Hadrian Exhibition: Empire and Conflict

"Empire and Conflict" is the title of this Hadrian exhibition, although I think, if asked, most people in the UK would find "Emperor and Wall Builder Extraordinaire" more appropriate. So associated is he with walls, there was even a brand of paint called Hadrian (a "deep gloss paint" if I remember rightly) - how humiliating is that? Of course, the wall-building is a very parochial view of a vast empire that covered most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and of which we occupied a small corner. I like Hadrian. I've visited his Wall and the forts along it, and many years ago went to the ruins of his enormous villa at ...  Read the complete review