Hadrian
(noun)
Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE. Known for his grand building projects and his philhellenism.
Examples of Hadrian in the following topics:
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Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines
- Emperor Hadrian, among other Nerva-Antonine emperors, patronized the arts, held public festivals, and influenced the culture of Rome and beyond.
- 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.
- 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.
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Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty
- Hadrian had already surrendered Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible.
- In the East, Hadrian contented himself with retaining suzerainty over Osroene, which was ruled by the client king Parthamaspates, once client king of Parthia under Trajan.
- 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.
- To maintain morale and prevent the troops from becoming restive, Hadrian established intensive drill routines, and personally inspected the armies.
- 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.
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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.
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The Justinian Code
- Codex: a compilation, by selection and extraction, of imperial enactments to date, going back to Hadrian in the 2nd century AD.
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The Catholic Church
- At the conclusion, 300 bishops, who were led by the representatives of Pope Hadrian I "adopted the Pope's teaching," in favor of icons.
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Fall of the Flavian Emperors
- He does not appear in Suetonius' version of the events, but this may be understandable, since his works were published under Nerva's direct descendants Trajan and Hadrian.
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The Anglo-Saxons
- By the year 400, southern Britain – that is 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.