Hadrian
Roman emperor from 117 to 138, builder of Hadrian's Wall and a promoter of philhellenism.
Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born on 24 January 76, in Italica, a Roman town in Hispania Baetica.[1][2] He is counted among Rome's "Five Good Emperors" and described as a benevolent autocrat, though his own Senate found him remote and authoritarian.[3] Chronic illness plagued Hadrian's final years, and his marriage produced no children and was marked by unhappiness.[3]
Quick Facts
- Reign
- 11 August 117 – 10 July 138
- Predecessor
- Trajan
- Successor
- Antoninus Pius
- Birth name
- Publius Aelius Hadrianus
- Born
- 24 January 76
- Birthplace
- Italica, Hispania Baetica, Roman Empire (present-day Santiponce, Spain)
- Died
- 10 July 138 (aged 62)
- Place of death
- Baiae, Italia, Roman Empire
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Hadrian's first official post in Rome was as a member of the decemviri stlitibus judicandis, a low-level office on the cursus honorum.[4] In 101, he was elected quaestor and then quaestor imperatoris Traiani, acting as liaison between the Emperor and the Senate.[5] Around 100 or 101, Hadrian married Trajan's grandniece Vibia Sabina, a marriage that proved scandalously poor.[6] Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, a senator of praetorian rank born and raised in Italica, was Hadrian's father; his mother Domitia Paulina came from a distinguished Roman senatorial family based in Gades.[7]
When Hadrian was ten years old in 86, both his parents died, leaving him and his sister under the guardianship of Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus.[8] Hadrian passed away at Baiae in that same year, and despite senatorial opposition, Antoninus arranged for his deification.[3]
What the cited sources add
The same source states that Trajan and Plotina were surrogate parents to the child Hadrian.[2] It reports that Sabina performed an abortion upon herself in order not to produce another monster.[2] The account adds that the army of Syria hailed Hadrian as emperor on August 11, making the Senate's formal acceptance almost meaningless.[2] It describes how Hadrian always disclaimed responsibility for the affair of the four consulars, but his relations with the Senate were irrevocably damaged.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Lives of the Caesars", Wiley-Blackwell, 2008, p. 159; Alicia M. Canto, Itálica, sedes natalis de Adriano. 31 textos históricos y argumentos para una secular polémica, Athenaeum XCII/2, 2004, 367–408.; Ronald Syme, "Hadrian and Italica" (Journal of Roman Studies, LIV, 1964; pp. 142–149) supports the position that Rome was Hadrian's birthplace. Canto argues tha (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- His career in office up to 112/113 is attested by the Athens inscription, 112 AD: CIL III, 550 = InscrAtt 3 = IG II, 3286 = Dessau 308 = IDRE 2, 365: decemvir s. facts only, no text reused. roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Everitt, "Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome", Random House Publishing, September 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Anthony Birley, Restless Emperor, p. 37; John D. Grainger, Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96–99. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004, , p. 109 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Anthony Birley, Restless Emperor, p. 54; Boatwright, in Barrett, p. 158 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robert H. Allen, The Classical Origins of Modern Homophobia, Jefferson: Mcfarland, 2006, , p. 120 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Royston Lambert, Beloved And God, pp. 31–32. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hadrian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Royston Lambert, Beloved And God, pp. 31–32.; Anthony Birley, Restless Emperor, pp. 24–26; Anthony Birley, Restless Emperor, pp. 16–17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hadrian (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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