Hadrian: The Roman Emperor who built a wall | ||
Hadrian was Roman emperor from 117 to 138 CE and he is known as the third of the Five | Párr. 1 | |
Good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius) who ruled | ||
justly. Born Publius Aelius Hadrianus, probably in Hispania, Hadrian is best known for his | ||
substantial building projects throughout the Roman Empire and, especially, Hadrian's | ||
5 | Wall in northern Britain. | |
As a young man, Hadrian was well educated in his hometown of Italica Hispania | Párr. 2 | |
modern day Seville, Spain) and left for Rome around the age of 14. His first military service | ||
was as Tribune under Emperor Nerva (r. 96-98 CE). When Nerva died, Trajan ascended to | ||
the throne. Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) was the first Roman ruler of provincial origin. | ||
10 | Trajan died on campaign in Cilicia in 117 CE, with Hadrian in command of his rearguard, | |
and is not believed to have named a successor. Trajan's wife, Plotina (who was fond of | ||
Hadrian) signed the papers of succession, and it is thought that she, not the emperor, was | ||
responsible for Hadrian's adoption as heir. However that may be, it is known that Trajan | ||
respected Hadrian and had considered him as his successor even if he did not officially name | ||
15 | him as such. Hadrian's service to Trajan is well documented through the various important | |
positions he held before becoming emperor of Rome. | ||
His popularity as emperor is attested to by the fact that Hadrian was absent from | Párr. 3 | |
Rome for the better part of his reign. Earlier Roman rulers, such as Nero, were harshly | ||
criticized for spending less time away from the city. His devotion to the army was such that | ||
20 | he would sleep and eat among the common soldiers, and he is commonly depicted in military | |
attire even though his regime is marked by relative peace. | ||
Hadrian's building projects are perhaps his most enduring legacy. He | Párr. 4 | |
established cities throughout the Balkan Peninsula, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Greece. His love | ||
for Greece and Greek literature was such that he was known as 'Graeculus' (Greekling) in his | ||
25 | youth, and his philhellenism did not dissipate with age. He visited Greece at least twice | |
(probably more) and participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries, of which he was an initiate. | ||
Of all his significant monuments and buildings, Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain is | Párr. 5 | |
the most famous. Construction of the wall, known in antiquity as Vallum Hadriani, was | ||
begun around 122 and corresponded to Hadrian's visit to the province. It marked the northern | ||
30 | boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain, but the length and breadth of the project | |
(stretching, as it did, from coast to coast) suggests that the more important purpose of the | ||
wall was a show of Rome's power. The wall was originally 9.7 feet wide (3 m) and 16-20 | ||
feet high (c. 6 m) east of the River Irthing, all built of stone, and 20 feet wide (6 m) by 11 | ||
feet high (3.5 m) west of the river, made up of stone and turf, stretching 73 miles (120 km) | ||
35 | across uneven terrain. It was built in six years by the legions stationed in Britain. There were | |
between 14-17 fortifications along the length of the wall and a vallum (a ditch purposefully | ||
constructed of earthworks) which ran parallel to the wall. The Vallum measured 20 feet (6 | ||
m) wide by 10 feet (3 m) deep, flanked by large mounds of tightly packed earth. | ||
Although Hadrian was a learned and cultivated man, his policy of peaceful relations | Párr. 6 | |
40 | and negotiations was not always adhered to. In 130, Hadrian visited Jerusalem, which was | |
still in ruins from the First Roman-Jewish War of 66-73. He rebuilt Jerusalem according to | ||
his own designs and renamed it Aelia Capitolina Jupiter Capitolinus after himself and the | ||
king of the Roman gods. When he built a temple to Jupiter on the ruins of the Temple | ||
of Solomon (the so-called Second Temple, considered sacred by the Jews), the populace rose | ||
45 | up under the leadership of Simon bar Kochba (also given as Shimon Bar-Cochba, Bar | |
Kokhbah, Ben-Cozba, Cosiba or Coziba) in what has come to be known as the Bar-Kochba | ||
Revolt (132-136 CE). Roman losses in this campaign were enormous but Jewish losses were | ||
no less significant. 580,000 Jews had been killed and over 1000 towns and villages destroyed. | ||
Hadrian then banished the remaining Jews from the region 580,000 Jews had been killed and | ||
50 | over 1000 towns and villages destroyed. Hadrian then banished the remaining Jews from the | |
region and renamed it Syria Palaestina after the traditional enemies of the Jewish people, the | ||
Philistines. He ordered a public burning of the Torah, executed the Jewish scholars, and | ||
prohibited the practice and observance of Judaism. | ||
His health now failing, Hadrian returned to Rome and occupied himself | Párr. 7 | |
55 | by writing poetry and tending to administrative affairs. He named as his successor Antoninus | |
Pius (r. 138-161 CE) on the stipulation that Antoninus would adopt the young Marcus | ||
Aurelius (r. 161-180 CE) to follow. Hadrian died in 138, presumably of a heart attack, at the | ||
age of 62. He was buried first at Puteoli, on the grounds of the former estate of the | ||
rhetorician Cicero (as homage to Hadrian's love of learning), but when Antoninus Pius | ||
60 | completed the great Tomb of Hadrian in Rome the following year, his body was cremated | |
and the ashes interred there with his wife and son. Antoninus Pius had him deified and temples | ||
built in his honor. | ||
Mark, J. J. (2021, Mayo 18). Hadrian. World History Encyclopedia. | ||
https://www.worldhistory.org/hadrian/ |