Life Love Legacy: Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

Back in London less than a week, we were still in the grip of Rome. On Saturday John and I ventured out to the British Museum to see its new exhibition about the Roman Emperor Hadrian (76-138 AD). Presented in the beautifully restored Reading Room, the exhibition contains objects from 28 museums worldwide and finds from recent excavations (including this head from a statue of Hadrian unearthed in Turkey in 2007).

The Roman Empire ruled by Hadrian encompassed much of Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. He had a great passion for travel, architecture and Greek culture. (He wore a beard in Greek fashion unlike previous clean shaven Roman rulers.) And this exhibition provides fresh insight into the sharp contradictions of Hadrian’s character and challenges faced during his reign. We were very pleased to see it dealt honestly with Hadrian's relationship with his male lover, Antinous. When Antinous died he was worshiped as a deity by Romans.

The British Museum has great educational programs for children and students, and we saw a good example the day we visited. Visiting children (or anyone) got to help recreate Hadrian's fabulous villa at Tivoli outside Rome. Kids could color templates to make various buildings or they could personalize statues. All these were placed in the reconstructed villa complex.

Naturally we couldn't resist revisiting some of the treasures the Museum possesses like the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon and the Rosetta Stone. It's amazing to realize that this fragment from a larger tablet was the key to unlocking the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it's difficult to get close to the stone with so many people clamoring around its Plexiglas container.