Not nearly as good as his biography as Cicero, maybe because this book was not meant to be a biography. It tells the history of Rome from Vespasian through Hadrian, with about half of the book being focused on Hadrian's rule. Unfortunately, the underlying sources are relatively sparse and the book is filled with perhaps and maybes that link Hadrian to the world and events of his time. You don't feel like you know Hadrian and to the degree you do he doesn't seem particularly complex or interesting, unlike Cicero.

That said, overall the book presents a good history of the Roman empire at it's peak -- about 50-150 years after the well chronicled period of the end of the Republic and first series of Emperors. The portrait of that time through the lens of a relatively tranquil and consolidation period was interesting and worth reading -- although lacking in the drama and excitement of the end of the Republic.