Even in the panoply of Roman history, Hadrian stands out. Emperor from 117 to 138 ad, he was at once a benevolent ruler and a ruthless military leader, known for his restless and ambitious nature, his interest in architecture, and his passion for Greek culture. This book moves beyond the familiar image of Hadrian to offer a new appraisal of this Emperor’s contradictory personality, his exploits and accomplishments, his rule, and his military role, against the backdrop of his twenty-one-year reign. 
 Lavishly illustrated with key works of art and objects, celebrated and little-known sculptures, bronzes, coins and medals, drawings, and watercolors from museums around the globe, the book conveys a vivid sense of the world Hadrian inhabited. Thorsten Opper shows the emperor from many angles—as a complex individual, as a military leader and strategist, as the amateur architect who created magnificent buildings such as his villa at Tivoli (an empire in miniature), as the lover who deified his male lover Antinous after his mysterious death in the Nile, and, finally, as the traveler who tirelessly roamed his empire and its boundaries. 
 From his place in Roman history to his legacy, which even makes its way into the popular culture of our day, the Hadrian who emerges from these pages is no longer larger than life; rather, he has all the depth and complexity, the color and shadings and detail of life itself.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

Arts & Photography

OPPER, Thorsten

History & Criticism

Harvard University Press

Even in the panoply of Roman history, Hadrian stands out. Emperor from 117 to 138 ad, he was at once a benevolent ruler and a ruthless military leader, known for his restless and ambitious nature, his interest in architecture, and his passion for Greek culture. This book moves beyond the familiar image of Hadrian to offer a new appraisal of this Emperor’s contradictory personality, his exploits and accomplishments, his rule, and his military role, against the backdrop of his twenty-one-year reign.
Lavishly illustrated with key works of art and objects, celebrated and little-known sculptures, bronzes, coins and medals, drawings, and watercolors from museums around the globe, the book conveys a vivid sense of the world Hadrian inhabited. Thorsten Opper shows the emperor from many angles―as a complex individual, as a military leader and strategist, as the amateur architect who created magnificent buildings such as his villa at Tivoli (an empire in miniature), as the lover who deified his male lover Antinous after his mysterious death in the Nile, and, finally, as the traveler who tirelessly roamed his empire and its boundaries.
From his place in Roman history to his legacy, which even makes its way into the popular culture of our day, the Hadrian who emerges from these pages is no longer larger than life; rather, he has all the depth and complexity, the color and shadings and detail of life itself.

Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

One of the best known figures from Roman history, Nero (r. AD 54-68) is most often characterised as a tyrannical and ineffectual ruler, who fiddled while Rome burnt. Such a reputation has, however, been shaped by ancient literary sources written by his adversaries and enemies and, in light of new research, can be considered crudely reductive. This publication, and the exhibition it accompanies, redresses the balance and provides a more nuanced interpretation of Nero's reign and Roman society of the time, reflecting on the traditional perceptions of his rule and revealing the challenges with which the young heir to Claudius' empire had to contend. The period during which Nero ruled over Roman society was one of profound change. The extent of the empire at the time was vast, having grown significantly during the previous century through conquest and annexation, and peace and prosperity followed years of bloody war. The role of Nero's mother Agrippina in his accession to the throne is well-documented, but her expectations of great influence once Nero was in post were not met and the role of women, and family more widely, is considered in detail in this book. In addition to familial conflict, Nero also had to confront the threat of rival powers and the assimilation of newly conquered territories, which provided him with the opportunity to prove himself as a strong military leader. Alongside military campaigns, he adopted 'populist' policies, was preoccupied with the beautification of the heart of his empire, which was subsequently devastated by fire, and enthusiastically engaged in theatre and entertainment. Nero's rule was curtailed by military rebellion in AD 68 and the embattled emperor ultimately committed suicide. His death brought to an end the reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and the subsequent vilification of his memory and the removal and desecration of his image are an enduring, but misleading, legacy.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

BRITISH MUSEUM

One of the best known and simultaneously most notorious figures from Roman history, Nero (r. AD 54–68) is usually characterised as a tyrannical and ineffectual emperor, a ruler who proverbially ‘fiddled while Rome burnt’. However, as new research demonstrates, this reputation is crudely reductive and was carefully crafted in antiquity by hostile elite authors, who envisioned a different form of rule more mindful of the demands of their own social and political class. 
This publication redresses the balance and provides a more nuanced interpretation of Nero’s reign and Roman society of the time, reflecting on the traditional perceptions of his rule and revealing the substantial external and internal challenges with which the sixteen-year-old heir to the Roman empire had to contend.\nNero’s rule fell in an extended period of transition and profound social and economic change. The empire had grown rapidly during previous centuries, and an astonishing era of peace and prosperity followed the introduction of one-man rule after decades of bloody civil war under Nero’s great-great-grandfather Augustus. However, political institutions and elite mindsets were slow to adjust to the resulting rise of former outsiders, people from the provinces and freed slaves.\nThe book considers in detail the resulting tensions and the challenging role of Nero’s family within them. Powerful individuals, among them many women, including Nero’s mother Agrippina, and his tutor and advisor Seneca, come to life against the backdrop of these times, when different court factions thought to manipulate the young ruler. At the same time, intriguing evidence – doodles and graffiti – from Rome, Pompeii and other Vesuvian cities gives voice to often very different attitudes of common people, completely ignored by the ancient literary sources.\nIn addition to these internal challenges, Nero inherited a great conflict with the rival power of the Parthians and unrest in unsettled newly conquered territories, including Britain. The book examines his military and diplomatic response and the powerful visual language – often disregarded – that presented him as a successful young military leader throughout the empire. Administrative and tax reforms culminated in ‘populist’ policies that also saw him embrace enthusiastically the possibilities offered through public entertainments (the circus, arena and theater) to communicate directly with his subjects and project a more direct, charismatic form of rule. Yet his grand building projects and the beautification of his capital were offset by severe natural disasters and a devastating fire of Rome.\nPopular with the common people to the very end, Nero could not reconcile the internal contradictions of the principate, the political system introduced by Augustus. Hostile segments of the elite were behind military rebellions in AD 68 that quickly drove Nero from power. His enforced suicide brought to an end the rule of Rome’s first imperial dynasty, the Julio-Claudians. The subsequent vilification of his memory and the removal and desecration of his image are an enduring, but misleading, legacy that leave a fascinating reign to be explored anew.\nTable of Contents\nIntroduction – approaches to Nero; the source tradition\n1. Nero and the family of Augustus – Augustus and the system of the principate; Julio-Claudian society; Nero’s family 
2. Power and succession – Nero’s accession; expectations of the new reign; poetry and imagery 
3. Conflict and reform – Nero and the military; external conflicts; the Armenian War; Britain and the Boudicca rebellion 
4. Spectacle and splendor – Nero’s reforms and major projects; public entertainment; Nero on stage 
5. Passion and discord – the imperial family; Nero’s wives and daughter 
6. Fire – the great fire of Rome of AD 64 
7. The new Apollo – Nero’s palaces and the Domus Aurea; luxury and elite society; diplomacy and triumph 
8. Crisis and death – internal conflict and elite resi

Hadrian: Empire and conflict

Hadrian: empire and conflict

London: British Museum Press

Made from Bronze with eyes inlaid with glass pupils set in metal rings, the 'Meroe Head' is a magnificent portrait of Julius Caesar's great nephew and adopted heir Augustus (63 BC–AD 14). Once forming part of a statue of Rome's revered first true emperor, the head was violently separated from the body and carried away in triumph by ancient Meroitic tribesman shortly after its creation. For nearly two millennia it remained buried in front of a temple in their capital city of Meroe (modern Sudan), so that worshippers ritually had to trample the face of the supreme leader of Rome. The head was recovered in 1910 and remarkably well preserved, is one of the British Museums most treasured objects. This book reveals the significance of the head in the light of Augustus' rise to power and the role of portraits in the Roman world. Accompanied by a series of new photographs that highlight the wonderful, dramatic qualities of the head, this is an absorbing introduction to a Roman object, that like many others, was made as a continuous reminder of the all- embracing power of Rome and its emperor.

The Meroë Head of Augustus (Object in Focus)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by OPPER, Thorsten. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by OPPER, Thorsten

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by OPPER, Thorsten. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

Hadrian: empire and conflict

The Meroë Head of Augustus (Object in Focus)