Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome (59 page)

Chief literary sources—Dio Cassius and
Historia Augusta

“sharing his daily life”
Dio 69 11. Although the phrase is undated, it is placed in a passage referring to this time.

related to one of those onetime royal families
Sherk 128.

Well known for his promiscuity
Aur Vic 14 9, 10.

“Widespread rumor asserted”
HA Hadr 45.

“The blood, which descends”
Dio 68 33 2.

In modern terms
I owe this analysis to Bennett, p. 201.

sure … he had been poisoned
. Dio 68 33 2.

Apparently Trajan at dinner
Ibid., 69 17 3. One epitome mistakenly attributes the incident to Hadrian.

“My father, Apronianus”
Ibid., 69 13.

A gold piece showed Trajan
BMC III, p. 124. Galimberti, p. 19, sees this coin as evidence that the story of a deathbed and/or fake adoption is false, and that in fact Trajan adopted Hadrian earlier in the year 117, before he was approaching death. But while the literary sources may have been hostile to Hadrian they would hardly have made up a story that many eyewitnesses would have known to be false. Also, Dio’s citation of his father’s account has the ring of truth. However, the coin is awkward and calls for a convincing explanation, which I seek to provide.

the
cognomina
“Augustus” and “Caesar”
Aur Vic 13 21.

He climbed Mount Casius
Dio 69 21; and HA Hadr 14 3. Dio refers to a dream, but HA more convincingly writes of an actual event. This is one incident in different versions, not two.

“To [the memory of] Marcus Ulpius Phaedimus”
Smallwood 176.

Hadrian drafted a polite, carefully worded letter
HA Hadr 61–2.

Trajan handing a globe to Hadrian
BMC III, p. 236 1.

image of the phoenix
Ibid., p. 245, 48 and 49.

the “Golden Age”
Ibid., p. 278 312.

The dowager empress
Ibid., p. 246.

a coin with two obverses
Ibid., p. 124.

“advised him by letter”
HA Hadr 55.

“he swore that he would do nothing”
Dio 69 24.

boarded ship
An assumption on my part. A cortege could have made its way to Antioch by land, but it would have been a journey through uncomfortable terrain and taken a week or more.

“Noting from your letter”
Oliver, pp. 154–56.

blocked up with a huge mass of stone
Amm Marc 22 12 8.

“The nations that Trajan had conquered”
HA Hadr 52.

“The Romans have aimed to preserve their empire”
App Civ War pref. 7.

“all catalogued by Augustus”
Tac Ann 1 11.

he must have known of the policy
HA Hadr 51.

“Because it is impossible to keep them under our care”
Ibid., 53. This translation paraphrases the compressed Latin.

Rome was to abjure military expansion
Some contemporary scholars wonder whether Hadrian really did abandon the principle of
imperium sine fine
. Hadrian’s actions and those of his successor, together with what we know or can infer about the practicalities of administering a large empire, persuade me that Hadrian did indeed introduce a strategic change. For less firm opinions, see Opper, chapter 2, and the brilliant chapter 8 in CAH.

“From the time of Caesar Augustus”
Florus Ep 18.

in his post on or before August 25
POxy 3781.

Hadrian himself probably paid a quick visit
I follow Gray, pp. 25–28.

the
tributum soli
For more information see Brunt, p. 335.

known for his shrewdness and sharpness of wit
Marc Aur 8 25.

Hadrian presided over the trial
This account derives from fragmentary papyri, the so-called Acts of Paulus and Antoninus; these nationalistic texts are semifictional, but it is possible to interpret the bedrock of actuality on which they rest. The events described seem most likely to have taken place now and in Egypt, although it is possible that they occurred later and elsewhere. Delay in dealing with the aftermath of the Jewish revolt was not in Rome’s interest.

“he had fallen under suspicion”
HA Hadr 58.

“And after him shall rule”
Or Syb 5 65–69. The quotation comes from the Sibylline Oracles, a collection of Greek hexameters, much amended and added to over the centuries, probably composed between the second century
B.C
. and the sixth century
A.D
. The original Sibylline Oracles were in the possession of the Roman Republic and were destroyed by fire in 83
B.C
. These surviving texts reflect Jewish and Christian hostility to the Roman empire.

appoint the reliable Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
This is plausible speculation; we know that Nigrinus was governor of Dacia from an inscription found in Sarmizegetusa (Smallwood 192), but not exactly when. See Birley, p. 86, for a discussion.

the emperor’s favorite horse, Borysthenes
A speculation by Birley, p. 86. There are, of course, other possible donors among Rome’s client kingdoms that lined the Black Sea.

“energetic enough in mobilizing his friends”
Fronto Princ Hist 10. Also the following quotation “with amusing games.”

the supposed talents of a later emperor
Lucius Verus, co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius. See Galimberti, p. 99.

“a well-phrased statement”
Pliny Ep 5 13 6.

“in reality because they had great influence”
Dio 69 25.

while he was conducting a sacrifice
HA Hadr 71.

the occasion was a hunt
Dio 69 25.

Trajan had accessed the public courier or postal service
Aur Vic 13 5–6.

a German-born centurion, Marcus Calventius Viator
Speidel pp. 47—48. (“German-born” because the Dacian altar was dedicated to Celtic deities; bodyguards usually consisted of Germanic recruits.)

His name appears on two altars
Smallwood 192 and 332.

“This slavish passivity”
Tac Ann 16 16.

Chief literary sources—Dio Cassius,
Historia Augusta
, and Juvenal on Rome

“They are made exclusively for war”
Tac Germ 29 2.

“I was once the most famous of men”
Smallwood 336 1–5 (my translation).

“No Roman or barbarian”
Ibid., 7, 11.

a certain Mastor
Dio 69 22 2.

declared on oath
Ibid., 69 26.

he would never put a senator to death
HA Hadr 74.

it showed Clemency
BMC III p. 271 no. 252.

Hadrian wanted to do away with his former guardian
HA Hadr 93.

“burned the records of old debts”
Suet Aug 32 2.

“who remitted 900 million sesterces”
Smallwood 64a.

A carved relief shows the scene
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, inv. no. A 59.

a
lictor
setting fire to a pile of bonds
Smallwood 64b.

maintaining the government courier service
HA Hadr 75.

“crown gold”
Ibid., 65.

supplementary distribution
BMC III p. 402 nos. 1125, 1126, and 1127.

“bread and circuses”
Juv 10 78–81.

“the waxed tablets”
Smallwood II 6, February 26 p. 20.

permission to hang an ornamental shield
The date of this request is unknown. I refer to it here for convenience.

a high-value silver coin, a tetradrachm
BMC III p. 395 no. 1094.

“That he was surnamed Thurinus”
Suet Aug 71.

“On the day of a meeting of the Senate”
Ibid., 53 3.

“he frequently attended the official functions”
HA Hadr 97–8.

a dangerous faux pas
Dio 69 6 1–2.

He had not forgotten those lines from Virgil
See page 93 above.

“In a word, he induced a fierce people”
Florus Ep 12.

“in the fashion of the Greeks or Numa”
Aur Vic 14 2–3; “fine arts” is my paraphrase of
ingenuarum artium
.

the emperor’s interest in supporting culture
Green, p. 164.

denarius struck at Rome shows a bust of Matidia
BMC III p. 281 no. 332.

“most immense delights”
HA Hadr 19 5.

The Arvals recorded their generous
Smallwood II 74–9 (p. 23).

We have his own words
Ibid., 114 4 (p. 56).

“All hopes for the arts”
Juv 71–4, 17, 20–21.

“a charming coastal retreat”
Juv 34.

“at Tibur perched on its hillside”
Ibid., 3 191.

“But here we inhabit a city”
Ibid., 192–97.

“Insomnia causes most deaths here”
Ibid., 232, 236–38.

“however flown with wine”
Ibid., 282–88.

“as a special favor”
Ibid., 301.

“the whores pimped out”
Ibid., 64–65.

“When every building”
Ibid., 302–5.

commissioning masterworks of architecture
This section is indebted to Opper, pp. 110–25.

“the most blest of plains”
Strabo 543.

the celebrated occasion when his predecessor
Tac Ann 4 57 and 58.

His aim … was to “aid all the towns”
HA Hadr 96.

Inscriptions have been discovered at various towns
CIL X 4574, 6652, and ILS 843.

“a restful vacation”
Strabo 547.

demarch
HA Hadr 19 1.

According to Petronius … she lived in a cave
Petr 48.

Chief literary sources—Dio Cassius and
Historia Augusta

dispensed “with imperial trappings”
Dio 69 10 1.

“went to the relief of all the communities”
HA Hadr 10 1.

restitutor
,
or “restorer,” of the province
BMC III p. 350f, 521f.