Hadrian 117-138 AD. Silver Denarius -Roman Imperial

Description: Hadrian(/hedrin/;Latin:Caesar Trinus Hadrinus[kaesar trajjans (h)adrijans]; 24 January 76 10 July 138) wasRoman emperorfrom 117 to 138. He was born inItalica(close to modernSantiponcein Spain), a Romanmunicipiumfounded byItalic settlersinHispania Baetica. He came from a branch of thegens Aeliathat originated in thePiceneantown ofHadria, theAeli Hadriani. His father was of senatorial rank and was a first cousin of EmperorTrajan. Hadrian married Trajan's grand-nieceVibia Sabinaearly in his career before Trajan became emperor and possibly at the behest of Trajan's wifePompeia Plotina. Plotina and Trajan's close friend and adviserLucius Licinius Surawere well disposed towards Hadrian. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that he had nominated Hadrian as emperor immediately before his death.Rome's military and Senate approved Hadrian's succession, but four leading senators were unlawfully put to death soon after. They had opposed Hadrian or seemed to threaten his succession, and the Senate held him responsible for their deaths and never forgave him. He earned further disapproval among the elite by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains inMesopotamia,Assyria,Armenia, and parts ofDacia. Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders and the unification of the empire's disparate peoples. He is known for buildingHadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit ofBritannia. Hadrian energetically pursued his own imperial ideals and personal interests. He visited almost every province of the Empire, accompanied by an imperial retinue of specialists and administrators. He encouraged military preparedness and discipline and fostered, designed, or personally subsidised various civil and religious institutions and building projects. In Rome itself, he rebuilt thePantheonand constructed the vastTemple of Venus and Roma. In Egypt, he may have rebuilt theSerapeum of Alexandria. He was an ardent admirer of Greece and sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the Empire, so he ordered the construction of many opulent temples there. His intense relationship with Greek youthAntinousand the latter's untimely death led Hadrian to establish a widespread cult late in his reign. He suppressed theBar Kokhba revoltinJudaea. Hadrian's last years were marred by chronic illness. He saw the Bar Kokhba revolt as the failure of his panhellenic ideal. He executed two more senators for their alleged plots against him, and this provoked further resentment. His marriage toVibia Sabinahad been unhappy and childless; he adoptedAntoninus Piusin 138 and nominated him as a successor on the condition that Antoninus adoptMarcus AureliusandLucius Verusas his own heirs. Hadrian died the same year atBaiae, and Antoninus had him deified, despite opposition from the Senate.Edward Gibbonincludes him among the Empire's "Five Good Emperors", a "benevolent dictator"; Hadrian's 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, self-conceit, and ambition. Hadrian was born on 24 January 76, probably inItalica(near modernSeville), a Roman town in the province ofHispania Baetica; one Roman biographer claims he was born inRome. Hadrian's branch of the gens Aelia came from Hadria (modernAtri), an ancient town in thePicenumregion of Italia, the source of the nameHadrianus. TheAelii Hadrianiwere either part of the original settlers of Italica, founded byScipio Africanus, and therefore stationed in Hispania for several centuries, or moved there at an unknown time. Hadrian's father wasPublius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, asenatorofpraetorianrank, born and raised in Italica. Hadrian's mother wasDomitia Paulina, daughter of a distinguished Hispano-Roman senatorial family from Gades (Cdiz).His only sibling was an elder sister,Aelia Domitia Paulina. Hiswet nursewas the slave Germana, probably of Germanic origin, to whom he was devoted throughout his life. She was later freed by him and ultimately outlived him, as shown by her funerary inscription, which was found atHadrian's VillaatTivoli.Hadrian's great-nephew,Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, fromBarcino(Barcelona) would become Hadrian's colleague as co-consul in 118. As a senator, Hadrian's father would have spent much of his time in Rome.In terms of his later career, Hadrian's most significant family connection was toTrajan, his father'sfirst cousin, who was also of senatorial stock, and had been born and raised in Italica. Hadrian and Trajan were both considered to be in the words ofAurelius Victor "aliens", people "from the outside" (advenae). Hadrian's parents died in 86 when he was ten years old. He and his sister became wards of Trajan andPublius Acilius Attianus(who later became Trajan'sPraetorian prefect).Hadrian was physically active and enjoyed hunting; when he was 14, Trajan called him to Rome and arranged his furthereducationin subjects appropriate to a young Romanaristocrat.Hadrian's enthusiasm forGreek literatureand culture earned him the nicknameGraeculus("Greekling"), intended as a form of "mild mockery". Hadrian's first official post in Rome was as a member of thedecemviri stlitibus judicandis, one among manyvigintivirateoffices at the lowest level of thecursus honorum("course of honours") that could lead to higher office and a senatorial career. He then served as amilitary tribune, first with theLegioIIAdiutrixin 95, then with theLegio V Macedonica. During Hadrian's second stint as tribune, the frail and aged reigning emperorNervaadopted 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 toLegio XXII Primigeniaand a third tribunate.Hadrian's three tribunates gave him some career advantage. Most scions of the older senatorial families might serve one, or at most two, military tribunates as a prerequisite to higher office.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 electedquaestor, thenquaestor imperatoris Traiani, liaison officer between Emperor and the assembled Senate, to whom he read the Emperor's communiqus and speeches which he possibly composed on the emperor's behalf. In his role as imperialghostwriter, Hadrian took the place of the recently deceased Licinius Sura, Trajan's all-powerful friend and kingmaker.His next post was asab actis senatus, keeping the Senate's records.During theFirst 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 astribune of the plebs, in 105. After the war, he was probably electedpraetor.During theSecond Dacian War, Hadrian was in Trajan's personal service again. He was released to serve aslegateofLegio I Minervia, then as governor ofLower Pannoniain 107, tasked with "holding back theSarmatians".Between 107 and 108, Hadrian defeated an invasion of Roman-controlledBanatandOlteniaby theIazyges.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 appointedeponymous archonof Athens for a brief time (in 112).The Athenians awarded him a statue with an inscription in theTheatre of Dionysus(IGII2 3286) offering a detailed account of hiscursus honorumthus far.Thereafter, no more is heard of him untilTrajan's Parthian campaign. It is possible that he remained in Greece until his recall to the imperial retinue,when he joined Trajan's expedition againstParthiaas a legate.When the governor ofSyriawas sent to deal with renewed troubles in Dacia, Hadrian was appointed his replacement, with independent command.Trajan became seriously ill, and took ship for Rome, while Hadrian remained in Syria,de factogeneral commander of the Eastern Roman army.Trajan got as far as the coastal city ofSelinus, inCilicia, and died there on 8 August; he would be regarded as one of Rome's most admired, popular and best emperors. Relationship with Trajan and his family Around the time of his quaestorship, in 100 or 101, Hadrian had married Trajan's seventeen or eighteen-year-old grandniece,Vibia Sabina. Trajan himself seems to have been less than enthusiastic about the marriage, and with good reason, as the couple's relationship would prove to be scandalously poor.The marriage might have been arranged by Trajan's empress, Plotina. This highly cultured, influential woman shared many of Hadrian's values and interests, including the idea of the Roman Empire as a commonwealth with an underlying Hellenic culture.If Hadrian were to be appointed Trajan's successor, Plotina and her extended family could retain their social profile and political influence after Trajan's death.Hadrian could also count on the support of his mother-in-law,Salonia Matidia, who was the daughter of Trajan's beloved sisterUlpia Marciana.When Ulpia Marciana died in 112, Trajan had herdeified, and made Salonia Matidia anAugusta.Hadrian's personal relationship withTrajanwas complex and may have been difficult. Hadrian seems to have sought influence over Trajan, or Trajan's decisions, through cultivation of the latter's boy favourites; this gave rise to some unexplained quarrel, around the time of Hadrian's marriage to Sabina.Late in Trajan's reign, Hadrian failed to achieve a senior consulship, being only suffect consul for 108;this gave him parity of status with other members of the senatorial nobility,but no particular distinction befitting an heir designate.Had Trajan wished it, he could have promoted his protege topatricianrank and its privileges, which included opportunities for a fast track to consulship without prior experience as tribune; he chose not to.While Hadrian seems to have been granted the office of tribune of the plebs a year or so younger than was customary, he had to leave Dacia, and Trajan, to take up the appointment; Trajan might simply have wanted him out of the way.TheHistoria Augustadescribes Trajan's gift to Hadrian of a diamond ring that Trajan himself had received fromNerva, which "encouraged [Hadrian's] hopes of succeeding to the throne".While Trajan actively promoted Hadrian's advancement, he did so with caution. Succession Failure to nominate an heir could invite chaotic, destructive wresting of power by a succession of competing claimants a civil war. Too early a nomination could be seen as an abdication and reduce the chance for an orderly transmission of power.]As Trajan lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina, and closely watched by Prefect Attianus, he could have lawfully adopted Hadrian as heir by means of a simple deathbed wish, expressed before witnesses;]but when an adoption document was eventually presented, it was signed not by Trajan but by Plotina, and was dated the day after Trajan's death.That Hadrian was still in Syria was a further irregularity, as Roman adoption law required the presence of both parties at the adoption ceremony. Rumours, doubts, and speculation attended Hadrian's adoption and succession. It has been suggested that Trajan's young manservant Phaedimus, who died very soon after Trajan, was killed (or killed himself) rather than face awkward questions.Ancient sources are divided on the legitimacy of Hadrian's adoption:Dio Cassiussaw it as bogus and theHistoria Augustawriter as genuine.Anaureusminted early in Hadrian's reign represents the official position; it presents Hadrian as Trajan's "Caesar" (Trajan's heir designate).According to theHistoria Augusta, Hadrian informed the Senate of his accession in a letter as afait accompli, explaining that "the unseemly haste of the troops in acclaiming him emperor was due to the belief that the state could not be without an emperor".The new emperor rewarded the legions' loyalty with the customarybonus, and the Senate endorsed the acclamation. Various public ceremonies were organised on Hadrian's behalf, celebrating his "divine election" by all the gods, whose community now included Trajan, deified at Hadrian's request. Hadrian remained in the east for a while, suppressingthe Jewish revolt that had broken out under Trajan. He relieved Judea's governor, the outstanding Moorish generalLusius Quietus, of his personal guard of Moorish auxiliaries;then he moved on to quell disturbances along theDanubefrontier. In Rome, Hadrian's former guardian and currentpraetorian prefect, Attianus, claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy involving Lusius Quietus and three other leading senators, Lucius Publilius Celsus, Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus and Gaius Avidius Nigrinus.There was no public trial for the four they were triedin absentia, hunted down and killed.Hadrian claimed that Attianus had acted on his own initiative, and rewarded him with senatorial status and consular rank; then pensioned him off, no later than 120.]Hadrian assured the senate that henceforth their ancient right to prosecute and judge their own would be respected. 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.Hadrian's greatest rivals were Trajan's closest friends, the most experienced and senior members of the imperial council; any of them might have been a legitimate competitor for the imperial office (capaces imperii); and any of them might have supported Trajan's expansionist policies, which Hadrian intended to change.[66]One of their number wasAulus Cornelius Palmawho as a former conqueror ofArabia Nabateawould have retained a stake in the East.TheHistoria Augustadescribes Palma and a third executed senator, Lucius Publilius Celsus (consul for the second time in 113), as Hadrian's personal enemies, who had spoken in public against him.The fourth wasGaius Avidius Nigrinus, an ex-consul, intellectual, friend ofPliny the Youngerand (briefly) Governor of Dacia at the start of Hadrian's reign. He was probably Hadrian's chief rival for the throne; a senator of the highest rank, breeding, and connections; according to theHistoria Augusta, Hadrian had considered making Nigrinus his heir apparent before deciding to get rid of him.Soon after, in 125, Hadrian appointedQuintus Marcius Turboas his Praetorian Prefect.Turbo was his close friend, a leading figure of the equestrian order, a senior court judge and aprocurator.As Hadrian also forbade equestrians to try cases against senators,the Senate retained full legal authority over its members; it also remained the highest court of appeal, and formal appeals to the emperor regarding its decisions were forbidden.If this was an attempt to repair the damage done by Attianus, with or without Hadrian's full knowledge, it was not enough; Hadrian's reputation and relationship with his Senate were irredeemably soured, for the rest of his reign.Some sources describe Hadrian's occasional recourse to a network of informers, thefrumentariito discreetly investigate persons of high social standing, including senators and his close friends 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. 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.He supported the creation of provincial towns (municipia), semi-autonomous urban communities with their own customs and laws, rather than the imposition of new Romancolonieswith Roman constitutions. A cosmopolitan, ecumenical intent is evident in coin issues of Hadrian's later reign, showing the emperor "raising up" the personifications of various provinces.Aelius Aristideswould later write that Hadrian "extended over his subjects a protecting hand, raising them as one helps fallen men on their feet".All this did not go well with Roman traditionalists. The self-indulgent emperorNerohad 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 imminentreturn or rebirthemerged almost immediately after his death. Hadrian may have consciously exploited these positive, popular connections during his own travels.In theHistoria Augusta, Hadrian is described as "a little too much Greek", too cosmopolitan for a Roman emperor. Britannia and the West (122) Prior to Hadrian's arrival inBritannia, the province had suffered a major rebellion from 119 to 121.Inscriptions tell of anexpeditio Britannicathat involved major troop movements, including the dispatch of a detachment (vexillatio), comprising some 3,000 soldiers. Fronto writes about military losses in Britannia at the time.Coin legends of 119120 attest thatQuintus Pompeius Falcowas sent to restore order. In 122 Hadrian initiated the construction of a wall "to separate Romans from barbarians".The idea that the wall was built in order to deal with an actual threat or its resurgence, however, is probable but nevertheless conjectural.A general desire to cease the Empire's extension may have been the determining motive. 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,and controlled cross-border trade and immigration.A shrine was erected in York to Britannia as the divinepersonification of Britain; coins were struck, bearing her image, identified asBritania.By the end of 122, Hadrian had concluded his visit to Britannia. He never saw the finishedwall that bears his name. Hadrian appears to have continued through southern Gaul. AtNemausus, he may have overseen the building of abasilicadedicated to his patroness Plotina, who had recently died in Rome and had been deified at Hadrian's request.At around this time, Hadrian dismissed his secretaryab epistulis,the biographerSuetonius, for "excessive familiarity" towards the empress.Marcius Turbo's colleague as praetorian prefect,Gaius Septicius Clarus, was dismissed for the same alleged reason, perhaps a pretext to remove him from office.Hadrian spent the winter of 122/123 atTarraco, in Spain, where he restored the Temple ofAugustus. Africa, Parthia (123) In 123, Hadrian crossed the Mediterranean toMauretania, where he personally led a minor campaign against local rebels.The visit was cut short by reports of war preparations by Parthia; Hadrian quickly headed eastwards. At some point, he visitedCyrene, where 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 119) from his restoration of public buildings destroyed during the earlier, Trajanic Jewish revolt.Birley describes this kind of investment as "characteristic of Hadrian" Anatolia; Antinous (123124) When Hadrian arrived on theEuphrates, he personally negotiated a settlement with the Parthian KingOsroes I, inspected the Roman defences, then set off westwards, along the Black Sea coast.He probably wintered inNicomedia, the main city ofBithynia. 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 visitedClaudiopolisand saw the beautifulAntinous, a young man of humble birth who became Hadrian's beloved. Literary and epigraphic sources say nothing of when or where they met; depictions of Antinous show him aged 20 or so, shortly before his death in 130. In 123 he would most likely have been a youth of 13 or 14.It is also possible that Antinous was sent to Rome to be trained as a page to serve the emperor and only gradually rose to the status of imperial favourite.The actual history of their relationship is mostly unknown. With or without Antinous, Hadrian travelled throughAnatolia. Various traditions suggest his presence at particular locations and allege his foundation of a city within Mysia,Hadrianutherae, after a successful boar hunt. At about this time, plans to complete the Temple of Zeus inCyzicus, begun by the kings ofPergamon, were put into practice. The temple received a colossal statue of Hadrian. Cyzicus,Pergamon,Smyrna,EphesusandSardeswere promoted as regional centres for theimperial cult(neocoros). Greece (124125) Hadrian arrived in Greece during the autumn of 124, and participated in theEleusinian Mysteries. He had a particular commitment to Athens, which had previously granted him citizenship and anarchonate;at the Athenians' request, he revised their constitution among other things, he added a newphyle(tribe), which was named after him.Hadrian combined active, hands-on interventions with cautious restraint. He refused to intervene in a local dispute between producers ofolive oiland the AthenianAssemblyandCouncil, who had imposed production quotas on oil producers;yet he granted an imperial subsidy for the Athenian grain supply.Hadrian created twofoundations, to fund Athens' public games, festivals and competitions if no citizen proved wealthy or willing enough to sponsor them as aGymnasiarchorAgonothetes.Generally Hadrian preferred that Greek notables, including priests of the imperial cult, focus on more essential and durable provisions, especiallymunerasuch as aqueducts and public fountains (nymphaea).Athens was given twonymphaea; one brought water from Mount Parnes to theAthenia Agoravia a complex, challenging and ambitious system of aqueduct tunnels and reservoirs, to be constructed over several years.Several were given to Argos, to remedy a water-shortage so severe and so long-standing that "thirsty Argos" featured in Homeric epic.During that winter, Hadrian toured thePeloponnese. His exact route is uncertain, but it took inEpidaurus;Pausaniasdescribes temples built there by Hadrian, and his statue inheroic 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 toMantinea, which shared ancient, mythic, politically useful links with Antinous' home at Bithynia. He restored Mantinea's Temple ofPoseidon Hippios,and according to Pausanias, restored the city's original, classical name. It had been renamed Antigoneia since Hellenistic times, after the Macedonian KingAntigonus III Doson. Hadrian also rebuilt the ancient shrines ofAbaeandMegara, and theHeraion of Argos. During his tour of the Peloponnese, Hadrian persuaded theSpartangrandeeEurycles Herculanus leader of theEuryclidfamily that had ruled Sparta since Augustus' day to enter the Senate, alongside the Athenian grandeeHerodes 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.This was an important step in overcoming Greek notables' reluctance to take part in Roman political life.In March 125, Hadrian presided at the Athenian festival ofDionysia, wearing Athenian dress. TheTemple of Olympian Zeushad been under construction for more than five centuries; Hadrian committed the vast resources at his command to ensure that the job would be finished. Return to Italy and trip to Africa (126128) On his return to Italy, Hadrian made a detour toSicily. Coins celebrate him as the restorer of the island.Back in Rome, he saw the rebuilt Pantheon and his completed villa at nearbyTibur, among theSabine Hills. In early March 127 Hadrian set off on a tour of Italy; his route has been reconstructed through the evidence of his gifts and donations.He restored the shrine ofCuprainCupra Maritima, and improved the drainage of theFucine lake. Less welcome than such largesse was his decision in 127 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.Having Italy effectively reduced to the status of a group of mere provinces did not go down well with the Roman Senate,and the innovation did not long outlive Hadrian's reign. Hadrian fell ill around this time; whatever the nature of his illness, it did not stop him from setting off in the spring of 128 to visit Africa. His arrival coincided with the good omen of rain, which ended adrought. Along with his usual role as benefactor and restorer, he found time to inspect the troops; his speech to them survives.Hadrian returned to Italy in the summer of 128, but his stay was brief, as he set off on another tour that would last three years. Greece, Asia, and Egypt (128130); Antinous's death In September 128, Hadrian attended theEleusinian Mysteriesagain. This time his visit to Greece seems to have concentrated on Athens andSparta the two ancient rivals for dominance of Greece. Hadrian had played with the idea of focusing his Greek revival around theAmphictyonic Leaguebased in Delphi, but by now he had decided on something far grander. His newPanhellenionwas 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.From Greece, Hadrian proceeded by way of Asia to Egypt, probably conveyed across the Aegean with his entourage by an Ephesian merchant, Lucius Erastus. 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 Hadrian arrived in Egypt before the Egyptian New Year on 29 August 130. He opened his stay in Egypt by restoringPompey the Great's tomb atPelusium, offering sacrifice to him as aheroand composing anepigraphfor the tomb. 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.Hadrian and Antinous held a lion hunt in the Libyan desert; a poem on the subject by the Greek Pankrates is the earliest evidence that they travelled together. While Hadrian and his entourage were sailing on theNile, Antinous drowned. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, and accident, suicide, murder and religious sacrifice have all been postulated.Historia Augustaoffers 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. Hadrian founded the city ofAntinopolisin Antinous' honour on 30 October 130. He then continued down the Nile toThebes, where his visit to theColossi of Memnonon 20 and 21 November was commemorated by four epigrams inscribed byJulia Balbilla. After that, he headed north, reaching theFayyumat the beginning of December. Greece and the East (130132) Hadrian's movements after his journey down the Nile are uncertain. Whether or not he returned to Rome, he travelled in the East during 130131, to organise and inaugurate his newPanhellenion, which was to be focused on theAthenian 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.Successful applications for membership involved mythologised or fabricated claims to Greek origins, and affirmations of loyalty to imperial Rome, to satisfy Hadrian's personal, idealised notions of Hellenism.Hadrian saw himself as protector of Greek culture and the "liberties" of Greece in this case, urban self-government. It allowed Hadrian to appear as the fictive heir toPericles, who supposedly had convened a previous Panhellenic Congress such a Congress is mentioned only in Pericles'biographybyPlutarch, who 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's notion of Hellenism was narrow and deliberately archaising; he defined "Greekness" in terms of classical roots, rather than a broader, Hellenistic culture.Some cities with a dubious claim to Greekness, however such asSide were acknowledged as fully Hellenic.The German sociologistGeorg Simmelremarked that the Panhellenion was based on "games, commemorations, preservation of an ideal, an entirely non-political Hellenism". Hadrian bestowed honorific titles on many regional centres.Palmyrareceived a state visit and was given the civic name Hadriana Palmyra.Hadrian also bestowed honours on various Palmyrene magnates, among them one Soados, who had done much to protect Palmyrene trade between the Roman Empire and Parthia. Hadrian had spent the winter of 13132 in Athens, where he dedicated the now-completedTemple of Olympian Zeus,At some time in 132, he headed East, to Judaea. Second RomanJewish War (132136) InRoman Judaea, Hadrian visitedJerusalem, which was still in ruins after theFirst RomanJewish Warof 6673. He may have planned to rebuild Jerusalem as aRoman colony asVespasianhad done withCaesarea 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 132 rebellions.It has been speculated that Hadrian intended to assimilate the Jewish Temple to the traditional Roman civic-religiousimperial cult; such assimilations had long been commonplace practice in Greece and in other provinces, and on the whole, had been successful.The neighbouring Samaritans had already integrated their religious rites with Hellenistic ones.Strict Jewish monotheism proved more resistant to imperial cajoling, and then to imperial demands.A massive anti-Hellenistic and anti-Roman Jewish uprising broke out, led bySimon bar Kokhba. The Roman governorTineius (Tynius) Rufusasked for an army to crush the resistance; bar Kokhba punished any Jew who refused to join his ranks.According toJustin MartyrandEusebius, that had to do mostly with Christian converts, who opposed bar Kokhba's messianic claims. A tradition based on theHistoria Augustasuggests that the revolt was spurred by Hadrian's abolition ofcircumcision(brit milah);which as aHellenisthe viewed asmutilation.The scholar Peter Schfer maintains that there is no evidence for this claim, given the notoriously problematical nature of theHistoria Augustaas a source, the "tomfoolery" shown by the writer in the relevant passage, and the fact that contemporary Roman legislation on "genital mutilation" seems to address the general issue ofcastrationof slaves by their masters.Other issues could have contributed to the outbreak; a heavy-handed, culturally insensitive Roman administration; tensions between the landless poor and incoming Roman colonists privileged with land-grants; and a strong undercurrent of messianism, predicated onJeremiah'sprophecy that the Temple would be rebuilt seventy years after its destruction, as theFirst Templehad been after theBabylonian exile. Given the fragmentary nature of the existing evidence, it is impossible to ascertain an exact date for the beginning of the uprising. It probably began between summer and fall of 132.The Romans were overwhelmed by the organised ferocity of the uprising.Hadrian called his generalSextus Julius SeverusfromBritainand brought troops in from as far as the Danube. Roman losses were heavy; an entire legion or its numeric equivalent of around 4,000.Hadrian's report on the war to theRoman Senateomitted the customary salutation, "If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the legions are in health."The rebellion was quashed by 135. According toCassius Dio, Roman war operations in Judea left some 580,000 Jews dead and 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed.An unknown proportion of the population was enslaved.Beitar, a fortified city 10 kilometres (6.2mi) southwest of Jerusalem, fell after a three-and-a-half-year siege. The extent of punitive measures against the Jewish population remains a matter of debate. Hadrian erased the province's name from the Roman map, renaming itSyria Palaestina. He renamed JerusalemAelia Capitolinaafter himself andJupiter Capitolinusand had it rebuilt in Greek style. According to Epiphanius, Hadrian appointedAquila from Sinopein Pontus as "overseer of the work of building the city", since he was related to him by marriage.Hadrian is said to have placed the city's mainForumat the junction of the mainCardoandDecumanus Maximus, now the location for the (smaller)Muristan. After the suppression of the Jewish revolt, Hadrian provided the Samaritans with a temple dedicated to Zeus Hypsistos ("Highest Zeus") onMount Gerizim.The bloody repression of the revolt ended Jewish political independence from the Roman imperial order. Inscriptions make it clear that in 133, Hadrian 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 viaIllyricum. Final years Hadrian spent the final years of his life in Rome. In 134, he took an imperialsalutationfor the end of the Second 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 Sabinadied, probably in 136, after an unhappy marriage with which Hadrian had coped as a political necessity. TheHistoria Augustabiography 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.That gave credence, after Sabina's death, to the common belief that Hadrian had her poisoned.In keeping with well-established imperial propriety, Sabina who had been made anAugustasometime around 128 was deified not long after her death. Hadrian's marriage to Sabina had been childless. Suffering from poor health, Hadrian turned to the issue of succession. In 136, he adopted one of the ordinaryconsulsof that year, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, who, as an emperor-in-waiting, took the nameLucius Aelius Caesar. He was the son-in-law of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, one of the "four consulars" executed in 118. His health was delicate, and his reputation apparently more that "of a voluptuous, well-educated great lord than that of a leader".Various modern attempts have been made to explain Hadrian's choice:Jerome Carcopinoproposes that Aelius was Hadrian's natural son.It has also been speculated that his adoption was Hadrian's belated attempt to reconcile with one of the most important of the four senatorial families whose leading members had been executed soon after Hadrian's succession.Aelius acquitted himself honourably as joint governor ofPannonia SuperiorandPannonia Inferior;he held a further consulship in 137 but died on 1 January 138. Hadrian next adopted Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus (the future emperorAntoninus Pius), who had served Hadrian as one of the five imperial legates of Italy, and asproconsulofAsia. 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 senatorof the same namewho had been Hadrian's close friend); Annius was already betrothed to Aelius Caesar's daughterCeionia Fabia.It may not have been Hadrian, but rather Antoninus Pius Annius Verus's uncle who supported Annius Verus' advancement; the latter's divorce of Ceionia Fabia and subsequent marriage to Antoninus' daughter Annia Faustina points in the same direction. When he eventually became Emperor, Marcus Aurelius would co-opt Ceionius Commodus as his co-Emperor, under the name ofLucius Verus, on his own initiative. Hadrian's last few years were marked by conflict and unhappiness. His adoption of Aelius Caesar proved unpopular, not least with Hadrian's brother-in-lawLucius Julius Ursus Servianusand Servianus's grandson Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator. 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. In 137, he may have attempted acoupin which his grandfather was implicated; Hadrian ordered that both be put to death.Servianus is reported to haveprayed before his executionthat Hadrian would "long for death but be unable to die".During his final, protracted illness, Hadrian was prevented fromsuicideon several occasions.Hadrian died in the year 138 on 10 July, in hisvillaatBaiaeat the age of 62, having reigned for 21 years.Dio Cassiusand theHistoria Augustarecord details of his failing health; some modern sources interpret the ear-creases on later portrayals (such as theTownley Hadrian) as signs ofcoronary artery disease. He was buried atPuteoli, near Baiae, on an estate that had once belonged toCicero. Soon after, his remains were transferred to Rome and buried in the Gardens of Domitia, close to the almost-complete mausoleum. Upon completion of theMausoleum of Hadrianin Rome in 139 by his successor Antoninus Pius, his body was cremated. His ashes were placed there together with those of his wifeVibia Sabinaand his first adopted son,Lucius Aelius Caesar, who also died in 138. The Senate had been reluctant to grant Hadrian divine honours; but Antoninus persuaded them by threatening to refuse the position of Emperor.Hadrian was given atempleon theCampus Martius, ornamented with reliefs representing the provinces.The Senate awarded Antoninus the title of "Pius", in recognition of his filial piety in pressing for thedeificationof Hadrian, his adoptive father.At the same time, perhaps in reflection of the senate's ill will towards Hadrian, commemorative coinage honouring his deification was kept to a minimum

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