The rebuilding of Cyrene by Hadrian in AD 118/9 (#Hadrian1900)

In AD 115, while Trajan and the majority of the Roman troops were campaigning in Parthia in the East, the diasporic Jews rose against Rome, creating havoc in Cyrenaica, Egypt and Cyprus. The hostilities started in Cyrene and quickly spread to Alexandria, Judaism’s largest city, and resulted not only in great loss of life but also in widespread destruction. In Cyrenaica, the revolt raged all over the country and was characterised by extreme violence and bloodshed. Dio Cassius paints a horrific picture of unrelieved brutality. The Jews, he claimed,

“would eat the flesh of their victims, make belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood and wear their skins for clothing; many they sawed in two, from the head downwards; others they gave to wild beasts, and still others they forced to fight as gladiators.” (Dio, 68 32.2-4)

Dio adds that 220,000 Greeks and Romans were slaughtered in Egypt and Cyrene, and another 240,000 perished in Cyprus. Many public buildings and several temples were destroyed, and the roads were rendered unusable. The Epigraphical and archaeological evidence for the damage caused during the rebellion is particularly clear at Cyrene, where many of the oldest and finest monuments were reduced to rubble.

After two years of bitter fighting, the rebellion was quelled by Q. Marcius Turbo shortly before the death of Trajan in August AD 117. Restoration of the territory of Cyrenaica also began under Trajan, who appointed Lucius Gavius Fronto, a soldier of the Legio XV Apollinaris, whose mission was to settle 3,000 veterans in Cyrene (SEG XVII 584). Although Trajan initiated plans to reconstruct the city, Hadrian was primarily responsible for its rebirth.

Indeed, on his accession to the throne, Hadrian immediately attended to the restoration of the cities devastated by the revolt. His restoration of Alexandria is ascribed to his first year in power, from September 117 onward, and was evidently among the first great public works of his principate (read more here). The following year, Hadrian undertook repairs to the damaged buildings in Cyrenaica and later brought in new settlers, founding a new city named Hadrianopolis, probably hoping it would put the province back on its feet.

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Hadrian’s work resuscitating Cyrene is recorded in inscriptions, some dated to the early part of his reign and others to the end. The early texts, either in Latin or bilingual, are dated to AD 118 and 119 and concern restorations initiated immediately after the devastation caused by the Jewish revolt known as tumultu Iudaicus. Hadrian’s first project was to restore the communications between Cyrene and its harbour, Apollonia, 20 km to the northeast. A Roman milestone (AE 1951, 208) excavated in 1933 beside the main street leading to the North Gate of Cyrene is dated to AD 118. It records the repairs undertaken by an army unit of unknown identity onthe road to Apollonia, which had been overturned (eversa) and broken up (corrupta) during the Jewish Revolt.

Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi / Traiani Parthici f(ilius) / divi Nervae nepos / Traianus Hadr[ianus] / Aug(ustus) p(ontifex) m(aximus) t(ribunicia) p(otestate) II co(n)s(ul) [III] / viam quae tum[ultu Iuda]/ico eversa et c[orrupta] / erat r[estit]uit / per mil(ites) coh(ortis) [

Another milestone (SEG IX 252) was discovered at the fourth-mile station on the Cyrene-Apollonia road. Only the lower part of the milestone survived, with four lines of Greek text, but the inscription appears to have been originally bilingual, with the upper part in Latin completely lost.

One of Cyrene’s most severely damaged buildings was the Caesareum, an important symbol of Rome’s power in the city and strongly connected to the imperial cult. The Caesareum was a large architectural complex on the east side of the Acropolis ridge, comprising a rectangular open space surrounded by Doric porticoes on all four sides. It was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD, but the building is older. It is now believed to have been constructed as a gymnasium in the middle of the 2nd century BC before being remodelled and rededicated to Augustus as a Caesareum. In the Flavian period, the Caesareum was later repurposed as a forum, and the rooms north of the complex were levelled to build a large basilica that housed the judicial heart of the Roman city.

An inscription, written in Latin and Greek, specifies that part of the Caesareum was repaired as early as 118 (SEG XVII 804) and that its reconstruction came after “overthrowing (dirutum) and burning (exustum)”. The text was cut into wall blocks and was reused in late antiquity at the eastern monumental entrance of the Caesareum. Hadrian is named with his imperial titles, and the inscription can be dated to 118, when he held his second consulship (cos. II). Another valuable piece of information appears at the end of the inscription, where we learn that the building’s destruction was caused by the Jewish Revolt (tumultu Iudaico dirutam).

[Imp. Caesar d]ivi Tr[aiani Parthici fil]ius diṿ[i Nerva]ẹ ṇepos
T[raianus Hadrianus Aug. pont. max. trib. pot. II cos. II]
[civitati Cy]ṛenensium [Caesareu]ṃ tumul[tu Iudaic]o dirutum ẹṭ
ẹ[xustum restitui iussit].

Another inscription (AE 1974, 672) was found badly damaged and in fragments on the Doric architrave of the basilica’s internal colonnade. It is a single-line inscription that appears to record Hadrian’s restoration of the building. As in the previous inscription, Hadrian is named with his imperial titles. However, it is dated to the emperor’s third and last consulship, which occurred in 119. E. Mary Smallwood, writing about this inscription in 1952, suggested that, based on the other epigraphic evidence from Cyrene, the rebuilding of the Basilica was completed, and the inscription was carved in 119 or soon after, rather than later in his reign.

[Imp. Caes. divi Traiani Parthici fil. divi Nerv]AE NEP[os] TRAIA[n]VS H[adrianus] AVGV[stus pontifex maximus trib. pot. ? cos. I]II BASILIC[am ……]

The people of Cyrene, in turn, honoured Hadrian for his benefactions on their behalf. A marble statue pedestal with a bilingual dedicatory inscription to Hadrian (SEG XVII 808) can be seen in the apse of the basilica. The Latin text referring to Hadrian’s second consulship allows the inscription to be dated to 118.

To EMPeror CAESAR, DIVine TRAJAN victor in PARTHia’s son, DIVine NERVA’s grandson, TRAJAN HADRIAN AUGustus, chief priest, TRIBune’s power for 2nd time, COnSul’s power for 2nd time, the city of CYRENians offered this dedication.

We also know from a dedicatory inscription (AE 1928.2) and archaeological research that Hadrian restored and enlarged the Baths of Trajan, which lie within the Sanctuary of Apollo on the northwest edge of the city. The text tells us that restoration work was done to the baths’ porticoes (porticibus), ball hall (sphaeristeris) and other unspecified adjacencies (ceterisque adiacentibus). The inscription, now attached to the wall of the frigidarium, is written only in Latin, which, as suggested by Mary T. Boatwright, may have emphasised the building’s Roman character, constructed at the beginning of Trajan’s reign.

Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani / Parthici fil(ius) divi Nervae nepos / Traianus Hadrianus Aug(ustus) pontif(ex) / max(imus) trib(unicia) potest(ate) III co(n)s(ul) III balineum / cum porticibus et sphaeristeris / ceterisque adiacentibus quae / tumultu Iudaico diruta et exusta / erant civitati Cyrenensium restitui / iussit

The Roman baths used water from the sacred spring, which ran through the Sanctuary of Apollo. Apollo was the patron and foremost divinity of the city of Cyrene, and the temple dedicated to him on the terrace beneath the sacred spring was one of the most important monuments in the ancient city. The Temple of Apollo’s history includes several stages of construction from the mid-6th century BC until its destruction during the Jewish Revolt. The discovery of a statue of Hadrian in the temple in 1861 suggests that he began a major reconstruction shortly after his accession. The statue depicts Hadrian dressed as a Greek, demonstrating his well-known love of Greek culture. However, a recent re-examination of the sculpture by British Museum curator Thorsten Opper, on the occasion of the 2008 “Hadrian: Empire and” exhibition, showed that Hadrian’s head did not belong to the body and was, in fact, the result of a Victorian-era restoration.

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Among the other temples destroyed during the insurrection was the temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Hecate, who had formed part of the Sanctuary of Apollo. The Temple of Hecate was expressly stated in a bilingual inscription (SEG IX 168) to have been “burned and plundered” and later reconstructed. The Latin text implies that the restorations started in AD 119.

[imp. Caesar divi Traiani Parthici fil.]
[divi Nervae nepos Traianus Hadrianus]
[Aug. pontif. max. trib. pot. III cos. III templum]
[restitui iussit Cyr]enensiu[m civitati, quod]
[tumultu Iudaico di]rutum et e[xustum erat].

The restoration of other temples and shrines followed, but at an unknown date. Two other inscriptions refer to Hadrian’s restoration of the Temple of Apollo (SEG IX 189), which was ‘thrown down’, and to the great Temple of Zeus and perhaps the Temple of Artemis (SEG IX 171).

Cyrene was founded by Greeks from the Aegean island of Thera, and the city’s Greek heritage surely appealed to Hadrian. His favourable disposition towards Cyrene is shown not only by the building inscriptions mentioned above but also by a series of letters exchanged with the Greek city towards the end of his reign, as well as by its inclusion in the new Panhellenion league. His generosity and efforts to repopulate Cyrene and the surrounding cities would help the province regain prosperity. Cyrene and the Cyreneans would later demonstrate their gratitude by erecting statues of their protector and honouring him as “founder” and “saviour”.

These early restoration projects inaugurated Hadrian’s ambitious building programme throughout the Empire. Indeed, Hadrian would continue to favour this policy of improving the Empire’s infrastructure in the years that followed. A contemporary, the Roman grammarian Cornelius Fronto, would consequently write that one might “see memorials of his journeys in most cities of Europe and Asia”.

Sources & references:

• Bennett, J. (1997). Trajan optimus princeps: A life and times. Indiana University Press.
• Birley, A. R. (1997). Hadrian: The restless emperor. Routledge.
• Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Hadrian and the cities of the Roman Empire. Princeton University Press.
• Fraser, P., & Applebaum, S. (1950). Hadrian and Cyrene. The Journal of Roman Studies, 40, 77–90.
• Fuks, A. (1961). Aspects of the Jewish revolt in A.D. 115–117. The Journal of Roman Studies, 51, 98–104.
• Goodchild, R. (1950). Roman milestones in Cyrenaica. Papers of the British School at Rome, 18, 83–91.
• Perkins, J., Ballance, M., & Reynolds, J. M. (1958). The Caesareum at Cyrene and the basilica at Cremna, with a note on the inscriptions of the Caesareum by J. M. Reynolds. Papers of the British School at Rome, 26, 137–194.
• Reynolds, J. (1978). Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and the Cyrenaican cities. The Journal of Roman Studies, 68, 111–121.
• Smallwood, E. M. (1966). Documents illustrating the principates of Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. Cambridge University Press.
• Smallwood, E. M. (1981). The Jews under Roman rule: From Pompey to Diocletian (2nd ed.). Brill.
• Walker, S. (2002). Hadrian and the renewal of Cyrene. Libyan Studies, 33, 45–56.

I want to thank the Manar al-Athar website (link) for allowing us to access and share its archive of photos, which includes high-resolution images of archaeological sites, buildings, and monumental art from the Middle East.

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