Hadrian
Hadrian. Roman emperor 117–38. Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born in 76, probably at Italica near Seville. Related by marriage to Trajan, he became a ward of the future emperor on the death of his father. During Trajan's reign he progressed through a series of military and civil offices, succeeding Trajan in 117. In the early part of his reign he toured his empire, coming to Britain in 122. Here he commanded the building of the wall which bears his name. The forum at Wroxeter was dedicated in his reign and other public buildings are dated to this period, though it is far from certain that he consciously encouraged civil development in the province. An over-life-size bronze head of Hadrian from the Thames, now in the British Museum, suggests a colossal statue or a temple to him in London, perhaps after his deification by the Senate at the urging of his successor, Antoninus Pius.
Alan Simon Esmonde Cleary
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Hadrian
