Hadrian biography
The Emperor was buried first at Puteoli, but then Antoninus Pius created the extraordinary Tomb of Hadrian in Rome, and his body was cremated and the ashes placed to the tomb. Hadrian was traveling a lot.
Hadrian biography: 3 Hadrian was born in Rome6
More than half of his reign was spent outside Italy. Hadrian traveled for various reasons if previous emperors left Rome primarily because of wars and then returned to the Eternal City. The Emperor supported the implementation of provincial towns municipia and semi-autonomous urban communities with their laws in contrast to the creation of new Roman colonies with Roman constitutions.
Hadrian did a lot of significant building projects. This is the reason why the cult in honor of Antinous grew. In Rome, Hadrian rebuilt many villas and buildings. Most of these constructions survived for centuries. The Emperor had a passion for architecture and took part in project planning. The building of the Wall was begun in AD. It marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain.
Since it was long and massive, the Wall was also dedicated to hadrian biography the power of Rome. Its original width was 9. Emperor Hadrian was known for his architectural patronage and had numerous structures built in Rome and throughout the Roman Empire during his reign. This vast retreat showcased various architectural styles from different parts of the empire.
Moreover, some of these constructions, like the Pantheon, were rebuilds or renovations of pre-existing structures. Author: Kate Zusmann. I have lived in the Eternal City for the hadrian biography 12 years. They say every angle of Rome has its history, and I'm here to tell you about the most intriguing historical facts and city legends.
Contents Toggle. What was Emperor Hadrian famous for? His reign would witness significant military, administrative, and cultural developments, leaving a lasting legacy on the Roman world. This alliance was not merely a bond of affection but also a strategic convergence within the imperial family, as Sabina was the granddaughter of Matidia and the great-niece of Trajan, thereby weaving Hadrian further into the fabric of the ruling dynasty.
Serving as quaestor and staff officer during the First Dacian War, Hadrian demonstrated his capability to navigate the complex interplay of military and political responsibilities, an experience that would underpin his later governance as emperor. The marriage, however, was far from idyllic. Hadrian is renowned for his profound impact on the Roman Empire, distinguished by a legacy of monumental architecture, legal reform, and a strategic approach to imperial governance.
One of his earliest and most significant decisions was to withdraw Roman forces from the territories east of the Euphrates, territories that had been annexed by his predecessor, Trajan. His travels were not merely inspections; they were a mission to understand the diverse realms of his empire, to bring a sense of unity and to directly address the concerns and challenges faced by the provinces.
His architectural contributions include the Pantheon in Rome, with its revolutionary dome, and the city of Antinoopolis in Egypt, founded in memory of his beloved companion Antinous. This legal codification was a significant achievement, providing a foundation for Roman law that would influence legal systems for centuries. Additionally, his efforts to Hellenize the empire and his open admiration for Greek culture were viewed with suspicion by the Roman elite, who saw them as a departure from traditional Roman values.
The Jewish Revolt under his rule, triggered by his policies in Judea, including the establishment of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem, was a major conflict that marred his reign. The revolt was brutally suppressed, resulting in significant loss of life and further alienating Jewish communities from Roman rule. Recognizing the complexity and often the inconsistency of Roman law, he sought to streamline and codify it, making legal processes more transparent and accessible.
To this end, he appointed Lucius Salvius Julianus, a distinguished jurist from Africa, to undertake a comprehensive review and consolidation of the praetorian edicts. These edicts, historically announced annually by the praetors, had accumulated over the years, creating a labyrinthine body of law that was difficult for even the most learned to navigate.
Although he later spent a short amount of time in Greece, being elected as a citizen of Athens, his career at this time mostly centered around Upper Pannonia. While serving in the Fifth legion, Hadrian fought in a series of wars against the Dacians.
Hadrian biography: Hadrian, Roman emperor (–
It is said, although with little surviving evidence, that he was rewarded by Trajan — who was by now Emperor — for his military prowess. Nevertheless, he was soon appointed as governor of Syria when the incumbent had gone to address further problems with the Dacians. By now, Trajan was mortally hadrian biography, and attempted to go home to Rome, leaving Hadrian in charge of the Roman rearguard in Syria.
The Emperor was dying before he could complete his journey, so he adopted Hadrian as his heir. Once back in Rome, Hadrian efficiently ensured loyalty from his legions, dismissing those who seemed to be potential trouble-makers. Hadrian developed a reputation for excellence in his military administration, but part of the reason for this was that his reign was relatively peaceful, with the Second Roman-Jewish War being the only really major conflict of his years in power.
He relieved Judea's governor, the outstanding Moorish general Lusius Quietusof his personal guard of Moorish auxiliaries; [ 59 ] [ 60 ] then he moved on to quell disturbances along the Danube frontier. The reasons for these four executions remain obscure. Official recognition of Hadrian as a legitimate heir may have come too late to dissuade other potential claimants.
He was probably Hadrian's chief rival for the throne; a senator of the highest rank, breeding, and connections; according to the Historia AugustaHadrian had considered making Nigrinus his heir apparent before deciding to get rid of him. Hadrian was to spend more than half his reign outside Italy. Whereas previous emperors had, for the most part, relied on the reports of their imperial representatives around the Empire, Hadrian wished to see things for himself.
Hadrian biography: Hadrian was Roman emperor from to
Previous emperors had often left Rome for long periods, but mostly to go to war, returning once the conflict was settled. Hadrian's near-incessant travels may represent a calculated break with traditions and attitudes in which the empire was a purely Roman hegemony. Hadrian sought to include provincials in a commonwealth of civilised peoples and a common Hellenic culture under Roman supervision.
A cosmopolitan, ecumenical intent is evident in coin issues of Hadrian's later reign, showing the emperor "raising up" the personifications of various provinces. The self-indulgent emperor Nero had enjoyed a prolonged and peaceful tour of Greece and had been criticised by the Roman elite for abandoning his fundamental responsibilities as emperor.
In the eastern provinces, and to some extent in the west, Nero had enjoyed popular support; claims of his imminent return or rebirth emerged almost immediately after his death. Hadrian may have consciously exploited these positive, popular connections during his own travels. Prior to Hadrian's arrival in Britanniathe province had suffered a major rebellion from to Fronto writes about military losses in Britannia at the time.
In Hadrian initiated the construction of a wall "to separate Romans from barbarians". Reduction of defence costs may also have played a role, as the Wall deterred attacks on Roman territory at a lower cost than a massed border army, [ 90 ] and controlled cross-border trade and immigration. He never saw the finished wall that bears his name.
Hadrian appears to have continued through southern Gaul. At Nemausushe may have overseen the building of a basilica dedicated to his patroness Plotina, who had recently died in Rome and had been deified at Hadrian's request. InHadrian crossed the Mediterranean to Mauretaniawhere he personally led a minor campaign against local rebels. At some point, he visited Cyrenewhere he personally funded the training of young men from well-bred families for the Roman military.
Cyrene had benefited earlier in Hadrian's reign in from his restoration of public buildings destroyed during the earlier, Trajanic Jewish revolt. When Hadrian arrived on the Euphrateshe personally negotiated a settlement with the Parthian King Osroes Iinspected the Roman defences, then set off westwards, along the Black Sea coast. Nicomedia had been hit by an earthquake only shortly before his stay; Hadrian provided funds for its rebuilding and was acclaimed as restorer of the province.
It is possible that Hadrian visited Claudiopolis and saw the beautiful Antinousa young man of humble birth who became Hadrian's lover. Literary and epigraphic sources say nothing of when or hadrian biography they met; depictions of Antinous show him aged 20 or so, shortly before his death in In he would most likely have been a youth of 13 or With or without Antinous, Hadrian travelled through Anatolia.
Various traditions suggest his presence at particular locations and allege his foundation of a city within Mysia, Hadrianutheraeafter a successful boar hunt. At about this time, plans to complete the Temple of Zeus in Cyzicusbegun by the kings of Pergamonwere put into practice. The temple received a colossal statue of Hadrian. Cyzicus, PergamonSmyrnaEphesus and Sardes were promoted as regional centres for the imperial cult neocoros.
Hadrian arrived in Greece during the autumn of and participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. He had a particular commitment to Athens, which had previously granted him citizenship [ ] and an archonate ; [ ] at the Athenians' request, he revised their constitution — among other things, he added a new phyle tribewhich was named after him. He refused to intervene in a local dispute between producers of olive oil and the Athenian Assembly and Councilwho had imposed production hadrian biographies on oil producers; [ ] yet he granted an imperial subsidy for the Athenian grain supply.
During that winter, Hadrian toured the Peloponnese. His exact route is uncertain, but it took in Epidaurus ; Pausanias describes temples built there by Hadrian, and his statue — in heroic nudity — erected by its citizens [ ] in thanks to their "restorer". Antinous and Hadrian may have already been lovers at this time; Hadrian showed particular generosity to Mantineawhich shared ancient, mythic, politically useful links with Antinous' home at Bithynia.
He restored Mantinea's Temple of Poseidon Hippios[ ] [ ] and according to Pausanias, restored the city's original, classical name. Hadrian also rebuilt the ancient shrines of Abae and Megaraand the Heraion of Argos.
Hadrian biography: Hadrian assumed control over the
During his tour of the Peloponnese, Hadrian persuaded the Spartan grandee Eurycles Herculanus — leader of the Euryclid family that had ruled Sparta since Augustus' day — to enter the Senate, alongside the Athenian grandee Herodes Atticus the Elder. The two aristocrats would be the first from "Old Greece" to enter the Roman Senate, as representatives of Sparta and Athens, traditional rivals and "great powers" of the Classical Age.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus had been under construction for more than five centuries; Hadrian committed the vast resources at his command to ensure that the job would be finished. On his return to Italy, Hadrian made a detour to Sicily. Coins celebrate him as the restorer of the island. In early March Hadrian set off on a tour of Italy; his route has been reconstructed through the evidence of his gifts and donations.
Less welcome than such largesse was his decision in to divide Italy into four regions under imperial legates with consular rank, acting as governors. They were given jurisdiction over all of Italy, excluding Rome itself, therefore shifting Italian cases from the courts of Rome. Hadrian fell ill around this time; whatever the nature of his illness, it did not stop him from setting off in the spring of to hadrian biography Africa.
His arrival coincided with the good omen of rain, which ended a drought. Along with his usual role as benefactor and restorer, he found time to inspect the troops; his speech to them survives. In SeptemberHadrian attended the Eleusinian Mysteries again. This time his visit to Greece seems to have concentrated on Athens and Sparta — the two ancient rivals for dominance of Greece.
Hadrian had played with the idea of focusing his Greek revival around the Amphictyonic League based in Delphi, but by now he had decided on something far grander. His new Panhellenion was going to be a council that would bring Greek cities together. Having set in motion the preparations — deciding whose claim to be a Greek city was genuine would take time — Hadrian set off for Ephesus.
Hadrian later sent a letter to the Council of Ephesus, supporting Erastus as a worthy candidate for town councillor and offering to pay the requisite fee. As Pompey was universally acknowledged as responsible for establishing Rome's power in the east, this restoration was probably linked to a need to reaffirm Roman Eastern hegemony following social unrest there during Trajan's late reign.
While Hadrian and his entourage were sailing on the NileAntinous drowned. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, and accident, suicide, murder and religious sacrifice have all been postulated. Historia Augusta offers the following account:. During a journey on the Nile he lost Antinous, his favourite, and for this youth he wept like a woman.
Concerning this incident there are varying rumours; for some claim that he had devoted himself to death for Hadrian, and others — what both his beauty and Hadrian's sensuality suggest. But however this may be, the Greeks deified him at Hadrian's request, and declared that oracles were given through his agency, but these, it is commonly asserted, were composed by Hadrian himself.
He then continued down the Nile to Thebeswhere his visit to the Colossi of Memnon on 20 and 21 November was commemorated by four epigrams inscribed by Julia Balbilla. After that, he headed north, reaching the Fayyum at the beginning of December. Hadrian's movements after his journey down the Nile are uncertain. Whether or not he returned to Rome, he travelled in the East during —, to organise and inaugurate his new Panhellenionwhich was to be focused on the Athenian Temple to Olympian Zeus.
As local conflicts had led to the failure of the previous scheme for a Hellenic association centered on Delphi, Hadrian decided instead for a grand league of all Greek cities. It allowed Hadrian to appear as the fictive heir to Pericleswho supposedly had convened a previous Panhellenic Congress — such a Congress is mentioned only in Pericles' biography by Plutarchwho respected Rome's imperial order.
Epigraphical evidence suggests that the prospect of applying to the Panhellenion held little attraction to the wealthier, Hellenised cities of Asia Minor, which were jealous of Athenian and European Greek preeminence within Hadrian's scheme. Hadrian bestowed honorific titles on many regional centres. Hadrian had spent the winter of —32 in Athens, where he dedicated the now-completed Temple of Olympian Zeus[ ] At some time inhe headed East, to Judaea.
He may have planned to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony — as Vespasian had done with Caesarea Maritima — with various honorific and fiscal privileges. The non-Roman population would have no obligation to participate in Roman religious rituals but were expected to support the Roman imperial order; this is attested in Caesarea, where some Jews served in the Roman army during both the 66 and rebellions.
A tradition based on the Historia Augusta suggests that the revolt was spurred by Hadrian's abolition of circumcision brit milah ; [ ] which as a Hellenist he viewed as mutilation. It probably began between summer and fall of The Roman governor Tineius Tynius Rufus asked for an army to crush the resistance; bar Kokhba punished any Jew who refused to join his ranks.
The Romans were overwhelmed by the organised ferocity of the uprising. Roman losses were heavy; an entire legion or its numeric equivalent of around 4, The rebellion was quashed by According to Cassius Dio. Roman war operations in Judea left someJews dead and 50 fortified towns and villages razed. An unknown proportion of the population was enslaved.
The extent of punitive measures against the Jewish population remains a matter of debate. Hadrian renamed Judea province Syria Palaestina. According to Epiphanius, Hadrian appointed Aquila from Sinope in Pontus as "overseer of the work of building the city", since he was related to him by marriage. Inscriptions make it clear that inHadrian took to the field with his armies against the rebels.
He then returned to Rome, probably in that year and almost certainly — judging from inscriptions — via Illyricum. Hadrian spent the final years of his life in Rome. Inhe took an imperial salutation for the end of the Third Jewish War which was not actually concluded until the following year. Commemorations and achievement awards were kept to a minimum, as Hadrian came to see the war "as a cruel and sudden disappointment to his aspirations" towards a cosmopolitan empire.
Empress Sabina died, probably inafter an unhappy marriage with which Hadrian had coped as a political necessity. The Historia Augusta biography states that Hadrian himself declared that his wife's "ill-temper and irritability" would be reason enough for a divorce, were he a private citizen. Hadrian's marriage to Sabina had been childless.
Suffering from poor health, Hadrian turned to the issue of succession. Inhe adopted one of the ordinary consuls of that year, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, who, as an emperor-in-waiting, took the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. He was the son-in-law of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, one of the "four consulars" executed in His health was delicate, and his reputation apparently more that "of a voluptuous, well-educated great lord than that of a leader".
In the interests of dynastic stability, Hadrian required that Antoninus adopt both Lucius Ceionius Commodus son of the deceased Aelius Caesar and Marcus Annius Verus grandson of an influential senator of the same name who had been Hadrian's close friend ; Annius was already betrothed to Aelius Caesar's daughter Ceionia Fabia. When he eventually became Emperor, Marcus Aurelius would co-opt Ceionius Commodus as his co-Emperor, under the name of Lucius Veruson his own initiative.
Hadrian's last few years were marked by conflict and unhappiness. Servianus, though now far too old, had stood in the line of succession at the beginning of Hadrian's reign; Fuscus is said to have had designs on the imperial power for himself. Inhe may have attempted a coup in which his grandfather was implicated; Hadrian ordered that both be put to death.
Hadrian died in the year on 10 July, in his villa at Baiae at the age of 62, having reigned for 21 years. He was buried at Puteolinear Baiae, on an estate that had once belonged to Cicero. Soon after, his remains were transferred to Rome and buried in the Gardens of Domitiaclose to the almost-complete mausoleum. Upon completion of the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome in by his successor Antoninus Pius, his body was cremated.
His ashes were placed there together with those of his wife Vibia Sabina and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius Caesarwho also died in The Senate had been reluctant to grant Hadrian divine honours; but Antoninus persuaded them by threatening to refuse the position of Emperor. Most of Hadrian's military activities were consistent with his ideology of empire as a community of mutual interest and support.
He focused on protection from external and internal threats; on "raising" existing provinces rather than the aggressive acquisition of hadrian biography and territory through subjugation of "foreign" peoples that had characterised the early empire. The 4th-century historian Aurelius Victor saw Hadrian's withdrawal from Trajan's territorial gains in Mesopotamia as a jealous belittlement of Trajan's achievements Traiani gloriae invidens.
Hadrian retained control over Osroene through the client king Parthamaspateswho had once served as Trajan's client king of Parthia; [ ] and aroundHadrian negotiated a peace treaty with the now-independent Parthia according to the Historia Augustadisputed. The attack was repulsed by Hadrian's governor, the historian Arrian[ ] who subsequently installed a Roman "adviser" in Iberia.
Between andhe sent Hadrian a lengthy letter Periplus of the Euxine on a maritime trip around the Black Sea that was hadrian biography to offer relevant information in case a Roman intervention was needed. Hadrian also developed permanent fortifications and military posts along the empire's borders limitessl. That helped keep the military usefully occupied in times of peace; his wall across Britannia was built by ordinary troops.
A series of mostly wooden fortificationsforts, outposts and watchtowers strengthened the Danube and Rhine borders. Troops practised intensive, regular drill routines. Although his coins showed military images almost as often as peaceful ones, Hadrian's policy was peace through strengtheven threat, [ ] with an emphasis on disciplina disciplinewhich was the subject of two monetary series.
Cassius Dio praised Hadrian's emphasis on "spit and polish" as cause for the generally peaceful character of his reign. Faced with a shortage of legionary recruits from Italy and other Romanised provinces, Hadrian systematised the use of less costly numeri — ethnic non-citizen troops with special weapons, such as Eastern mounted archers, in low-intensity, mobile defensive tasks such as dealing with border infiltrators and skirmishers.
Hadrian enacted, through the jurist Salvius Julianusthe first attempt to codify Roman law. This was the Perpetual Edictaccording to which the legal actions of praetors became fixed statutes and, as such, could no longer be subjected to personal interpretation or change by any magistrate other than the Emperor. The new civil servants were free men and as such supposed to act on behalf of the interests of the "Crown", not of the Emperor as an individual.
Hadrian codified the customary legal privileges of the wealthiest, most influential, highest-status citizens described as splendidiores personae or honestioreswho held a traditional right to pay fines when found guilty of relatively minor, non-treasonous offences. Low-ranking persons — alii "the others"including low-ranking citizens — were humiliores who for the same offences could be subject to extreme physical punishments, including forced labour in the mines or in public works, as a form of fixed-term servitude.
While Republican citizenship had carried at least notional equality under law, and the right to justice, offences in imperial courts were judged and punished according to the relative prestige, rank, reputation and moral worth of both parties; senatorial courts were apt to be lenient when trying one of their peers, and to deal very harshly with offences committed against one of their number by low-ranking citizens or non-citizens.
For treason maiestasbeheading was the worst punishment that the law could inflict on honestiores ; the humiliores might suffer crucifixion, burning, or condemnation to the beasts in the arena. A great number of Roman citizens maintained a precarious social and economic advantage at the lower end of the hierarchy. Hadrian found it necessary to clarify that decurionsthe usually middle-class, elected local officials responsible for running the ordinary, everyday official business of the provinces, counted as honestiores ; so did soldiers, veterans and their families, as far as civil law was concerned; by implication, almost all citizens below those ranks — the vast majority of the Empire's population — counted as humilioreswith low citizen status, high tax obligations and limited rights.
Like most Romans, Hadrian seems to have accepted slavery as morally correct, an expression of the same natural order that rewarded "the best men" with wealth, power and respect. When confronted by a crowd demanding the freeing of a popular slave charioteer, Hadrian replied that he could not free a slave belonging to another person.
Hadrian issued a general rescriptimposing a ban on castration, performed on freedman or slave, voluntarily or not, on pain of death for both the performer and the patient. He enforced dress-standards among the honestiores ; senators and knights were expected to wear the toga when in public. He imposed strict separation between the sexes in theatres and public baths; to discourage idleness, the latter were not allowed to open until in the afternoon, "except for medical reasons.
One of Hadrian's immediate duties on accession was to seek senatorial consent for the deification of his predecessor, Trajan, and any members of Trajan's family to whom he owed a debt of gratitude. Matidia Augusta, Hadrian's mother-in-law, died in December and was duly deified. She had recently died in Rome and had been deified at Hadrian's request.
As Emperor, Hadrian was also Rome's pontifex maximusresponsible for all religious affairs and the proper functioning of official religious institutions throughout the empire.