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105-517: The name "Characene" originated from the name of the capital of the kingdom, Charax Spasinu . The kingdom was also known by the older name of the region, "Mesene", which is seemingly of Persian origin, meaning "land of buffalos" or the "land of sheep." The capital of Characene, Alexandria , was originally founded by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great , with the intention of using the town as

210-617: A hero and composing an epigraph for the tomb. As Pompey was universally acknowledged as responsible for establishing Rome's power in the east, this restoration was probably linked to a need to reaffirm Roman Eastern hegemony following social unrest there during Trajan's late reign. Hadrian and Antinous held a lion hunt in the Libyan desert; a poem on the subject by the Greek Pankrates is the earliest evidence that they travelled together. While Hadrian and his entourage were sailing on

315-730: A Hellenistic type while after the invasion the coinage was of a more Parthian character. Charax minted coin through the Sassanid Empire and into the Umayyad Caliphate , minting coin as late as AD 715. It was visited in AD 97 by the Chinese envoy, Gan Ying 甘英, who referred to it as 干羅 (Pinyin: Gànluò; reconstructed ancient pronunciation * ka-ra ), who was trying to reach the Roman Empire via Egypt but, after reaching

420-520: A capacity for both great personal generosity and extreme cruelty and driven by insatiable curiosity, conceit, and ambition. Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born on 24 January 76, in Italica (modern Santiponce , near Seville ), a Roman town founded by Italic settlers in the province of Hispania Baetica during the Second Punic War at the initiative of Scipio Africanus ; Hadrian's branch of

525-623: A city within Mysia, Hadrianutherae , after a successful boar hunt. At about this time, plans to complete the Temple of Zeus in Cyzicus , begun by the kings of Pergamon , were put into practice. The temple received a colossal statue of Hadrian. Cyzicus, Pergamon , Smyrna , Ephesus and Sardes were promoted as regional centres for the imperial cult ( neocoros ). Hadrian arrived in Greece during

630-431: A colloquial Arabic corruption of Maysān, the name of Characene during the early Islamic era. First excavations and research started in 2016. Excavations on the site started in 2016 , which revealed that the city was laid out on a grid pattern with housing block 185 by 85 m square. These belong to the largest blocks in the ancient world. Two large public buildings were detected, but are not yet excavated. A history of

735-418: A commonwealth of civilised peoples and a common Hellenic culture under Roman supervision. He supported the creation of provincial towns ( municipia ), semi-autonomous urban communities with their own customs and laws, rather than the imposition of new Roman colonies with Roman constitutions. A cosmopolitan, ecumenical intent is evident in coin issues of Hadrian's later reign, showing the emperor "raising up"

840-584: A distinguished Roman senatorial family based in Gades ( Cádiz ). His only sibling was an elder sister, Aelia Domitia Paulina . His wet nurse was the slave Germana, probably of Germanic origin, to whom he was devoted throughout his life. She was later freed by him and ultimately outlived him, as shown by her funerary inscription, which was found at Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli . Hadrian's great-nephew, Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator , from Barcino (Barcelona) would become Hadrian's colleague as co-consul in 118. As

945-403: A grand league of all Greek cities. Successful applications for membership involved mythologised or fabricated claims to Greek origins, and affirmations of loyalty to imperial Rome, to satisfy Hadrian's personal, idealised notions of Hellenism. Hadrian saw himself as protector of Greek culture and the "liberties" of Greece – in this case, urban self-government. It allowed Hadrian to appear as

1050-576: A leading commercial port for his eastern capital of Babylon . The region itself became the Satrapy of the Erythraean Sea . However, the city never lived up to its expectations, and was destroyed in the mid 3rd-century BC by floods. It was not until the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( r.  175 – 164 BC ) that the city was rebuilt and renamed Antiochia. After

1155-425: A legitimate heir may have come too late to dissuade other potential claimants. Hadrian's greatest rivals were Trajan's closest friends, the most experienced and senior members of the imperial council; any of them might have been a legitimate competitor for the imperial office ( capaces imperii ); and any of them might have supported Trajan's expansionist policies, which Hadrian intended to change. One of their number

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1260-597: A local dispute between producers of olive oil and the Athenian Assembly and Council , who had imposed production quotas on oil producers; yet he granted an imperial subsidy for the Athenian grain supply. Hadrian created two foundations to fund Athens' public games, festivals and competitions if no citizen proved wealthy or willing enough to sponsor them as a Gymnasiarch or Agonothetes . Generally Hadrian preferred that Greek notables, including priests of

1365-507: A lower cost than a massed border army, and controlled cross-border trade and immigration. A shrine was erected in York to Britannia as the divine personification of Britain ; coins were struck, bearing her image, identified as Britannia. By the end of 122, Hadrian had concluded his visit to Britannia. He never saw the finished wall that bears his name . Hadrian appears to have continued through southern Gaul. At Nemausus , he may have overseen

1470-546: A pretext to remove him from office. 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. The visit was cut short by reports of war preparations by Parthia; Hadrian quickly headed eastwards. At some point, he visited Cyrene , where he personally funded

1575-427: A semi-autonomous kingdom under Parthian suzerainty till its fall. The realm of the kingdom included the islands Failaka and Bahrain . The kings of Characene are known mainly by their coins, consisting mainly of silver tetradrachms with Greek and later Aramaic inscriptions. These coins are dated after the Seleucid era , providing a secure framework for chronological succession. In his Natural History , Pliny

1680-485: A senator, Hadrian's father would have spent much of his time in Rome. In terms of his later career, Hadrian's most significant family connection was to Trajan , his father's first cousin , who was also of senatorial stock and a native of Italica. Although they were considered to be, in the words of Aurelius Victor , advenae ("aliens", people "from the outside"), both Trajan and Hadrian were of Italic lineage and belonged to

1785-454: A senatorial career. He then served as a military tribune , first with the Legio   II Adiutrix in 95, then with the Legio V Macedonica . During Hadrian's second stint as tribune, the frail and aged reigning emperor Nerva adopted Trajan as his heir; Hadrian was dispatched to give Trajan the news – or most probably was one of many emissaries charged with this same commission. Then Hadrian

1890-564: A state visit and was given the civic name Hadriana Palmyra. Hadrian also bestowed honours on various Palmyrene magnates, among them one Soados, who had done much to protect Palmyrene trade between the Roman Empire and Parthia. Hadrian had spent the winter of 131–32 in Athens, where he dedicated the now-completed Temple of Olympian Zeus , At some time in 132, he headed East, to Judaea. In Roman Judaea , Hadrian visited Jerusalem , which

1995-427: A succession of competing claimants – a civil war. Too early a nomination could be seen as an abdication and reduce the chance for an orderly transmission of power. As Trajan lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina, and closely watched by Prefect Attianus, he could have lawfully adopted Hadrian as heir by means of a simple deathbed wish, expressed before witnesses; but when an adoption document was eventually presented, it

2100-484: A successor, on condition that Antoninus adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his own heirs. Hadrian died the same year at Baiae , and Antoninus had him deified, despite opposition from the Senate. Later historians counted him as one of Rome's so-called " Five Good Emperors ", and as a " benevolent dictator ". His own Senate found him remote and authoritarian. He has been described as enigmatic and contradictory, with

2205-417: A young Roman aristocrat . Hadrian's enthusiasm for Greek literature and culture earned him the nickname Graeculus ("Greekling"), intended as a form of "mild mockery". Hadrian's first official post in Rome was as a member of the decemviri stlitibus judicandis , one among many vigintivirate offices at the lowest level of the cursus honorum ("course of honours") that could lead to higher office and

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2310-409: A youth of 13 or 14. It is also possible that Antinous was sent to Rome to be trained as a page to serve the emperor and only gradually rose to the status of imperial favourite. The actual historical detail of their relationship is mostly unknown. With or without Antinous, Hadrian travelled through Anatolia . Various traditions suggest his presence at particular locations and allege his foundation of

2415-595: Is Meredates , mentioned in an inscription at Palmyra datable to 131. In 221–222 AD, an ethnic Persian, Ardashir V , who was King of Persis , led a revolt against the Parthians, establishing the Sasanian Empire . According to later Arab histories, he defeated Characene forces, killed its last ruler, rebuilt the town, and renamed it Astarābād-Ardašīr . The area around Charax that had been the Characene state

2520-670: The Aelia gens , the Aeli Hadriani , came from the town of Hadria in eastern Italy. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty . Early in his political career, Hadrian married Vibia Sabina , grandniece of the ruling emperor, Trajan . The marriage and Hadrian's later succession as emperor were probably promoted by Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina . Soon after his own succession, Hadrian had four leading senators unlawfully put to death, probably because they seemed to threaten

2625-537: The Amphictyonic League based in Delphi, but by now he had decided on something far grander. His new Panhellenion was going to be a council that would bring Greek cities together. Having set in motion the preparations – deciding whose claim to be a Greek city was genuine would take time – Hadrian set off for Ephesus. From Greece, Hadrian proceeded by way of Asia to Egypt, probably conveyed across

2730-631: The Characene state was thereon known by the Aramaic /Syriac name, Maysān, which was later adapted by the Arab conquerors. Charax continued, under the name Maysan , with Persian texts making various mention of governors through the fifth century and there is mention of a Nestorian Church here in the sixth century. The Charax mint appears to have continued through the Sassanid Empire and into

2835-665: The Fayyum at the beginning of December. Hadrian's movements after his journey down the Nile are uncertain. Whether or not he returned to Rome, he travelled in the East during 130–131, to organise and inaugurate his new Panhellenion , which was to be focused on the Athenian Temple to Olympian Zeus . As local conflicts had led to the failure of the previous scheme for a Hellenic association centered on Delphi, Hadrian decided instead for

2940-533: The First Temple had been after the Babylonian exile . A massive anti-Hellenistic and anti-Roman Jewish uprising broke out, led by Simon bar Kokhba . Given the fragmentary nature of the existing evidence, it is impossible to ascertain an exact date for the beginning of the uprising. It probably began between summer and fall of 132. The Roman governor Tineius (Tynius) Rufus asked for an army to crush

3045-550: The Historia Augusta suggests that the revolt was spurred by Hadrian's abolition of circumcision ( brit milah ); which as a Hellenist he viewed as mutilation . The scholar Peter Schäfer maintains that there is no evidence for this claim, given the notoriously problematical nature of the Historia Augusta as a source, the "tomfoolery" shown by the writer in the relevant passage, and the fact that contemporary Roman legislation on "genital mutilation" seems to address

3150-587: The Nile , Antinous drowned. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, and accident, suicide, murder and religious sacrifice have all been postulated. Historia Augusta offers the following account: During a journey on the Nile he lost Antinous, his favourite, and for this youth he wept like a woman. Concerning this incident there are varying rumours; for some claim that he had devoted himself to death for Hadrian, and others – what both his beauty and Hadrian's sensuality suggest. But however this may be,

3255-645: The Peloponnese . His exact route is uncertain, but it took in Epidaurus ; Pausanias describes temples built there by Hadrian, and his statue – in heroic nudity  – erected by its citizens in thanks to their "restorer". Antinous and Hadrian may have already been lovers at this time; Hadrian showed particular generosity to Mantinea , which shared ancient, mythic, politically useful links with Antinous' home at Bithynia. He restored Mantinea's Temple of Poseidon Hippios , and according to Pausanias, restored

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3360-630: The Persian Gulf was convinced to turn back by the Parthians . In AD 116, the Roman Emperor Trajan visited Charax Spasinu – his most recent, easternmost and shortest-lived possession. He saw the many ships setting sail for India , and wished he were younger, like Alexander had been, so that he could go there himself. Isidore of Charax , a 1st-century geographer, came from Charax Spasinu. Robert Eisenman contends that it

3465-635: The Sarmatians ". Between 107 and 108, Hadrian defeated an invasion of Roman-controlled Banat and Oltenia by the Iazyges . The exact terms of the peace treaty are not known. It is believed the Romans kept Oltenia in exchange for some form of concession, likely involving a one-time tribute payment. The Iazyges also took possession of Banat around this time, which may have been part of the treaty. Now in his mid-thirties, Hadrian travelled to Greece; he

3570-586: The Seleucid Empire after Alexander's death, until it was destroyed at some point by flooding. The city was rebuilt c. 166 BC by order of Antiochus IV , who appointed Hyspaosines as satrap to oversee the work. The political instability that followed the Parthian conquest of most of the Seleucid Empire allowed Hyspaosines to establish an independent state, Characene, in 127 BC. He renamed

3675-523: The Umayyad empire , minting coin as late as AD 715. Charax was finally abandoned during the 9th century because of persistent flooding and a dramatic decrease in trade with the west. The original Greek town was enlarged by an Arabian chieftain, Spasines, and afterward named Spasines and Charax Spasinou after him. It was a major trading center of late antiquity as evidenced by the hoards of Greek coins recovered during excavations there. Although it

3780-641: The Aegean with his entourage by an Ephesian merchant, Lucius Erastus. Hadrian later sent a letter to the Council of Ephesus, supporting Erastus as a worthy candidate for town councillor and offering to pay the requisite fee. Hadrian arrived in Egypt before the Egyptian New Year on 29 August 130. He opened his stay in Egypt by restoring Pompey the Great 's tomb at Pelusium , offering sacrifice to him as

3885-659: The Elder praises the port of Charax: Trade continued to be important. A famous Characenian, a man named Isidore , was the author of a treatise on Parthian trade routes, the Mansiones Parthicae . The inhabitants of Palmyra had a permanent trading station in Characene. Many inscriptions mention caravan trade. Next to Charax, other important cities were Forat (at the Tigris), Apologos and Teredon . On his coins Meredates (ruled 131 to 150/151) calls himself king of

3990-610: The Empire, and indulged a preference for direct intervention in imperial and provincial affairs, especially building projects. He is particularly known for building Hadrian's Wall , which marked the northern limit of Britannia . In Rome itself, he rebuilt the Pantheon and constructed the vast Temple of Venus and Roma . In Egypt, he may have rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria . As an ardent admirer of Greek culture, he promoted Athens as

4095-631: The Greeks deified him at Hadrian's request, and declared that oracles were given through his agency, but these, it is commonly asserted, were composed by Hadrian himself. Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis in Antinous' honour on 30 October 130. He then continued down the Nile to Thebes , where his visit to the Colossi of Memnon on 20 and 21 November was commemorated by four epigrams inscribed by Julia Balbilla . After that, he headed north, reaching

4200-500: The Iranian Parthian Empire ; in 148/7 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I ( r.  171–132 BC ) conquered Media and Atropatene , and by 141 BC, was in the possession of Babylonia . The menace and proximity of the Parthians caused Hyspaosines to declare independence. In 124 BC, however, Hyspaosines accepted Parthian suzerainty, and continued to rule Characene as a vassal. Characene would generally remain

4305-479: The Karún on the left, at the point where these two rivers unite, and the site measures two [Roman] miles [3 km] in breadth... It was originally at a distance of 1¼ miles [1.9 km] from the coast, and had a harbour of its own, but when Juba [ Juba II , c. 50 BC—c. AD 24] published his work it was 50 miles [74 km] inland; its present distance from the coast is stated by Arab envoys and our own traders who have come from

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4410-876: The Omani . The latter are mentioned sporadically by ancient writers. According to Pliny (VI.145) they lived between Petra and Charax. They were according to some scholars for a certain period part of the Charakene. So it seems that the kingdom extended to the South of the Persian Gulf. However, the reading and interpretation of the legends on the king's coins is problematic. In AD 115 the Roman emperor Trajan conquered Mesopotamia as main part of his Parthian campaign . He also reached Characene, where he saw ships bound for India. According to Cassius Dio , Attambelos ruled there and

4515-421: The Parthian throne. From this time the coinage from Charax indicates a more Parthian culture. In AD 221–222, an ethnic Persian, Ardašēr , who was satrap of Fars , led a revolt against the Parthians, establishing the Sasanian Empire . According to later Arab histories he defeated Characene forces, killed its last ruler, rebuilt the town and renamed it Astarābād-Ardašīr . The area around Charax that had been

4620-604: The Roman army during both the 66 and 132 rebellions. It has been speculated that Hadrian intended to assimilate the Jewish Temple to the traditional Roman civic-religious imperial cult ; such assimilations had long been commonplace practice in Greece and in other provinces, and on the whole, had been successful. The neighbouring Samaritans had already integrated their religious rites with Hellenistic ones. Strict Jewish monotheism proved more resistant to imperial cajoling, and then to imperial demands. A tradition based on

4725-742: The Roman defences, then set off westwards, along the Black Sea coast. He probably wintered in Nicomedia , the main city of Bithynia . Nicomedia had been hit by an earthquake only shortly before his stay; Hadrian provided funds for its rebuilding and was acclaimed as restorer of the province. It is possible that Hadrian visited Claudiopolis and saw the beautiful Antinous , a young man of humble birth who became Hadrian's lover. Literary and epigraphic sources say nothing of when or where they met; depictions of Antinous show him aged 20 or so, shortly before his death in 130. In 123 he would most likely have been

4830-689: The Senate, alongside the Athenian grandee Herodes Atticus the Elder . The two aristocrats would be the first from "Old Greece" to enter the Roman Senate, as representatives of Sparta and Athens, traditional rivals and "great powers" of the Classical Age. This was an important step in overcoming Greek notables' reluctance to take part in Roman political life. In March 125, Hadrian presided at the Athenian festival of Dionysia , wearing Athenian dress. The Temple of Olympian Zeus had been under construction for more than five centuries; Hadrian committed

4935-473: The Younger and (briefly) Governor of Dacia at the start of Hadrian's reign. He was probably Hadrian's chief rival for the throne; a senator of the highest rank, breeding, and connections; according to the Historia Augusta , Hadrian had considered making Nigrinus his heir apparent before deciding to get rid of him. Soon after, in 125, Hadrian appointed Quintus Marcius Turbo as his Praetorian Prefect. Turbo

5040-549: The autumn of 124 and participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries . He had a particular commitment to Athens, which had previously granted him citizenship and an archonate ; at the Athenians' request, he revised their constitution – among other things, he added a new phyle (tribe), which was named after him. Hadrian combined active, hands-on interventions with cautious restraint. He refused to intervene in

5145-414: The building of a basilica dedicated to his patroness Plotina, who had recently died in Rome and had been deified at Hadrian's request. At around this time, Hadrian dismissed his secretary ab epistulis , the biographer Suetonius , for "excessive familiarity" towards the empress. Marcius Turbo's colleague as praetorian prefect, Gaius Septicius Clarus , was dismissed for the same alleged reason, perhaps

5250-482: The city after himself. Charax remained the capital of the small state for 282 years, with the numismatic evidence suggesting it was a multi-ethnic Hellenised city with extensive trading links. The Romans under Trajan annexed the city in AD 116. Characene independence was re-established 15 years later under the rule of Mithridates , a son of the Parthian King Pacoros , during the civil war for

5355-489: The city of Charax can be distilled only from ancient texts and numismatic sources, as the city itself has never been properly excavated. The city was established by Alexander the Great in 324 BC, replacing a small Persian settlement, Durine. This was one of Alexander's last cities before his death in 323 BC. Here he established a quarter ( dēmē ) of the port called Pella , named after Alexander's own town of birth, where he settled Macedonian veterans. The city passed to

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5460-476: The city was fully restored in 166/5 BC, Antiochus IV appointed Hyspaosines as governor ( eparch ) of Antiochia and the Satrapy of the Erythraean Sea . During this period Antiochia briefly flourished, until Antiochus IV's abrupt death in 163 BC, which weakened Seleucid authority throughout the empire. With the weakening of the Seleucids, many political entities within the empire declared independence, such as

5565-663: The city", since he was related to him by marriage. Hadrian is said to have placed the city's main Forum at the junction of the main Cardo and Decumanus Maximus , now the location for the (smaller) Muristan . After the suppression of the Jewish revolt, Hadrian provided the Samaritans with a temple dedicated to Zeus Hypsistos ("Highest Zeus") on Mount Gerizim . The bloody repression of the revolt ended Jewish political independence from

5670-746: The city's original, classical name. It had been renamed Antigoneia since Hellenistic times, after the Macedonian King Antigonus III Doson . Hadrian also rebuilt the ancient shrines of Abae and Megara , and the Heraion of Argos . During his tour of the Peloponnese, Hadrian persuaded the Spartan grandee Eurycles Herculanus – leader of the Euryclid family that had ruled Sparta since Augustus' day – to enter

5775-402: The construction of a wall "to separate Romans from barbarians". The idea that the wall was built in order to deal with an actual threat or its resurgence, however, is probable but nevertheless conjectural. A general desire to cease the Empire's extension may have been the determining motive. Reduction of defence costs may also have played a role, as the Wall deterred attacks on Roman territory at

5880-459: The cultural capital of the Empire. His intense relationship with Greek youth Antinous and the latter's untimely death led Hadrian to establish a widespread, popular cult. Late in Hadrian's reign, he suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt ; he saw this rebellion as a failure of his panhellenic ideal. Hadrian's last years were marred by chronic illness. His marriage had been both unhappy and childless. In 138 he adopted Antoninus Pius and nominated him as

5985-556: The east for a while, suppressing the Jewish revolt that had broken out under Trajan . He relieved Judea's governor, the outstanding Moorish general Lusius Quietus , of his personal guard of Moorish auxiliaries; then he moved on to quell disturbances along the Danube frontier. In Rome, Hadrian's former guardian and current praetorian prefect , Attianus, claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy involving Lusius Quietus and three other leading senators, Lucius Publilius Celsus, Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus and Gaius Avidius Nigrinus. There

6090-437: The eastern provinces, and to some extent in the west, Nero had enjoyed popular support; claims of his imminent return or rebirth emerged almost immediately after his death. Hadrian may have consciously exploited these positive, popular connections during his own travels. In the Historia Augusta , Hadrian is described as "a little too much Greek", too cosmopolitan for a Roman emperor. Prior to Hadrian's arrival in Britannia ,

6195-485: The fictive heir to Pericles , who supposedly had convened a previous Panhellenic Congress – such a Congress is mentioned only in Pericles' biography by Plutarch , who respected Rome's imperial order. Epigraphical evidence suggests that the prospect of applying to the Panhellenion held little attraction to the wealthier, Hellenised cities of Asia Minor, which were jealous of Athenian and European Greek preeminence within Hadrian's scheme. Hadrian's notion of Hellenism

6300-421: The general issue of castration of slaves by their masters. Other issues could have contributed to the outbreak: a heavy-handed, culturally insensitive Roman administration; tensions between the landless poor and incoming Roman colonists privileged with land-grants; and a strong undercurrent of messianism, predicated on Jeremiah 's prophecy that the Temple would be rebuilt seventy years after its destruction, as

6405-426: The gens Aelia came from Hadria (modern Atri ), an ancient town in the Picenum region of Italia, the source of the name Hadrianus . One Roman biographer claims instead that Hadrian was born in Rome , but this view is held by a minority of scholars. Hadrian's father was Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer , a senator of praetorian rank, born and raised in Italica. Hadrian's mother was Domitia Paulina , daughter of

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6510-546: The idea of the Roman Empire as a commonwealth with an underlying Hellenic culture. If Hadrian were to be appointed Trajan's successor, Plotina and her extended family could retain their social profile and political influence after Trajan's death. Hadrian could also count on the support of his mother-in-law, Salonia Matidia , who was the daughter of Trajan's beloved sister Ulpia Marciana . When Ulpia Marciana died in 112, Trajan had her deified , and made Salonia Matidia an Augusta . Hadrian's personal relationship with Trajan

6615-531: The imperial cult, focus on more essential and durable provisions, especially munera such as aqueducts and public fountains ( nymphaea ). Athens was given two nymphaea ; one brought water from Mount Parnes to the Athenia Agora via a complex, challenging and ambitious system of aqueduct tunnels and reservoirs, to be constructed over several years. Several were given to Argos, to remedy a water-shortage so severe and so long-standing that "thirsty Argos" featured in Homeric epic. During that winter, Hadrian toured

6720-562: The imperial retinue, when he joined Trajan's expedition against Parthia as a legate. When the governor of Syria was sent to deal with renewed troubles in Dacia, Hadrian was appointed his replacement, with independent command. Trajan became seriously ill, and took ship for Rome, while Hadrian remained in Syria, de facto general commander of the Eastern Roman army. Trajan got as far as the coastal city of Selinus , in Cilicia , and died there on 8 August 117; he would be regarded as one of Rome's most admired, popular and best emperors. Around

6825-422: The legitimacy of Hadrian's adoption: Cassius Dio saw it as bogus and the Historia Augusta writer as genuine. An aureus minted early in Hadrian's reign represents the official position; it presents Hadrian as Trajan's " Caesar " (Trajan's heir designate). According to the Historia Augusta , Hadrian informed the Senate of his accession in a letter as a fait accompli , explaining that "the unseemly haste of

6930-439: The most part, relied on the reports of their imperial representatives around the Empire, Hadrian wished to see things for himself. Previous emperors had often left Rome for long periods, but mostly to go to war, returning once the conflict was settled. Hadrian's near-incessant travels may represent a calculated break with traditions and attitudes in which the empire was a purely Roman hegemony. Hadrian sought to include provincials in

7035-437: The neighbouring region of Characene, Elymais , which was situated in most of the present-day province of Khuzestan in southern Iran. Hyspaosines, although now a more or less independent ruler, remained a loyal subject of the Seleucids. Hyspaosines' keenness to remain as a Seleucid governor was possibly due to avoid interruption in the profitable trade between Antiochia and Seleucia . The Seleucids had suffered heavy defeats by

7140-439: The personifications of various provinces. Aelius Aristides would later write that Hadrian "extended over his subjects a protecting hand, raising them as one helps fallen men on their feet". All this did not go well with Roman traditionalists. The self-indulgent emperor Nero had enjoyed a prolonged and peaceful tour of Greece and had been criticised by the Roman elite for abandoning his fundamental responsibilities as emperor. In

7245-423: The place to be 120 miles [178 km]. There is no part of the world where earth carried down by rivers has encroached on the sea further or more rapidly... The Description of Pliny matches the depiction on the Tabula Peutingeriana . The Jabal Khuyabir tell is now 1km south of the confluence of the Eulaios/Karkheh and the Tigris; the river shifted course during a well-documented storm event in 1837. Naysān could be

7350-404: The population was enslaved. The extent of punitive measures against the Jewish population remains a matter of debate. Hadrian renamed Judea province Syria Palaestina . He renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina after himself and Jupiter Capitolinus and had the city rebuilt in Greek style. According to Epiphanius, Hadrian appointed Aquila from Sinope in Pontus as "overseer of the work of building

7455-408: The province had suffered a major rebellion from 119 to 121. Inscriptions tell of an expeditio Britannica that involved major troop movements, including the dispatch of a detachment ( vexillatio ), comprising some 3,000 soldiers. Fronto writes about military losses in Britannia at the time. Coin legends of 119–120 attest that Quintus Pompeius Falco was sent to restore order. In 122 Hadrian initiated

7560-612: The resistance; bar Kokhba punished any Jew who refused to join his ranks. According to Justin Martyr and Eusebius , that had to do mostly with Christian converts, who opposed bar Kokhba's messianic claims. The Romans were overwhelmed by the organised ferocity of the uprising. Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain and brought troops in from as far as the Danube. Roman losses were heavy; an entire legion or its numeric equivalent of around 4,000. Hadrian's report on

7665-589: The security of his reign; this earned him the senate's lifelong enmity. He earned further disapproval by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains in Mesopotamia , Assyria , Armenia , and parts of Dacia . Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders and the unification of the empire's disparate peoples as subjects of a panhellenic empire , led by Rome. Hadrian energetically pursued his own Imperial ideals and personal interests. He visited almost every province of

7770-399: The senatorial nobility, but no particular distinction befitting an heir designate. Had Trajan wished it, he could have promoted his protege to patrician rank and its privileges, which included opportunities for a fast track to consulship without prior experience as tribune; he chose not to. While Hadrian seems to have been granted the office of tribune of the plebs a year or so younger than

7875-468: The ships bound for India during his visit while Strabo calls the city an emporium and Pliny notes that the city was a centre of trade for rare perfumes and was also a centre for pearl diving . It was also the beginning of the overland trade route from the Persian Gulf to Petra and Palmyra and also into the Parthian Empire. Prior to the invasion of Trajan Charax minted coins of

7980-524: The shrine of Cupra in Cupra Maritima and improved the drainage of the Fucine lake . Less welcome than such largesse was his decision in 127 to divide Italy into four regions under imperial legates with consular rank, acting as governors. They were given jurisdiction over all of Italy, excluding Rome itself, therefore shifting Italian cases from the courts of Rome. Having Italy effectively reduced to

8085-442: The status of a group of mere provinces did not go down well with the Roman Senate, and the innovation did not long outlive Hadrian's reign. Hadrian fell ill around this time; whatever the nature of his illness, it did not stop him from setting off in the spring of 128 to visit Africa. His arrival coincided with the good omen of rain, which ended a drought. Along with his usual role as benefactor and restorer, he found time to inspect

8190-464: The time of his quaestorship, in 100 or 101, Hadrian had married Trajan's seventeen- or eighteen-year-old grandniece, Vibia Sabina . Trajan himself seems to have been less than enthusiastic about the marriage, and with good reason, as the couple's relationship would prove to be scandalously poor. The marriage might have been arranged by Trajan's empress, Plotina. This highly cultured, influential woman shared many of Hadrian's values and interests, including

8295-609: The training of young men from well-bred families for the Roman military. Cyrene had benefited earlier in Hadrian's reign (in 119) from his restoration of public buildings destroyed during the earlier, Trajanic Jewish revolt. Birley describes this kind of investment as "characteristic of Hadrian". When Hadrian arrived on the Euphrates , he personally negotiated a settlement with the Parthian King Osroes I , inspected

8400-426: The troops in acclaiming him emperor was due to the belief that the state could not be without an emperor". The new emperor rewarded the legions' loyalty with the customary bonus , and the Senate endorsed the acclamation. Various public ceremonies were organised on Hadrian's behalf, celebrating his "divine election" by all the gods, whose community now included Trajan, deified at Hadrian's request. Hadrian remained in

8505-444: The troops; his speech to them survives. Hadrian returned to Italy in the summer of 128, but his stay was brief, as he set off on another tour that would last three years. In September 128, Hadrian attended the Eleusinian Mysteries again. This time his visit to Greece seems to have concentrated on Athens and Sparta – the two ancient rivals for dominance of Greece. Hadrian had played with the idea of focusing his Greek revival around

8610-453: The upper class of Roman society. One author has proposed to consider them part of the " Ulpio - Aelian dynasty". Hadrian's parents died in 86 when he was ten years old. He and his sister became wards of Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus (who later became Trajan's Praetorian prefect ). Hadrian was physically active and enjoyed hunting; when he was 14, Trajan called him to Rome and arranged his further education in subjects appropriate to

8715-510: The vast resources at his command to ensure that the job would be finished. On his return to Italy, Hadrian made a detour to Sicily . Coins celebrate him as the restorer of the island. Back in Rome, he saw the rebuilt Pantheon and his completed villa at nearby Tibur , among the Sabine Hills . In early March 127 Hadrian set off on a tour of Italy; his route has been reconstructed through the evidence of his gifts and donations. He restored

8820-585: The war to the Roman Senate omitted the customary salutation, "If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the legions are in health." The rebellion was quashed by 135. According to Cassius Dio . Beitar , a fortified city 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of Jerusalem, fell after a three-and-a-half-year siege. Roman war operations in Judea left some 580,000 Jews dead and 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed. An unknown proportion of

8925-401: Was Aulus Cornelius Palma who as a former conqueror of Arabia Nabatea would have retained a stake in the East. The Historia Augusta describes Palma and a third executed senator, Lucius Publilius Celsus (consul for the second time in 113), as Hadrian's personal enemies, who had spoken in public against him. The fourth was Gaius Avidius Nigrinus , an ex-consul, intellectual, friend of Pliny

9030-417: Was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf in modern day Iraq , and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene . The name Charax, probably from Greek Χάραξ, literally means "palisaded fort", and was applied to several fortified Seleucid towns. Charax was originally named Alexandria, after Alexander the Great , and was perhaps even personally founded by him. After destruction by floods, it

9135-700: Was as ab actis senatus , keeping the Senate's records. During the First Dacian War , Hadrian took the field as a member of Trajan's personal entourage, but was excused from his military post to take office in Rome as tribune of the plebs , in 105. After the war, he was probably elected praetor . During the Second Dacian War , Hadrian was in Trajan's personal service again. He was released to serve as legate of Legio I Minervia , then as governor of Lower Pannonia in 107, tasked with "holding back

9240-469: Was back in Rome; he was elected quaestor , then quaestor imperatoris Traiani , liaison officer between Emperor and the assembled Senate, to whom he read the Emperor's communiqués and speeches – which he possibly composed on the emperor's behalf. In his role as imperial ghostwriter , Hadrian took the place of the recently deceased Licinius Sura, Trajan's all-powerful friend and kingmaker. His next post

9345-422: Was complex and may have been difficult. Hadrian seems to have sought influence over Trajan, or Trajan's decisions, through cultivation of the latter's boy favourites; this gave rise to some unexplained quarrel, around the time of Hadrian's marriage to Sabina. Late in Trajan's reign, Hadrian failed to achieve a senior consulship, being only suffect consul for 108; this gave him parity of status with other members of

9450-487: Was customary, he had to leave Dacia, and Trajan, to take up the appointment; Trajan might simply have wanted him out of the way. The Historia Augusta describes Trajan's gift to Hadrian of a diamond ring that Trajan himself had received from Nerva , which "encouraged [Hadrian's] hopes of succeeding to the throne". While Trajan actively promoted Hadrian's advancement, he did so with caution. Failure to nominate an heir could invite chaotic, destructive wresting of power by

9555-419: Was friendly to the emperor. Also the people of Charax Spasinu are described as friendly towards the emperor. The following two years, the Charakene remained most likely Roman, but emperor Hadrian decided to withdraw from Trajan's territorial gains. It remains uncertain whether the Charakene remained independent or whether it was placed under direct Parthian rule. The next Parthian king attested in ancient sources

9660-459: Was granted Athenian citizenship and was appointed eponymous archon of Athens for a brief time (in 112). The Athenians awarded him a statue with an inscription in the Theatre of Dionysus ( IG II2 3286) offering a detailed account of his cursus honorum thus far. Thereafter, no more is heard of him until Trajan's Parthian campaign . It is possible that he remained in Greece until his recall to

9765-461: Was his close friend, a leading figure of the equestrian order, a senior court judge and a procurator . As Hadrian also forbade equestrians to try cases against senators, the Senate retained full legal authority over its members; it also remained the highest court of appeal, and formal appeals to the emperor regarding its decisions were forbidden. If this was an attempt to repair the damage done by Attianus, with or without Hadrian's full knowledge, it

9870-523: Was located on a large mound known as Jabal Khuyabir at Naysān near the confluence of the Eulaios/ Karkheh and the Tigris as recorded by Pliny the Elder . According to Pliny the Elder : The town of Charax is situated in the innermost recess of the Persian Gulf, from which projects the country called Arabia Felix . It stands on an artificial elevation between the Tigris on the right and

9975-787: Was mentioned there in the sixth century. The Charax mint appears to have continued throughout the Sassanid empire and into the Umayyad empire , minting coins as late as AD 715. The earliest references from the first century A.D. indicates that the people of Characene were referred to as Μεσηνός and lived along the Arabian side of the coast at the head of the Persian Gulf. Charax Spasinu Charax Spasinu , also called Charax Spasinou , Charax Pasinu , Spasinu Charax ( Ancient Greek : Σπασίνου Χάραξ ), Alexandria (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια) or Antiochia in Susiana (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Σουσιανῆς),

10080-562: Was narrow and deliberately archaising; he defined "Greekness" in terms of classical roots, rather than a broader, Hellenistic culture. Some cities with a dubious claim to Greekness, however – such as Side – were acknowledged as fully Hellenic. The German sociologist Georg Simmel remarked that the Panhellenion was based on "games, commemorations, preservation of an ideal, an entirely non-political Hellenism". Hadrian bestowed honorific titles on many regional centres. Palmyra received

10185-468: Was no public trial for the four – they were tried in absentia , hunted down and killed. Hadrian claimed that Attianus had acted on his own initiative, and rewarded him with senatorial status and consular rank; then pensioned him off, no later than 120. Hadrian assured the senate that henceforth their ancient right to prosecute and judge their own would be respected. The reasons for these four executions remain obscure. Official recognition of Hadrian as

10290-620: Was nominally a vassal of the Seleucids and, later, the Arsacids , it seemed to have retained a considerable degree of autonomy at times. It became a centre for Arab trade, largely controlled by the Nabataeans , at least until they became assimilated by the Romans in AD 106. Charax was a rich port with ships arriving regularly from Gerrha , Egypt , India, and beyond. Trajan observed

10395-424: Was not enough; Hadrian's reputation and relationship with his Senate were irredeemably soured, for the rest of his reign. Some sources describe Hadrian's occasional recourse to a network of informers, the frumentarii , to discreetly investigate persons of high social standing, including senators and his close friends. Hadrian was to spend more than half his reign outside Italy. Whereas previous emperors had, for

10500-413: Was rebuilt by Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) and renamed Antiochia. It was at this time provided with a massive antiflood embankment almost 4½ km long by Antiochus's governor, Hyspaosines , and renamed "Charax of Hyspaosines." There is a theory that Charax derives from the Aramaic word Karkâ meaning 'castle', but Charax often attested at several other Seleucid towns with the meaning palisade. Charax

10605-512: Was signed not by Trajan but by Plotina. That Hadrian was still in Syria was a further irregularity, as Roman adoption law required the presence of both parties at the adoption ceremony. Rumours, doubts, and speculation attended Hadrian's adoption and succession. It has been suggested that Trajan's young manservant Phaedimus, who died very soon after Trajan, was killed (or killed himself) rather than face awkward questions. Ancient sources are divided on

10710-556: Was still in ruins after the First Roman–Jewish War of 66–73. He may have planned to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony  – as Vespasian had done with Caesarea Maritima  – with various honorific and fiscal privileges. The non-Roman population would have no obligation to participate in Roman religious rituals but were expected to support the Roman imperial order; this is attested in Caesarea, where some Jews served in

10815-483: Was thereon known by the Aramaic name myšn , myšwn in the Babylonian Talmud ( Baba Kamma 97b; Baba Bathra 73a; Shabbat 101a), or myšyn as attested in an Aramaic incantation bowl from Nippur , which was later adapted by the Arab conquerors as Maysān. Charax continued, under the name Maysān, with Persian texts making various mention of governors throughout the fifth century. A Nestorian Church

10920-507: Was this city, and not the better-known Antioch in which Paul established his first church. Hadrian Hadrian ( / ˈ h eɪ d r i ən / HAY -dree-ən ; Latin : Publius Aelius Hadrianus [(h)adriˈjaːnus] ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica , close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica ; his branch of

11025-477: Was transferred to Legio XXII Primigenia and a third tribunate. Hadrian's three tribunates gave him some career advantage. Most scions of the older senatorial families might serve one, or at most two, military tribunates as a prerequisite to higher office. When Nerva died in 98, Hadrian is said to have hastened to Trajan, to inform him ahead of the official envoy sent by the governor, Hadrian's brother-in-law and rival Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus. In 101, Hadrian

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