Book Summary and Reviews of Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome by Anthony Everitt

Book Summary

Acclaimed author Anthony Everitt, whose Augustus was praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "a narrative of sustained drama and skillful analysis," is the rare writer whose work both informs and enthralls. InHadrian and the Triumph of Rome – the first major account of the emperor in nearly a century – Everitt presents a compelling, richly researched biography of the man whom he calls arguably “the most successful of Rome’s rulers.”

With unprecedented detail, Everitt illuminates Hadrian’s private life, including his marriage to Sabina – a loveless, frequently unhappy bond that bore no heirs–and his enduring yet doomed relationship with the true love of his life, Antinous, a beautiful young Bithynian man. Everitt also covers Hadrian’s war against the Jews, which planted the seeds of present-day discord in the Middle East.

Despite his tremendous legacy – including a virtual “marble biography” of still-standing structures – Hadrian is considered one of Rome’s more enigmatic emperors. But making splendid use of recently discovered archaeological materials and his own exhaustive research, Everitt sheds new light on one of the most important figures of the ancient world.