Editing Hadrian (section)

==Emperor (117)==
===Securing power===
[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The Roman Empire in 125, under the rule of Hadrian]]
According to the ''Historia Augusta'', Hadrian informed the Senate of his accession in a letter as a ''fait accompli'', explaining that "the unseemly haste of the troops in acclaiming him emperor was due to the belief that the state could not be without an emperor".<ref>''Historia Augusta'', Life of Hadrian, 6.2</ref> The new emperor rewarded the legions' loyalty with the customary [[Donativum|bonus]], and the Senate endorsed the acclamation. Various public ceremonies were organised on Hadrian's behalf, celebrating his "divine election" by all the gods, whose community now included Trajan, deified at Hadrian's request.<ref>Egyptian papyri tell of one such ceremony between 117 and 118; see Michael Peppard, ''The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in Its Social and Political Context''. Oxford U. Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-19-975370-3}}, pp. 72f</ref>

Hadrian remained in the east for a while, suppressing [[Kitos War|the Jewish revolt that had broken out under Trajan]]. He relieved Judea's governor, the outstanding Moorish general [[Lusius Quietus]], of his personal guard of Moorish auxiliaries;<ref>Royston Lambert, p. 34</ref><ref>Cizek, Eugen. L'éloge de Caius Avidius Nigrinus chez Tacite et le " complot " des consulaires. In: ''Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé'', no. 3, octobre 1980. pp. 276–294. Retrieved 10 June 2015. Available at [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/bude_0004-5527_1980_num_1_3_1078]</ref> 
then he moved on to quell disturbances along the [[Danube]] frontier. In Rome, Hadrian's former guardian and current [[praetorian prefect]], Attianus, claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy involving Lusius Quietus and three other leading senators, Lucius Publilius Celsus, Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus and Gaius Avidius Nigrinus.<ref name="Elizabeth Speller">Elizabeth Speller.</ref> There was no public trial for the four&nbsp;– they were tried ''in absentia'', hunted down and killed.<ref name="Elizabeth Speller"/> Hadrian claimed that Attianus had acted on his own initiative, and rewarded him with senatorial status and consular rank; then pensioned him off, no later than 120.<ref>It is likely that Hadrian found Attianus' ambition suspect. Attianus was likely dead, or executed, by the end of Hadrian's reign; see Françoise Des Boscs-Plateaux, Un parti hispanique à Rome?: ascension des élites hispaniques et pouvoir politique d'Auguste à Hadrien, 27 av. J.-C.-138 ap. J.-C. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2005, {{ISBN|84-95555-80-8}}, p. 611</ref> Hadrian assured the senate that henceforth their ancient right to prosecute and judge their own would be respected.

The reasons for these four executions remain obscure. Official recognition of Hadrian as a legitimate heir may have come too late to dissuade other potential claimants.<ref>Opper, ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'', 55</ref> Hadrian's greatest rivals were Trajan's closest friends, the most experienced and senior members of the imperial council;<ref>John Antony Crook, ''Consilium Principis: Imperial Councils and Counsellors from Augustus to Diocletian''. Cambridge University Press: 1955, pp. 54f</ref> any of them might have been a legitimate competitor for the imperial office (''capaces imperii'');<ref>Marasco, p. 377</ref> and any of them might have supported Trajan's expansionist policies, which Hadrian intended to change.<ref>[[Michel Christol]] & D.&nbsp;Nony, ''Rome et son Empire''. Paris: Hachette, 2003, {{ISBN|2-01-145542-1}}, p. 158</ref> One of their number was [[Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus|Aulus Cornelius Palma]] who as a former conqueror of [[Arabia (province)|Arabia Nabatea]] would have retained a stake in the East.<ref>Hadrien Bru, ''Le pouvoir impérial dans les provinces syriennes: Représentations et célébrations d'Auguste à Constantin''. Leiden: Brill, 2011, {{ISBN|978-90-04-20363-1}}, pp. 46f</ref> The ''Historia Augusta'' describes Palma and a third executed senator, Lucius Publilius Celsus (consul for the second time in 113), as Hadrian's personal enemies, who had spoken in public against him.<ref>Carcopino Jérôme. "L'hérédité dynastique chez les Antonins". ''Revue des Études Anciennes''. Tome 51, 1949, no.3–4. pp. 262–321.</ref> The fourth was [[Gaius Avidius Nigrinus]], an ex-consul, intellectual, friend of [[Pliny the Younger]] and (briefly) Governor of Dacia at the start of Hadrian's reign. He was probably Hadrian's chief rival for the throne; a senator of the highest rank, breeding, and connections; according to the ''Historia Augusta'', Hadrian had considered making Nigrinus his heir apparent before deciding to get rid of him.<ref>Cizek, "L'éloge de Caius Avidius Nigrinus"</ref><ref>Nigrinus' ambiguous relationship with Hadrian would have consequences late in Hadrian's reign, when he had to plan his own succession; see Anthony Everitt, ''Hadrian and the triumph of Rome''. New York: Random House, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6662-9}}.</ref>
[[File:Hadrianus coin - 119.jpg|thumb|left|A [[denarius]] of Hadrian issued in 119 AD for his third [[Roman consul|consulship]]. Inscription: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS / LIBERALITAS AVG. CO[N]S III, P. P.]]
Soon after, in 125, Hadrian appointed [[Quintus Marcius Turbo]] as his Praetorian Prefect.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 91</ref> Turbo was his close friend, a leading figure of the equestrian order, a senior court judge and a [[Procurator (Roman)|procurator]].<ref>Christol & Nony, p. 158</ref><ref>Richard P. Saller, ''Personal Patronage Under the Early Empire''. Cambridge University Press: 2002, {{ISBN|0-521-23300-3}}, p. 140</ref> As Hadrian also forbade equestrians to try cases against senators,<ref>Richard A. Bauman, ''Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome''. London: Routledge, 2002, {{ISBN|0-203-42858-7}}, p. 83</ref> the Senate retained full legal authority over its members; it also remained the highest court of appeal, and formal appeals to the emperor regarding its decisions were forbidden.<ref>[[Digest (Roman law)|Digest]], 49 2, I,2, quoted by P.E. Corbett, "The Legislation of Hadrian". ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register'', Vol. 74, No. 8 (June 1926), pp. 753–766</ref> If this was an attempt to repair the damage done by Attianus, with or without Hadrian's full knowledge, it was not enough; Hadrian's reputation and relationship with his Senate were irredeemably soured, for the rest of his reign.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 88</ref> Some sources describe Hadrian's occasional recourse to a network of informers, the ''[[frumentarii]]'',<ref>Christopher J. Fuhrmann, ''Policing the Roman Empire: Soldiers, Administration, and Public Order''. Oxford University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|978-0-19-973784-0}}, p. 153</ref> to discreetly investigate persons of high social standing, including senators and his close friends.<ref>Rose Mary Sheldon, ''Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods But Verify''. London: Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7146-5480-9}}, p. 253</ref>