Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Monarch · Politician · Military leader · Poet
Roman emperor. It placed more emphasis on building defense lines and touring provinces than on expanding the empire, and is known for Hadrian's Wall. He was a person who read about the changes in governance of the Roman Empire.
View in catalogItalica
Birth
Rome
Work
Hadrians Wall
122
Campaign
Hadrians Wall
122
Building
Consolidation of Roman imperial frontiers
117–138
Political event · Leader
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
He was born into a Senate nobility of Hispanian descent and became the successor of Emperor Trajan. In the vast Roman Empire, how to maintain and integrate conquered territories became an important issue.
He ascended the throne in 117 and toured widely throughout the provinces, checking out the military, defense lines, and urban development. In Britannia, he ordered the construction of a great wall, making it clear that he would control the borders of the empire.
Hadrian was an emperor who loved Greek culture and was also interested in architecture and poetry. While he was a military ruler, he was also a person skilled in cultural self-direction.
Studying Hadrian shows that the Roman Empire shifted its emphasis from endless conquest to stable borders and diverse province rule. It becomes a topic for thinking about maintaining a large empire. It can also be used for comparison with surrounding areas from the same era.
