Wall-to-wall Hadrian at British Museum

He has shown more box office pulling power than Michelangelo - even if he cannot quite rival the Terracotta Warriors.

Hadrian, the Roman emperor best known in Britain for his wall, is set to be the next big draw at the British Museum with more than 20,000 tickets sold in advance of the exhibition opening on Thursday.

That compares with around 14,000 for the Renaissance artist and 100,000 for the ancient Chinese army.

It is a thrilling result for curator Thorsten Opper as he prepares to convince audiences that Hadrian has been long misunderstood.

The emperor, who ruled from AD117 to AD138, is renowned not only for the wall he had built to keep the Picts penned in what is now Scotland, but also for his love of Greek culture, interest in architecture and passion for a young man called Antinous.

His ruthless military might is shown by these treasures, which have been rarely lent or only recently discovered or never before seen in Britain.

Among the highlights are objects that belonged to Jewish rebels whose revolt Hadrian put down in Jerusalem with a ferocity that killed nearly 600,000.

They sit alongside better-known images of the Roman leader, such as the British Museum's own bust, trawled from the Thames in the 19th century.

The exhibition will be seen only in London because of the importance of many items to their lenders.

Mr Opper said: "People have been so generous. You start with a long list of what you want for an exhibition and are pretty chuffed when you get a third. Here we got pretty much everything we wanted. People realise London is a place where they can unveil objects to a world public." Mr Opper said the view of Hadrian had changed over the centuries and would do so again. "The first thing Hadrian did within days, if not hours, of becoming emperor was to withdraw the Roman army from Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. That means something to us now that it wouldn't havemeant even 20 years ago," he said.

10 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM EXHIBITION

Head of Hadrian discovered in Turkey last year. It has never been seen before in public.

Statue of Hadrian in a Roman toga. It's one of the two official images - the other being in military garb - of Hadrian as he wanted to be seen.

Statue of Hadrian in a Greek mantle. This was once evidence of Hadrian as the Greek-loving philosopher, but was a false construct as the body is not the original one for the head.

Statue of Hadrian in military dress, crushing the barbarians.

Head of Hadrian from the River Thames. Very rare as it is made from bronze and survived after becoming caught up in river silt. Was found in 11834 and is a treasure of the British Museum collection.

Items from the Cave of Letters in Jerusalem, once owned by Jews who fled when Hadrian was putting down their revolt. They include bowls, mirrors and house keys, suggesting the rebels were hiding but intended to go home eventually. They never did.

Head of Antinous, Hadrian's homosexual lover, borrowed from the Louvre in Paris. Many Roman emperors had male lovers but what was extraordinary about Hadrian was his reaction to Antinous's death - when he positively encouraged his lover's deification.

Statue of Sabina, Hadrian's wife, from their villa at Tivoli.

Peacock statues from Hadrian's Mausoleum, now known as the Castel Sant' Angelo, in Rome. The peacocks were removed some time ago and have been lent by the Vatican museum.

Key manuscripts including the Lion Hunt papyrus, a poem which is the only document linking Hadrian and Antinous, and an early copy of a fragment of Hadrian's now lost autobiography.