Editing Hadrian (section)

==Travels==
[[File:Hadrian Greek BM Sc1381.jpg|thumb|upright|This statue of Hadrian in Greek dress was revealed in 2008 to have been forged in the [[Victorian era]] by cobbling together a head of Hadrian and an unknown body. For years, the statue had been used by historians as proof of Hadrian's love of Hellenic culture.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kennedy |first1=Maev |title=How Victorian restorers faked the clothes that seemed to show Hadrian's softer side |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=9 June 2008 |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/heritage/story/0,,2284520,00.html |access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref><br />[[British Museum]], London.]]
Hadrian was to spend more than half his reign outside Italy. Whereas previous emperors had, for the most part, relied on the reports of their imperial representatives around the Empire, Hadrian wished to see things for himself. Previous emperors had often left Rome for long periods, but mostly to go to war, returning once the conflict was settled. Hadrian's near-incessant travels may represent a calculated break with traditions and attitudes in which the empire was a purely Roman hegemony. Hadrian sought to include provincials in a commonwealth of civilised peoples and a common Hellenic culture under Roman supervision.<ref>Paul Veyne, ''Le Pain et le Cirque'', Paris: Seuil, 1976, {{ISBN|2-02-004507-9}}, p. 655</ref> He supported the creation of provincial towns ([[Municipium|municipia]]), semi-autonomous urban communities with their own customs and laws, rather than the imposition of new Roman [[Roman colony|colonies]] with Roman constitutions.<ref>András Mócsy, ''Pannonia and Upper Moesia (Routledge Revivals): A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire'', Routledge, 2014 {{page}}</ref>

A cosmopolitan, ecumenical intent is evident in coin issues of Hadrian's later reign, showing the emperor "raising up" the personifications of various provinces.<ref>Paul Veyne, " ''Humanitas'': Romans and non-Romans". In Andrea Giardina, ed., ''The Romans'', University of Chicago Press: 1993, {{ISBN|0-226-29049-2}}, p. 364</ref> [[Aelius Aristides]] would later write that Hadrian "extended over his subjects a protecting hand, raising them as one helps fallen men on their feet".<ref name="Christol & Nony, 159">Christol & Nony, p. 159</ref> All this did not go well with Roman traditionalists. The self-indulgent emperor [[Nero]] had enjoyed a prolonged and peaceful tour of Greece and had been criticised by the Roman elite for abandoning his fundamental responsibilities as emperor. In the eastern provinces, and to some extent in the west, Nero had enjoyed popular support; claims of his imminent [[Nero Redivivus legend|return or rebirth]] emerged almost immediately after his death. Hadrian may have consciously exploited these positive, popular connections during his own travels.<ref>Larry Joseph Kreitzer, ''Striking New Images: Roman Imperial Coinage and the New Testament World''. Sheffield: A & C Black, 1996, {{ISBN|1-85075-623-6}}, pp. 194ff</ref> In the ''Historia Augusta'', Hadrian is described as "a little too much Greek", too cosmopolitan for a Roman emperor.<ref>Simon Goldhill, ''Being Greek Under Rome: Cultural Identity, the Second Sophistic and the Development of Empire''. Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 12 {{ISBN|0-521-66317-2}}</ref>

===Britannia and the West (122)===
{{main|Hadrian's Wall}}
[[File:Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|[[Hadrian's Wall]], the Roman frontier fortification in northern England. <br />A [[Milecastle 39|milecastle]] is in the foreground.]]
Prior to Hadrian's arrival in [[Roman Britain|Britannia]], the province had suffered a major rebellion from 118 to 119.<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 123</ref> Inscriptions tell of an ''expeditio Britannica'' that involved major troop movements, including the dispatch of a detachment ([[vexillatio]]), comprising some 3,000 soldiers. Fronto writes about military losses in Britannia at the time.<ref>Opper, p. 79</ref> Coin legends of 119–120 attest that [[Quintus Pompeius Falco]] was sent to restore order. In 122 Hadrian initiated the construction of a wall "to separate Romans from barbarians".<ref>''Scriptores Historiae Augustae'', Hadrian, xi, 2</ref> The idea that the wall was built in order to deal with an actual threat or its resurgence, however, is probable but nevertheless conjectural.<ref>Nick Hodgson, ''Hadrian's Wall: Archaeology and history at the limit of Rome's empire''. Ramsbury: Crowood Press, 2017, {{ISBN|978-0-7-1982-159-2}}</ref> A general desire to cease the Empire's extension may have been the determining motive. Reduction of defence costs may also have played a role, as the Wall deterred attacks on Roman territory at a lower cost than a massed border army,<ref>Patrick le&nbsp;Roux, ''Le haut-Empire romain en Occident d'Auguste aux Sévères''. Paris: Seuil, 1998, {{ISBN|2-02-025932-X}}, p. 396</ref> and controlled cross-border trade and immigration.<ref name="Breeze">Breeze, David J., and Brian Dobson, "Hadrian's Wall: Some Problems", ''Britannia'', Vol. 3, (1972), pp. 182–208</ref> A shrine was erected in York to Britannia as the divine [[National personification|personification of Britain]]; coins were struck, bearing her image, identified as Britannia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.24carat.co.uk/britanniaframe.html |title=Britannia on British Coins|publisher=Chard|access-date=25 June 2006}}</ref> By the end of 122, Hadrian had concluded his visit to Britannia. He never saw the finished [[Hadrian's Wall|wall that bears his name]].

Hadrian appears to have continued through southern Gaul. At [[Nîmes|Nemausus]], he may have overseen the building of a [[basilica]] dedicated to his patroness Plotina, who had recently died in Rome and had been deified at Hadrian's request.<ref name="Birley, p. 145">Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 145</ref> At around this time, Hadrian dismissed his secretary ''[[ab epistulis]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Potter |first1=David S. |author-link=David S. Potter |title=The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180–395 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HKFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2014 |page=77 |isbn=9781134694778}}</ref> the biographer [[Suetonius]], for "excessive familiarity" towards the empress.<ref>Jason König, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Greg Woolf, eds. ''Ancient Libraries''. Cambridge U. Press: 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-107-01256-1}}, p. 251</ref> Marcius Turbo's colleague as praetorian prefect, [[Gaius Septicius Clarus]], was dismissed for the same alleged reason, perhaps a pretext to remove him from office.<ref>Anthony Everitt, ''Hadrian and the triumph of Rome''.</ref> Hadrian spent the winter of 122/123 at [[Tarraco]], in Spain, where he restored the Temple of [[Augustus]].<ref>William E. Mierse, ''Temples and Towns in Roman Iberia: The Social and Architectural Dynamics of Sanctuary Designs from the Third Century B.C. to the Third Century A.D.''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0-520-20377-1}}, p. 141</ref>

===Africa, Parthia (123)===
In 123, Hadrian crossed the Mediterranean to [[Mauretania]], where he personally led a minor campaign against local rebels.<ref>Royston Lambert, pp. 41–2</ref> The visit was cut short by reports of war preparations by Parthia; Hadrian quickly headed eastwards. At some point, he visited [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], where he personally funded the training of young men from well-bred families for the Roman military. Cyrene had benefited earlier in Hadrian's reign (in 119) from his restoration of public buildings destroyed during the earlier, Trajanic Jewish revolt.<ref>Anthony Birley, pp. 151–152, 176–180</ref> Birley describes this kind of investment as "characteristic of Hadrian".<ref>The rebuilding continued until late in Hadrian's reign; in 138 a statue of [[Zeus]] was erected there, dedicated to Hadrian as Cyrene's "saviour and founder". See E. Mary Smallwood, ''The Jews Under Roman Rule from Pompey to Diocletian : a Study in Political Relations''. Leiden, Brill, 2001, {{ISBN|0-391-04155-X}}, p. 410</ref>

=== Anatolia; Antinous (123–124)===
When Hadrian arrived on the [[Euphrates]], he personally negotiated a settlement with the Parthian King [[Osroes I]], inspected the Roman defences, then set off westwards, along the Black Sea coast.<ref>Anthony Birley, pp. 153–165</ref> He probably wintered in [[Nicomedia]], the main city of [[Bithynia]]. Nicomedia had been hit by an earthquake only shortly before his stay; Hadrian provided funds for its rebuilding and was acclaimed as restorer of the province.<ref name="Anthony Birley, pp. 157–8">Anthony Birley, pp. 157–158</ref>

[[File:Bust of Antinous (2). 2nd cent. A.D (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|[[Bust of Antinous (NAMA)|Bust of Antinous]] from [[Patras]], ([[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]).]]

It is possible that Hadrian visited [[Claudiopolis (Bithynia)|Claudiopolis]] and saw the beautiful [[Antinous]], a young man of humble birth who became Hadrian's lover. Literary and epigraphic sources say nothing of when or where they met; depictions of Antinous show him aged 20 or so, shortly before his death in 130. In 123, he would most likely have been a youth of 13 or 14.<ref name="Anthony Birley, pp. 157–8"/> It is also possible that Antinous was sent to Rome to be trained as a page to serve the emperor and only gradually rose to the status of imperial favourite.<ref>Royston Lambert, pp. 60–61</ref> The actual historical detail of their relationship is mostly unknown.<ref>Opper, ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'', p. 171</ref>

With or without Antinous, Hadrian travelled through [[Anatolia]]. Various traditions suggest his presence at particular locations and allege his foundation of a city within Mysia, [[Balıkesir|Hadrianutherae]], after a successful boar hunt. At about this time, plans to complete the Temple of Zeus in [[Cyzicus]], begun by the kings of [[Attalid dynasty|Pergamon]], were put into practice. The temple received a colossal statue of Hadrian. Cyzicus, [[Pergamon]], [[Smyrna]], [[Ephesus]] and [[Sardes]] were promoted as regional centres for the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]] ([[neocorate|''neocoros'']]).<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 164–167</ref>

===Greece (124–125)===

Hadrian arrived in Greece during the autumn of 124 and participated in the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. He had a particular commitment to Athens, which had previously granted him citizenship<ref>Anna Kouremenos and Giorgos Mitropoulos 2024. Romans at Besa : New Light on an Athenian Deme in the Imperial Period. In The Classical Quarterly. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/romans-at-besa-new-light-on-an-athenian-deme-in-the-imperial-period/91041B0F1ADCF24D12B8BC3037740300</ref> and an {{transliteration|grc|archonate}};<ref>Anna Kouremenos 2022. ''The Province of Achaea in the 2nd century CE: The Past Present''. London: Routledge {{ISBN|1032014857}}</ref> at the Athenians' request, he revised their constitution&nbsp;– among other things, he added a new [[phyle]] (tribe), which was named after him.<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 175–177</ref> Hadrian combined active, hands-on interventions with cautious restraint. He refused to intervene in a local dispute between producers of [[olive oil]] and the Athenian [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Assembly]] and [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Council]], who had imposed production quotas on oil producers;<ref>Kaja Harter-Uibopuu, "Hadrian and the Athenian Oil Law", in O.M. Van Nijf&nbsp;– R.&nbsp;Alston (ed.), ''Feeding the Ancient Greek city''. Groningen – Royal Holloway Studies on the Greek City after the Classical Age, vol.&nbsp;1, Louvain 2008, pp. 127–141</ref> yet he granted an imperial subsidy for the Athenian grain supply.<ref>Brenda Longfellow, ''Roman Imperialism and Civic Patronage: Form, Meaning and Ideology in Monumental Fountain Complexes''. Cambridge U. Press: 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-521-19493-8}}, p. 120</ref> Hadrian created two [[Trust law|foundations]] to fund Athens' public games, festivals and competitions if no citizen proved wealthy or willing enough to sponsor them as a [[Gymnasiarch]] or [[Agonothetes]].<ref>Verhoogen Violette. Review of Graindor (Paul). ''Athènes sous Hadrien'', ''Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire'', 1935, vol.&nbsp;14, no.&nbsp;3, pp.&nbsp;926–931. Available at [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rbph_0035-0818_1935_num_14_3_1541_t1_0926_0000_2]. Retrieved 20 June 2015</ref> Generally Hadrian preferred that Greek notables, including priests of the imperial cult, focus on more essential and durable provisions, especially [[Munera (ancient Rome)|''munera'']] such as aqueducts and public fountains ([[Nymphaeum|''nymphaea'']]).<ref>Mark Golden, ''Greek Sport and Social Status'', University of Texas Press, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-292-71869-2}}, p. 88</ref> Athens was given two ''nymphaea''; one brought water from Mount Parnes to the [[Ancient Agora of Athens|Athenia Agora]] via a complex, challenging and ambitious system of aqueduct tunnels and reservoirs, to be constructed over several years.<ref name="auto">Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 182–184</ref> Several were given to Argos, to remedy a water-shortage so severe and so long-standing that "thirsty Argos" featured in Homeric epic.<ref>Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott, eds., ''The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance''. Leiden: Brill, 2009, {{ISBN|978-90-04-17357-6}}, pp. 216f</ref>

[[File:L'Olympieion (Athènes) (30776483926).jpg|thumb|The [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens]], completed under Emperor Hadrian in 131.]]
During that winter, Hadrian toured the [[Peloponnese]]. His exact route is uncertain, but it took in [[Epidaurus]]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] describes temples built there by Hadrian, and his statue&nbsp;– in [[heroic nudity]]&nbsp;– erected by its citizens<ref>[[Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis]], ''Truly Beyond Wonders: Aelius Aristides and the Cult of Asklepios''. OUP : 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-19-956190-2}}, p. 171</ref> in thanks to their "restorer". Antinous and Hadrian may have already been lovers at this time; Hadrian showed particular generosity to [[Mantinea]], which shared ancient, mythic, politically useful links with Antinous' home at Bithynia. He restored Mantinea's Temple of [[Poseidon|Poseidon Hippios]],<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 177–180</ref><ref>David S. Potter,''The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180–395''. London: Routledge, 2014, {{ISBN|978-0-415-84054-5}}, p. 44</ref> and according to Pausanias, restored the city's original, classical name. It had been renamed Antigoneia since Hellenistic times, after the Macedonian King [[Antigonus III Doson]]. Hadrian also rebuilt the ancient shrines of [[Abae]] and [[Megara]], and the [[Heraion of Argos]].<ref name="Boatwright, p. 134">Boatwright, p. 134</ref><ref>K. W. Arafat, ''Pausanias' Greece: Ancient Artists and Roman Rulers''. Cambridge U. Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-521-55340-7}}, pp. 162, 185</ref>

During his tour of the Peloponnese, Hadrian persuaded the [[Sparta]]n grandee Eurycles Herculanus&nbsp;– leader of the [[Euryclids|Euryclid]] family that had ruled Sparta since Augustus' day&nbsp;– to enter the Senate, alongside the Athenian grandee [[Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes (suffect consul 133)|Herodes Atticus the Elder]]. The two aristocrats would be the first from "Old Greece" to enter the Roman Senate, as representatives of Sparta and Athens, traditional rivals and "great powers" of the Classical Age.<ref>Birley, [http://uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1997/116pdf/116209.pdf "Hadrian and Greek Senators"], ''[[Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik]]'' 116 (1997), pp. 209–245. Retrieved 23 July 2015</ref> This was an important step in overcoming Greek notables' reluctance to take part in Roman political life.<ref>Christol & Nony, p. 203</ref> In March 125, Hadrian presided at the Athenian festival of [[Dionysia]], wearing Athenian dress. The [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens|Temple of Olympian Zeus]] had been under construction for more than five centuries; Hadrian committed the vast resources at his command to ensure that the job would be finished.<ref name="auto"/>

===Return to Italy and trip to Africa (126–128)===
{{multiple image
|total_width=400
|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
}}

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>

===Greece, Asia, and Egypt (128–130); Antinous's death===
In September 128, Hadrian attended the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] again. This time his visit to Greece seems to have concentrated on Athens and [[Sparta]] – the two ancient rivals for dominance of Greece. Hadrian had played with the idea of focusing his Greek revival around the [[Amphictyonic League]] based in Delphi, but by now he had decided on something far grander. His new [[Panhellenion]] was going to be a council that would bring Greek cities together. Having set in motion the preparations&nbsp;– deciding whose claim to be a Greek city was genuine would take time&nbsp;– Hadrian set off for Ephesus.<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 215–120</ref> From Greece, Hadrian proceeded by way of Asia to Egypt, probably conveyed across the Aegean with his entourage by an Ephesian merchant, Lucius Erastus. Hadrian later sent a letter to the Council of Ephesus, supporting Erastus as a worthy candidate for town councillor and offering to pay the requisite fee.<ref>Boatwright, p. 81</ref>
[[File:Agilkia Hadriantor 03.jpg|thumb|Gateway of Hadrianus in [[Philae]]]]
Hadrian arrived in Egypt before the Egyptian New Year on 29 August 130.<ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Foertmeyer |first1=Victoria Anne |type=PhD|title=Tourism in Graeco-Roman Egypt |date=1989 |publisher=Princeton|pages=107–108}}</ref> He opened his stay in Egypt by restoring [[Pompey the Great]]'s tomb at [[Pelusium]],<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 235</ref> offering sacrifice to him as a [[Greek hero cult|hero]] and composing an [[epigraph (literature)|epigraph]] for the tomb. As Pompey was universally acknowledged as responsible for establishing Rome's power in the east, this restoration was probably linked to a need to reaffirm Roman Eastern hegemony following social unrest there during Trajan's late reign.<ref>Boatwright, p. 142</ref> Hadrian and Antinous held a lion hunt in the Libyan desert; a poem on the subject by the Greek Pankrates is the earliest evidence that they travelled together.<ref>Opper, ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'', p. 173</ref>

While Hadrian and his entourage were sailing on the [[Nile]], Antinous drowned. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, and accident, suicide, murder and religious sacrifice have all been postulated. ''Historia Augusta'' offers the following account:
{{blockquote|text=During a journey on the Nile he lost Antinous, his favourite, and for this youth he wept like a woman. Concerning this incident there are varying rumours; for some claim that he had devoted himself to death for Hadrian, and others&nbsp;– what both his beauty and Hadrian's sensuality suggest. But however this may be, the Greeks deified him at Hadrian's request, and declared that oracles were given through his agency, but these, it is commonly asserted, were composed by Hadrian himself.<ref>''Historia Augusta'' (c.&nbsp;395) Hadr. 14.5–7</ref>}}

Hadrian founded the city of [[Antinopolis|Antinoöpolis]] in Antinous' honour on 30 October 130. He then continued down the Nile to [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], where his visit to the [[Colossi of Memnon]] on 20 and 21 November was commemorated by four epigrams inscribed by [[Julia Balbilla]]. After that, he headed north, reaching the [[Fayyum]] at the beginning of December.<ref>Foertmeyer, pp. 107–108</ref>

=== 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.

===Third Roman–Jewish War (132–136)===
{{Main|Bar Kokhba revolt}}
[[File:Hadrian visit to Judea.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Coinage minted to mark Hadrian's visit to Judea. Inscription: HADRIANVS AVG. CO[N]S. III, P. P. / ADVENTVI (arrival) AVG. IVDAEAE – S. C.]]

{{multiple image
| image1 = Bronze statue of Hadrian, found at the Camp of the Sixth Roman Legion in Tel Shalem, 117–138 AD, Israel Museum, Jerusalem (15646103181).jpg
| total_width = 350px
| caption1 = Statue of Hadrian unearthed at Tel Shalem commemorating Roman military victory over [[Simon bar Kokhba]], displayed at the [[Israel Museum]], Jerusalem
| image2 = Statue of Hadrian in Caesarea.jpg
| caption2 = [[Porphyry (geology)|Porphyry]] statue of Hadrian discovered in [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]], Israel
}}

====Background, causes====
In [[Roman Judaea]], Hadrian visited [[Jerusalem]], which was still in ruins after the [[First Roman–Jewish War]] of 66–73. He may have planned to rebuild Jerusalem as a [[Roman colony]]&nbsp;– as [[Vespasian]] had done with [[Caesarea Maritima]]&nbsp;– with various honorific and fiscal privileges. The non-Roman population would have no obligation to participate in Roman religious rituals but were expected to support the Roman imperial order; this is attested in Caesarea, where some Jews served in the Roman army during both the 66 and 132 rebellions.<ref>Giovanni Battista Bazzana, "The Bar Kokhba Revolt and Hadrian's religious policy", IN Marco Rizzi, ed., '' Hadrian and the Christians''. Berlim: De Gruyter, 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-11-022470-2}}, pp. 89–91</ref> It has been speculated that Hadrian intended to assimilate the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple]] to the traditional Roman civic-religious [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]]; such assimilations had long been commonplace practice in Greece and in other provinces, and on the whole, had been successful.<ref>Bazzana, 98</ref><ref>Cf a project devised earlier by Hellenized Jewish intellectuals such as [[Philo]]: see Rizzi, ''Hadrian and the Christians'', 4</ref> The neighbouring Samaritans had already integrated their religious rites with Hellenistic ones.<ref>Emmanuel Friedheim, "Some notes about the Samaritans and the Rabbinic Class at Crossroads". In Menachem Mor, Friedrich V. Reiterer, eds., '' Samaritans&nbsp;– Past and Present: Current Studies''. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-11-019497-5}}, p. 197.</ref> Strict Jewish [[monotheism]] proved more resistant to imperial cajoling, and then to imperial demands.<ref name=":0">[[Peter Schäfer]] (1981), ''Der Bar Kokhba-Aufstand'' (in German), Tübingen, pp. 29–50.</ref>

A tradition based on the ''Historia Augusta'' suggests that the revolt was spurred by Hadrian's abolition of [[History of male circumcision#Male circumcision in the Greco-Roman world|circumcision]] (''[[brit milah]]'');<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Peter Schäfer|Schäfer, Peter]] |title= Judeophobia: Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Ancient World |publisher= Harvard University Press |year= 1998 |pages= 103–105 |quote = [...] Hadrian's ban on circumcision, allegedly imposed sometime between 128 and 132 CE [...]. The only proof for Hadrian's ban on circumcision is the short note in the ''Historia Augusta'': 'At this time also the Jews began war because they were forbidden to mutilate their genitals (''quot vetabantur mutilare genitalia''). [...] The historical credibility of this remark is controversial [...] The earliest evidence for circumcision in Roman legislation is an edict by Antoninus Pius (138–161 CE), Hadrian's successor [...] [I]t is not utterly impossible that Hadrian [...] indeed considered circumcision as a 'barbarous mutilation' and tried to prohibit it. [...] However, this proposal cannot be more than a conjecture, and, of course, it does not solve the questions of when Hadrian issued the decree (before or during/after the Bar Kokhba war) and whether it was directed solely against Jews or also against other peoples. |isbn= 978-0-674-04321-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8jIhYBwkO80C |access-date= 1 February 2014}}</ref> which as a [[Philhellenism|Hellenist]] he viewed as [[mutilation]].<ref name=Mackay>Mackay, Christopher. ''Ancient Rome a Military and Political History'': 230</ref> The scholar [[Peter Schäfer]] maintains that there is no evidence for this claim, given the notoriously problematical nature of the ''Historia Augusta'' as a source, the "tomfoolery" shown by the writer in the relevant passage, and the fact that contemporary Roman legislation on "genital mutilation" seems to address the general issue of [[castration]] of slaves by their masters.<ref>Peter Schäfer (2003), ''The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome'', Mohr Siebeck, p. 68.</ref><ref>Peter Schäfer (2003), ''The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest''. Routledge, p. 146.</ref><ref>[[Augustan History|Historia Augusta]], ''Hadrian'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Hadrian/1*.html#14.2 14.2].</ref> Other issues could have contributed to the outbreak: a heavy-handed, culturally insensitive Roman administration; tensions between the landless poor and incoming Roman colonists privileged with land-grants; and a strong undercurrent of messianism, predicated on [[Jeremiah]]'s prophecy that the Temple would be rebuilt seventy years after its destruction, as the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] had been after the [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonian exile]].<ref>Shaye Cohen (2013), ''From the Maccabees to the Mishnah'', 3rd edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 25–26, {{ISBN|978-0-664-23904-6}}.</ref>

====Revolt====
A massive anti-Hellenistic and anti-Roman Jewish uprising broke out, led by [[Simon bar Kokhba]].<ref name="Jerome">Chronicle of Jerome, s.v. Hadrian. See: [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm] See also [[Yigael Yadin]] (1971), ''Bar-Kokhba'', New York: Random House, pp. 22, 258.</ref> Given the fragmentary nature of the existing evidence, it is impossible to ascertain an exact date for the beginning of the uprising. It probably began between summer and fall of 132.<ref>Steven T. Katz, ed (1984). ''The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 4, The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period''. Cambridge University Press, pp. 11–112, {{ISBN|978-0-521-77248-8}}.</ref>

The Roman governor [[Quintus Tineius Rufus (consul 127)|Tineius (Tynius) Rufus]] asked for an army to crush the resistance; bar Kokhba punished any Jew who refused to join his ranks.<ref name=Jerome/> According to [[Justin Martyr]] and [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]], that had to do mostly with Christian converts, who opposed bar Kokhba's messianic claims.<ref>Alexander Zephyr (2013), ''Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kokhba Revolt, and the Ten Tribes of Israel''. Bloomington: iUniverse, {{ISBN|978-1-4917-1256-6}}.</ref>

The Romans were overwhelmed by the organised ferocity of the uprising.<ref name=":0"/> Hadrian called his general [[Sextus Julius Severus]] from [[Roman Britain|Britain]] and brought troops in from as far as the Danube. Roman losses were heavy; an entire legion or its numeric equivalent of around 4,000.<ref>Possibly the [[Legio XXII Deiotariana|XXII Deiotariana]], which according to epigraphy did not outlast Hadrian's reign; see [https://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xxii_deiotariana.html livius.org account] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317020539/http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xxii_deiotariana.html |date=17 March 2015 }}; however, Peter Schäfer, following Bowersock, finds no traces in the written sources of the purported annihilation of Legio XXII. A loss of such magnitude would have surely been mentioned (''Der Bar Kokhba-Aufstand'', 14).</ref> Hadrian's report on the war to the [[Roman Senate]] omitted the customary salutation, "If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the legions are in health."<ref>Cassius Dio 69, 14.3 {{cite book |title= Roman History |quote= Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war. Therefore Hadrian in writing to the Senate, did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors[...]}}</ref>

The rebellion was quashed by 135. According to [[Cassius Dio]].<ref name=DioRH>''Dio's Roman History'' (trans. Earnest Cary), vol. 8 (books 61–70), London: [[Loeb Classical Library]] 1925, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/diosromanhistory08cassuoft#page/448/mode/2up 449]–[https://archive.org/stream/diosromanhistory08cassuoft#page/450/mode/2up 451].</ref> [[Betar (fortress)|Beitar]], a fortified city {{convert|10|km|mi}} southwest of Jerusalem, fell after a three-and-a-half-year siege.<ref name=DRS11>Daniel R. Schwartz, Zeev Weiss, eds. (2011), ''Was 70 CE a Watershed in Jewish History?: On Jews and Judaism before and after the Destruction of the Second Temple''. Leiden: Brill, {{ISBN|978-90-04-21534-4}}, p. 529, footnote 42.</ref>

====Aftermath; persecutions====
[[File:0 Monument honoraire d’Hadrien - L'empereur accueilli par la déesse Rome (2).JPG|thumb|Relief from an honorary monument of Hadrian (detail), showing the emperor being greeted by the [[Roma (mythology)|goddess Roma]] and the [[Genius (mythology)|Genii]] of [[Roman Senate|the Senate]] and the Roman People; marble, Roman artwork, 2nd century AD, [[Capitoline Museums]], Vatican City]]

Roman war operations in Judea left some 580,000 Jews dead and 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed.<ref name=DioRH/>

An unknown proportion of the population was enslaved. The extent of punitive measures against the Jewish population remains a matter of debate.<ref name=DRS11/>

Hadrian renamed Judea province [[Syria Palaestina]]. He renamed Jerusalem [[Aelia Capitolina]] after himself and [[Jupiter Capitolinus]] and had the city rebuilt in Greek style. According to Epiphanius, Hadrian appointed [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila from Sinope]] in Pontus as "overseer of the work of building the city", since he was related to him by marriage.<ref>Epiphanius, "On Weights and Measures" §14: Hadrian's Journey to the East and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, Renan Baker, ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', Bd. 182 (2012), pp. 157–167. Published by: Rudolf Habelt GmbH, available through JSTOR (subscription required, accessed 25 March 2012).</ref> Hadrian is said to have placed the city's main [[Roman Forum|Forum]] at the junction of the main [[Cardo]] and [[Decumanus Maximus]], now the location for the (smaller) [[Muristan]]. After the suppression of the Jewish revolt, Hadrian provided the Samaritans with a temple dedicated to Zeus Hypsistos ("Highest Zeus")<ref>Ken Dowden, ''Zeus''. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006, {{ISBN|0-415-30502-0}}, p. 58.</ref> on [[Mount Gerizim]].<ref>Anna Collar (2013), ''Religious Networks in the Roman Empire''. Cambridge University Press, pp. 248–249, {{ISBN|978-1-107-04344-2}}.</ref> The bloody repression of the revolt ended Jewish political independence from the Roman imperial order.<ref>Geza Vermes (2006), ''Who's Who in the Age of Jesus'', entry "Hadrian", Penguin, {{ISBN|0140515658}}.</ref>

====Hadrian's itinerary====
Inscriptions make it clear that in 133, Hadrian took to the field with his armies against the rebels. He then returned to Rome, probably in that year and almost certainly&nbsp;– judging from inscriptions&nbsp;– via [[Illyria|Illyricum]].<ref>Ronald Syme (1988), "Journeys of Hadrian", pp. 164–169.</ref>