Editing Hadrian (section)

===Return to Italy and trip to Africa (126–128)===
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|image1=1651 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - Hadrian - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 11 2009.jpg
|caption1=Colossal [[Roman portraiture|portrait bust]] of the emperor Hadrian with a [[Civic Crown|wreath of oak leaves]] (AD 117–138); [[Pentelic marble]], found in [[Athens]], [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]
|image2=Emperor Hadrian Louvre Ma3131.jpg
|caption2=Hadrian in armour, wearing the [[gorgoneion]] on his [[breastplate]]; [[Roman sculpture|marble, Roman artwork]], c. 127–128 AD, from [[Heraklion]], [[Crete]], now in the [[Louvre]], Paris
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On his return to Italy, Hadrian made a detour to [[Sicily]]. Coins celebrate him as the restorer of the island.<ref name="AnthonyBirley-191">Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 191–200</ref> Back in Rome, he saw the rebuilt Pantheon and his completed villa at nearby [[Tibur]], among the [[Sabine Hills]]. In early March 127 Hadrian set off on a tour of Italy; his route has been reconstructed through the evidence of his gifts and donations.<ref name="AnthonyBirley-191"/> He restored the shrine of [[Cupra (goddess)|Cupra]] in [[Cupra Maritima]] and improved the drainage of the [[Fucine lake]]. Less welcome than such largesse was his decision in 127 to divide Italy into four regions under imperial legates with consular rank, acting as governors. They were given jurisdiction over all of Italy, excluding Rome itself, therefore shifting Italian cases from the courts of Rome.<ref>J. Declareuil, ''Rome the Law-Giver'', London: Routledge, 2013, {{ISBN|0-415-15613-0}}, p. 72</ref> Having Italy effectively reduced to the status of a group of mere provinces did not go down well with the Roman Senate,<ref>Clifford Ando, ''Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-520-22067-6}}</ref> and the innovation did not long outlive Hadrian's reign.<ref name="AnthonyBirley-191"/>

Hadrian fell ill around this time; whatever the nature of his illness, it did not stop him from setting off in the spring of 128 to visit Africa. His arrival coincided with the good omen of rain, which ended a drought. Along with his usual role as benefactor and restorer, he found time to inspect the troops; his speech to them survives.<ref>Royston Lambert, pp. 71–72</ref> Hadrian returned to Italy in the summer of 128, but his stay was brief, as he set off on another tour that would last three years.<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 213–214</ref>