I visited the Hadrian exhibition at the British Museum because i wanted to see if it would live up to the hype. Upon first entering you are presented with the face of Hadrian. The sculpture is so delicately made it is like staring the Emperor directly in the face, this made a definite impression on me, looking into the eyes of one of the Roman Empire's greatest leaders.
The exhibit talks about his legacy, his personal life and his accomplishments. One of the most interesting things i found was how he was struggling to deal with problems and conflicts arising in mesopotamia, which is bascially the middle east areas like Iraq today. It was strange to look at the problems a leader faced thousands of years ago and see similarity with the problems the leaders of today face in that very area.
Another thing that interested me was that all of the sculptures of Hadrian featured a crease in the ear lobe, this showed that the sculptures were accurate to the man, but also it was a physical sign of heart disease, which gave the stone faces a more human side. I felt like i began to understand and know Hadrian better by seeing this weakness. You can see the crease on the image below:
Hadrian also was a lover of architecture and the arts, he built some amazing private houses to live in and get away from the troubles of his empire. A lot of the exhibit focused on how he reunited the fractured Roman empire and made his nation strong again, however I feel the focus on his character and how he lived and acted was more interesting. I have been to many exhibitions at the British museum before but this one left a long and lasting impression on me like no other.
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