The writer of one of the deepest and most sentimental of Roman poems: “Animula Vascula Blandula”. A thinker, philosopher and traveller who personally visited the far corners of the empire. One might wonder whether he travelled so far and wide for duty or personal curiosity. Probably both.
He was deeply hurt by the death of his young young friend Antinous after whom he named a city and deified. The Emperor died at a ripe age of progressive illness but was hurt that he could not find a rapid death: those he asked to help him die preferred to die themselves.
Pantheon_architectureHe was a great lover of architecture and left wonderful buildings in his wake such as the temple to the Roman Goddess Venus and Rome at the Colosseum end of the forum, not to mention the Pantheon and its architecture which he rebuilt according to the daring and perfect design we know today. Not to mention the wonderful villa at Tivoli.
Salient elements of research on Hadrian should necessarily include:
The Life of Hadrian written by Marguerite Yourcenar. A truly great biography. A classic of literature too.
Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli, some 30km from Rome. Worth whole guide books by itself. The Emperor included many notions of architecture he had picked up during his travels across the empire.
Hadrian wall mapHadrian’s wall. A wonderful example of the Emperor’s policies of consolidation of the empire’s outer boundaries through the construction of the “Limes”. More than walls these were relatively flexible areas of commerce, surveillance and patrol against barbarian pressure from the outside.
Hadrian’s mausoleum the Castel St. Angelo. A great emperor and lover of architecture could hardly die without leaving an impressive memorial tomb to himself and family. So impressive in fact that it was converted into a fortress, now Castel St. Angelo.