Product Description

In her magnificent novel, Marguerite Yourcenor recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world. The Emperor Hadrian, aware his demise is imminent, writes a long valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful and far-flung rule. A work of superbly detailed research and sustained empathy, Memoirs of Hadrian captures the living spirit of the Emperor and of Ancient Rome.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23915 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-07
• Original language: French
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

A pellucid masterpiece
This is one of the best historical novels around. I've read it both in the French and in the English translation by Grace Frick. The English translation really does convey the flavour of Yourcenar's measured prose. It helps that Grace was a very close friend of Yourcenar. I've also studied this period and Yourcenar was obviously steeped in the sources - just how far is clear in the notes included at the back. She conveys not only the philosophical tensions in Roman life but mundane things such as the quality of light, the treatment of slaves, attitudes towards Jews, Barbarians and Greeks. There is not a false note in the book, and it raises universal questions whilst acknowledging the different context of Hadrian's life. A beautiful piece of work.

Epic book of a wise and simple man who was a Roman Emperor
This book takes you back in time to the 2nd century and the memoirs of Emperor Hadrian. But it makes you feel as though this man could be talking to you, telling you his inner most thoughts on life and death. The book is totally compelling and you feel for Hadrian as a man. He talks about his love of life , nature, friendships and ultimately, his greatest love, the young Antoninous. The portrayal of this relationship and its unfortunate ending was very moving.

You also begin to see just how humanitarian and ahead of his time this man was. The birth of liberty, humanitarian values, democracy and provincialism all figure in his reign. The evidence and influence of Hadrian are still to be felt. This is a wonderful window into the 2nd century and the life of a compassionate and hugely dynamic man. I feel richer and wiser for having been introduced to his thoughts on life and living. It is a great introduction to Roman history, and history in general.

a master piece
I usually don't write book reviews but in this particular case I think that i need to talk about one of the aspects of the book that is missing in the other reviews.
All the reviews talk about it as a historical book. Readers praised its language fluency and historical accuracy. They're not wrong, but I don't think that it is the essence of the book, the reason why the author wrote it. This memeoirs don't allow us to enter the emperor's mind and the roman philosophy and beleifs. No one can know what these were and the author doesn't pretend to do so. This book is rather a personal work that allow us to enter the author's mind and philosophy (because it is first a philosophical treaty) and to analyse our relationship with our roman past. Marguerite yourcenar isn't a historian, she is a philosoph.
She was the first woman to enter L'académie Française, and she's undoubtedly one the major french writers of the century.