Editing Hadrian (section)

=== Greece and the East (130–132) ===
[[File:Hadrian Arc Pan.jpg|thumb|left|[[Arch of Hadrian (Jerash)|Arch of Hadrian]] in [[Jerash]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], built to honour Hadrian's visit in 130]]
Hadrian's movements after his journey down the Nile are uncertain. Whether or not he returned to Rome, he travelled in the East during 130–131, to organise and inaugurate his new [[Panhellenion]], which was to be focused on the [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens|Athenian Temple to Olympian Zeus]]. As local conflicts had led to the failure of the previous scheme for a Hellenic association centered on Delphi, Hadrian decided instead for a grand league of all Greek cities.<ref>Cortes Copete Juan Manuel. "El fracaso del primer proyecto panhelénico de Adriano".''Dialogues d'histoire ancienne'', vol. 25, n°2, 1999. pp. 91–112. Available at [https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1999_num_25_2_1540] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603180028/https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1999_num_25_2_1540|date=3 June 2018}}. Retrieved 3 January 2019</ref> Successful applications for membership involved mythologised or fabricated claims to Greek origins, and affirmations of loyalty to imperial Rome, to satisfy Hadrian's personal, idealised notions of Hellenism.<ref>Boatwright, p. 150</ref><ref>Anthony Kaldellis, ''Hellenism in Byzantium: The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition''. Cambridge University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-521-87688-9}}, p. 38</ref> Hadrian saw himself as protector of Greek culture and the "liberties" of Greece&nbsp;– in this case, urban self-government. It allowed Hadrian to appear as the fictive heir to [[Pericles]], who supposedly had convened a previous Panhellenic Congress&nbsp;– such a Congress is mentioned only in Pericles' [[Parallel Lives|biography]] by [[Plutarch]], who respected Rome's imperial order.<ref>Fernando A. Marín Valdés, ''Plutarco y el arte de la Atenas hegemónica''. Universidad de Oviedo: 2008, {{ISBN|978-84-8317-659-7}}, p. 76</ref>

Epigraphical evidence suggests that the prospect of applying to the Panhellenion held little attraction to the wealthier, Hellenised cities of Asia Minor, which were jealous of Athenian and European Greek preeminence within Hadrian's scheme.<ref>A. J. S. Spawforth, ''Greece and the Augustan Cultural Revolution''. Cambridge University Press: 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-107-01211-0}}, p. 262</ref> Hadrian's notion of Hellenism was narrow and deliberately archaising; he defined "Greekness" in terms of classical roots, rather than a broader, Hellenistic culture.<ref>Nathanael J. Andrade, ''Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World''. Cambridge University Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-107-01205-9}}, p. 176</ref> Some cities with a dubious claim to Greekness, however – such as [[Side, Turkey|Side]] – were acknowledged as fully Hellenic.<ref>Domingo Plácido, ed. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ujrILWn4moQC&pg=PA462 La construcción ideológica de la ciudadanía: identidades culturales y sociedad en el mundo griego antiguo]''. Madrid: Editorial Complutense, 2006, {{ISBN|84-7491-790-5}}, p. 462</ref> The German sociologist [[Georg Simmel]] remarked that the Panhellenion was based on "games, commemorations, preservation of an ideal, an entirely non-political Hellenism".<ref>Georg Simmel, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xanf54U8qz4C&pg=PA288 Sociology: Inquiries into the Construction of Social Forms]''. Leiden: Brill, 2009, {{ISBN|978-90-04-17321-7}}, p. 288</ref>

Hadrian bestowed honorific titles on many regional centres.<ref>Nathanael J. Andrade, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=y6IaBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World]'', Cambridge University Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-107-01205-9}}, p. 177</ref> [[Palmyra]] received a state visit and was given the civic name Hadriana Palmyra.<ref>Andrew M. Smith II, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=h5cMho6zFckC&pg=PA25 Roman Palmyra: Identity, Community, and State Formation]''. Oxford University Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-0-19-986110-1}}, p. 25; Robert K. Sherk, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=blVB5qsbnwIC&pg=PA190 The Roman Empire: Augustus to Hadrian]''. Cambridge University Press, 1988, {{ISBN|0-521-33887-5}}, p. 190</ref> Hadrian also bestowed honours on various Palmyrene magnates, among them one Soados, who had done much to protect Palmyrene trade between the Roman Empire and Parthia.<ref>Hadrien Bru, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lqoDjiVL5GgC&pg=PA104 Le pouvoir impérial dans les provinces syriennes: Représentations et célébrations d'Auguste à Constantin (31 av. J.-C.-337 ap. J.-C.)]''. Leiden: Brill, 2011, {{ISBN|978-90-04-20363-1}}, pp. 104–105</ref>

Hadrian had spent the winter of 131–32 in Athens, where he dedicated the now-completed [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens|Temple of Olympian Zeus]],<ref>Laura Salah Nasrallah, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UkA3EX8WZMIC&pg=PA96 Christian Responses to Roman Art and Architecture: The Second-Century Church Amid the Spaces of Empire]''. Cambridge University Press, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-521-76652-4}}, p. 96</ref> At some time in 132, he headed East, to Judaea.