Emperors of Rome | The Eccentric Emperor - Hadrian (Lecture 22)

Lecture 22: Hadrian was one of ancient Rome’s strangest emperors. The sources for his reign are not good, but there are some indications that his accession was less straightforward than many assume. Once in power, Hadrian set about a massive push at consolidation: Trajan’s eastern provinces were abandoned, and the frontiers were fortified and
crystallized, most notably with Hadrian’s Wall in England. Hadrian’s was a reign of retrenchment, a repudiation of Rome’s former mission of eternal conquest. He traveled to most provinces of the empire during his reign and openly honored one of his male courtiers, the teenaged Antinoos. The reign was not untroubled, as the great Bar Kochba Revolt (132–135) in Judaea makes clear.

We end the lecture by reviewing the course of this revolt and glancing at the magnificent villa Hadrian built outside Rome at Tivoli, an architectural diary of his empire-wide wanderings.

Essential Reading:
Cassius Dio, Roman History, book 69.
Historia Augusta (HA), Hadrian.
Birley, Hadrian: The Restless Emperor.

Supplementary Reading:
DIR, “Hadrian.”
Schäfer, Bar Kochba War Reconsidered.