Hadrian's father was Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, a senator of praetorian rank, born and raised in Italica. The Aelii Hadriani were either part of the original settlers of Italica, founded by Scipio Africanus, and therefore stationed in Hispania for several centuries, or moved there at an unknown time. Hadrian's branch of the gens Aelia came from Hadria (modern Atri), an ancient town in the Picenum region of Italia, the source of the name Hadrianus. Hadrian was born on 24 January 76, probably in Italica (near modern Seville), a Roman town in the province of Hispania Baetica one Roman biographer claims he was born in Rome. Hadrian's admiration for Greece materialised in such projects ordered during his reign. Hadrian's Arch in central Athens, Greece. He has been described as enigmatic and contradictory, with a capacity for both great personal generosity and extreme cruelty and driven by insatiable curiosity, self-conceit, and ambition. Edward Gibbon includes him among the Empire's " Five Good Emperors", a " benevolent dictator" Hadrian's own Senate found him remote and authoritarian. Hadrian died the same year at Baiae, and Antoninus had him deified, despite opposition from the Senate. His marriage to Vibia Sabina had been unhappy and childless he adopted Antoninus Pius in 138 and nominated him as a successor on the condition that Antoninus adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his own heirs. He executed two more senators for their alleged plots against him, and this provoked further resentment. He saw the Bar Kokhba revolt as the failure of his panhellenic ideal. Hadrian's last years were marred by chronic illness. He suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judaea. His intense relationship with Greek youth Antinous and the latter's untimely death led Hadrian to establish a widespread cult late in his reign. He was an ardent admirer of Greece and sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the Empire, so he ordered the construction of many opulent temples there. In Egypt, he may have rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria. In Rome itself, he rebuilt the Pantheon and constructed the vast Temple of Venus and Roma. He encouraged military preparedness and discipline and fostered, designed, or personally subsidised various civil and religious institutions and building projects. He visited almost every province of the Empire, accompanied by an imperial retinue of specialists and administrators. Hadrian energetically pursued his own imperial ideals and personal interests. He is known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders and the unification of the empire's disparate peoples. He earned further disapproval among the elite by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains in Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, and parts of Dacia. They had opposed Hadrian or seemed to threaten his succession, and the Senate held him responsible for their deaths and never forgave him. Rome's military and Senate approved Hadrian's succession, but four leading senators were unlawfully put to death soon after. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that he had nominated Hadrian as emperor immediately before his death. Plotina and Trajan's close friend and adviser Lucius Licinius Sura were well disposed towards Hadrian. Hadrian married Trajan's grand-niece Vibia Sabina early in his career before Trajan became emperor and possibly at the behest of Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina. His father was of senatorial rank and was a first cousin of Emperor Trajan. He came from a branch of the gens Aelia that originated in the Picenean town of Hadria, the Aeli Hadriani. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman municipium founded by Italic settlers in Hispania Baetica. Hadrian ( / ˈ h eɪ d r i ən/ Latin: Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138.
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