Hadrian

NAME Publius Aelius Hadrianus, later known as Hadrian, Emperor of Rome (117–138 AD).

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Hadrian is most famous for consolidating and securing the Roman Empire, commissioning enduring architectural works such as the Pantheon, and building Hadrian’s Wall in Britain. He was also known for his love of Greek culture, his travels across the empire, and his enduring grief over the loss of his companion Antinoüs.

BIRTH Hadrian was born on January 24, AD 76, most likely in Rome, though some sources suggest he was born in Italica (modern-day Santiponce near Seville, Spain). He was born during the consulship of Vespasian and Titus.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Hadrian’s family were settlers from Picenum in Italy, who had moved to Spain around 250 years before his birth. His father, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, was a senator and soldier who reached the praetorship before dying in 86. His mother, Domitia Paulina, came from a distinguished family in the wealthy city of Gades (modern Cádiz).

Hadrian had one elder sister, Aelia Domitia Paulina. His great-grandfather's grandfather, Marullinus, was the first of his family to become a Roman senator.

CHILDHOOD  Hadrian was orphaned at the age of ten in AD 86, following the death of his father. He became the joint ward of Acilius Attianus, a Roman equestrian who would later serve as his prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and of his father’s cousin Trajan, the future emperor.  

Hadrian formed a lifelong bond with his wet nurse, Germana, a slave probably of Germanic origin, whose devotion he never forgot.

EDUCATION Hadrian spent his early childhood in Italica, Spain, where he received a thorough education. From the beginning he was captivated by Greek culture and philosophy, earning him the nickname Graeculus (“little Greek”), a term used half-mockingly in Roman society. 

At the age of fourteen he moved to Rome to continue his studies, excelling in the arts, literature, and architecture, which made him a well-rounded intellectual. 

Though his guardian Trajan encouraged him toward a military career, Hadrian’s passion for civilian pursuits—especially hunting and Greek learning—often tested his mentor’s patience.

CAREER RECORD 91 Hadrian began to follow the traditional career of a Roman senator, advancing through a conventional sequence of posts, and was military tribune with three Roman legions: Legio II Adiutrix (c. 95), Legio V Macedonica, and Legio XXII Primigenia.

98 Upon Nerva's death, Hadrian was promptly employed by the new emperor Trajan, serving as soldier and messenger on various fronts and becoming increasingly trusted within Trajan's circle.

101 Elected quaestor and soon became quaestor imperatoris Traiani, acting as a liaison officer between the emperor and Senate.

105 Appointed tribune of the plebs, then advanced to praetorship by 106, notably serving as praetor during Trajan’s second Dacian War.

107 Named governor of Lower Pannonia, where he commanded Legio I Minervia, suppressed the Sarmatian threat, and maintained military discipline.

108 Reached the pinnacle of a Roman senator’s career, attaining the office of consul.

117 Succeeded Trajan and became Roman Emperor on August 11

APPEARANCE Hadrian was tall of stature with an elegant appearance. He had artfully curled hair and was the first Roman emperor to wear a full beard, which he used to cover natural blemishes on his face. This style soon became fashionable across the empire.. 

Artistic evidence suggests he may have had a diagonal earlobe crease, visible in statues dating to around 117 AD, which some modern medical experts interpret as a possible sign of cardiovascular disease.

Statue of Hadrian unearthed at Tel Shalem by Carole Raddato from Frankfurt

FASHION Hadrian revolutionized imperial fashion by being the first Roman emperor to consistently wear a full beard. This was a significant departure from the clean-shaven tradition of previous emperors and represented his admiration for Greek culture, where beards were traditional among philosophers.  His well-trimmed, "Roman" style beard differed from the bushier Greek philosophical style, and his fashion choice influenced all subsequent emperors.

His clothing was typical of Roman senators and emperors, including the toga and tunics.

Hadrian encouraged bath houses and Roman bathing culture in Britain, helping popularize the practice among the local population during his rule. Bath-houses became a central part of social life for both Roman soldiers and civilians, especially at forts along Hadrian's Wall, where locals were often expected to adopt Roman cultural habits and were likely granted access to communal bathing facilities. (1) 

CHARACTER Ancient sources portray Hadrian as a ruler of striking contradictions. Dio Cassius observed that “his nature was such that he was jealous not only of the living but also of the dead,” while another writer noted he could be “niggardly and generous, deceitful and straightforward, cruel and merciful, and always in all things changeable.” (2)

He combined insatiable curiosity and intellectual brilliance with vanity and ambition, capable of both remarkable generosity and ruthless cruelty. 

An accomplished polymath, administrator, and lover of travel, Hadrian was equally known for his suspicion, jealousy, and volatility—traits made clear when he ordered the execution of four prominent senators early in his reign.

SPEAKING VOICE A fine public speaker, Hadrian could address both the Senate and the people with authority. He had a cultivated rhetorical style, appreciated by philosophers and poets in his circle.

Hadrian had a distinctive accent that combined Spanish and military pronunciations, which was sometimes mocked by Romans from Italy. As someone born in Spain (or of Spanish family background) and raised partly in military environments, his speech patterns differed from the refined Latin of the Roman elite.

SENSE OF HUMOUR Though largely serious in duty, Hadrian showed wry humour in private correspondence and sometimes in public writings. His distaste for gladiatorial combat, which he later softened, suggests a man capable of irony about Roman customs.

RELATIONSHIPS In 100, largely through the influence of Trajan's wife Plotina, Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, Trajan’s grand-niece, who was ten years younger than him. The marriage, though lasting until her death in 136 or 137, was by most accounts unhappy. The couple had no children, and one hostile report even claimed that Sabina deliberately aborted a pregnancy to avoid bearing an heir. 

Despite their personal discord, the marriage proved politically vital, binding Hadrian more closely to the imperial family. He enjoyed a strong relationship with his mother-in-law Matidia and with Empress Plotina, both of whom played an important role in advancing his career. 

Partial view of a statue of Vibia Sabina by Flickr: Author: Iessi,

There is no reliable evidence that Hadrian ever expressed sexual attraction to women. His most famous relationship was with Antinous, a young Greek man from Bithynia whom he met around 123 AD. Antinous became Hadrian's beloved companion and traveled with him throughout the empire.

When Antinoüs drowned in the Nile in 130, Hadrian was devastated. He founded Antinopolis in Egypt in his memory, deified the youth, and commissioned countless statues of him.

MONEY AND FAME Hadrian inherited substantial wealth from his family and, as emperor, commanded the immense resources of the imperial treasury. His ambitious travels and vast building programs—including Hadrian’s Wall and the rebuilding of the Pantheon—were financed largely by the spoils of Trajan’s Dacian conquest and its lucrative gold mines. 

In 118 AD Hadrian introduced major financial reforms, notably cancelling public debts equal to nearly a year’s imperial revenue. 

Hadrian's fortune also sustained a lavish traveling court, sometimes numbering as many as 5,000 attendants, as he moved across the provinces.

FOOD AND DRINK Hadrian lived like a soldier during his military inspections, sharing the basic military diet and eating in the open with his troops, a practice that earned his respect. 

At his villa, he held elaborate banquets featuring tragedies, comedies, musical performances, and literary readings according to the occasion. 

Hadrian at a banquet by Perplexity

While traveling, extensive preparations were made months in advance to supply his large entourage, with cities stockpiling generous supplies including hundreds of pigs, thousands of sheep, dates, barley, olives, and olive oil. (3)

MUSIC AND ARTS Hadrian had a profound passion for Greek culture and the arts. He elevated Athens as the cultural heart of the empire, spending long periods there and taking part in its festivals. 

Musically inclined, he boasted of his skill at the flute and in singing, and at his banquets he entertained guests with performances by sambuca players and other musicians. 

As a patron of the arts, Hadrian commissioned works across the empire, while his vast villa at Tivoli showcased an eclectic collection of Greek sculptures, Egyptian-inspired creations, and numerous portraits of Antinous.

LITERATURE Hadrian was an accomplished man of letters, composing both an autobiography and erotic poetry celebrating his male favorites. Although his autobiography is lost, it is said to have recounted his family background and personal experiences. His verse included dedicatory and funerary epigrams, and perhaps polymetric works known as the Catachannae, cited in the Historia Augusta. 

One of the few remaining examples is a brief, evocative Latin poem that he reportedly composed on his deathbed, beginning with the words "Animula vagula blandula," meaning "Little soul, wandering, gentle." This poem, addressed to his own soul and reflecting on its impending departure, is considered haunting for its introspective tone and lyrical restraint, revealing Hadrian’s reflective spirit as life neared its end. 

His literary tastes were distinctive: he favored Ennius over Virgil and Antimachus over Homer. During his travels Hadrian gathered poets and writers around him

NATURE Hadrian's appreciation for nature and the outdoors was reflected in the design of his grand villa at Tivoli. The villa's sprawling gardens, artificial grottoes, and water features were an artistic representation of his travels and love for the natural world.

PETS No evidence survives of specific pets, though Roman emperors often kept dogs or exotic animals.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Hadrian was a lifelong hunter, a pursuit the Romans held up as the height of manly virtue. He shared this passion with Antinous, often venturing after lions and boasting of killing them with his own hands — though not without risk; one hunt left him with a broken collarbone and rib. On his travels he even founded a city in Mysia, Hadrianutherae (“Hadrian’s Hunt”), on the very spot where he had bested a bear.

His dedication to physical vigor extended well beyond the chase. He kept fit through long rides, endless walking, and training with javelins and other weapons. Yet Hadrian was as much a man of intellect as of action. He studied arithmetic, geometry, and painting, and he took a personal interest in architecture — sketching designs, adapting plans, and shaping his monumental villa at Tivoli, a sprawling complex adorned with recreations of the empire’s most famous sites.

He invested heavily in education and leisure, building gymnasiums for the young, though he had little taste for the bloodier entertainments of Rome. “At first,” he admitted, “I was disgusted by the combats between the gladiators, but then I began to understand their ritual value.”

SCIENCE AND MATHS Hadrian’s architectural projects, particularly the revolutionary engineering of the Pantheon's dome and his villa’s innovations, reveal a sophisticated grasp of engineering and mathematics. His interest in astronomy and surveying also guided his imperial travels and construction projects.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Hadrian was deeply influenced by Greek philosophy, earning the nickname "Graeculus" for his devotion to Hellenic culture. He was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most important secret religious rites of ancient Greece, during his time in Athens around 124-128 AD. These mysteries promised initiates a blessed afterlife and were based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Like Augustus before him, Hadrian's initiation at Eleusis represented his embrace of Greek mystical religion. 

Hadrian was not as severe a persecutor of Christians as some of his predecessors, insisting that charges be properly investigated rather than accepted on the basis of mob denunciations. His tolerance, however, did not extend to the Jews. His policies in Judea were deeply hostile and culminated in devastating consequences: ancient sources estimate that some 600,000 Jews were killed and countless more enslaved.

In 132 AD Hadrian refounded Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, erecting temples to Roman gods on its sacred ground. Outrage over this act helped ignite the Bar Kokhba Revolt, led by Simon Bar Kokhba. For three years the Jewish rebels waged a fierce war against Rome, but in 135 AD they were brutally suppressed by Julius Severus, a general summoned from Britain. In the aftermath, Hadrian expelled the Jews from Jerusalem and resettled the city with Greek and Roman colonists.

This exile marked the beginning of nearly 1,800 years of Jewish absence from their holy city — a rupture so profound it would echo through scripture, memory, and history. (4)

EMPEROR Hadrian reigned as emperor of Rome from 117 to 138 AD, a period in which the empire reached one of its rare intervals of relative sanity. He is remembered as one of the so-called “Five Good Emperors,” which tells you something about how low the bar usually was. Unlike his more expansion-minded predecessors, Hadrian had the bright idea that an empire already stretching from the moors of Scotland to the sands of Arabia might not actually need to get any bigger. Instead, he busied himself with shoring things up, like a sensible homeowner finally realizing the roof leaks and the fence is falling down.

Hadrian pulled Roman forces out of territories that were more trouble than they were worth and concentrated instead on building defenses that could actually be defended—an unusual bit of logic for a Roman emperor. The most famous of these is Hadrian’s Wall in northern Britain, which still slices across the countryside like an enormous stone belt. But he didn’t stop there: he strengthened frontiers all along the Rhine and Danube, and then, remarkably, went to inspect them himself. Hadrian was an emperor who liked to travel—obsessively, endlessly, sometimes with a retinue of 5,000 in tow. Everywhere he went, he listened to complaints, improved roads and aqueducts, and tinkered with laws. He even presided over the compilation of the Edictum Perpetuum, a kind of legal greatest-hits collection that shaped law for centuries.

Hadrian was besotted with all things Greek. He spoke Greek, wrote Greek, dressed Greek, and cheerfully answered to the slightly mocking nickname Graeculus, or “Little Greek.” He sponsored arts and letters, rebuilt the Pantheon into the spectacular dome we see today, and finally completed the long-languishing Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. He even founded the Panhellenion, a federation of Greek cities intended to knit them together in one big Hellenic club. His building projects were not just vast but also elegant, and his legal codifications gave Roman law a polish it badly needed.

But Hadrian was not all domes and aqueducts. Early in his reign, he had four senators executed—never a great way to make friends in the Senate. More fatefully, he tried to Romanize Jerusalem by renaming it Aelia Capitolina and planting Roman temples on its sacred soil. This did not go down well with the Jews, who under Simon Bar Kokhba launched a ferocious revolt. The Romans, under Hadrian’s general Julius Severus, eventually crushed it with appalling bloodshed, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and scattering Jewish communities across the empire. 

Hadrian’s reign is remembered for its curious mixture of ruthlessness and cosmopolitan vision. He consolidated rather than expanded, codified rather than improvised, and traveled more than perhaps any emperor before or since. His monuments—above all, Hadrian’s Wall and the Pantheon—still stand as reminders of his restless energy. If Rome was, at its best, a civilizing force, Hadrian was one of the few emperors who genuinely seemed to believe in the “civilizing” part.

POLITICS His political philosophy emphasized unity and stability over conquest, leading to the construction of frontier barriers like Hadrian's Wall. He pursued policies of consolidation rather than expansion, abandoning Trajan's territorial gains beyond the Euphrates and focusing on securing defensible borders. 

Hadrian spent nearly half his reign traveling to inspect provinces personally, strengthening administration and integrating diverse peoples into the imperial structure. 

He established new administrative systems and legal reforms throughout the empire.e reorganized the imperial bureaucracy and created a more professional civil service.

SCANDAL The primary scandal associated with Hadrian was the circumstances of his succession. The execution of four prominent senators shortly after he became emperor led to rumors that he was not Trajan's chosen heir but had been appointed through a forged document. 

Hadrian scandalized Rome by openly displaying his relationship with the young Greek Antinoüs, whom he later deified after the boy’s death.

The Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 AD) was triggered partly by his decision to build Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem and possibly ban circumcision. His harsh suppression of this revolt, resulting in an estimated 580,000 Jewish deaths, earned him lasting condemnation.

MILITARY RECORD Hadrian gained extensive military experience as a legatus (general) during Trajan's conquests of Dacia and Parthia. He served three military tribunates and commanded major armies, including forces in Syria at the time of Trajan's death. 

As emperor, he personally inspected military installations throughout the empire, living with troops and sharing their basic conditions. His major military achievement was the construction of defensive barriers, particularly Hadrian's Wall in Britain and fortifications along the Rhine-Danube frontier. 

Hadrian successfully suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt with the help of General Julius Severus, though only after three years of bitter fighting and at enormous cost in lives.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Hadrian maintained excellent physical condition throughout most of his life through constant exercise, riding, walking, and weapons training. However, around 127 AD he was afflicted with an unknown illness that doctors could not explain. From 136 AD, his health began to seriously decline. He reportedly suffered from hypertension, frequent nosebleeds, anemia, asthenia, and dropsy (heart failure). 

In his final years, he was in such pain that he repeatedly asked servants, doctors, and even his bodyguard to help him commit suicide, but all refused. His suffering was exacerbated by depression and his difficult relationship with the Senate.  Ancient sources suggest he had cardiovascular disease, possibly indicated by a diagonal earlobe crease visible in his portrait sculptures. (5)

HOMES Hadrian’s principal residence as emperor was the spectacular Villa Adriana at Tivoli, begun around 118 AD and expanded over the next two decades. Covering more than 120 hectares—larger than the entire city of Pompeii—the villa was less a country retreat than a small city in its own right, boasting over thirty major buildings. True to Hadrian’s cosmopolitan tastes, its design blended Greek, Roman, and Egyptian influences. Its gardens, pools, fountains, libraries, theaters, and baths made it a showcase of imperial luxury and architectural ingenuity. It was both his winter residence and a retreat from the bustle of Rome, reflecting the emperor’s wide-ranging cultural passions.

Hadrian also prepared for posterity by building a massive mausoleum on the banks of the Tiber, later transformed into the Castel Sant’Angelo. His ashes were placed there after his death in 138. In his final days, however, he withdrew not to Tivoli but to his seaside villa at Baiae, where illness and pain overtook him.

TRAVEL Hadrian was the most traveled emperor in Roman history, spending nearly half his 21-year reign touring the provinces. He made three major journeys: 121-125 AD to Gaul, Germany, and Britain; 123-125 AD through Asia Minor and Greece; and 128-134 AD to Africa, Egypt, and the eastern provinces. 

His travels aimed to personally inspect defenses, resolve provincial issues, and promote unity throughout the diverse empire. His massive traveling entourage included up to 5,000 people comprising his wife, secretaries, advisors, officials, servants, guards, architects, craftsmen, and literary figures. These journeys required extensive logistical preparation months in advance, with cities stockpiling enormous quantities of food and supplies. (6)

DEATH Hadrian died on July 10, 138 AD at his villa in Baiae, near Naples, at the age of 62. He suffered from heart failure, possibly complicated by hemorrhaging, after years of declining health. In his last months, mentally unstable and physically exhausted, he longed for death and wrote of the torment of waiting for it.

To ensure imperial succession, he had adopted Antoninus Pius in 138 CE, with the condition that Antoninus adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his heirs. Though the Senate initially opposed it due to their hostility toward him, Antoninus Pius eventually secured Hadrian's deification.

Hadrian was buried initially at Cicero's villa in Puteoli, but his remains were later moved to the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome (now Castel Sant'Angelo).

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Hadrian features in multiple historical fiction and non-fiction books, with Goodreads maintaining a dedicated list of 29 books featuring Hadrian as a character, most notably Marguerite Yourcenar's masterpiece Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), a fictional autobiography that took her decades to research and write. 

 He has also appeared in films and documentaries about the Roman Empire including a BBC film featuring Dan Snow exploring Hadrian's empire and his relationship with Antinous. 

Hadrian's Wall has appeared in various films including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and inspired poetry and literature.  A 2022 documentary film Hadrian's Wall 122-2022 Full Film commemorated the 1,900th anniversary of the Wall's construction.

Statues of Hadrian survive across Europe, and his bearded visage is instantly recognizable.

ACHIEVEMENTS Consolidated the Roman Empire through fortification rather than conquest.

Commissioned monumental architecture, including the rebuilt Pantheon and his vast villa at Tibur.

Built Hadrian’s Wall in Britain, a defining Roman landmark.

Deified Antinoüs and spread his cult across the empire, leaving hundreds of statues.

Instituted tax remissions that revitalized the Roman economy.

Left behind writings, including poetry in Latin and Greek, fragments of which survive.

Sources: (1) English Heritage (2) Facts and Details (3) World History Encyclopedia (4) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (5) Hektoen International (6) World History Encyclopedia