Newsnight Review, 18 July, 2008
Here is John Wilson's look ahead to tonight's Newsnight Review:
Hello,
I've never visited Hadrian's Wall but earlier this year I became one of the first people in nearly two millennia to see Hadrian's loo.
The Imperial lavatory recently emerged amidst excavations of Villa Adriana, Hadrian's sprawling hillside retreat at Tivoli. Archaeologists have also discovered what they think may be a mausoleum for Hadrian's lover - a Greek boy called Antinous. The private life of Hadrian - along with his cultural and military pursuits - is explored in a new exhibition at The British Museum. We have a .
Hadrian's first political decision as Emperor was to order a military withdrawal from territory now known as Iraq, the historical resonance of which will not be lost on my guests - David Aaronovitch, Marina Hyde and Simon Sebag Montefiore - as they discuss Erroll Morris' new documentary. In Morris talks to the US Army soldiers who were photographed abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib jail. Their jokey snapshots became criminal evidence. I'll be asking the panel whether Erroll Morris was right to portray the soldiers as scapegoats in a global political scandal.
Haruki Murakami may be Japan's most successful contemporary novelist but he's also publicity shy. His new book reveals him to be an accomplished long distance runner, a veteran of 24 marathons. I'll be asking the panel - particularly fellow marathon runner David Aaronovitch - whether Murakami writes a good race in .
Finally, we'll also hear from Marina Hyde why is the greatest television series of all time. Labyrinthine plotting, jargon-riddled quickfire dialogue and an unrelentingly grim portrayal of a city - Baltimore - which is falling apart at the seams...what's not to like? As they say in the Wire "all the pieces matter".
Join us for Review at 11 o'clock
John .
Comment number 1.
At 18th Jul 2008, ReneLavanchy wrote:I am appalled at John Wilson's sheer ignorance. Or rather that his researcher has dropped him in it. At the start of tonight's show, he described Hardian as a "gay man". Excuse me?
There was, and is, no such thing as a gay Roman. The concept of homosexuality did not exist as a recognisable phenomenon in antiquity, nor was it recognised as such by ancient society. Put simply, people didn't behave or think in the way necessary in order to be gay, nor would they know what homosexuality was.
Did Hadrian have a sexual relationship with a young man? O most certainly. That, alas, does NOT make him gay. Sexuality in antiquity was ordered by sexual object-choice but by the perceived 'temperance' of sexual desires and acts (how badly you wanted it, what you were prepard to do) and by whether one adopted an active, penetrative role (the man's job) or a passive, receptive role (the job of women and effeminate men). Men who slpet with men could just as reasonably be expected to sleep with women (but under different circumstances and different rules). The sex of your sexual partner, in and of itself, meant nothing as to the nature of your sexuality.
That does not mean that sex was freer than it is today - it wasn't, quite the opposite. I could go on like this for thousands of words, but you get my point.
I knew a classics degree would come in handy one day...
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Comment number 2.
At 19th Jul 2008, deadtired wrote:The presenter gave me the best laugh of the night with his attempt at Kennedy's famous German howler, "Ich bin ein Berliner".
At least Kennedy only said he was a doughnut. By saying "Ich bin *eine* Berliner", the presenter claimed to be a female doughnut.
Or maybe he was just doing that recent thing so beloved of those TV people who think themselves superior... continuously putting "er" (and sometimes "er er") in the middle of their sentences to imply how great a measure of weighty thinking is going on.
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