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Hadrian was born in Italica , Hispania, to a well-established settler family. He was a distant relative of his predecessor Trajan. Trajan never officially designated a successor, but, according to his wife, named Hadrian immediately before his death. However, Trajan's wife was well-disposed toward Hadrian, and he may well have owed his succession to her.

1 Hadrian and the military

Hadrian's reign was marked by a general lack of military conflict. He surrendered Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible. The military's inaction was exacerbated by Hadrian's policy of securing the borders with permanent fortifications (limites, singular limes). The most famous of these is the massive Hadrian's Wall in Britain, and the Danube and RhineAt 1,320 km (820 miles), the Rhine River ( German Rhein French Rhin Dutch Rijn is one of the longest rivers in Europe. Its name is derived from the Celtic word renos (meaning "raging flow"). Together with the Danube it formed most of the northern frontier borders were strengthened with a series of mostly wooden fortifications, forts, ouposts and watchtowers, the latter specifically improving communications and local area security. To maintain morale and keep the troops from getting restive, he established intensive drill routines, and personally inspected the armies.

2 Hadrian in Judea

See Bar Kokhba's revoltBar Kokhba’s revolt ( 132- 135 CE) against the Roman Empire, also known as The Second Jewish-Roman War or The Second Jewish Revolt was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Judea. Alternatively, some sources call it The Third Revolt counting also the ri.

3 Cultural pursuits and patronage

Above all Hadrian patronized the arts: Hadrian's Villa at Tibur ( TivoliTivoli, Italy the ancient Tibur a favored site for Roman villas that was taken up again by the aristocrats of the Renaissance, has given its name to an American village, Tivoli, New York, and of several amusement parks in Europe: Tivoli amusement parks Ja) was the greatest Roman example of an AlexandrianLocated on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, al-iskandariyyah is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that country's second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. It is located at 31°12'N, 29°15'E, 208 km (129 miles) garden, recreating a sacred landscape, lost now in large part to the despoliation of the ruins by the Cardinal d'Este who had much of the marble removed to build his gardens. In RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman, the PantheonPantheon ( Greek: , pan "all" + , theon "of the gods"), in one sense, is the set of all the gods of a particular religion or mythology, such as the gods of Hinduism, Greek mythology, Norse mythology. Since the 16th century the word has also been used in a built by AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa ( 63 BC- 12 BC) was a Roman statesman and general, son-in-law and minister of the emperor Caesar Augustus. He is best known for winning the naval Battle of Actium against the forces of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra. Agrippa was of was enriched under Hadrian and took the form in which it remains to this day, with the exception of the bronze frontispice depicting the twelve Greek gods, a work which survived until 1633 when it was melted down by Pope Urban VIII Barberini for use in the Vatican, causing the Romans to mutter that they had more to fear from the Barberinis than from the barbarians.

Hadrian was a humanist, deeply Hellenophile in all his tastes. While visiting Greece in 125Alternate uses, see Number 125''. Events Construction of the Pantheon ( Rome) as it stands today by Hadrian. The Roman satirist Juvenal's Satires records that bread and circuses keep the Roman people happy. Pope Telesphorus succeeds Pope Sixtus I. Last (4 he attempted to create a kind of provincial parliament to bind all the semi-autonomous former city states across all Greece and parts of Asia Minor. This parliament, known as the Panhellenion didn't succeed however despite spirited efforts to instill cooperation among the Hellenes. Hadrian was especially famous for his love affair with a young Greek, Antinous. While touring Egypt, Antinous mysteriously drowned in the Nile in 130. Stricken with grief, Hadrian founded the Egyptian city of Antinopolis . Hadrian drew the whole Empire into his mourning, making Antinous the last new god of antiquity. For the rest of his life, Hadrian commissioned many hundreds (or thousands) of sculptures of Antinous in the manner of a Greek youth. The passion and depth of Hadrian's love for the boy was shown in busts and statues to be found all over Europe, featuring the boy's full lips and round cheeks.

Hadrian died at his villa in Baiae.

A fragment from the Roman History of Dio Cassius as translated by Earnest Cary in 1925:

"After Hadrian's death there was erected to him a huge equestrian statue representing him with a four-horse chariot. It was so large that the bulkiest man could walk through the eye of each horse, yet because of the extreme height of the foundation persons passing along on the ground below believe that the horses themselves as well as Hadrian are very small."