The Roman Series: Who was Emperor Hadrian?

Hadrian was born on 24 January 76, probably in Italy (near modern Seville)
in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. He was named Publius Aelius
Hadrianus after his father. His father was a senator of praetorian rank. 
Hadrian's mother was Domitia Paulina, daughter of a distinguished
Hispano-Roman senatorial family from Gades (Cádiz).  

Childhood

Hadrian's father was thus a senator and would have spent much of his time in 
Rome. Trajan was Hadrian's father's first cousin. 

In 86, Hadrian's parents died. He was then only ten years old. He and his sister
became wards of Trajan. Hadrian enjoyed hunting. When he was 14, Trajan
ordered him to Rome and arranged his further education to become a young
Roman aristocrat. Hadrian had an enthusiasm for Greek literature and 
culture, which gave him the nickname: Graeculus ("Greekling").

Emperor Hadrian @ Louvre in France

Source picture: Wikipedia 

Love and Marriage

Hadrian married Trajan's seventeen or eighteen-year-old grandniece Vibia
Sabina. 

Public Service

Hadrian's first official post in Rome was a member of the decemviri stlitibus
judicandis (one of the lowest level offices). 

Then he served as a military tribune, first with the Legio II Adiutrix in 95 and
later with the Legio V Macedonica. 

When emperor Nerva adopted Trajan as his heir, Hadrian was dispatched to
give Trajan the news. Hadrian was transferred to Legio XXII Prigimenia. 

In 101 Hadrian returned to Rome. He was elected quaestor and then
quaestor imperatoris Traiani, the liaison officer between Emperor and the
assembled Senate. 

During the First Dacian War, Hadrian took the field as a member of Trajan's
personal entourage, but he was excused from his military post to take
office in Rome. 

Between 107 and 108, Hadrian defeated an invasion of Roman-controlled
Banat and Oltenia. 

When he was in his mid-thirties, Hadrian finally travelled to Greece.
He received the Athenian citizenship. the Athenians awarded him with
a statue.

Hadrian @ Altes Museum in Berlin

Source picture: Wikipedia

Emperor

On 11 August 117, Hadrian became Roman Emperor.

Travels

Hadrian spent more than half his reign outside Italy. Hadrian wished to 
see things for himself. This was a break with traditions and attitudes. 

From 119 till 121, the province of Britannia had suffered a major
rebellion. In 122 Hadrian initiated the construction of a wall to
separate romans from barbarians. By the end of 122 Hadrian had 
concluded his visit to Britannia, he never saw the finished wall 
that bears his name. 

Hadrian spent the winter of 122/123 at Tarraco in Spain where he
restored the Temple of Augustus. 

In 123 Hadrian crossed the Mediterranean to Mauretania, where he 
personally led a minor campaign against local rebels. 

Hadrian also travelled through Anatolia. During the autumn of 124,
Emperor Hadrian arrived in Greece. He created two foundations to
fund Athens' public games, festivals and competitions. 

During the winter he toured the Peloponnese although his exact
route is uncertain. 

In March 125, Hadrian presided at the Athenian festival of Dionysia,
wearing Athenian dress.

On his return to Italy, Hadrian made a detour to Sicily. Back in Rome
he saw the rebuilt Pantheon and his completed villa nearby Tibur.

In early March 127, Hadrian set off on a tour of Italy. Hadrian fell ill
around this time. It did not stop him setting of in the spring of 128
to Africa. 

Hadrianus Statue in Istanbul, Turkey

Source picture: Wikipedia

In September 128, Hadrian visited Greece again. From Greece, he
proceeded by way of Asia to Egypt. On 29 August 130 he arrived
in Egypt. 

Hadrian spent the winter of 131-132 in Athens where he dedicated 
the now-completed Temple of Olympian Zeus. In 132 he headed
East to Judaea. 

In Roman Judaea he visited Jerusalem, which was still in ruins 
after the First Roman-Jewish War. He may have planned to rebuild
Jerusalem as a roman colony. 

Final years

Hadrian spent the final years of his life in Rome. Probably in 136
Empress Sabina died, after an unhappy marriage with Hadrian. 

His marriage with Sabina had been childless. In 136 he had 
adopted one of the consuls: Lucius Ceionius Commodus who took
the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. There were some speculations
that Lucius was his natural son. 

Hadrian also adopted Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antonius,
who had served Hadrian as one of the five imperial legates of Italy
and as proconsul of Asia. 

Death

Hadrian died on 10 July 138, in his villa at Baiae at the age of 62. 
He had reigned for 21 years, the longest reigning emperor since
Tiberius. 

He was buried first at Puteoli near Baiae but when the Tomb
of Hadrian was finished in Rome in 139 his body was transferred
to Rome. 

Legacy

Hadrian had an abiding and enthusiastic interest in art, architecture
and public works. Rome's Pantheon destroyed by a fire in 80, was
partly restored under Trajan and completed under Hadrian in the
form it retains to this day. More about Rome's Pantheon on this link. 

Rome's pantheon own picture taken in 2017

Hadrian wrote poetry in both Latin and Greek. He also wrote an autobiography. 
He was familiar with the rival philosophers Epictetus and Favorinus and
with their works. He held an interest in Roman philosophy. 

Another famous work in Rome was the Hadrian Mausoleum also called the
Castel Sant' Angelo. More about the Castel Sant' Angelo on this link. 

Castel Sant' Angelo

Own picture taken in 2017