History UsefulNotes / Hadrian

In any case, and over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. He was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Creator/{{Epictetus}} and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. Having some facial scars to hide, he even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him did the same, with or without scars, in order not to look any less smart and lordly. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose mysterious but tragic death[[note]]The official version seems to be that Antinous got really drunk during a festival in Egypt, fell into the Nile, and drowned. Morbid speculations abounded, though, among them that he was murdered by other members of Hadrian's harem, that he was subjected to some kind of HumanSacrifice to pray for Hadrian's health, or that Hadrian himself killed him for whatever reason.[[/note]] led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also built libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay.

He came from an aristocratic family who settled in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was really born there or in UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} and moved to Italica very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who endowed in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the old Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (not to mention Trajan reportedly saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Like Trajan in his own, Hadrian invested the first months of his mandate securing the empire's military positions, as well as suppressing the UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts that had impeded Trajan from continuing his campaigns. However, probably influenced by those aforementioned experiences, Hadrian shocked the Senate by purging Trajan's four most powerful friends on accusations of conspiracy, making it very clear that [[EstablishingCharacterMoment things were going to change and nobody would stop it]]. He then cancelled all of Trajan's expansionist projects in Mesopotamia and adopted a conservative military policy that was similarly shocking on sheer suddenness, declaring the conquests to be AwesomeButImpractical and instead building fortifications to defend the Roman frontiers, like the famous Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Combined with his growing relationships with the political landscape of his beloved Greek Mediterranean, these measures soured Hadrian to the high class and consequently the Senate never forgave him, considering him an autocrat and a snob (that is, [[SeriousBusiness the most un-Roman things imaginable]]) until the last day of his life. This image is not terribly far from reality, as Hadrian turned out quite zealous in his ideas about how to run the empire and could sprout massive ControlFreak streaks, but he generally proved to be a thoroughly capable ruler, who produced a very prosperous administration.

In any case, and over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. He was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Creator/{{Epictetus}} and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. Having some facial scars to hide, he even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him did the same, with or without scars, in order not to look any less smart and lordly. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also built libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay.

He was married to Vibia Sabina, Trajan's niece, who went to enjoy a high popularity as an empress, but their marriage was plagued by the fact that [[AwfulWeddedLife they simply couldn't stand each other]], and ultimately produced no children. At least part of the problem was that Hadrian was way more interested in Antinous and the rest of his male lovers, which she considered the peak of conjugal dishonor. This has led to the modern belief that he was simply unattracted by women and never touched her at all, but reality seems to have been the opposite: Hadrian and Sabina did sleep together, only that she used contraceptives (she might have got at least one abortion) because she refused to have children with such a vicious husband. Probably as a way to spite Hadrian further, Sabina herself had an affair with historian Suetonius, which got him expelled from the court for the scandal.

By this point the reader might feel like Hadrian's biography is a roller coaster of virtue and gnarliness, and certainly, especially by the standards of the Five Good Emperors, Hadrian could be dangerously impulsive and over-sensitive for all of his enlightened mindset, which sometimes gives the implication he was [[RoyallyScrewedUp not entirely well up there]]. At one instance, he lost his patience with a slave and stabbed him the eye with a pen, only for dearly repent immediately afterwards and try to compensate him with everything he could.[[note]]The slave apparently snarked that he only wanted his eye back.[[/note]] His obsession for having everything his way also led him to have an ugly relationship with the great architect Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed (and probably repented later). It's ironic and a bit sad that Hadrian admired the young Marcus Aurelius and considered him the perfect heir, yet in turn, although Marcus had nothing bad to say of Hadrian as an emperor, he does not list Hadrian among the people who ever taught him anything good in his ''Meditations''.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate travelling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. As mentioned above, he had no children with Sabina, who had died years earlier (it was rumored he finally got tired of her and had her poisoned), which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius, with the condition that Antoninus adopted Marcus Aurelius as his own. He died at the age of 62 after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery, bent on controlling all factors of his existence to the very end.

Publius Aelius Hadrianus (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was [[AncientRome Roman]] emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. He was a deeply intellectual emperor with a very personal approach to everything, similar to Trajan in many ways yet his complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in his own time.

In any case, and over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. He was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. Having some facial scars to hide, he even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him did the same, with or without scars, in order not to look any less smart and lordly. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also built libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obsession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate travelling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. As mentioned above, he had no children with Sabina, who had died years earlier (it was rumored he finally got tired of her and had her poisoned), which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius. He died at the age of 62 after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery, bent on controlling all factors of his existence to the very end.

Publius Elius Hadrian (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was [[AncientRome Roman]] emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. He was a deeply intellectual emperor with a very personal approach to everything, similar to Trajan in many ways yet his complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in his own time.

He came from an aristocratic family who settled in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was really born there or in Rome and moved to Italica very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who endowed in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the old Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (not to mention Trajan reportedly saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Publius Elius Hadrian (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of the Roman Empire. He was a deeply intellectual emperor with a very personal approach to everything, similar to Trajan in many ways yet his complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in his own time.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was really born there or was in Rome and moved to Italica very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the old Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (not to mention Trajan reportedly saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Hadrian's defensive military approach was controversial at his time, with people even speculating that he had abandoned Trajan's glorious conquests [[TakeThat as a deliberate way to belittling his legacy]], although he was more likely sincere in his opinion that the whole thing was too costly and not entirely justifiable. He was still considered a perfectly competent general, obsessed with keeping his armies well oiled and drilled in preparation for any foreign attack, and had a few innovations in his resume, such as introducing heavy cavalry in the Persian style (the famous cataphracts) and incorporating non-citizen ''numeri'' troops. Being opposed to expansionism, his most famous actions would be drowning inner revolts across the empire, second to none the bloody Bar Kokhba revolt, which was apparently caused by either mismanagement of local land owners or the typical clash between Jewish customs and Hellenic cosmopolitanism, and which ended with a difficult pacification and a comparable punishment.

Publius Elius Hadrian (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of the Roman Empire. He was a prudent, deeply intellectual emperor with a very personal approach to everything, similar to Trajan in many ways yet his complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in his own time.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was personally born in Italica or was in Rome and moved to Italica very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the old Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (not to mention Trajan reportedly saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Like Trajan in his own, Hadrian invested the first months of his mandate securing the empire's military positions, as well as suppressing the Jewish revolt that had impeded Trajan from continuing his campaigns. However, probably influenced by those aforementioned experiences, Hadrian shocked the Senate by purging Trajan's four most powerful friends on accusations of conspiracy, making it very clear that [[EstablishingCharacterMoment things were going to change and nobody would stop it]]. He then cancelled all of Trajan's expansionist projects in Mesopotamia and adopted a conservative military policy that was similarly shocking on sheer suddenness, declaring the conquests to be AwesomeButImpractical and instead building fortifications to defend the Roman frontiers, like the famous Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Combined with his growing relationships with the political landscape of his beloved Greek Mediterranean, these measures soured Hadrian to the high class and consequently the Senate never forgave him, considering him an autocrat and a snob (that is, [[SeriousBusiness the most un-Roman things imaginable]]) until the last day of his life. This image is not terribly far from reality, as Hadrian turned out quite zealous in his ideas about how to run the empire and could sprout massive ControlFreak streaks, but he generally proved to be a thoroughly capable ruler, who produced a very prosperous administration.

In any case, and over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. Among other things, he was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him did the same in order not to look any less smart. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also built libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obsession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed.

Hadrian's defensive military approach was controversial at his time, with people even speculating that he had abandoned Trajan's glorious conquests [[TakeThat as a deliberate way to belittling his legacy]], although he was more likely sincere in his opinion that, as mentioned above, the whole thing was too costly and not entirely justifiable. He was still considered a perfectly competent general, obsessed with keeping his armies well oiled and drilled in preparation for any foreign attack, and had a few innovations in his resume, such as introducing heavy cavalry in the Persian style (the famous cataphracts) and incorporating non-citizen ''numeri'' troops. Being opposed to expansionism, his most famous actions would be drowning inner revolts across the empire, second to none the bloody Bar Kokhba revolt, which was apparently caused by either mismanagement of local land owners or the typical clash between Jewish customs and Hellenic cosmopolitanism, and which ended with a difficult pacification and a comparable punishment.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate travelling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. He had no children, and his marriage with Sabina with so unhappy that upon her death it was rumoured he had her poisoned, which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius. He died at the age of 62 after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery, bent on controlling all factors of his existence to the very end.

Publius Elius Hadrian (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of the Roman Empire. He was a deeply intellectual, experimental emperor with very personal ambitions, similar to Trajan in many ways yet the complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in his own time.

Part of his bad relationship with the Senate came from the very first time he spoke there, although ironically, it was not because he already appeared snobbish to them, but its complete opposite. Far from scoring the badass, dignified introduction he expected, Hadrian saw the senators laughing at his heavy southern Hispanic accent, which already at the time was considered funny (the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAccentsAndDialects modern Andalusian accent]] strongly relates to the stereotype of southern Spaniards being somewhat like TheIdiotFromOsaka). Hadrian toiled to get rid of the accent as soon as possible, but didn't forget the offense.

In any case, and over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. Among other things, he was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also sported one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less smart. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also built libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obsession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was personally born in Italica or was in Rome and moved there very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the old Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (not to mention Trajan reportedly saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. Among other things, he was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} had also sported one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less smart. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also build libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obsession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that the emperor eventually got tired and had him executed.

Hadrian's defensive military approach was controversial at his time, with people even speculating that he had abandoned Trajan's glorious conquests [[TakeThat as a deliberate way to belittling his legacy]], although he was more likely sincere in his opinion that, as mentioned above, the whole thing was too costly and not entirely justifiable. He was still considered a perfectly competent general, obsessed with keeping his armies well oiled and drilled in preparation for any foreign attack, and had a few innovations in his resume, such as introducing heavy cavalry in the Persian style (the famous cataphracts) and incorporating non-citizen ''numeri'' troops. Being opposed to expansionism, his most famous actions would be drowning inner revolts across the empire, second to none the bloody Bar Kokhba revolt, apparently caused by either mismanagement of local land owners or the typical clash between Jewish customs and Hellenic cosmopolitanism, and which ended with a difficult pacification and a comparable punishment.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was personally born in Italica or was in Rome and moved there very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (it seems Trajan also saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to be emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Like Trajan in his own, Hadrian invested the first months of his mandate securing the empire's military positions, as well as suppressing the Jewish revolt that had impeded Trajan from continuing his campaigns. However, probably influenced by those aforementioned experiences, Hadrian shocked the Senate by purging Trajan's four most powerful friends on accusations of conspiracy, making it very clear that things were going to change and nobody would stop it. He then cancelled all of Trajan's expansionist projects in Mesopotamia and adopted a conservative military policy that was similarly shocking on sheer suddenness, declaring the conquests to be AwesomeButImpractical and instead built fortifications to defend the Roman frontier, like the famous Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Combined with his growing relationships with the political landscape of his beloved Greek Mediterranean, these measures soured Hadrian to the high class and consequently the Senate never forgave him, considering him an autocrat and a snob (that is, [[SeriousBusiness the most un-Roman things]]) until the last day of his life. This image is not terribly far from reality, as Hadrian turned out quite zealous in his ideas about how to run the empire and could sprout massive ControlFreak streaks, but he was generally proved to be a thoroughly capable ruler, who produced a very prosperous administration.

Over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. Among other things, he was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatory regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (Nero had also sported one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less smart. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragic death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also build libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obsession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascus, whom Hadrian quarrelled so often with that the emperor eventually got tired and had him executed.

Publius Elius Hadrian (24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. The second provincian emperor, he succeeded UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}} both in the purple and the set of the [[TheGoodKing Five Good Emperors]], being considered another of the greatest of the Roman Empire. He was a deeply intellectual, experimental emperor with very personal ambitions, similar to Trajan in many ways yet the complete opposite in others, all of which made him a divisive figure back in hiw own time.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was personally born in Italica or was in Rome and moved there very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (it seems Trajan also saw him as a [[TheStarscream worthy but excessively ambitious successor]]), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Like Trajan in his own, Hadrian invested the first months of his mandate securing the empire's military positions, as well as suppressing the Jewish revolt that had impeded Trajan from expanding his campaigns. However, probably influenced by the aforementioned experiences, Hadrian shocked the Senate by purging Trajan's four most powerful friends on accusations of conspiracy, leaving very clear that things were going to change and nobody would stop it. He then cancelled all of Trajan's expansionist projects in Mesopotamia and adopted a conservative militar policy that was similarly shocking on sheer suddenness, declaring conquests to be AwesomeButImpractical and instead decreeing the building of fortifications to defend Rome's lands, like the famous Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Combined with his growing relationships with the political landscape of his beloved Greek, this measures soured Hadrian to the high class and consequently the Senate never forgave him, considering him an autocrat and a snob (that is, [[SeriousBusiness the most un-Roman things]]) until the last day of his life. This image is not terribly far from reality, as Hadrian turned out quite zealous in his ideas about how to run the empire and could sprout massive ControlFreak streaks, but he was generally proved to be a thoroughly capable ruler, who produced a very prosperous administration.

Over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. Among other things, he was a personal friend of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Stoicism}} Stoic]] Epictetus and at the same time a benefactor of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} Epicurean]] school, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatorial regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (Nero had also sported one, but he was, well, [[TheCaligula Nero]]) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less smart. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragical death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also build libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. His obssession for having everything his way, though, led him to have an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascos, whom Hadrian quarreled so often with that the emperor eventually got tired and had him executed.

Hadrian's defensive military approach was controversial at his time, with people even speculating that he had abandoned Trajan's glorious conquests [[TakeThat as a deliberate way to belittling his legacy]], although he was more likely sincere in his opinion that, as mentioned above, the whole thing was too costly and not entirely justifiable. He was still considered a perfectly competent general, obssessed with keeping his armies well oiled and drilled in preparation for any foreign attack, and had a few innovations in his resume, such as introducing heavy cavalry in the Persian style (the famous cataphracts) and incorporating non-citizen ''numeri'' troops. Being opposed to expansionism, his most famous actions would be drowning inner revolts across the empire, second to none the bloody Bar Kokhba revolt, apparently caused by either mismanagement of local land owners or the typical clash between Jewish customs and Hellenic cosmopolitism, and which ended with a difficult pacification and a comparable punishment.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate traveling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. He had no children, and his marriage with Sabina with so unhappy that upon her death it was rumored he had ordered her to be poisoned, which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius. He died at the age of 62 after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery, bent on controlling all factors of his existence to the very end.

He came from an aristocratic family installed in Italica, Hispania (modern day Santiponce), although sources are unsure whether he was personally born in Italica or was in Rome and moved there very young. He became an orphan at ten and was adopted by his distant relative Trajan, who instigated in him a love for Greek arts and culture. Hadrian apparently was a GeniusBruiser, excelling at hunting and sports yet also being so brainy that he earned the mocking nickname of ''Graeculus'' ("Little Greek" or "Greekling"). He served as a military tribune for several years, being supposedly who gave Trajan the news of his own promotion to emperor, and after this he became part of Trajan's politic entourage. It's said that Hadrian and Trajan were lovers in the Greek style, and that other lovers to Trajan were jealous of him and stirred trouble between both (it seems Trajan also saw him as a worthy but excessively ambitious successor), but he had the support of the emperor's wife Pompeia Plotina and their backer Lucius Licinius Sura, which eventually got him the next in the line to emperor after Trajan's death in 117.

Like Trajan in his own, Hadrian invested the first months of his mandate securing the empire's military positions, as well as suppressing the Jewish revolt that had impeded Trajan from expanding his campaigns. However, probably influenced by the aforementioned experiences, Hadrian shocked the Senate by purging Trajan's four most powerful friends on accusations of conspiracy, leaving very clear that things were going to change and nobody would stop it. He then cancelled all of Trajan's expansionist projects in Mesopotamia and adopted a conservative militar policy that was shocking on sheer suddenness, declaring conquests to be AwesomeButImpractical and decreeing the building of fortifications to defend Rome's lands, like the famous Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Combined with his growing relationships with the political landscape of his beloved Greek, those measures basically soured Hadrian to the high class and consequently the Senate never forgave him, considering him an autocrat and a snob (that is, un-Roman) until the last day of his life. This image is not terribly far from reality, as he was zealous in his ideas about how to run the empire and could sprout massive ControlFreak streaks, but he was generally considered a thoroughly capable ruler, who produced a quite prosperous administration.

Over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. He was a personal friend of the Stoic Epictetus and the Epicurean Favorinus, among others, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatorial regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (Nero had also sported one, but he was, well, Nero) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less intellectual. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragical death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also build libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForItsDay. He had an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascos, whom Hadrian quarreled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed.

Hadrian's defensive military approach was controversial at his time, with people even speculating that he had abandoned Trajan's glorious conquests as a deliberate way to belittling his legacy, although it's much more likely that, as mentioned above, he was sincere in his opinion that the whole thing was too costly and not entirely justifiable. He was still considered a perfectly competent general, obssessed with keeping his armies well oiled and drilled in preparation for any foreign attack, and had a few innovations in his resume, such as introducing heavy cavalry in the Persian style (the famous cataphracts) and incorporating non-citizen ''numeri'' troops. Being opposed to expansionism, his most famous actions would be drowning inner revolts across the empire, second to none the bloody Bar Kokhba revolt, apparently caused by either mismanagement of local land owners or the typical clash between Jewish customs and Hellenic cosmopolitism, and which concluded with a difficult pacification and a comparable punishment.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate traveling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. He had no children, and his marriage with Sabina with so unhappy that upon her death it was rumored he had ordered her to be poisoned, which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius. He died at the age of 62, after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery.

Over many other things, Hadrian stood out for his love for all things Greek, especially philosophy and high culture. He was a personal friend of the Stoic Epictetus and the Epicurean Favorinus, among others, the last of which you can note in his ideas that the Roman Empire should be a peaceful, harmonious community rather than a land-grabbing predatorial regime. He even adopted the Greek tradition of sporting a beard, which he popularized to such degree (Nero had also sported one, but he was, well, Nero) that most emperors after him imitated him in order not to look any less intellectual. The most Greek thing he did, though, was loving a Greek teenager, Antinous, whose tragical death led the grieving Hadrian to found entire cities and religious cults in his honor. Less histrionically, Hadrian also build libraries, theaters and temples, rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria from damage suffered in the Jewish revolt, continued Trajan's merciful stance towards Christians, did the first attempt ever to codify Roman law in the the Perpetual Edict, and condemned the mistreatment of slaves in an act that was quite FairForHisDay. He had an ugly relationship with one of his main architects, Apollodorus of Damascos, whom Hadrian quarreled so often with that he eventually got tired and had Apollodorus executed.

Hadrian spent more than half of his mandate traveling throughout the empire, personally supervising its workings, but he returned at the end of his life, when his health declined dramatically, to clear out the difficult topic of his succession. He had no children, and his marriage with Sabina with so unhappy that upon her death it was rumored he had ordered her to be poisoned, which caused a string of adoptions ultimately concluding in future emperor Antoninus Pius. He died at the age of 62, after several attempts of putting himself out of his misery.