Hadrian Tours the Roman World

The emperor Hadrian didn’t just build a wall across Britain! During a career that involved a “world tour” to pretty much every province of the Roman Empire, he rubbed elbows with provincial aristocrats; showered gifts on the cities of the empire; climbed a couple of mountains and hunted at least one big cat; hung out for years in Greece; murdered the odd senator; and loved, lost, and deified his cherished friend Antinous. (Maybe he even wore a toga while he travelled!) Listen as Emily and Cam hit the highlights of his career.

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Links to other episodes we made that touch on Hadrian:

• Hadrian’s Wall, Part I: The Romans in Britain and the Imperial Frontier (the first of four episodes on Hadrian’s Wall)
• Thermae Romae: A Japanese Film about Ancient Roman Bathing—and Time Travel!

Cover image adapted from a photo of a gold coin minted between 134 and 138 CE, depicting Hadrian in profile and bearing the legend “Hadrianus Augustus P(ater) P(atriae)” (Hadrian Augustus, Father of his Country). American Numismatic Society, Wikimedia Commons.

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00:10 - Introduction

02:22 - Not Quite Emperor

• 02:28 - Hadrian’s early life
• 03:26 - Ward of Trajan
• 04:55 - Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan’s path to imperial power
• 05:57 - Hadrian’s career under Trajan during the Dacian Wars, the Parthian War, and the Rebellion of the Jewish diaspora
• 09:24 - Trajan is dead, long live Hadrian

11:23 - New Frontiers

• 11:24 - Hadrian’s lack of interest in expanding the Roman Empire
• 11:37 - Earlier emperors and wars of conquest
• 12:08 - Hadrian abandons Trajan’s conquests
• 13:16 - Hadrian, Nigrinus, and the execution of four senators

14:53 - Hadrian’s World Tours

• 15:02 - An inward focus
• 15:41 - Hadrian tours the provinces (of a really big empire!)
• 17:45 - Hadrian the intellectual: a conversation with Apollo’s oracle at Delphi about Homer
• 19:33 - Hadrian the adventurer: lighting, lions, and bears, oh my!
• 21:14 - Inspecting the army and securing the frontiers
• 23:01 - Hadrian and imperial patronage: local elites, imperial benefactions, and loyalty

26:47 - Antinous: a short digression

• 27:06 - Antinous’ background
• 27:48 - Antinous’ death and speculations about its cause
• 29:07 - Hadrian’s grief, the deification of Antinous, and Antinous at Tivoli

32:28 - The Olympian: Hadrian in Greece

• 32:48 - Hadrian’s early fascination with Greek culture
• 34:28 - Hadrian’s first trip to Greece: Athenian citizen, Eponymous Archon, and friends with Epictetus and Plutarch
• 37:55 - Hadrian Reborn: the Emperor and the Eleusinian Mysteries
• 41:52 – Hadrian’s plan for the Panhellenion and the Sanctuary of Zeus
• 43:17 - Hadrian among the gods: Hadrianus Olympios, Hadrianus Panhellenios

46:32 - Rebellion in Judaea

• 46:54 - The Bar Kokhba Rebellion
• 47:47 - Untangling the roots of the rebellion: a messianic movement?
• 48:50 - Imperial plans and Judaean politics

51:05 - Succession Crisis

• 51:22 - Imperial succession in the Roman World
• 52:24 - Hadrian’s potential successors
• 54:19 - Two adoptions, a death, and two murders

57:39 - Legacy

60:42 - Wrap-up