‘Just when the Gods had ceased to be and the Christ had not yet come, there was a unique moment in history, between Cicero and Marcus Aurelius, when man stood alone’ Flaubert to La Sylphide.

This then is the Weltanschauung Yourcenar pays encomium to, panegyrically oded in Memoirs, yet tempered with subdued ‘pragnanz’: Hadrian’s bios is nothing if not temporal Dukkha extrapolated through the measured cadence of a praxeological study of human actions and their consequences, a teological affirmation of the cause-effect modality which seems to have informed Hadrian’s ethos.

One of the ‘Five Good Emperors’, (Machiavelli, 1503, who noted all five succeeded as ‘adopted’ sons and seemed to rule more wisely and judiciously than those of ‘royal blood’), Hadrian was a ‘humanist’ and philhellene. He was more interested in art, architecture, public governance and jurisprudence rather than war, despite his formidable military campaigning. Of his twenty years as emperor, he barely engaged in military battle and spent scarcely five in Rome. The rest were travelling throughout the empire, mostly overseeing construction and consolidation projects, collecting art and writing poetry.

Fertile grounds indeed for Yourcenar’s indomitable quest to search out the humanist-philosopher, who endaimonologically refines and consolidates the qualia of Rome’s greatest cultural achievements to pinnacled Greco-Roman heights.

‘Rome....was needed for the full realisation of what was for Greece only an admirable idea. Plato had written the Republic and glorified the Just, but we were the ones who were striving to make the State a machine fit to serve man....The word philanthropy was Greek,but we are the ones who are working to change the wretched conditions of the slave’.

A beautiful acclamation of Rome significant as ‘doer’ whereas Greece was Rodin’s ‘thinker’: and if Hadrian did not serve in terms of philosophical originality and advancement, surely his contribution, of making concrete the ‘ideal’, was no less an achievement. For what is a strategist without his tactician?

I wonder if the intervening years of relative peace devoted to the pursuit of public works did not open up a lacunae for Hadrian, allowing him to indulge the personal to an extraordinary extent. Who doesn’t know of his eromenos Antinous, a boy of twelve who becomes, effectively 50 year old Hadrian’s consort. His (debated) suicide at nineteen at the river Nile sparks Hadrian into occult and vainglorious endeavours to deify the boy, thus breaching some unspoken protocol about keeping the personal ‘private’ when you are emperor. Yourcenar handles this episode magnificently. At a moment in between Gods, when Hadrian conceptualises he is divine himself, as any other man might be, the issues of personal responsibility become acute and forefrontal. If human qualia takes on divine proportion, and if that qualia is underpinned by reveration of youth specifically, then its understandable if at nineteen Atinous conceives his currency as spent: by sacrificing himself in full bloom of youth he thus ensures his perpetuality ad infinitum: and perhaps it was this notion which spurred Hadrian into ‘conceptually’ immortalising him. Wise, is Yourcenar.

Not too long ago VS Naipaul made a big hue and cry about how women authors haven’t got it in them to write anything more scopic than domestic dramas and fluffy bunny romcoms:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/...

I need to find that man and smack him over the head with this book. This book, which showcases Yourcenar's remarkable ability to delve deep into the complex psyche of Hadrian and explore themes that go far beyond the domestic or the trivial. It is a testament to the power of female authorship and their capacity to create works of great depth and significance. Naipaul's narrow view is clearly challenged by the brilliance of Yourcenar's writing, and it is high time that such outdated and sexist notions are put to rest. We should celebrate the diversity and talent of all authors, regardless of gender, and appreciate the rich tapestry of literature that they have to offer.

Luci e ombre nel racconto che un Adriano ormai avanti negli anni e debilitato dalla malattia, trascrive in queste pagine grazie alla voce della Yourcenar. Questo racconto è una testimonianza di straordinaria bellezza. È un viaggio non solo nella storia di Roma e nelle vicende imperiali, ma soprattutto nella vita di un semplice uomo. Adriano, con un occhio abbastanza imparziale e obiettivo, sembra stender un bilancio dolce-amaro della propria vita. Si ritrae nelle pagine, raccontando i suoi ricordi, i suoi sentimenti, le sue speranze e le sue delusioni. È come se attraverso le parole di Yourcenar, Adriano fosse ancora vivo, e potesse condividere la sua storia con noi. Questo racconto è un capolavoro letterario, che ci permette di intravedere una parte importante della storia antica e di comprendere meglio l'uomo che l'ha vissuta.

Hadrian, the 14th Emperor of the Roman Empire, reigned from 117-138. He was part of the group of five emperors known as the good emperors. As the adopted son of Trajan, his ascension was initially controversial as Trajan never officially named him as successor. However, on a deathbed edict signed by Plotina, Trajan's wife, Hadrian was named to succeed.

Hadrian was uniquely qualified to lead. As a soldier, he had a different perspective on the empire. He was discomforted by the killing necessary for rebellions and conquests and decided to change the policies of his predecessors. As Emperor, he stopped the empire's expansion and focused on strengthening Rome's relationships with its people. He rebuilt the Pantheon and traveled throughout the empire, building cities, repairing sculptures and architecture, and improving the feeling towards Rome.

Hadrian was also a deep thinker who loved meeting people from different cultures. He had a broad understanding of philosophies and religions and even had dreams of a new life and world. However, he knew that he was still a Roman and was bound to the empire. His novel, told from the first person narrative in the form of a letter to Marcus Aurelius, shows his building of philosophies, implementation of change, and compassion and retribution towards his enemies. It is a classic of historical fiction that extends the life of the Roman Empire and puts forward concepts of equality that were ahead of their time.

My reaction to Memoirs of Hadrian was truly astonishing and somewhat amusing to me.

I'm not accustomed to reacting to novels in the same way people do to The Secret. There was a deep conviction that this book could bestow strength upon me and safeguard me from depression. I had the urge to underline three passages per page, purchase copies for my honors students, recommend it to past students and my friends. Finally, there was a desire to own a copy, which vanished instantly upon reading the final sentence.

Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that I found this novel rather difficult to discuss except in terms of my own reaction to it. It seemed to dissolve my criticism. Moreover, I was simply embarrassed by my reaction and had a creeping suspicion that there was something amiss with this book. I suspected that my reaction could be attributed to nothing else but a certain kitschiness. I felt that this novel had tricked me on some level.

I mentioned this to an elderly and extremely well-read friend of mine. She listened patiently to my infatuated-yet-mistrustful account and said, "

- It's the French way. They tend to express every last detail of their thoughts in a highly polished manner. We often look for the hidden two-thirds of an iceberg, but in French books, there's frequently nothing remaining beneath the surface - they convey their message fully and openly. You said it felt like a manifesto, and to me, French literature often has this manifesto-like quality."

In conclusion, it is a beautiful, didactic, and uplifting novel, written shortly after the dramatic events of World War II. It can make you feel like a better person - or, if you're anti-establishment and anti-interventionalism, it can irritate you. My inner Ventrue adored it.

In 2009, Hugo Chavez, during an impromptu meeting with Barack Obama, presented the newly-elected American President with a copy of The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. Chavez hoped that Obama could learn from the literature about the exploitation of Latin America. He had the hope that the young President would be open-minded and a reader. However, Obama’s advisers quickly and glibly shattered this hope by stating that the book was in Spanish, a language the President didn’t know.

It is highly unlikely that President Obama will be inviting me for that afternoon beer anytime soon. And if he did, I wouldn’t be so bold as to thrust a book into his hands. But, you know, if he were to ask, I would make that pained face as I usually do, pause dramatically, and with a solemn “Perhaps it’s not too late” offer him The Memoirs of Hadrian. After all, it doesn't matter if our leaders are young or old, black or white, male or female; it doesn't matter if they like a little oral in the oval or can't pronounce ‘nuclear’. I just want them to be wise. Maybe it's too late for that in this era of handlers, YouTube, and issue-driven voters. But think about it: Hadrian followed Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Why read, and for that matter, why write a book about a long-ago Emperor? In her Reflections following this novel, Marguerite Yourcenar explains, “I fell to making, and then re-making, this portrait of a man who was almost wise.” (emphasis in original).

Almost.

The lessons are anecdotal. Returning the daughter of an Asian ruler, captured in her infancy, without haggling, serves a better end than sending in the legions. Absorb the knowledge of a colony instead of its tribute. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Even: let execution suffice when execution after torture seems, you know, excessive. If you two can't play nice, well, I'll build a wall.

He watched his subjects come to touch his hand, believing his ‘divinity’ would be a cure for disease or illness; and he gave them hope, and sometimes a cure, yet knowing that his own body could not be saved.

This is a Novel in Memoir form. That's hard to imagine, I suppose. But there are epistolary novels and novels in diary form, so why not this? It's better than History. Historians propose to us systems too perfect for explaining the past, with a sequence of cause and effect much too exact and clear to have been ever entirely true. Still, it doesn't feel like a novel. That's not a criticism. It's just that the scholarship is, frankly, breathtaking. It is also respectful. The language, though, the language is lush.

The written word has taught me to listen to the human voice, much as the great unchanging statues have taught me to appreciate bodily motions.

Although a weaver would wish to mend his web or a clever calculator would correct his mistakes, and the artist would try to retouch his masterpiece if still imperfect or slightly damaged. Nature prefers to start again from the very clay, from chaos itself, and this horrible waste is what we term natural order.

This is also a love story, though certainly not for Hadrian and his much younger, ‘arranged’ wife. No, Hadrian was in love with Antinous, a lovely teenage boy. Yourcenar spares us the sex but not the obsession. This time Divinity did not cure, it killed. And so the Memoir is tinged with regret, for being almost wise.

I found myself pausing often at Yourcenar’s aphoristic tone. I wrote many lessons down. I also found my mind wandering often through the obligatory historical chronology. But after I turned the final page, the importance of this started to play with the light. Oh how I wish our leaders were wise. Or almost wise.

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I almost didn't write this review because I read Kelly’s, which is one of the Great reviews, here or elsewhere -- Memoirs of Hadrian is a meditation of finding a pile of pottery shards and deciding what to do with them. And I read Aubrey’s Ode to this book, itself a work of art. But this isn't a competition. Right, Hadrian?

The act of transforming a known life, one that is over and fixed (as much as possible) by History, in order to encompass the entire curve in a single glance; and even more, to choose the moment when the man who lived that existence evaluates it, examines it and becomes for an instant capable of judging it. To make it so that he finds himself in front of his own life in the same position as we do.

This was the bold challenge that Yourcenar set for herself and, despite the tortuous and tormented path, the final result is sublime.

The writer was able to perfectly internalize the remarkable Emperor Hadrian and he appears alive in front of us, despite the distance of time.

In the extensive letter that he writes to Marcus Aurelius, who will take his place 23 years later, we come to know not only the administrator but also the erudite - his daily life, travels, loves, friendships and enmities, his particular taste for classical Greece, the man dedicated to poetry and letters, knowledgeable in painting, geometry and astronomy, sensitive to music and architecture. As much is given to us to know, although not everything that was Hadrian is revealed.

This is a more-than-perfect masterpiece of Yourcenar!

What I haven't encountered again. It is so well-written that at a moment you think it is the autobiography of Adrian himself, a very interesting historical figure. Among the most sympathetic emperors, historically and globally, a philosopher, a philhellene, etc.

It is a very mature, original and truly amazing work. After a certain point, it is a bit tiring, perhaps because from the first page it requires the absolute concentration of the reader. Of course, there is no other way to read it in order to make it a pleasure. In any case, it does not affect its value, of course.

This piece of writing seems to be a review of a work related to Adrian. The description of Adrian as a sympathetic emperor with various qualities like being a philosopher and philhellene gives an idea of his significance. The work itself is praised for its maturity, originality, and amazing nature. However, the mention of it being tiring after a certain point due to the need for absolute concentration from the reader is an interesting observation. Despite this, the reviewer emphasizes that it doesn't impact the value of the work. Overall, it provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the work and its subject.

Margerite Yourcenar’s Hadrian is a complex and multi-faceted character. He is not just the Roman Emperor, a citizen of the world, and a deified ruler. His heart is moved by the cadence of Greek poetry, his resilient physique allows him to conquer the barbarian borders of northern Britannia, and his strategic mind enables him to enforce groundbreaking laws. These laws regulate the use of slaves and promote culture in the Pantheon. His modesty silences insurgent voices, while his excesses intimidate allied ones.

As Yourcenar pens this historical figure with unfaltering dexterity, we see a moribund man on his deathbed, confronting his contradictory selves. Drowned in erotic ambiguity, haunted by idyllic remembrances of platonic love and superfluous infatuation, Hadrian drops the mask of the formidable Emperor. He reveals himself as a vulnerable man, plagued by remorse, aggressive pride, and reckless ambition. He cannot stop the upcoming dissolution of the world he has meticulously constructed with obsessive discipline and bloodstained sacrifice.

Yourcenar combines prodigious refinement with erudite depth. She masters the first-person narrative and becomes a multifaceted ventriloquist. She deconstructs the layers of Hadrian’s overpowering personality while unfolding his intimate ponderings about ageing and death, friendship and true love, art and philosophy, justice and social order. With academic rigorousness and aesthetic excellence, she creates a dramatic tension that reaches its peak through self-absorbed observation rather than galloping action.

When the last line is read and the confessor meets its nemesis, no historical grandeur or remarkable feat will be remembered. Instead, the intoxicating scent of literary perfection will linger, the texture of velvety words will invade our senses, and a wave of disarming tenderness and stunned regret will choke us. We are the humbled witnesses of the remnants of two thousand years of magnificence, folly, and debatable progress that meander the moors of remote lands that once yielded to one of the greatest men of ancient history.

Hadrian's Wall, November 2014