theroux, perhaps the only writer today with the fire, erudition, and vocubulary to carry on the tradition of Corvine invective. (If you like Corvo, you must read Theroux's novel "Darconville's Cat.")

I found this book by interrupting a beautiful young lady who was reading it for the purposes of introducing myself. I was soon to find that this suspect motivation got me into a new view of spirituality and it worked right with what is going on in the book. That girl is history but the book is outstanding. Salute!

This was a compelling book. The author enables you to be in his experience. All five senses come alert with his words. The beauty and the grittiness make for an adventure that remains in your mind. I appreciated the turn of phrase and see how I could easily adopt some of that cleverness for my own. Mr. Santana's work is raw and righteous, the eyes of my understanding have been opened to a world hidden from me till now. I am filled with anticipation for more...

I was wary of this book when I first picked it up, but immeditaly grabbed me and I couldn't put it down! Mr. Santana's autobiographical quest across the globe, and into the deep realm of emotional pain which we all can relate to, is a truly intelligent and provoking novel. Unlike the current trend of wannaba-Burroughs/Welsh drug novels, Santana's version of that reality is commanding and utterly believable. We see the world for what is really is, our humanity for what it really is, and not through the glamour and dubious adventure which pervades modern American "entertain me" storytelling.

I really liked this book since it illustrated a little known (at least to the general reader) story of Hadrian and Antinous and examined the evidence in a convincing manner. While some of the art history may be a little dry, the author wisely saves this material for last. Lambert pieces the story together well from his scant written evidence and manages to illustrate a complicated relationship between the two. Lambert leaves it up to the reader to fill in the blanks and give Hadrian's and Antinous's relationship depth.

Anyone reading this review likely already knows that Antinous was the greek teenage (male) lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who ruled effectively at the height of the pax romana. Antinous drowned in the Nile while in Hadrian's entourage and the distraught Emperor subsequently deified him. Antinous (the god) remained popular until his cult was stamped out by Christianity.

Royston Lambert's book, subtitled The Story of Hadrian and Antinous, is as much about the story of the story of Hadrian and Antinous than about the couple themselves. The facts left to us by ancient history are so scant that we must deduce from prejudiced "secondary sources" for most of what can be surmised about their lives together. Yet Lambert's exposure of the context and motivations of these secondary sources does as much or more to tell us a story as does the laying out of the bare facts.

"The secrets of the imperial bedchamber must for ever be denied to us, and, in view of all the hideous and speculative publicity about their love, Hadrian and Antinous are surely entitled to keep this ultimate and intimate secret." the author says. Although we can know few if any of the details of the relationship between the boy and the Caesar, Lambert gives us much about how others later saw it. This is, in my opinion, the most interesting aspect of Lambert's book. From the early Christian condemnations to the Victorian bowdlerization and rehabilitation, past historians do much to expose their own prejudices and opinions and very little to expose the imperial bedchamber. And just as all the previous commentaries have done, the present text's cool, objective style will give future generations more insight into how today's historians view pederastic behavior than into the lives of two ancient homosexual lovers. Maybe all historical works do more to comment on the times in which they are written than on the times in which they hope to comment?

Beloved and God gives us a story of the last of the gods of classical times and an insight into the cultures of Greece and Rome which remain as the foundations of our own. It was worthwhile for me to learn from Lambert how much times have changed, and yet remain the same.

Hadrian (76 A.D. - 138 A.D.) was Emperor of Rome following Trajan, the second in the series of Second Century emperors whose collective reign was described by Gibbon as mankind's greatest era. As Perowne relates, he was the first emperor to sport a beard, and one of the first to promote Hellenic (Greek-speaking) culture. He also had one of the worst marriages of any princeps, clearly preferring to spend his time with this Armenian (male) lover. His famous Wall erected in Britain was emblematic of his new, defensive posture, preferring to fix the boundaries where they were and not to conquer any fresh territories. Perowne gives an insightful account of life in the Second Century, particularly the philosophical and religious undercurrents of the age. (Perowne is a noted expert on Christian history and the early saints.) He is also very strong on architecte. I am not sure how this compares with Birley's new "The Restless Emperor" but, having read Birley's two sequels on Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus, my guess is that Perowne's book is more or less in the same league. I have, however, debited a point as a penalty: though Perowne admittedly wrote this book some time ago, some of his observations on Judaism are, to put it charitably, sadly anachronistic (or, less charitably, offensive).

This is still the best book I've read on Hadrian's Wall. Published in the 70's you can still buy it. The author does a great job of explaining the history of the wall and the significance and the impact it had on Roman Britain. It has great photos and very good outlines and graphs of the forts along the wall. He explains clearly the system of turrets and mile castles all along the wall. It is a little dated and I am sure they have excavated more or built other replicas of various buildings and civilian settlements along the wall, but this is still a great reference for anyone interested in Roman Britain. The author explains the wall was built as part of Hadrian's efforts to consolidate the Roman Empire (122 CE). When Hadrian died the policy of consolidation went away and the Roman army attempted to conquer the rest of Scotland and another wall was built about fifty miles north of Hadrian's wall, but the Romans were never able to fully conquer Scotland and the line of defense ended up back at Hadrian's wall and there it stayed until the fall of the empire itself. In the chapter on the history of the wall the author explains what the wall was used for. You see it wasn't really to defend against constant invaders along the wall. It was most likely used as a jumping point for the Roman Legions to be based and then moved forward past the wall and into the open fields where the Roman army was at its best. The most amazing thing is how long this wall stretched and it had armed guards every half mile. I bought this book to help me in an upcoming trip to Hadrian's Wall. The author also recommends the best sites to see along the wall and since it spans over 70 miles across England I don't think you could see all of it in one weekend. The tips on what to see are very helpful. Other chapters include Housesteads, Chesters, and Birdoswald which were the largest forts along the wall and where most of the army was based. There is a little social history in these chapters since these forts also had the largest civilian settlements and it is where the Roman army lived and socialized with civilians. They also raised families and retired at these locations. The book has a small bibliography, but not many books have been written on the subject so that is understandable.

As a native of East Texas and a (voluntary) resident of Huntsville for the past three years, I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this book. Even so, I was delighted to see that Robert Draper's first novel has captured the spirit of Huntsville. As Hadrian travels through town, Draper's description is as close to fact as I can expect in a work of fiction. Draper employs mature literary techniques, but he lost my fifth star by letting the narrator explain the obvious plot parallels that he had already efficiently developed. On the other hand, his use of symbols and references from classical literature illuminates his accurate description of the the Texas criminal justice system and the community that it has created. Overall, it is a fine first work.

In his debut novel, Robert Draper deftly steers his reader off the main highways and deep into the red-dirt cotton fields and the dark pine forests that lie east of Houston, Texas to visit a company town where incarceration is the company business. Shepherdsville (standing in for Hunstville), Texas is the home of the state prison system bureaucracy and many of its notorious penitentiaries. The compelling story skips around the lives of two small-town boys who grew up together and remain bound to each other in ways that they do not imagine. One would become the town's top prison boss; the other would become the prison's only successful escapee. It is a story of loyalty, lies, love and legacies among fathers, sons and best friends. Those who have enjoyed the crisp writing and engaging character descriptions from Draper's many pieces in Texas Monthly and GQ magazine will not be disappointed by his first novel. Draper starts off wordy in the first chapter (would anybody in East Texas really describe someone as "Mister Loquacious"?); but he quickly recovers his sense of economy and delivers a clear winner.

I was priviliged to meet Mr. Draper at a book signing in Longview, Texas last week. Soon thereafter I finished the book, whch has characters which not only have depth and dimension but who I know as counterparts in everyday life. Although they are (honestly) fictitous, they are flesh and blood within this story, and will be to anyone who has lived around small, east Texas towns like Sheperdsville (or Huntsville, Palestine, or any of the other Texas towns that the prison system holds as the primary local industry). Hadrian Coleman is the new honorable man in a world turned against him. I look forward to Robert's next book, which he assured me he's well along on. I'll be waiting to read the galleys when I can get my hands on them.

This is a book that is very informative and interesting. I am not sure however, that interest could be sustained without prior knowledge of Hadrian's life. The author is so consumed by getting the facts in accurate historical sequence that he neglects the narrative. There are long passages where the reader is bombarded with Roman names and titles of Hadrian's contemporaries to such a degree that it is impossible to comprehend on a first reading, never mind absorb. None of these titles are explained either: the reader is suppossed to know for example the difference between a pro-consul and a consul, a questor and a preator, etc; all of which may be clear to the specialist, but not so to the general reader, even if they had a general backgroung on Roman history and culture. It is still commendable as a well researched biography. One is also grateful for the explicit treatment of Hadrian's private life,which had either eluded or terrified the puritanical and parsimonius early biographers. With such a fascinating life one can not help to wonder why it has been so long (sixty years!!) that no new biographies had appeared. After all, some chapters of Hadrian's life are better tahn fiction. The emphasis on Britain is both unnecessary and

This history is written using only the best source material and is an attempt to portray the events and actions of Hadrian's life with only limited attempts to analyze the thoughts that led to his actions. Mr. Birley does a very good job of presenting the information as such, but if you are hoping to be told the greater meaning or deeper consequences of Hadrian's actions, then this is not the book that you are looking for. In no way shape or form does the author attempt to take a 'big picture' look at Hadrian.

That being said, the author does a fantastic job of writing about Hadrian's life. By merely portraying the actions of this, Rome's "Wandering Emperor" we get a glimpse of a somewhat tragic historical figure and the actions of his rule. It is very intriguing, and there are many odd parallels to his rule and that of recent political figures.

This is a good book, despite the fact that it is at times laborious to get through. Hadrian is clearly depicted and the reader is left to formulate their own opinions - a refreshing change from many of the currently available histories.

This is the best biography written about Hadrian in English. Mr. Birley does an excellent job tracing Hadrian as he visited the empire and also provides a fascinating look at the Flavians, the dynasty of Hadrian's youth. There is a lot of detail, particularly when Mr. Birely deals with Hadrian's travels that seems to have provoked comments that his book is dry. One can find this daunting, however, such details are necessary to fully explain what Hadrian was doing, what was happening and with whom he was interacting.

Mr. Birley has stuck to relating Hadrian's life and does not explore his buildings, the Pantheon, Temple of Venus and Roma and his Villa at Tibur in any detail. Such considerations are best left to other books. Mr. Birley uses his sources (Historia Augusta etc) very well and explains their departures and omissions to what we know from archaeology. In the end, Hadrian remains an enigmatic personality but we have a far better understanding of him in his desire to Hellenize the empire and seeing himself as a second Augustus. His reign marks a turning point in the expansionist attitude of the Romans; Hadrian withdrew from the new province of Arabia (created by Trajan) and sought to fix the boundries of the empire. This was a view not shared by his immediate successors but came to be a necessity as time passed. Mr. Birley covers these critical ideas thoroughly and provides insight into a an interesting personality.