Hadrian or Adrian (Latin:IMPERATOR•CAESAR•TRAIANVS•HADRIANVS•AVGVSTVS) was a Roman emperor, born on January 24, 76 in Italica in Betica (Spain), and died on July 10, 138 in his residence. He succeeded his adoptive father Trajan in 117, having strengthened his bond with the imperial family through marriage with Vibia Sabina, a niece of Trajan.
Humanist emperor, scholar, poet and with a peaceful reputation, he did not attach great importance to the conquests of Trajan on the Euphrates and broke with the expansionist policy of his predecessor, endeavoring to pacify and organize the Empire while by consolidating the borders - he was the first emperor to organize the limes firmly, and to apply a strictly defensive policy. We owe him, among other things, continuous fortifications called limes, intended to protect the empire against barbarian invasions (Hadrian's Wall in northern Brittany - present-day Great Britain - for example).
In love with the Hellenic world, he tried to restore the Greek religion by restricting Eastern cults although he devoted a particular cult to the Egyptian gods following his trip to this province of the Empire around 130; Indeed, during his visit to Alexandria, he ordered the restoration or even the reconstruction of the temple of Serapis and had a sanctuary built for the Egyptian gods called Canopus in his imperial villa in Tivoli. Also in 127, in a rescript to the proconsul of Asia, Minicius Fundanus, he asserts that Christians cannot be put to death without trial. But he severely repressed the uprisings of Judea, in particular in 132/135 the revolt of Bar-Kokheba which gave him an ephemeral independence. Jerusalem, taken in 134, is forbidden to the Jews and becomes the colony Ælia Capitolina (often spelled thus Aelia Capitolina); the Roman province is now called Palestine.
His travels allow him to observe a wide variety of architectural forms, especially in the East, from which he draws inspiration for his projects. He launched major works, first in collaboration with the great architect Apollodorus of Damascus, before falling out with him and exiled him (and had him executed, according to Dion Cassius). Some of his accomplishments include:
* In Rome itself, the temple of Venus and Rome, begun in 121, according to a Hellenistic model
* the Pantheon in 125, great architectural innovation
* his Mausoleum, modeled on that of Augustus
* in Tibur, the villa that bears his name
and in the provinces:
* the great baths of Leptis Magna
* Hadrian's Wall
* etc.
For his relaxation, Hadrian had a sumptuous villa built near Tibur, called Hadrian's Villa, arranged and decorated as souvenirs of his travels in the Roman Empire.
His love for the young Antinoüs (or Antinoos), who died in 130, led him to have him represented many times in statues, which have sometimes come down to us and allow us to give a face to the famous Bithynian, as well as to found the city of Antinoe in Egypt. This relationship served as an argument to his enemies
The historian Sextus Aurelius Victor (died after 390) writes in his Book of the Caesars, chapter XIV:“He (Hadrian) was finally seen to seek, with scrupulous solicitude, all the refinements of luxury and voluptuousness. From then on, a thousand rumors ran about his shame:he was accused of having stigmatized the honor of young boys, of having burned for Antinous with an unnatural passion:this was, it was said, the only reason for which he had given the name of this adolescent to a town he had founded; it was for this reason that he had erected statues to this favourite. »
Married to Sabine, he has no children with her. Hadrian therefore adopts Lucius Aelius Verus. The latter receives the nickname Caesar. It's a curious choice. He's 35 and doesn't seem to be the most capable. Indeed, his career is purely civilian and his health is delicate. It is possible that Hadrian wanted to choose a successor who calms the Senate. The senators do not appreciate the anger of the emperor at the end of his reign. In 136, Hadrian had Lucius Iulius Ursus Servianus assassinated, whom he suspected of wanting to replace Lucius with his grandson Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus. But Lucius died on January 1, 138.
The final adoptee is therefore Aurelius Antoninus (better known as Antoninus Pius), who succeeded him as head of the Roman Empire. The latter is forced to adopt the future Marcus Aurelius and the son of the late Lucius Aelius Verus:Lucius Verus Commodus. Hadrian therefore prepares two generations of emperors.
Hadrian died in 138, after several years of suffering caused by osteoarthritis. His ashes were placed in Hadrian's Mausoleum. His successor Antonin the Pious had to negotiate for six months with the Senate to obtain that Hadrian receive the apotheosis, as the relationship between Hadrian and the Senate had become execrable.