Roman Emperor: Life and Reign of Hadrian Quiz

Answer: Italica

Born "Publius Aelius Hadrianus," Hadrian was born in 78 AD. Around 250 years before his birth, Hadrian's Roman ancestors emigrated from Picenum in Italy, to the south of Spain. Hadrian's predecessor, the emperor Trajan, was born in Italica (that is, modern-day Seville, Spain). Both of Hadrian's parents were from Spain, with his mother from Cádiz and his father from Italica.

The lack of historical record leads historians to dispute whether Hadrian was born in Rome, or in his father's Spanish hometown.

Answer: Domitia Paulina

Domitia Paulina, or "Paulina the Elder" was not the only Paulina in Hadrian's life. Hadrian had 3 female relatives named "Paulina" which were: his mother, his older sister and his niece. Hadrian's mother was part of a well-established Spanish-Roman family, hailing from Gades (that is, modern Cádiz, Spain) which was one of the richest Spanish cities of the Roman era. Her life is sparsely recorded, with little being known about her. Her and Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afe had two children: Hadrian and his elder sister, Aelia Domitia Paulina (75-130 AD)

Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a paternal cousin of Roman Emperor, Trajan. Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a successful soldier and senator, and although was originally from Spain, but had Roman ancestry. The "Afer" part of his name is Latin for African, a name he was given after his outstanding military service in Mauretania (modern day Algeria). Hadrian's father died when he was 10, in 85 AD.

Answer: Acilius Attianus

Publius Acilius Attianus was a Roman official, but was born in Italica like Hadrian's father, and possibly Hadrian. After Trajan's death in 117 AD, he is asserted to have had an instrumental but clandestine role in securing Hadrian's position as the next Roman emperor, as well as Trajan's wife, Plotina, who was very fond of the young Hadrian. She encouraged his educational activities including his love for Greek literature, arts and culture. Hadrian's fascination with Greek culture earned him the nickname Graeculus, that is, "little Greek boy."

Acilius Attianus served as a member of the Praetorian Guard during Hadrian's reign. When Hadrian was around 10 years old, he was sent to Rome to receive his education under the eye of Trajan.

Answer: Nerva

By 91 AD, Trajan was a Roman consul. Hadrian decided to become involved with the Roman military like his mentor, and by 95 AD he was established in a post on the Danube River in the province of Upper Moesia (modern day Kosovo and Serbia), before transferring to Lower Moesia.

Nerva was a short-lived Roman emperor, taking the throne aged 66 from 96-98 AD. He had no children or heirs of his own, and only selected the young general Trajan as his successor after the Praetorian Guard revolted in protest. Hadrian was chosen as the person to travel to Gaul and inform Trajan of his sudden inheritance to the Roman throne. Hadrian's brother-in-law, Julius Servianus, tried to foil Hadrian's journey to inform Trajan of the news. He was unsuccessful, and their relationship was never the same after this, with Julius Servianus continuously challenging Hadrian's position.

Answer: Vibia Sabina

Vibia Sabina was the daughter of Salonia Matidia - Trajan's grand-niece, who also may also have been instrumental to Hadrian becoming emperor. Vibia Sabina (like her husband) was raised by Trajan and Plotina. Not wanting to give up the power she had acquired as Trajan's niece, childless Salonia Matidia encouraged the marriage likely as a means to continue her dynasty, and keep up the privileges her family had under Trajan.

In 100 AD, at around 14 years old, Vibia Sabina married Hadrian. Although Hadrian had respect for Vibia Sabina due to her lineage associated with Trajan, the marriage was by most accounts not a romantic one. Although she was fond of Hadrian initially, she never truly embraced the marriage. This was compounded by the fact that Hadrian preferred the company of men. She was however supportive of her husband, being present with him in Athens in 112 AD, and when he became emperor upon Trajan's death in 117 AD.

Although it is not known for certain, there were rumours of Vibia Sabina being poisoned by Hadrian, or driven to suicide by him when she died around 136-137 AD. Hadrian was in love with a young man and although one source states that he seduced a senator's wife, multiple sources confirm that women were not his preferred choice. Some sources also state that Vibia Sabina refused to have relations with Hadrian, due to his aloofness and clear preference for men. However, she was given the title "Augusta" by her husband and deified by him after her death. They had been married for almost 40 years by the time she had died.

Answer: True

Hadrian had a close relationship with his army and was beloved by them. he would eat and sleep amongst his army, and despite the relatively peaceful nature of his reign, he was often depicted in military uniform. He surrendered the military campaigns that Trajan had established in Mesopotamia, as he thought they were indefensible. Around 121 AD, a war with Parthia (modern day north-east Iran) almost occurred, however Hadrian was able to avoid this with his negotiation skills and peace was established.

Hadrian did however sanction persecution against the Jews, which is recorded in the Babylonian Talmud.

Answer: Bar Kokhba Revolt

The Bar Kokhba Revolt (also known as the "Second Jewish Revolt") broke out in Judaea (the southernmost of the three sections of ancient Palestine). Tensions were high in the area, with clashes between Jews and Romans occurring regularly in the years prior to the rebellion. Hadrian had planned to build a Roman colony on the site of Jerusalem, and he had outlawed Jewish practices such as male circumcision. During the fighting the Romans had any casualties despite suppressing the revolt, and Hadrian did not send his typical message to the Roman Senate, "I and my army are well."

After the revolt had been quashed, the Jews that survived the bloodshed were sold into slavery and sent to Egypt. The rest of Hadrian's reign included persecution of the Jews after this, including forbidding studying the Torah, circumcision, meeting in synagogues, observing the Sabbath and Jewish courts. Some died martyrs for doing such things, such as Rabbi Akiva who was flayed alive with metal combs for ignoring the Roman ban on studying the Torah. Hadrian renamed Judea "Syria Palaestina" and exiled the Jews from the area.

Answer: 6 years

Hadrian arrived in Britannia (modern day Britain) in 112 AD. Between 14-17 forts were established along the wall, which was intended to keep the Picts out of the area. The wall's line was chosen very carefully to make the best out of the surrounding topography, and for every mile of wall there was a small guard post for protection, called a "milecastle." Two towers or "turrets" were situated between every milecastle, and the wall had a general maximum height of around 15 feet (4.6 m).

As is evident from the many inscriptions, Hadrian's Wall was built by the army of Britannia. When Hadrian died in 138 AD, the new emperor, Antoninus Pius, decided to abandon Hadrian's Wall in favour of creating one of his own. The Antonine Wall however was short-lived, being in use for around 20 years before the Romans decided to once again use Hadrian's Wall.

Answer: Antinous

Adhering to his reputation for loving all things Greek, Hadrian met the young and Greek Antinous in around 123 AD. After Hadrian's visit to Britannia he decided to travel to Asia Minor, in order to review the damage of the city of Nicomedia, which had recently been damaged by an earthquake. Historians are in debate as to where Hadrian met Antinous, in Nicomedia or nearby Claudiopolis (where Antinous was born). For the next 7 years, Hadrian and Antinous were inseparable. Antinous was only between 13-15 years old when he met Hadrian, however at the time same-sex relations with older men and younger boys were generally accepted in Roman culture, provided that both parties consented to such relations.

In 130 AD, Hadrian and Antinous arrived in Egypt and were planning to join the celebrations of the Festival of Osiris. However, a month after their arrival, shortly before the festival was due to take place, Antinous drowned in the Nile. Hadrian insisted this was a tragic accident, but historians Cassius Dio and Aurelius Victor asserted that Antinous threw himself into the Nile, sacrificing himself during a ritual in order to spare Hadrian from the ill health he had been suffering for years (both do not mention the specifics of the illness). Hadrian may have guarded this possibly sacrifice with secrecy, as he would not want opponents to know that he was physically frail and politically vulnerable. What also supports this claim, is that as Hadrian's lover and favourite companion above all others at the time, Hadrian's entourage of servants and bodyguards would have stopped at nothing to pull Antinous to safety, for fear of the wrath of the emperor upon failing to save his beloved, should Antinous have fallen into the river by accident. Both Hadrian and Antinous had also previously spoken to a priest about religious rites and sacrifices, shortly before this event.

Hadrian had Antinous deified after his death, with some worshipping him as a god and some worshipping him as a hero. Hadrian also named a city in Egypt after him, Antinoöpolis.

Answer: Apollodorous

Apollodorus of Damascus was a Greek architect, designer and engineer who would later come to regret offended Hadrian, before he became Roman emperor. Apollodorous is credited with designing most of the imperial buildings constructed under Trajan's reign, and was having a conversation with the emperor concerning their problems in construction. Hadrian interrupted their conversation in an attempt to advise Trajan, but Appllodorous snapped "Go away and draw your pumpkins. You know nothing about these problems." The "pumpkins" in question were the drawings of domes Hadrian had produced, similar to the Serapeum in his Villa.

Once Hadrian became Roman emperor, he did not forget this slight. He first exiled Apollodorus and later had him executed.

Answer: Beard

Before Hadrian's time in power Roman emperors were always depicted as clean shaven. Hadrian however was not keen on losing his beard, and depictions of him show him sporting one. This evidently started a trend, as for over a century and a half after this, other Roman emperors were also depicted as having a beard.

Answer: Adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus

Both Marcus Aurelius (born Marcus Annius Verus) and Lucius Verus (born Lucius Ceionius Commodus) would later jointly rule Rome together after Antoninus Pius' death. Antoninus Pius had impressed Hadrian, having been a very successful quaestor and praetor, working his way up to the rank of consul (one of the two highest magistrate positions of the Roman Republic).

Lucius Aelius was the original heir that Hadrian chose for the Roman throne, but he died shortly before Hadrian did of an unspecified illness, aged 36. Marcus had a familial tie with Antoninus, with Faustina the Elder (Antoninus' wife) as his aunt. Lucius Verus was 7 years old when adopted by Antoninus, he was the biological son of Aelius Caesar, Hadrian's original choice of heir who had died. Hadrian wanted to plan for the future, not wanting his legacy to be usurped by any other competing dynasty in Rome. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus would become the first two men to jointly rule Rome.

Answer: Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus

Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus was an influential senator, who managed to achieve three consulships in his long career, two of which were under Trajan, the third under Hadrian in 134 AD. Hadrian also had plans for Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, Servianus' grandson, to succeed Servianus down the line. Perhaps it was Servianus' advanced age that made Hadrian reconsider, with Servianus being around 90 in 136 AD. Regardless, Servianus was angry at the sudden change of plan.

In response to his insolence, Hadrian ordered the deaths of both men.

Answer: Heart failure

Baiae (modern day Baia) was an ancient Roman town, located on the northern banks of the Bay of Naples. Hadrian had been suffering from ill health for years, although had shown considerable longevity despite this. His reign lasted 21 years until his death, the longest since the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius.

Answer: Puteoli

Hadrian was originally buried on an estate that once belonged to Roman statesan, Cicero. Puteoli (modern day Pozzuoli, a city of the Metropolitan City of Naples) was near Baiae where Hadrian had died. His remains were excavated and returned to Rome where the Mausoleum of Hadrian was almost in competition. Antoninus Pius oversaw the completion of the mausoleum, and had Hadrian's body cremated and buried there.

His ashes were placed alongside his wife, Vibia Sabina's ashes, as well as Aelius Caesar's ashes, Hadrian's first choice of heir that never came to sit on the Roman throne.