I, Caesar | Hadrian - Within These Walls (Episode 4)

Episode 4: He overturned centuries-old policies, declaring an end to expansions and abandoning far-flung territories. Hadrian was an enthusiastic patron of the arts, a champion of the common Roman and a tireless diplomat who toured the entire Empire.

He was born a thousand miles from Rome, yet became one of its most important rulers. After centuries of expansion, he decided that enough was enough.Hadrian is perhaps most famous for the wall he built across Britain. It is a fitting memorial to the emperor who declared an end to the expansionist policies of his predecessors, abandoning outlying territories and resolving to protect Rome from barbarian invaders.

This episode journeys back to Rome's Golden Age to profile the man who brought it to fruition. See how the passion for culture he learned as a youth in Greece led him to support the art lavishly. An accomplished poet, Hadrian also oversaw the construction of many of Rome's greatest monuments, including the Pantheon. But his rule was not entirely without conflict, ancient accounts suggest that he may have killed over 500,000 people putting down an insurrection in Judea. This is the definitive portrait of the man who came from the edge of the empire to oversee Rome's Golden Age, the Emperor Hadrian.