Hadrian's Wall

Examples of Hadrian's Wall in the following topics:

• Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • Despite his own great reputation as a military administrator, Hadrian's reign was marked by a general lack of documented major military conflicts, apart from the Second Roman–Jewish War.
  • Hadrian's abandonment of an aggressive policy was something for which the Senate and its historians never forgave Hadrian: the fourth century historian Aurelius Victor charged him with being jealous of Trajan's exploits and deliberately trying to downplay their worthiness.
  • The most famous of these is the massive Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain, built on stone and doubled on its rear by a ditch (Vallum Hadriani), which marked the boundary between a strictly military zone and the province.
  • Although his coins showed military images almost as often as peaceful ones, Hadrian's policy was peace through strength, even threat, with an emphasis on discipline, which was the subject of two monetary series.
  • Sections of Hadrian's Wall remain along the route, though much has been dismantled over the years to use the stones for various nearby construction projects.

• Architecture under Hadrian

  • Hadrian's time as emperor was marked with peace and relative stability throughout the empire.
  • He worked to strengthen Rome's borders by building fortifications, outposts, and walls.
  • The most famous of these is Hadrian's Wall in Britainnia that marked the northern boundary of the empire on the isle.
  • During Hadrian's reign, the port city of Ostia grew significantly, reaching over 75,000 inhabitants by the third century CE.
  • Hadrian's general religious tolerance is reflected in this religious diversity, including the presence of a Jewish synagogue.

• The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • These emperors are Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus.
  • Moreover, there was a family connection as Trajan adopted his first cousin once removed and great-nephew by marriage Hadrian and Hadrian made his half-nephew by marriage and heir Antoninus Pius adopt both Hadrian's second cousin three times removed and half-great-nephew by marriage Marcus Aurelius, also Antoninus' nephew by marriage, and the son of his original planned successor, Lucius Verus.
  • Hadrian was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE.
  • He is also known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain.
  • During his reign, Hadrian traveled to nearly every province of the Empire.

• The Anglo-Saxons

  • By the year 400, southern Britain—Britain below Hadrian's Wall—was a peripheral part of the Western Roman Empire, occasionally lost to rebellion or invasion, but until then always eventually recovered.

• Architecture under the Nervan-Antonines

  • According to Roman biographers, Apollodorus did not appreciate Hadrian's interests or architectural drawings and often discredited them.
  • Hadrian's Pantheon still remains standing today, a great testament of Roman engineering and ingenuity.
  • Hadrian's decision to use the original inscription links him to the original imperial builders of Rome.
  • Inside the outer wall and surrounding the moat are a ring of unfluted Ionic columns.
  • Discuss Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Markets, Hadrian's Pantheon, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.

• Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines

  • Above all, Hadrian patronized the arts: Hadrian's Villa at Tibur was the greatest Roman example of an Alexandrian garden, recreating a sacred landscape, albeit lost in large part to the despoliation of the ruins by the Cardinal d'Este, who had much of the marble removed to build Villa d'Este.
  • Another of Hadrian's contributions to popular Roman culture was the beard, which symbolised his philhellenism: Dio of Prusa had equated the generalized using of the beard with Hellenic ethos.
  • Also, all Roman emperors before Hadrian, except for Nero (also a great admirer of Greek culture), were clean shaven.
  • Most of the emperors after Hadrian would be portrayed with beards.
  • As a cultural Hellenophile Hadrian was familiar with the work of the philosophers Epictetus, Heliodorus and Favorinus.

• Rome

  • The Romans based much of their architecture on the dome, such as Hadrian's Pantheon in the city of Rome .
  • The freedom of concrete also inspired the colonnade screen, a row of purely decorative columns in front of a load-bearing wall.
  • When the framework was removed, the new wall was very strong and had a rough surface of bricks or stones.
  • In Roman home decor, it joined murals in decorating floors, walls, and grottoes in geometric and pictorial designs.

• Imperial Sculpture under the Nervan-Antonines

  • Hadrian, Trajan's adopted son and heir, peacefully became emperor in 117 CE.
  • Hadrian set a fashion for beards among Romans, and most emperors after him also wore a beard.
  • Prior to Hadrian nearly all Roman men were clean shaven.
  • Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's adopted heir and successor, mimics his predecessor's appearance in his official portraits—thick curly hair and a curly, closely-trimmed beard.
  • Just as Hadrian chose to wear his hair and beard in a Greek style, his wife Sabina also chose a Greek hair style, helping to promote Hadrian's Panhellenic agenda.

• The Antonines

  • He was adopted by Hadrian as his son and heir under the condition that he, in turn, adopt Lucius Veras and Marcus Aurelius as his sons and heirs.
  • Upon Hadrian's death, Antoninus persuaded the Senate to deify Hadrian, and so received the name Pius.
  • This is modeled on Trajan's column and was originally erected on the Campus Martius between the Temple of Divine Hadrian and the Temple of Divine Marcus Aurelius.

• Architecture under Constantine

  • Those from the monuments of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius—all considered good emperors of the Pax Romana—were reused as decoration.
  • These are Hadrianic and depict images of hunting and sacrifice.
  • Concrete walls 15 feet thick supported the basilica's massive scale and expansive vaults.
  • From there the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis, and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall.