Every year, the Romans celebrated their city's birthday on 21 April, the day on which, according to early traditions, Romulus founded Rome by tracing the pomerium, the sacred urban boundary separating the city (urbs) from the country (ager). The celebrations were held during the Parilia, a rural festival associated with flocks and herds, which predated the… Continue reading 21 April AD 121 – Hadrian celebrates Rome’s 874th birthday with circus games (#Hadrian1900)
Happy 1944th birthday, Hadrian! This year, I chose to bake a honey cake for Hadrian’s birthday celebration. 🎂 Ingredients: 3 eggs 200 grams liquid honey 50 grams spelt flour Instructions: Whip eggs with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat them until they are stiff and form peaks. Slowly… Continue reading Felicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂
Lebanon is famously known for the presence of a very special kind of tree, the legendary cedar tree (cedrus libani). It is emblazoned on the national flag and is one of the most defining features of Lebanon's culture due to its long history. The country is the most densely wooded in the Middle East, and… Continue reading The forest inscriptions of Hadrian in Mount Lebanon
Learn about how Hadrian created the Pantheon as we know it today from the ruins of previous temples built by Marcus Agrippa and Domitian. A guest post by Context Travel Tours. Hadrian - the great unifier of the Roman Empire, the admirer of Athens, the architect, the poet, the visionary. As one of Rome’s most… Continue reading Guest post: How Hadrian helped rebuild the Pantheon
Happy 1943rd birthday, Hadrian! This year, I decided to cook Cato the Elder's recipe for Libum (sweet cheesecake) as Hadrian’s birthday cake. 🎂 Libum (original recipe from LacusCurtius): Bray 2 pounds of cheese thoroughly in a mortar; when it is thoroughly macerated, add 1 pound of wheat flour, or, if you wish the cake to… Continue reading Felicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂
An essay by Nick Leonard. The emperor of Rome, ‘god and Panhellene,’1 was not one to linger anywhere, and certainly not in the capital city that he despised. All the major hallmarks of Hadrian’s reign – his civic architectural projects, his defensive fortifications, his drilling of the legions – stemmed from a restlessness that compelled… Continue reading Guest post: “Always in all things changeable”: The emperor and his tomb
Of the many bronze portraits of Hadrian that are known to have existed, only three have survived from antiquity. After the exhibition 'Hadrian: An Emperor Cast in Bronze' (see here) held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem from December 2015 to June 2016, the Musée du Louvre invites us to discover these exceptional portraits in… Continue reading Exhibition: Three bronze portraits of Hadrian at the Louvre, Paris
In the context of "The Unseen Museum" rotating-object programme and the temporary exhibition Hadrian and Athens Conversing with an Ideal World, currently on display in Gallery 31a of the Sculpture Collection, the Archaeological Museum of Athens brought to light two unique artefacts from its storerooms. Fifteen selected antiquities had already been displayed, and this time,… Continue reading Exhibition: ‘Hadrian and Antinous: an encounter, 19 centuries later’ at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (#Hadrian1900)
After suppressing the uprisings in Moesia Inferior (see post here), Hadrian quickly inspected the military bases along the lower and middle Danube frontier. As the governor of the province of Pannonia Inferior in AD 106, the new emperor was already familiar with the area. During his time in Pannonia Inferior, he had taken command of… Continue reading Late spring AD 118 – Hadrian inspects his troops along the Danube Limes (#Hadrian1900)
The Archaeological Museum of Seville is currently hosting an exhibition to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne. In AD 117, Hadrian inherited control of the Roman Empire from Trajan, who had been his guardian and named him his successor. The families of both men came from Spain, from the Baetican… Continue reading Exhibition: ‘Hadrian Metamorphosis: The birth of a new Rome’ in Seville (#Hadrian1900)
