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Autumn AD 124 – Hadrian arrives in Athens and attends the Eleusinian Mysteries (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Eleven years had passed since Hadrian last visited Athens. During his stay there, while in his mid-thirties, he became an Athenian citizen, enrolled in the tribe Besa and served as archon (IG II² 2024) before departing to join Trajan's Parthian campaign in the East. He may have visited several cities besides Athens, but we have no…
Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 3), visits Smyrna and Ephesus and sails to Athens (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After Pergamon and Sardis (see here), two other great cities of western Asia had their turn to receive Hadrian and his party, Smyrna and Ephesus. Both metropoleis were perennial rivals, competing with each other for first place in the province and the granting of the acclaimed title neokoros. Travelling with Hadrian was one of the most renowned sophists of…
Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 2) and visits Pergamon and Sardis (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
The second part of Hadrian's journey through the province of Asia in the Summer of 124 took him southward to the great cities of Pergamon, Sardis, Smyrna and Ephesus. From Hadrianotherae, where the Emperor had a successful bear hunt (see here), his route would have taken him up along the rugged Caicus River Valley, which…
Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia, visits Cyzicus and Troy and hunts a she-bear (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
In the late spring of AD 124, Hadrian departed from Thrace (see here) and travelled back to Asia Minor, this time to the Roman province of Asia. He was accompanied by the sophist Antonius Polemo and his "soldiers and carriages." The imperial party's first destination was the peninsula of Cyzicus on the southern shore of…
Spring AD 124 – Hadrian visits Thrace and founds Hadrianopolis (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After touring the province of Bithynia, where Hadrian may have first encountered Antinous (see here), the Emperor crossed the Sea of Marmara to Thrace. Accompanying him was the renowned sophist and teacher of rhetoric, Antonius Polemon. Polemon chronicled this journey in his Physiognomica, a physiognomy treatise later preserved in a 14th-century Arabic translation. In his writings, Polemon recalls, "I was a companion of the great…
Early AD 124 – Hadrian spends the winter in Nicomedia, tours Bithynia and meets Antinous (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After sailing along the southern Black Sea coast, possibly visiting the Pontic towns of Amisus, Sinope and Amastris (see here), Hadrian is thought to have spent the winter of 123/4 in Nicomedia or possibly Byzantium. Nicomedia was the capital of the dual province of Pontus et Bithynia in what is now Izmit in northern Turkey.…
Felicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂 FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Happy 1948th birthday, Hadrian! This year, I decided to cook Cato the Elder’s recipe for Libum (sweet cheesecake) as Hadrian’s birthday cake. Libum (original recipe from LacusCurtius): Bray 2 pounds of cheese thoroughly in a mortar; when it is thoroughly macerated, add 1 pound of wheat flour, or, if you wish the cake to be more dainty,…
Autumn AD 123 – Hadrian reaches Trapezus and sails westwards along the Pontic coast (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After his inspection tour of the eastern frontier provinces (see here), Hadrian travelled through the Pontic mountains to the Black Sea port of Trapezus (present-day Trabzon), the northernmost end of the Cappadocian limes. Trapezus was one of the furthest points reached by Hadrian, and in the AD 130s, his friend L. Flavius Arrianus, as governor of…
The only known copy of Hadrian’s lost autobiography in the Chicago Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures FOLLOWING HADRIAN
The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago possesses a papyrus with the inventory number E8349, which contains the only surviving copy of Hadrian's lost autobiography. Written toward the close of his life, Hadrian's autobiography appears to have taken the form of a series of letters to Antoninus Pius. Its…
Remembering the Sycamore Gap Tree FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Standing tall for nearly three hundred years, the lone Sycamore tree that grew within a dramatic dip in Hadrian's Wall was cut down in the early morning of 28 September 2023 in a mindless act of vandalism and violence. Having survived all sorts of storms and extremes of weather that often batter its remote setting,…
A new fragment of the Fasti Ostienses dated to AD 128 found at Ostia Antica FOLLOWING HADRIAN
A new slab of the Fasti Ostienses, an ancient Roman marble calendar (extant in fragmentary form) recording imperial news, magistrates and events related to the city of Ostia, the harbour city of ancient Rome, emerged during the second excavation campaign at the Forum of Porta Marina in Ostia Antica, as part of the Ostia Post…
Digging at Vindolanda (2023) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Another fortnight of digging at Vindolanda ended earlier this month. It was my second season of excavations there, and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time last year (read here). As I was alone this time, I booked the Excavate & Stay two-week placement and stayed at the Hedley Centre located near…
June AD 123 – Hadrian returns to the East and inspects the frontiers of northern Syria and Cappadocia (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After spending the winter of AD 122/3 in Tarraco (see here), Hadrian left Spain and set sail for Antioch and the Euphrates frontier, probably reaching his destination in June 123. According to a drastically abbreviated passage in the Historia Augusta, the Emperor aimed to meet the Parthian king (or receive Parthian envoys), indicating a renewal of hostilities between…
Winter AD 122/3 – Hadrian stays in Tarraco and rebuilds the Temple of Augustus (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Having returned to Gaul from Britain (see here), Hadrian made his only known visit to his native land as emperor during the winter of AD 122/3. He took up his residence at Tarraco (Tarragona), Rome's oldest foundation on the Iberian Peninsula and the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis. Anthony Birley has proposed the identification of some…
Felicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂 FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Happy 1947th birthday, Hadrian! I made some Cato’s Globi (Pastry Balls) as Hadrian’s birthday cake this year. Globi (original recipe from LacusCurtius): Mix the cheese and spelt in the same way (as Libum), sufficient to make the number desired. Pour lard into a hot copper vessel, and fry one or two at a time, turning them frequently with…
Winter AD 122/3 – Hadrian stays in Tarraco and rebuild the Temple of Augustus (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Having returned to Gaul from Britain (see here), Hadrian made his only known visit to his native land as emperor during the winter of AD 122/3. He took up his residence at Tarraco (Tarragona), Rome's oldest foundation on the Iberian Peninsula and the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis. Anthony Birley has proposed the identification of some…
Autumn AD 122 – Hadrian returns to Gaul and commemorates his horse and Plotina (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Towards the end of AD 122, Hadrian left Britain and set sail for Gaul, travelling southward to Nemausus (Nîmes) in Narbonensis before crossing the Pyrenees to Spain. His route would have certainly been along the via Agrippa from Bononia (Boulogne) on the North Sea to Lugdunum (Lyon), down the Rhone valley, and then along the…
Digging at Vindolanda FOLLOWING HADRIAN
This summer, in the year we celebrate the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's Wall, I participated in the excavations at Vindolanda, the famous frontier fort and settlement in Northern England at the edge of the Roman Empire. Vindolanda is a fascinating excavation site, one of the most productive in the world. Every year, between April and…
Summer AD 122 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 5 Britannia (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After a lengthy inspection tour on the Rhine and Danube frontiers, Hadrian arrived in Britannia in the summer of 122 with his friend Aulus Platorius Nepos, the man chosen to be the new governor of the province. Nepos' previous posting had been to Germania Inferior, where Hadrian had just spent the last couple of weeks…
Spring AD 121 – Hadrian departs for the northern provinces (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Shortly after celebrating Rome's birthday (see here), Hadrian departed on his journey to the northern provinces and began his first extensive voyage through the empire. As he intended to be absent for a considerable time with little idea of a return date, it was necessary to leave the control of Rome in trustworthy hands. Annius Verus,…
21 April AD 121 – Hadrian celebrates Rome’s 874th birthday with circus games (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Every year, the Romans celebrated the birthday of their city on the 21st of April, the day on which, according to early traditions, Romulus founded Rome by tracing the pomerium, the sacred urban boundary separating the city (urbs) from the country (ager). The celebrations were held during the Parilia, a rural festival associated with flocks and…
“Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome” by Lindsay Powell FOLLOWING HADRIAN
A few months ago, I was honoured to receive a request from historian and writer Lindsay Powell to write a short blurb to appear on the back cover of his latest book on Bar Kokhba, the leader under whom the Jews united in their war against the Romans between AD 132 and 136. I sent…
Felicem diem natalem, Hadriane! #HW1900 FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Happy 1946th birthday, Hadrian! This year, I baked a cake for Hadrian's birthday inspired by Hadrian's Wall and the HW1900 festival. 2022 marks the 1900th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. Starting today on Hadrian's birthday, the HW1900 festival will celebrate this epic milestone with hundreds of events taking place along…
Winter AD 121/2 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 1 Germania Superior (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
In the year AD 121, Hadrian left Rome and set off on an ambitious tour of the western provinces. His first intended destination was the German frontier (limes) which he probably reached in the autumn or winter of that year. A passage in Dio Cassius describing Hadrian bareheaded in the "German snows" (Dio 69.9.4) plausibly…
26 April AD 121- Future Philosopher-Emperor Marcus Aurelius is born (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
Happy 1900th birthday, Marcus Aurelius! 🎉 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born on 26 April 121 in Rome during the reign of Hadrian to an aristocratic family of Italo-Hispanic origin, the gens Annia. The family had settled in the southern Spanish province of Baetica, in the small town of Ucubi (modern-day Espejo), a few miles southeast…
Spring AD 122 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontier of Germania Inferior (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
In 122, perhaps in late spring, Hadrian returned from the Danube to the Rhine. The last stage of his journey along the German frontier before moving to Britannia would have taken him down the Rhine to Colonia Agrippinensis (modern Cologne), the Hadrianic capital of Germania Inferior. One of his most trusted friends, Platorius Nepos, who…
Winter AD 121/2 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 2 Raetia (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
After Hadrian inspected the military forces and installations in Germania Superior (see here), the Emperor visited the limes and the army troops of the neighbouring province of Raetia, now part of German Bavaria. At the time of Hadrian's visit in AD 122, no legion was stationed in this area, but the province relied on its large auxiliaries…
Guest post: “The many lives of an eternal monument” – the Mausoleum of Augustus renewed FOLLOWING HADRIAN
An article by Nick Leonard. When Hadrian assumed control of the Roman Empire in AD 117, the vast, wealthy and powerful state that he inherited remained, in effect, the Principate of Augustus. More than a century after the first emperor’s death, many of the hallmark achievements of his reign and the administrative framework that he…
Winter AD 121/2 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 3 Noricum (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN
At some stage during his inspections of the northern military borders and fortifications, Hadrian was in the province of Noricum. The evidence for this visit derives from coins celebrating his official arrival (adventus) and, as in Raetia (see here), the army (exercitus Noricus). He may even have visited the famous iron mines that produced the highly prized…