Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/336

Rh 322 HADRIANUS. were dispersed through the world. After the close of the Jewish war another threatened to break out with the Albanians, who had been insti- gated by Pharasmanes, king of the Iberians. But the rich presents which Hadrian made to the Alba- nians and Iberians averted the outbreak, and Pha- rasmanes even paid a visit to Hadrian at Rome. In the meantime, probably in the autumn of A. D. 132, Hadrian had again gone to Athens, where he stayed during the whole of the year fol- lowing. From a letter of Hadrian, addressed to his brother-in-law, Servianus, and preserved by Vo- piscus {Saturnin. 8), we must infer that in 1 34 the emperor again visited Alexandria in Egypt, and, on his return through Syria, where he attended the sale of the Jews who had been made prisoners in the war, superintended the building of the colony at Jerusalem, and regulated its constitution. After his return to Rome, Hadrian spent the re- maining years of his life partly in the city and partly at Tibur, where he built or completed his magnificent villa, the ruins of which occupy even now a space equal to that of a considerable town. The many fatigues and hardships to which he had been exposed during his travels had impaired his health, and he sank into a dangerous illness, which led him to think of fixing upon a successor, as he had himself no children. After some hesitation, he adopted L. Ceionius Commodus, under the name of L. Aelius Verus, and raised him to the rank of Caesar, probably for no other reason than his beauty ; for Ceionius Commodus had formerly been connected with Hadrian in the same manner that Antinous was afterwards connected with him. The adoption had been made contrary to the advice of all his friends, and those who had most strongly opposed it appeared to Hadrian in no other light than that of personal enemies. Servianus, who was then in his 90th year, and his grandson Fuscus, were the principal objects of liis suspicions, and both were put to death by his command. Aelius Verus, however, who was entrusted with the administration of Pannonia, did not afford Hadrian the assistance and support he had ex- pected, for he was a person of a weakly consti- tution, and died on the 1st of January, ^. d, 138. Hadrian now adopted Arrius Antoninus, afterwards sumamed Pius, and presented him to the senators assembled around his bed as his successor. But Hadrian, mindful of the more distant future, made it the condition with Antoninus that he should at once adopt the son of Aelius Verus and M. An- nius Verus (afterwards the emperor M. Aurelius). These arrangements, however, did not restore peace to Hadrian's mind : as his illness grew worse his suspicious and bitter feelings increased, and prompted him to many an act of cruelty ; many persons of distinction were put to death, and many others would have been sacrificed in the same manner had they not been saved by the precautions of Antoninus Pius. The illness of which Hadrian suffered was of a consumptive nature, which was aggravated by dropsy ; and when lie found that he could not be sjived, he requested a slave to run hira through with a sword ; but this was prevented by Antoninus. Several more attempts were made at suicide, but in vain. At last he was conveyed to Baiae, where he hoped to find at least some relief, and Antoninus remained behind at Rome as his vicegerent. But his health did not improve ; and Boon after the arrival of Antoninus at Baiae, whom HADRIANUS. he had sent for, he died on the 10th of July, I.'jS, at the age of 63, and after a reign of nearly twenty years. He was buried in the villa of Cicero, near Puteoli. The senate, indignant at the many acts of cruelty of which he had been guilty during the last period of his life, wanted to annul his enact- ments, and refused him the title of Divus, but An- toninus prevailed upon the senate to be lenient towards the deceased, who during the latter part of his life had not been in the full possession of his mind. A temple was then erected as a monument on his tomb, and various institutions were made to commemorate his memory. Antoninus is said by some to owe his surname of Pius to these exertions of filial love towards his adoptive father. The above is a brief sketch of the events of the life and reign of Hadrian ; and it now remains to offer a few observations on his policy, the principles of his government, his personal character, his in- fluence upon art and literature, and his own literary productions, so far as they are known to us. The reign of Hadrian was one of peace, and may be regarded as one of the happiest periods in Roman history. His policy, in reference to foreign nations, was to preserve peace as much as possible, not to extend the boundaries of the empire, but to secure the old provinces, and promote their welfare, by a wise and just administration. For this reason he gave up the eastern conquests of Trajan, and would have given up Dacia also, had it not been for the numerous Roman citizens who had taken up their residence there. This general peace of the reign of Hadrian, however, was not the result of cowardice, or of jealousy of his predecessor, as some of the ancients asserted, but the fruit of a wise political system. Hadrian's presents and kindness to the barbarians would not have been sufficient to ward off their attacks, but the frontiers of the empire were guarded by armies which were in the most excellent condition, for the militar}'^ system and dis- cipline introduced by Hadrian were so well devised, that his regulations remained in force for a long time afterwards, and were regarded as law. With regard to the internal administration of the empire, Hadrian was the first emperor that understood his real position, and looked upon himself as the so- vereign of the Roman world ; for his attention was engaged no less by the provinces than by Rome and Italy, and thus it happened that the monarchi- cal system became more consolidated under him than under any of his predecessors. He gained the favour of the people by his great liberality, and that of the senate by treating it with the utmost deference, so far as form was concerned, for, in re- ality, the senate was no more than the organ of the imperial will. An institution which gradually de- prived the senate of its jurisdiction, and its share in the government, was that of the consilium, or consistoriu/ii privcipis, which had indeed existed before, but received its stability and organisation from Hadrian. The political offices and those of the court were regulated by Hadrian in a manner which, with a few exceptions, remained unaltered till the time of the great Constantine. The prae- fectus praetorio henceforth was the president of the state-council (consilium principis), and always a jurisconsult, so that we may henceforth regard him as a kind of minister of justice. Hadrian himself paid particular attention to the proper exercise of jurisdiction in the provinces as well as in Italy : his reign fonns an epoch in the history of llcynan