Editing Hadrian (section)

==Personal and cultural interests==
[[File:Hadrian VaticanMuseums.jpg|thumb|Bust of Hadrian at the [[Vatican Museums]]]]
Hadrian had an abiding and enthusiastic interest in art, architecture and public works. As part of his imperial restoration program, he founded, re-founded or rebuilt many towns and cities throughout the Empire, supplying them with temples, stadiums and other public buildings. Examples in the Roman Province of [[Thrace]] include monumental developments to the [[Stadium of Philippopolis|Stadium]] and [[Odeon of Philippopolis|Odeon]] of [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] (present-day [[Plovdiv]]), the provincial capital,<ref>Martinova-Kjutova, Maya, Project BG0041, "The Ancient Stadium of Philippopolis – Preservation,
Rehabilitation and Urban Renewal", Regional Administration Plovdiv, 2011–2023, accessed 14 December 2023 [https://ancient-stadium-plovdiv.eu/?p=12&l=2]</ref> and his rebuilding and enlargement of the city of Orestias, which he renamed Hadrianopolis (modern [[Edirne]]).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Edirne | title=Edirne &#124; Turkey &#124; Britannica | date=7 March 2024 }}</ref> Several other towns and cities – including [[Roman Carthage]] – were named or renamed ''Hadrianopolis''.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 176–180</ref> Rome's [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] (temple "to all the gods"), originally built by [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] and destroyed by fire in 80, was partly restored under Trajan and completed under Hadrian in its familiar domed form. [[Hadrian's Villa]] at Tibur ([[Tivoli, Italy|Tivoli]]) provides the greatest Roman equivalent of an [[Alexandria]]n garden, complete with domed [[Serapeum]], recreating a sacred landscape.<ref>It was lost in large part to despoliation by the [[Ippolito II d'Este|Cardinal d'Este]], who had much of the marble removed to build the [[Villa d'Este]] in the 16th century.</ref>

An anecdote from [[Cassius Dio]]'s history suggests Hadrian had a high opinion of his own architectural tastes and talents and took their rejection as a personal offence: at some time before his reign, his predecessor Trajan was discussing an architectural problem with [[Apollodorus of Damascus]] – architect and designer of [[Trajan's Forum]], [[Trajan's column|the Column commemorating his Dacian conquest]], and [[Trajan's Bridge|his bridge across the Danube]] – when Hadrian interrupted to offer his advice. Apollodorus gave him a scathing response: "Be off, and draw your gourds [a sarcastic reference to the domes which Hadrian apparently liked to draw]. You don't understand any of these matters." Dio claims that once Hadrian became emperor, he showed Apollodorus drawings of the gigantic [[Temple of Venus and Roma]], implying that great buildings could be created without his help. When Apollodorus pointed out the building's various insoluble problems and faults, Hadrian was enraged, sent him into exile and later put him to death on trumped-up charges.<ref>Brickstamps with [[Fasti|consular dates]] show that the Pantheon's dome was late in Trajan's reign (115), probably under Apollodorus's supervision: see Ilan Vit-Suzan, ''Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents '', Farnham: Ashgate, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-4724-2062-6}}, p. 20</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/69*.html|title=Cassius Dio – Epitome of Book69|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

[[File:Bust Hadrian Musei Capitolini MC817 cropped.jpg|thumb|Bust of the emperor Hadrian in the [[Capitoline Museums]]]]Hadrian was a passionate hunter from a young age.<ref>''Historia Augusta'', ''Hadrian'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Hadrian/1*.html#2 2.1].</ref> In northwest Asia, he founded and dedicated a city to commemorate a she-bear he killed.<ref name="foxhadrian">Fox, Robin ''The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian'' Basic Books. 2006 p. 574</ref> In Egypt he and his beloved [[Antinous]] killed a lion. In Rome, eight reliefs featuring Hadrian in different stages of hunting decorate a building that began as a monument celebrating a kill.<ref name="foxhadrian" />

Hadrian's [[philhellenism]] may have been one reason for his adoption, like [[Nero]] before him, of the [[beard#Rome|beard]] as suited to Roman imperial dignity; [[Dio of Prusa]] had equated the growth of the beard with the Hellenic ethos.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 62</ref> Hadrian's beard may also have served to conceal his natural facial blemishes.<ref>The ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' however claims that [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Hadrian/2*.html#26.1 "he wore a full beard to cover up the natural blemishes on his face"], H.A. 26.1</ref> Before Hadrian, all emperors except Nero (who occasionally wore sideburns) had been clean-shaven, according to the fashion introduced among the Romans by [[Scipio Africanus]] (236–183 BCE). After Hadrian until the reign of [[Constantine the Great]] (r. 306–337) all adult emperors were bearded. The wearing of the  beard as an imperial fashion was subsequently revived by [[Phocas]] (r. 602–610) at the beginning of the 7th century and this fashion lasted until the end of the Byzantine Empire.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.byzantium.xronikon.com/statfirst.html |title=Byzantine first & last times |newspaper=Βυζαντινον Χρονικον |publisher=Byzantium.xronikon.com |access-date=7 November 2012|last1=Papathanassiou |first1=Manolis }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Barba |title=Barba – NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project |work=Forum Ancient Coins |publisher=Forumancientcoins.com |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref>

Hadrian was familiar with the rival philosophers [[Epictetus]] and [[Favorinus]], and with their works, and held an interest in [[Roman philosophy]]. During his first stay in Greece, before he became emperor, he attended lectures by Epictetus at [[Nicopolis]].<ref>Robin Lane Fox, ''The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian''. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-465-02497-1}}, p.{{nbsp}}578</ref> Shortly before the death of Plotina, Hadrian had granted her wish that the leadership of the [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] School in Athens be open to a non-Roman candidate.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 108f</ref>[[File:Aureus à l'effigie d'Hadrien.jpg|thumb|left|Hadrian on the obverse of an [[aureus]] (123). The reverse bears a personification of [[Aequitas|Aequitas Augusti]] or [[Moneta#Juno Moneta|Juno Moneta]]. Inscription: IMP. CAESAR TRAIAN. HADRIANVS AVG. / P. M., TR. P., CO[N]S. III.]]During Hadrian's time as tribune of the plebs, omens and portents supposedly announced his future imperial condition.<ref>For instance, a probably bogus anecdote in ''Historia Augusta'' relates that as tribune he had lost a cloak that emperors never wore: Michael Reiche, ed., ''Antike Autobiographien: Werke, Epochen, Gattungen''. Köln: Böhlau, 2005, {{ISBN|3-412-10505-8}}, p.{{nbsp}}225</ref> According to the ''Historia Augusta'', Hadrian had a great interest in [[astrology]] and [[divination]] and had been told of his future accession to the Empire by a granduncle who was himself a skilled astrologer.<ref>[[Christiane Joost-Gaugier|Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier]], ''Measuring Heaven: Pythagoras and His Influence on Thought and Art in Antiquity and the Middle Ages''. Cornell University Press: 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-8014-4396-1}}, p.&nbsp;177</ref>

Hadrian wrote poetry in both Latin and Greek; one of the few surviving examples is a Latin poem he reportedly composed on his deathbed (see [[#Poem by Hadrian|below]]). Some of his Greek productions found their way into the ''[[Palatine Anthology]]''.<ref>Juan Gil & Sofía Torallas Tovar, ''Hadrianus''. Barcelona: CSIC, 2010, {{ISBN|978-84-00-09193-4}}, p. 100</ref><ref>Direct links to Hadrian's poems in the A.P. with W.R. Paton's translation at the Internet Archive 
[https://archive.org/stream/greekanthology01pato#page/474/mode/2up VI 332],
[https://archive.org/stream/greekanthology00patogoog#page/n375/mode/2up VII 674], 
[https://archive.org/stream/greekanthology03pato#page/70/mode/2up IX 137],
[https://archive.org/stream/greekanthology03pato#page/216/mode/2up IX 387]</ref> He also wrote an autobiography, which ''Historia Augusta'' says was published under the name of Hadrian's freedman [[Phlegon of Tralles]]. It was not a work of great length or revelation but designed to scotch various rumours or explain Hadrian's most controversial actions.<ref>T. J. Cornell, ed., ''The Fragments of the Roman Historians''. Oxford University Press: 2013, p. 591</ref> It is possible that this autobiography had the form of a series of open letters to [[Antoninus Pius]].<ref>Opper, ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'', p. 26</ref>

===Poem by Hadrian===
According to the ''[[Historia Augusta]]'', Hadrian composed the following poem shortly before his death:<ref>Historia Augusta, ''Hadrian'' Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Hadrian/2*.html#25.9 25.9]; Antony Birley, p. 301</ref>

:{{lang|la|[[Animula vagula blandula]]}}
:{{lang|la|Hospes comesque corporis}}
:{{lang|la|Quae nunc abibis in loca}}
:{{lang|la|Pallidula, rigida, nudula,}}
:{{lang|la|Nec, ut soles, dabis iocos...}}

:::P. Aelius Hadrianus Imp.

:''Roving amiable little soul,''
:''Body's companion and guest,''
:''That now will leave to places''
:''Colourless, unbending, and bare''
:''Your usual distractions no more shall be there...''

The poem has enjoyed remarkable popularity,<ref>see e.g.[http://coldewey.cc/post/17072720047/forty-three-translations-of-hadrians-animula Forty-three translations of Hadrian's "Animula, vagula, blandula ..." ] including translations by Henry Vaughan, A. Pope, Lord Byron.</ref><ref>A.A. Barb, [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1950.9717969?journalCode=rfol20 "Animula, Vagula, Blandula"], Folklore, 61, 1950 : "... since [[Casaubon]] almost three and a half centuries of classical scholars have admired this poem"</ref> but uneven critical acclaim.<ref>see Note 2 in Emanuela Andreoni Fontecedro's {{JSTOR|20547373}} "Animula vagula blandula: Adriano debitore di Plutarco", Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 1997</ref> According to Aelius Spartianus, the alleged author of Hadrian's biography in the ''Historia Augusta'', Hadrian "wrote also similar poems in Greek, not much better than this one".<ref>"tales autem nec multo meliores fecit et Graecos", Historia Augusta, ibidem</ref> [[T. S. Eliot]]'s poem "Animula" may have been inspired by Hadrian's, though the relationship is not unambiguous.<ref>Russell E. Murphy, [https://books.google.com/books?id=thqU29nSVgUC&pg=PA48 Critical Companion to T. S. Eliot: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work], 2007. p. 48</ref>