Hadrian

Lore & Background

Early in his political career, Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, grandniece of the ruling emperor, Trajan, and his second cousin once removed. The marriage and Hadrian's later succession as emperor were probably promoted by Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina. Soon after his own succession, Hadrian had four leading senators unlawfully put to death, most likely because they seemed to threaten the security of his reign; this earned him the senate's lifelong enmity. He earned further disapproval by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains in Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, and parts of Dacia. Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders and the unification of the Roman empire's disparate peoples and subjects. He was a promoter of philhellenism. Hadrian energetically pursued his own Imperial ideals and personal interests. He visited almost every province of the Empire, and indulged a preference for direct intervention in imperial and provincial affairs, especially building projects. He is particularly known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. In Rome itself, he rebuilt the Pantheon and constructed the vast Temple of Venus and Roma, as well as the Villa Adriana in Tivoli. In Egypt, he may have rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria. As an ardent admirer of Greek culture, he promoted Athens as the cultural capital of the Empire. His intense relationship with Greek youth Antinous and the latter's untimely death led Hadrian to establish a widespread, popular cult. Late in Hadrian's reign, he suppressed the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which he saw as a failure of his universal project and philhellenic ideal. Hadrian's last years were marred by chronic illness. His marriage had been both unhappy and childless. In 138, he adopted Antoninus Pius and nominated him as a successor, on condition that Antoninus adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his own heirs. Hadrian died the same year at Baiae, and Antoninus had him deified, despite opposition from the Senate. Later historians counted him as one of Rome's so-called 'Five Good Emperors', and as a benevolent autocrat. His own Senate found him remote and authoritarian. He has been described as enigmatic and contradictory, with a capacity for both great personal generosity and extreme cruelty and driven by insatiable curiosity, conceit, and ambition.

Reader's Guide

Hadrian's parents died in 86 when he was ten years old. He and his sister became wards of Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus. Hadrian was physically active and enjoyed hunting; when he was 14, Trajan called him to Rome and arranged his further education in subjects appropriate to a young Roman aristocrat. Hadrian's enthusiasm for Greek literature and culture earned him the nickname Graeculus ('Greekling'), intended as a form of mild mockery. His first official post in Rome was as a member of the decemviri stlitibus judicandis. He then served as a military tribune, first with the Legio II Adiutrix in 95, then with the Legio V Macedonica. During Hadrian's second stint as tribune, the frail and aged reigning emperor Nerva adopted Trajan as his heir; Hadrian was dispatched to give Trajan the news – or most probably was one of many emissaries charged with this same commission. Then Hadrian was transferred to Legio XXII Primigenia and a third tribunate. When Nerva died in 98, Hadrian is said to have hastened to Trajan, to inform him ahead of the official envoy sent by the governor, Hadrian's brother-in-law and rival Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus. In 101, Hadrian was back in Rome; he was elected quaestor, then quaestor imperatoris Traiani. His next post was as ab actis senatus. During the First Dacian War, Hadrian took the field as a member of Trajan's personal entourage, but was excused from his military post to take office in Rome as tribune of the plebs, in 105. After the war, he was probably elected praetor. During the Second Dacian War, Hadrian was in Trajan's personal service again. He was released to serve as legate of Legio I Minervia, then as governor of Lower Pannonia in 107, tasked with 'holding back the Sarmatians'. Between 107 and 108, Hadrian defeated an invasion of Roman-controlled Banat and Oltenia by the Iazyges. The exact terms of the peace treaty are not known. It is believed the Romans kept Oltenia in exchange for some form of concession, likely involving a one-time tribute payment. The Iazyges also took possession of Banat around this time, which may have been part of the treaty. Now in his mid-thirties, Hadrian travelled to Greece; he was granted Athenian citizenship and was appointed eponymous archon of Athens for a brief time (in 112). The Athenians awarded him a statue with an inscription in the Theatre of Dionysus offering a detailed acco

Did You Know?

• Hadrian's wet nurse was the slave Germana, probably of Germanic origin, to whom he was devoted throughout his life. He later freed her, and she ultimately outlived him, as shown by her funerary inscription, which was fou
• Hadrian's great-nephew, Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, from Barcino (Barcelona) would become Hadrian's colleague as co-consul in 118.
• One Roman biographer claims instead that Hadrian was born in Rome, but this view is held by a minority of scholars.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Hadrian (Publius Aelius Trajan Hadrian; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138." — Hadrian "Your lines were wanton but your heart was clean." — Hadrian "Animula vagula blandula, hospes comesque corporis, quae nunc abibis in loca, pallidula, rigida, nudula, nec ut soles dabis iocos?" — Hadrian "Dear fleeting sweeting, little soul, My body's comrade and its guest, What region now must be thy goal, Poor little wan, numb, naked soul, Unable, as of old, to jest?" — Hadrian