Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome

By: Anthony Everitt

Narrated by: John Curless

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, LLC

Loved it

Fantastic book and great narration. Lover of Roman history so this stuff is my bread and butter.

A strong bio with some head scratching oddities

Writing detailed... anything, biography, history, political commentary, on the ancient world is notoriously difficult. Our understanding has to be drawn from roughly 3% of historical record that survived to the modern day.

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.

Great insight to a Roman Emperor

Great listen - will listen again in the future . Bet I missed some details . Will check out more Anthony Everett books .

Very enjoyable

I’d recommend this book to anybody that’s interested in Roman history or history of western civilization.

Great overview of Hadrian's reign

Enjoyed this book. It described Hadrian's life and time as emperor. Highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in Roman history.