Hadrian

For other uses, see Hadrian (disambiguation).

Hadrian
Emperor of the Roman Empire
Bust of Hadrian in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Capitoline Museums.
Reign	August 11, 117 – July 10, 138
Predecessor	Trajan
Successor	Antoninus Pius
Born	Publius Aelius Hadrianus January 24, 76 Italica or Rome
Died	July 10, 138 (aged 62) Baiae
Burial	Mausoleum of Hadrian (today Castel Sant'Angelo)
Spouse	Vibia Sabina (100–137)
Issue	Lucius Aelius Caesar (adoptive) Antoninus Pius (adoptive)
Dynasty	Antonine dynasty
Father	Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer
Mother	Domitia Paulina

Publius Aelius Hadrianus (Italica or Rome, January 24, 76 – Baiae, July 10, 138), officially known during his reign as Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and as Divus Hadrianus after his deification, commonly known as Hadrian, was emperor of the Roman Empire (117–138).

A member of the Ulpio-Aelian dynasty and the third of the "Five Good Emperors", as well as the second of the emperors born in the province of Baetica; during his reign the Empire reached the greatest territorial extent in its history (125). Hadrian stood out for his fondness for Stoic and Epicurean philosophy.

He was probably born in Italica, in the present-day municipality of Santiponce (Seville, Spain), into a well-to-do family originally from Picenum (Italy) and settled at the end of the 3rd century BC in that city of Hispania Baetica. He was a first cousin once removed, through the maternal line, of Trajan, who, although he never publicly named him his heir, gave him several signs of preference during his reign and, according to what was stated by his wife Pompeia Plotina, declared him as such moments before dying.

Although he may have owed the throne above all to Plotina's favor, his status as possible successor was already being marked by Trajan himself during his reign. Thus, in the period between the years 100 and 108, Trajan granted him the hand of Vibia Sabina, appointed him quaestor Imperatoris and comes Augusti, gave him Nerva's diamond as a "hope of succession," and recommended him as consul suffectus, in addition to other honors and distinctions. Despite these preferences, and the fact that he was Trajan's only male descendant, the support of Plotina and of Lucius Licinius Sura (d. 108) was decisive in his rise to the throne.

His relations with the Senate were not good; perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Hadrian, unlike many earlier emperors, did not wish to hold the ordinary consulship more than twice, both times consecutively and at the beginning of his reign: the first, in the first half of 118, with his nephew, Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator of Barcino, as collega; the second, in the first four months of 119, accompanied by Publius Dasumius Rusticus, another possible relative, this time of the Dasumii of Italica. Likewise, the administrative reforms carried out during his reign aroused the opposition of the senators; the Emperor modernized the state administrative system by promoting experts and technocrats, which meant that many sections of the administration were left in the hands of these officials. Because of this, the senatorial and aristocratic elite saw its influence diminished.

Family and youth

Portrait of Hadrian

The Emperor's biography in the Historia Augusta states that he was born in Rome, into a family native to Italy but which had emigrated to Hispania in the time of Scipio, as Hadrian himself stated in his (lost) autobiography. His grandfather, Aelius Marullinus, had been the family's first senator, and was married to Ulpia, paternal aunt of the future emperor Trajan; the Historia Augusta also refers to a great-uncle of his who bore the same name, an experienced astrologer, to whom the future emperor owed his fondness for this discipline. His father was Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, a Hispano-Roman citizen, senator, and former praetor, who had lived in the capital for most of his life; a recent study has determined his posting as a former praetor: he was in command of a legion, as an "experienced general," in the years 79–80.

Although his ancestors came from Hadria (Atri), a town located in Picenum (Italy) which he always considered his "second homeland," they had settled in Italica (Hispania Baetica) after it was founded by Scipio Africanus in 206 BC. His lineage was related to the noblest families of Italica: Afer was a paternal cousin of Trajan; his mother, Paulina, was an aristocrat from Gades (Cádiz), descended from an important Hispano-Roman senatorial family; his sister Aelia Domitia Paulina was married to the three-time consul Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus, with whom Hadrian maintained a lasting rivalry even though he took him into account when deciding who was to succeed him; his niece was Julia Serviana Paulina, and his grand-nephew Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, a native of Barcino. After the death of Afer (86), he was adopted by Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus, also from Italica and a member of the equestrian order, who would later be appointed praefectus praetorio by Trajan. Schooled in the subjects common among aristocrats of the time, he took a special interest in Greek literature, so much so that he was nicknamed Graeculus ("little Greek").

At fourteen he returned to Italica, where he remained for less than a year, since in the autumn he was called to the capital by Trajan, recently appointed consul in 91. During his reign he would grant Italica the status of colony and his own name. In Rome he continued his education and began his path through the cursus honorum. He held the vigintivirate in 94, as one of the decemviri stlitibus iudicandis, members of a court that settled civil cases. It is known from the aforementioned Athens inscription—which details the beginning of his public career—that he later also held the offices of praefectus Feriarum Latinarum and sevir turmae equitum Romanorum. He began his military service as laticlavian tribune of the Legio II Adiutrix, quartered at Aquincum (Budapest) in Pannonia. He was later transferred to the Legio I Minervia, stationed on the Lower Danube. When Nerva died in 98, he traveled to Cologne to inform Trajan in person of his accession to the throne, which took place on January 28 of that year. Exceptionally, he served as tribune on a third occasion, this time in the Legion XXII Primigenia, quartered at Mogontiacum (Mainz) in Germania Superior. He also served as legatus of the legion stationed in Pannonia Superior and—eventually—as administrator of that same territory; owing to the absence of military conflicts during his reign, his military skill is not proven; nevertheless, his knowledge of the troops and his organizational capacity suggest a possible strategic talent.

The Historia Augusta states that his relations with Trajan were not always good; it refers to a dispute resulting from the jealousy of the Emperor's ephebes toward the new favorite, whose homosexuality is also attested in the work of Cassius Dio. After this incident, Hadrian recovered his friendship with the Emperor thanks to the determined support of the rich and powerful Hispanic—probably from Italica, of a paternal family from Tarraco—and three-time consul Lucius Licinius Sura, who died in 107/8, to whom the Emperor himself would also have owed the throne. In addition, he enjoyed the protection of the Empress, Pompeia Plotina, an expert astrologer like himself, at whose urging he married in the year 100 another grand-niece of the Emperor, his cousin Vibia Sabina; this marriage doubled his ties to the imperial family.

Likewise, that same year he was appointed quaestor, as the Emperor's candidatus. In the following years—in any case before 112—he became a member of some of the priestly colleges reserved for the senatorial order, specifically the VIIviri epulonum and the sodales Augustales.

On the occasion of the First Dacian War he marched with the Emperor to that territory as comes Augusti in 101; however, he did not remain at his side throughout the campaign, but returned to the capital to hold his tribunate of the plebs. After the outbreak of the Second Dacian War he returned with the Emperor, this time in command of a legion, the I Minervia, in 105. At the end of the conflict he was appointed governor of Pannonia Inferior, and, although in 108 he was elected suffect consul, it is possible that he remained in the post for one more year.

Around 110/111 he traveled to Greece; in Athens he met the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, with whom he would henceforth share a great friendship. Direct contact with Hellenic culture made an enormous impression on him; in fact, it was probably at that time that he acquired the habit of not shaving his beard, an unusual practice among Roman nobles, though common among the Greeks. His love of Hellenic culture was clearly shown when he agreed to hold the post of honorary archon in 111/2, an office very few Romans had held before. The Athenian municipality celebrated his appointment with the carving of the corresponding inscription and granted him Athenian citizenship. Years later, already emperor, he would twice be archon of Delphi, in 126 and 129.

His political career before becoming emperor comprised the offices of: decemvir stlitibus iudicandis, sevir turmae equitum Romanorum, praefectus Urbi feriarum Latinarum, tribunus militum legionis II Adiutricis Piae Fidelis (95, in Pannonia), tribunus militum legionis V Macedonicae (96, in Lower Moesia), tribunus militum legionis XXII Primigeniae Piae Fidelis (97, in Germania Superior), quaestor (101), ab actis senatus, tribunus plebis (105), praetor (106), legatus legionis I Minerviae Piae Fidelis (106, in Germania Inferior), legatus Augusti pro praetore Pannoniae Inferioris (107), consul suffectus (108), septemvir epulonum (before 112), sodalis Augustalis (before 112), archon Athenis (112/13), legatus Syriae (117).

He was a legatus of the Emperor's high command during the expedition against the Parthian Empire. Although he did not distinguish himself during the initial phase of the conflict, nor when the rebels devastated Mesopotamia, at the moment the administrator of Syria was sent to confront the Dacians, he was designated as his replacement and given the direction of an independent command. Gravely ill, the Emperor, after reaching Selinus, decided to return to the capital while Hadrian remained in charge of the eastern territories. Although he was the Emperor's natural successor, Trajan never named him as such; it has been claimed that, as he was on the verge of death, his wife Plotina—a supporter of Hadrian—consented to his succession and signed the document confirming him as heir.

Emperor

Consolidation of the throne

Upon his accession to the throne, on August 11 of the year 117, Hadrian sought to quickly obtain the support of the soldiers. In addition, he ordered the removal of Lusius Quietus, a general of Berber origin who had taken part in the Parthian campaign and had recently been appointed by Trajan governor of Judea and consul, and whom he suspected of coveting the imperial throne. Although the Emperor had adopted him, Hadrian had to falsify the adoption documents before presenting them to the senators; although rumors circulated about this forgery, his true legitimacy as Emperor depended on senatorial approval and on the support of the Syrian soldiers.

Replica of a portrait of Hadrian at his accession to the throne. National Roman Museum (Rome).

Occupied with the administrative organization of the territories of the East and of the Danube, as well as with the conflict with the Jews who had risen up during the reign of his predecessor, he did not come to the capital until the territory had been stabilized. It was Acilius Attianus—the Emperor's former guardian—who was put in charge of the capital.

In this situation a plot was "discovered" involving four senators—among them Lusius Quietus—who were sentenced to death without a trial being held; the Emperor claimed that Attianus had acted on his own initiative. According to Elizabeth Speller, the real reason for their deaths was that they had been illustrious military men loyal to Trajan. The killings were ordered without agreement between the senators and the Emperor, which caused an estrangement between them. This event constitutes one of the turning points in the relations between the Senate and Hadrian, who promoted a policy aimed at broadening the base of support of the Principate by encouraging contact between the central administration and the provincial elites; this was to the detriment of the capital, which was no longer the undisputed imperial and hegemonic city.

Military policy

His reign was marked by the absence of major military operations, with the exception of the Second Jewish–Roman War; in addition, the conquest of Mesopotamia that Trajan had begun during his reign was abandoned, as it was considered indefensible owing to the excessive logistical effort required to maintain stable camps in that area. His decisions—of a markedly antimilitarist character—were aimed at drawing stable borders that would be easy to defend. The less stable borders were reinforced with permanent fortifications, the most famous of which is Hadrian's Wall, built in Great Britain; there, after the taking of the north of the island, numerous defensive structures were erected in order to enclose the Caledonians. Fortifications, fortresses, outposts and watchtowers—which improved communications and increased local security—defended the frontiers of the Rhine and the Danube. In 121 he avoided the outbreak of a conflict with the Parthian Empire thanks to his diplomatic skills. Although the coins issued during his reign alternated military illustrations with others unrelated to the army, his reign aimed to achieve stability through the use of force, and even of intimidation.

The works were hindered by the rugged terrain, unsuitable for the type of defense that had been ordered built; in fact, solid and stable structures, besides requiring too much time and money, were incompatible with the construction of a flexible defensive system in which it would be possible to reinforce the various zones according to the invasions or incursions carried out by hostile tribes. In this constantly threatened territory, the only viable defensive system was one composed of a flexible defensive line made up of ditches, embankments and fences; this system offered the defenders valuable defensive military support.

Colossal statue of Hadrian triumphant, with the orb in one hand and the scepter in the other. Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg).

The defenses of Britain were not renewed after their construction, except on the occasions when the native tribes seriously threatened Roman territories; in these cases exhaustive works were carried out in order to give the various sections of the defensive system considerable solidity. In this way an enormous number of occupied territories became true protectorates considered client states.

Once this system of protectorates was consolidated, only the strictly necessary resources were kept in them, the rest being ceded to more threatened territories; this system—called vexillatio—was based on attaching a detachment to the territory, which gave the territory's defense a notable flexibility of maneuver.

With the system of detachments it was possible not to disturb the military-territorial balance that had been achieved with such difficulty. Likewise, as a result of the consolidation of stable cantonments and the establishment of emotional ties between the soldiers and the inhabitants of each territory, colonies of veterans arose that made it feasible to maintain control of the various zones; these soldiers confronted revolts or invasions.

Sestertius issued to commemorate Hadrian's visit to Raetia, where he reviewed the auxiliary garrison units, checking their level of training and addressing them on horseback, as the reverse shows.

Intensive training routines were established in order to keep the soldiers' morale high and prevent the outbreak of revolts; the Emperor inspected the troops on numerous occasions during the course of his reign. Opposed to the opulence of the high military commanders since the outbreak of the Dacian campaign, during the course of a conflict he traveled on horseback and led the same life as the common soldier.

Historians have made use of the Lambaesis Inscription—carved after the Emperor's stay in the castrum of the same name, the Numidian base of the Legio III Augusta—in order to demonstrate the existence of these activities. The aforementioned document describes the manner of training soldiers during the Hadrianic era. All this demonstrates the establishment of a new defensive doctrine promoted by the Emperor whose aim was to obtain maximum military effectiveness in all zones, even in the tranquil Numidian territories.

His reign did not provide the military structure with important innovations, with the exception of the creation—according to certain experts, it strengthened the existing military institutions—of numerous new troops formed from local levies; this was intended to contribute to the auxiliaries: those known as auxilia. The reasons for this decision were several; the most important was to provide the army with highly specialized troops or to implement an unconventional way of equipping them, such as that of the auxiliary heavy cavalry. Likewise, the administration considered the descendants of the auxiliaries, who had the right to enlist in the legions, a source of new recruits.

The number of auxiliary recruits increased most in the territories where the administration exercised more thorough control and where a solid military structure was maintained. All expenditures relating to the auxilia were manifestly lower than those concerning the legionary corps — who received a considerable salary, occasional monetary donations, and in addition a final bonus often consisting of the right to ownership of land.

Bar Kokhba revolt

Main article: Bar Kokhba revolt

Causes

After the end of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73), the imperial administration took a series of measures to prevent the outbreak of a new revolt in this territory. The praetor replaced the procurator in the administration of the area; likewise, in the ruins of the former capital—Jerusalem—the base of the Legio X Fretensis was established.

The direct causes of the rebellion vary according to the sources. The Roman historian Cassius Dio (155–229) blames the revolt on the Emperor's decision to found, on the site of Jerusalem, a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina (Aelia after his own name and Capitolina in honor of the Roman god Jupiter). The inhabitants of Jerusalem must have been enraged to see how the same invaders who years before had burned their city were erecting in it numerous buildings of a profane character, such as temples to pagan gods.

Another cause of discontent among the natives lay in Hadrian's decision to abolish the Brit milah (circumcision), the observance of the Sabbath, and the laws of family purity.

Conflict

In this climate of instability, the Tanna Rabbi Akiva—who was at the head of the Sanhedrin without having been named nasi—convinced the other members of the institution to proclaim the leader of the rebels, Simon bar Kokhba, as the Messiah.

The rebel leaders carefully organized the revolt to avoid the mistakes that had been made during the one that had pitted them against Vespasian and Titus. In 132 the revolt spread from Modi'in throughout the whole country. The rebels defeated the Legio X in Jerusalem, and the Legio XXII Deiotariana, which had come from Egypt.

After these victories the sovereign Semitic state was restored. Simon bar Kokhba placed himself at the head of the administration and took the title of nasi. Likewise, the "era of the redemption of Israel" was proclaimed, contracts were drawn up and the issuing of coins was ordered. Rabbi Akiva led the Sanhedrin; religious services and the korbanot were resumed.

As soon as the Emperor received news of the uprising of the Israelites, he summoned Sextus Julius Severus from Britannia, in addition to ordering the troops quartered in the neighboring territories to attack the rebels and destroy them. It is not known for certain whether the Emperor in person took an active part in the conflict, which lasted more than two years and cost the Roman military machine an enormous number of soldiers.

Gradually, the rebels were cornered in the mountains, where the imperial troops decimated them. The survivors were sold as slaves. However, the conflict cost the Romans so many men that the Emperor removed from his military dispatches to the Senate the customary opening formula: "I and the legions are well."

Denarius of Hadrian commemorating the founding of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem

After the reconstruction, a statue of Zeus was erected on the former site of the Temple and one of Aphrodite next to Golgotha, where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. The province of Judea was eliminated, its boundaries redefined and that of Syria Palaestina created, a way of trying to make the Semitic presence in the area forgotten by changing its name to that of the Philistines, ancient enemies of the Jews.

In the Talmud this revolt is known as "the war of extermination"; in fact, although the Israelite diaspora began centuries before Hadrian's reign, the narrative about this conflict gives it certain legendary overtones. The end of the revolt eliminated any possibility of a Semitic revival as a political, religious or cultural expression, a situation that would persist until the emergence of Zionism in the 19th century.

Cultural policy

Castel Sant'Angelo, the former Mausoleum of Hadrian.

Mole Adrianorum: digital simulation approximating its possible appearance.

Ronald Syme has described Hadrian as the most "versatile" of all the Roman emperors. A great admirer of culture, he fostered the emergence of new artistic forms throughout the Empire. Built at Tibur (Tivoli), Hadrian's Villa—which is largely destroyed as a result of the plundering carried out by Ippolito II d'Este in order to build the Villa d'Este—was the finest example of an Alexandrian-type garden in the capital; this garden recreated a sacred landscape. During his reign the reconstruction of the Pantheon of Agrippa—destroyed after the outbreak of a fire in 80—was carried out; it is one of the best-preserved buildings in the capital; this monument was an important source of inspiration for Renaissance and Baroque architects.

Long before acceding to the throne, the Emperor had shown a special interest in architecture; however, when he showed his designs to Apollodorus of Damascus—the builder of the Forum of Trajan—the latter dismissed them, arguing that his "pumpkins"—the term with which he referred to the domes—had no place in his building. On another occasion, while Apollodorus was resolving a question of Trajan's, Hadrian interrupted him, trying to give his opinion, to which the architect replied:

Go draw your "pumpkins." You know nothing about these problems.

The rumor circulated that, after acceding to the throne, Hadrian exiled Apollodorus and ordered his murder; however, this story is one more attempt to defame his character, since the Emperor, although loved in much of the Empire, was not universally accepted as a result of several factors, among them his Hispanic ancestry.

In 2008 it was discovered that this famous statue of Hadrian dressed in Greek attire had been made during the Victorian era. For a long time historians had used it as proof of Hadrian's love for Hellenistic culture.

He wrote poetry in Latin and in Greek; the few surviving writings attributed to him are a poem in Latin composed on his deathbed, as well as an autobiography, which he wrote in order to silence certain rumors and to offer an explanation for certain decisions he made during his reign. This work is the historical basis used by the writer—Marius Maximus or another—of the chapter that the Historia Augusta devotes to describing his life; in fact, Syme stated that a series of statements in that work derive from the aforementioned autobiography.

According to the Historia Augusta, he enjoyed hunting from his adolescence. In the northwest of Asia he founded a city which he dedicated to a she-bear he had killed. Likewise, it is documented that he and his lover Antinous caught a lion in Egypt. In the capital he ordered the construction of a monument on which eight scenes were carved showing him hunting.

Another of his contributions to culture was the introduction of the beard into Roman society, which was a symbol of his philhellenism. With the exception of Nero, another lover of Hellenic culture, all his predecessors had shaved carefully. Nevertheless, after his death many emperors wore beards; however, this did not symbolize the establishment of a philhellenic trend, but rather that beards had become fashionable during his reign.

His interests define him as a Hellenophile humanist: he was considered—like many nobles of his time, such as Gaius Bruttius Praesens—an Epicurean; he also favored the spread of the doctrines of Epictetus, Heliodorus and Favorinus. He attended to social needs through the drafting of a legal code under which, although slavery was not abolished, the situation of the slave was regularized and torture was condemned. He built libraries, aqueducts, baths, and theaters. Because of all this, history regards him as a wise and upright sovereign: Schiller calls him "the first servant of the Empire," and the British historian Edward Gibbon stated that he admired his "vast and active genius," as well as his "equity and moderation"; likewise, he describes his reign as "the happiest period in the history of mankind."

In 125 he attempted to create a regional assembly in Greece that would grant the Hellenic and Ionian cities—located in Asia Minor—a minimum of autonomy. However, the assembly—known as the Panhellenion—failed owing to the lack of cooperation among the Hellenes.

The Empire in 125.

Another example of his love of Hellenic culture is his relationship with Antinous, an adolescent he met in Bithynia when the latter was thirteen or fourteen years old (123/4). However, Antinous died during a voyage on the Nile; it is firmly established that the young man fell into this river on October 30, 130, near the City of Besa, in Middle Egypt, and drowned before Hadrian's eyes. Cassius Dio and Aurelius Victor—who wrote at a much later date—explain that the circumstances of his death were not clear. According to one of the versions recorded by historians, Antinous's death was an accident. According to another version, Antinous would have sacrificed himself for the Emperor, in order to ensure him, through this sacrifice, a long and fortunate life. Antinous would have learned from an astrologer that his suicide would give the Emperor the possibility of continuing to live beyond the term that had been assigned to him by the fates. The author of Hadrian's biography in the Historia Augusta insinuates the possibility that Antinous may have decided to commit suicide to escape Hadrian's sexual advances. A plot instigated by Vibia Sabina should not be ruled out either. Hadrian was deeply depressed after the young man's death; in order to honor his memory, the Emperor built the city of Antinoöpolis and deified him—an honor without precedent among the dynasties that had ruled the Empire.

After dying at his villa in Baiae, he was buried in a mausoleum built on the western bank of the Tiber (Rome), a building that would be transformed into a Christian fortress—the Castel Sant'Angelo. The dimensions of the mausoleum were conceived so as to give it a slightly greater extent than that of the Mausoleum of Augustus.

Cassius Dio stated that after his death a monumental equestrian statue was erected in his honor:

It was so large that the bulkiest man could pass through each of the horse's eyes, although, given the impressive height of its foundations, people walking at the foot of the statue thought that both the horses and Hadrian were very small.

Administration

Aureus of Hadrian.

In addition to being an illustrious soldier expert in matters of war, during his reign he proved to be a superb administrator; a complete reform of the imperial administrative system was carried out, complementing the economic and military transformations undertaken in the financial system, the military structure, the defensive system of the frontiers, and in the improvement of diplomatic relations with other nations. All this aimed to make the state institutions homogeneous and—through the withdrawal from the territories most difficult to defend, the creation of frontier defenses, and the signing of agreements with other nations to establish zones of influence—to stabilize the borders.

A policy of tolerance toward men coming from other cultures was fostered—Christians enjoyed greater freedom—and diplomatic relations with Greece were improved. A constitutional reform was promoted in order to regularize the situation of slaves, who were tortured or killed when they committed an offense against the dominus.

Another of the Hadrianic reforms altered the original nature of the praetorian edict. This was a proclamation that the magistrate published at the beginning of his magistracy, as a program setting out the situations and interests to which he would offer legal protection, and which served as a mechanism for renewing the ancient ius civile. Technically, it can be said that the purpose of the edict was to offer judicial protection to those situations that were not covered by the ius civile. The Emperor entrusted Salvius Julianus with the drafting of a definitive edict (130–134), which was approved by a senatus consultum, becoming the edictum perpetuum. In the legal sphere, the legal system established by Augustus was brought to an end; in this way certain jurists were granted the ius respondendi ex auctoritate principis, which allowed the law to be transformed through the work of expert jurists whom he himself had selected. Independent lawyers disappeared, being replaced through the establishment of a bureaucratized administrative system in which independence disappeared completely.

Structurally, the imperial administration underwent a radical transformation. Competent officials of the ordo equester replaced the freedmen of the Caesarian era; these men were placed at the head of the various branches of the administration: finance, the treasury, the courts, etc.

Competencies, as well as salaries, were defined, and with this the state administration became more stable; it was no longer subject to the changes associated with the imperial succession. A careful administrator, the Emperor believed he was defending the interests of the state through the creation of the advocatus fisci, an imperial lawyer responsible for defending the interests of the treasury (fiscus) before the courts. It should be noted that in the last years of the Empire the aerarium—state finances under the competence of the senators—and the fiscus—state finances under the competence of the Emperor—constituted a single, homogeneous institution as a result of the successful unification of both bodies during the Hadrianic period.

Travels

Purpose

Drawing on the experience gained during his military career, the Emperor made numerous journeys throughout the Empire in which he inspected the troops stationed in the various provinces; in fact, more than half of his reign was spent outside Italian territory. While other emperors left the capital only during military conflicts, he made his journeys a key element of his reign, and he made this known to the Senate and to the Roman citizenry. He obtained the support of the more conservative senators thanks to a loyal nobleman among the Roman aristocracy, Quintus Marcius Turbo, a military veteran with enormous influence among the upper classes. Likewise, these same sources state that the frumentarii were employed in order to maintain control of the capital and prevent the outbreak of disturbances while the Emperor was abroad.

During his visits he wrote numerous letters to the Senate in which he ordered the construction of new official buildings; during the Hadrianic era institutions were modernized through the remodeling of infrastructure. This was often the purpose of his journeys: to order the construction of new structures, to design buildings, and to build settlements; likewise, his love of Hellenistic culture drove him to embellish his cities. His immense retinue consisted of an enormous number of administrators, architects and builders, who caused tax increases in his domains. Speller states that during his visit to Egypt provisions were requisitioned to feed his men; this was an unbearable burden in a territory with subsistence agriculture, as a result of which famine spread and living conditions became terribly difficult. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, monarchs were received with despair in their cities or territories, since their visit entailed a terrible fiscal burden that fell exclusively on the neediest.

Britannia

In 119, the Britons rose up against the Empire. To put an end to the rebels, the Emperor sent Quintus Pompeius Falco to Britannia; the coins issued in these years bear witness to the confrontation. In 122 construction began on Hadrian's Wall, whose purpose has been the subject of extensive and interesting academic revisionism. In 1893 Haverfield wrote that the wall was a mere defensive structure; however, Collingwood expressed his disagreement with him (1922). Numerous authors have regarded the wall as an element marking the limit of Roman imperial authority, as a monument to an emperor unable to achieve military renown owing to the absence of major military conflicts during his reign, as a means of keeping the soldiers active and thus preventing the insurrection of an idle army, or, simply, as a means of keeping the British frontier stable, preventing invasions or mobilizations from Caledonia. The Emperor considered that the tribes inhabiting these territories would reject any attempt to Romanize them, and he was aware that their conquest would be too costly; because of all this, he chose to order the construction of his wall. Unlike the Limes Germanicus, built of wood, the absence of this material on the island meant that the wall was built of stone; however, the western section of the structure, which ran from Carlisle to the River Irthing, was built of turf owing to the absence of stone. This led to the width of the wall being reduced from twelve to seven feet. This is perhaps the most important of the structures built during his reign; today the ruins of the wall stretch for many kilometers; in many ways, it embodies the Emperor's will to stabilize the Empire instead of waging conflicts and undertaking new conquests.

He ordered the construction of a sanctuary to Britannia in York. That same year he left the island bound for Mauretania.

Parthia and Anatolia

Sestertius issued by Hadrian in honor of his visit to the Mauretaniae.

In the year 123 he traveled to Mauretania, where he led a campaign against local rebels; however, he had to go to the East after receiving reports stating that the Parthian Empire was recruiting numerous troops. On the way he visited Cyrene, where he provided the funds necessary for the training of new soldiers. Hadrian had already visited this city on another occasion (119), when he donated the money for the reconstruction of the buildings destroyed during the Semitic revolt.

Hadrian's Gate, in Antalya (Turkey), built in honor of Hadrian, who visited the city in 130.

Finally he reached the bank of the Euphrates, where he concluded an agreement with the monarch Osroes I. After inspecting the territory's defensive system he traveled along the western coast of the Black Sea, and then went to the capital of Bithynia, Nicomedia; this city, once the abode of monarchs, was a desolate place, victim of the fury of an earthquake that had devastated it some time before. He endowed the city with so much money to restore it that its inhabitants considered him the "rebuilder of the East." He also visited Bithynium-Claudiopolis, where he possibly met his lover Antinous; although his age is not known with certainty, the statues made in his honor—which show a youth of twenty—suggest that he would have been about thirteen or fourteen. Lambert states that Antinous was sent to Rome to be educated and to serve as a courtier.

After his meeting with Antinous he traveled across Anatolia. Along the way a city was created in Mysia—Hadrianotherae (Balıkesir)—commemorating the hunting of a she-bear; however, the construction of the city was also the result of the need to establish a settlement in the territory where it was located, a wooded area ready for development. Modern historians do not agree on whether the Emperor supervised the construction until its completion or whether he left earlier. Likewise, Hadrian ordered the construction of a temple dedicated to himself and Trajan in Asia Minor.

Greece

Temple of Zeus in Athens.

In 124 he traveled to Greece, in time to attend the Eleusinian Mysteries. Although tradition dictated that the initiates should carry weapons at one point in the ceremony, they were prevented from doing so so as not to endanger the Emperor's life. During his stay, the Athenians asked him to revise their constitution (among other things they demanded a new tribe).

In the autumn of that same year he toured the Peloponnese; his route has been reconstructed thanks to the notes of Pausanias and the numerous temples and statues built there. Worth mentioning is the statue that the citizens of Epidaurus erected in honor of their "restorer." Likewise, the Emperor granted numerous funds to Mantinea; this reinforces the theory that Antinous was already Hadrian's lover, owing to the link between the city and Antinous's residence in Bithynia.

In 125 he reached Athens. There he presided over the festival in honor of the Dionysia and began the construction of numerous official buildings, among them an aqueduct, in addition to completing the Temple of Olympian Zeus, begun years before.

Return to Italy

Hadrian restored the Pantheon.

When he arrived in Italy he stopped in Sicily. Although what he did during his stay is unknown, the engravings on the coins issued in these years honor him as the "restorer of the island."

Once in Rome he completed the restoration of the Pantheon and the construction of his villa, known as Hadrian's Villa, located near Tivoli. In March 127 he made a tour through Italy. He passed through Cupra Marittima, where he restored the cult of Cupra, a Picene earth goddess, and remodeled the drainage system of Lake Fucino. Likewise, he divided Italy into four territories to be administered by consular legates; this unpopular measure did not survive beyond his reign.

He fell ill at this time; however, his illness, whose nature is unknown, did not prevent him from visiting Africa (128). His arrival was accompanied by a favorable omen. There he inspected and instructed the soldiers. He returned to Italy in the summer of that same year; after a brief stay, the Emperor set out on another journey that would last three years.

Greece, Asia and Egypt

In 128 he again attended the Eleusinian Mysteries. He visited Athens and Sparta, the two cities that had fought for control of Greece. Apparently, the Emperor considered reviving the Amphictyonic League—which would have its base at Delphi—but in the end he discarded the idea. The Panhellenion was to be a council where representatives of the most important Greek cities would meet. After setting the affairs of the territory in order he traveled to Ephesus.

Greece, Judea and Illyria

After the construction of Antinoöpolis, Hadrian traveled to Rome or stayed in Athens (131–132) in order to go to the Near East, where the Second Jewish–Roman War had broken out (132). The epigraphic studies carried out in the area reveal that he placed himself at the head of the troops that fought the rebels. In 133 he returned to Rome—again according to the testimony offered by epigraphy—by way of Illyria.

Final years

Succession

Bust of Hadrian, National Archaeological Museum of Athens (Greece).

The last years of his reign were spent in the capital; in 134 he took a new imperial acclamation on the occasion of the end of the conflict in Judea, and in 136 he ordered the construction of the Temple of Venus and Roma on the site of Nero's Domus Aurea.

In order to resolve the question of succession, he adopted one of the ordinary consuls of the year 136, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, who took the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. He was granted the tribunicia potestas, the administration of Pannonia and a new consulship in 137. However, the man who with complete certainty was going to be emperor after Hadrian's death died on January 1, 138.

After the death of Aelius Caesar, Hadrian adopted Titus Fulvius Boionius Arrius Aurelius Antoninus, one of the four legatus consularis of Italy, who had held the proconsulship of Asia. On February 25, 138 he was granted the tribunicia potestas and the imperium. Likewise, one of the conditions of Antoninus's adoption was that he in turn adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian's intentions have been intensely debated; although it has been established that Annius Verus—the emperor Marcus Aurelius—was the chosen successor, others write that the Emperor sought to favor Ceionius Commodus—heir of Aelius Caesar—although he was obliged at the same time to show favor toward Annius Verus because of his connections with the Narbonensian and Hispanic senators, one of whom was he himself. Other experts state that it was Antoninus Pius—uncle of Annius Verus—who placed him in a favorable position with respect to Annius Verus; the fact that Annius Verus divorced Ceionia Fabia and married Annia Faustina—heiress of Antoninus Pius—supports this theory. Upon his accession to the throne, Marcus Aurelius himself wished to reign with Lucius Verus.

Classical authors describe the last years of the reign as "a period marked by conflicts and unhappiness." The succession conflict was heightened by the defection of two important candidates to the throne: Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus and Pedanius Fuscus. Hadrian ordered the killing of these two men. Servianus said at the moment of his death: "You know very well, gods, that I am guilty of no wrong. As for Hadrian, I ask only this: that he long for death and be unable to die." The prophecy was fulfilled; Hadrian suffered to the end from a prolonged illness, and his servants prevented him from taking his own life on more than one occasion.

Death

Hadrian died on July 10, 138 at his villa in Baiae; he was 62 years old. Heart failure is believed to have caused the Emperor's death. Cassius Dio and the Historia Augusta bear witness to his poor health, and a 1980 study noted that the statues made at the end of his reign show creases in the earlobe, a feature associated with ischemic heart disease.

He was first buried at Puteoli, near his villa, in a residence that had belonged to Cicero. Shortly afterward, the transfer of the body to Rome was ordered, where he was buried in the Gardens of Domitia, near the works on his mausoleum. After the completion of construction, in 139, his remains were cremated and the ashes were moved to the mausoleum, where those of Vibia Sabina and of Lucius Aelius Caesar, whom the Emperor had adopted and who had died a year earlier, already lay. Antoninus Pius deified him that same year and moved his ashes to the temple in the Campus Martius.

Funerary poem

According to the Historia Augusta, the Emperor wrote a poem on his deathbed:

Animula, vagula, blandula Hospes comesque corporis Quae nunc abibis in loca Pallidula, rigida, nudula, Nec, ut soles, dabis iocos...	Little soul, gentle, wandering Guest and friend of the body Where will you dwell now Pale, rigid, naked Unable to play as before...?
— P. Aelius Hadrianus Imp.

Bibliography

• Anon., Epitome de Caesaribus... ex libris Sex. Aurelii Victoris: Latin text at [10].
• Birley, Anthony. Adriano. La biografía de un Emperador que cambió el curso de la Historia, Barcelona, Península, 2003-2005. ISBN 84-96333-36-1 (1st English edition: Hadrian. The restless emperor, London, Routledge, 1997).
• Blázquez, José María. Adriano, Barcelona, Ariel, 2008.
• Cassius Dio. Historias, English translation at [11] Archived 2020-03-29 at the Wayback Machine.
• Spartianus, Aelius. "Vida de Adriano", in: Biógrafos y panegiristas latinos, Madrid, Aguilar, 1969. The original Latin text is available online: Vita Hadriani; French translation from 1845 (with some errors) at [12]; English version at [13] (curiously, it omits the controversial mention of Rome as his birthplace).
• Yourcenar, Marguerite. Mémoires d'Hadrien, Paris, Plon, 1951. (multiple editions in Spanish).

External links

• Biography in De Imperatoribus Romanis (in English)
• Colossal statue of the emperor Hadrian found at Sagalassos, Turkey (July 2007) — BBC news report: [14] — Link to the website of the Belgian research team, with impressive illustrations: [15]
• "Hadrian, Empire and Conflict". Exhibition at the British Museum (London) (July 24 to October 26, 2008)
• Collection of articles on the emperor Hadrian.
• Historia Augusta: On the Life of Hadrian (De Vita Hadriani).
  • Latin text, with electronic index, at the Perseus Project. Using the active label "load", found at the top right, help in English with the Latin vocabulary of the text is obtained.
  • Latin text, on Wikisource.
  • Latin text, on the website The Latin Library.