{"product_id":"hadrian-and-hellenism","title":"Hadrian and Hellenism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow does a Roman emperor secure permanent glory following the reign of Trajan, deemed Rome’s greatest leader (\u003ci\u003eoptimus princeps\u003c\/i\u003e)? For Hadrian (\u003ci\u003er\u003c\/i\u003e. 117–38 CE), the answer lay not in military expansion, but in a calculated and deeply personal fascination with the Greek past. \u003c\/b\u003eGreekness became for him a canvas through which identity was tested, refined and ultimately staged for eternity. The emperor’s attraction to Greek language, culture, myth, institutions and bodies is read here as a form of strategic intimacy, one that allowed him to inhabit multiple selves at once: Roman administrator, Athenian citizen, cultural arbiter and creator of memory. Within this space, these roles reinforced one another, serving as the ultimate vehicle for his own \u003ci\u003ekleos\u003c\/i\u003e (eternal glory).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet, the emperor''s quest did not end with his death. \u003ci\u003eHadrian and Hellenism\u003c\/i\u003e is the first in-depth study to trace the diachronic reception of his legacy. Tracking his afterlife through medieval chroniclers, Renaissance humanism, nineteenth-century philhellenism and modern literature and the arts, the authors reveal that Hadrianic Hellenism was a generative tradition constantly reshaped across the centuries. Groundbreaking and meticulously researched, this book invites readers to discover how a Roman emperor succeeded in his ultimate existential quest: achieving permanence through the timeless spirit of Hellenism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57503628525941,"sku":"9781350657205","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/hadrian-and-hellenism","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}