In the summer of 124, Hadrian continued his journey through the province of Asia, heading south to visit the great cities of Pergamon, Sardis, Smyrna and Ephesus. From Hadrianotherae, where the Emperor had a successful bear hunt (see here), his route would have taken him up along the rugged Caicus River Valley, which joined Mysia's… Continue reading Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 2) and visits Pergamon and Sardis (#Hadrian1900)
In the late spring of AD 124, Hadrian departed from Thrace (see here) and travelled back to Asia Minor, this time to the Roman province of Asia. He was accompanied by the sophist Polemon (Marcus Antonius Polemo) and his "soldiers and carriages." The imperial party's first destination was the peninsula of Cyzicus on the southern… Continue reading Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 1), visits Cyzicus and Troy and hunts a she-bear (#Hadrian1900)
After touring the province of Bithynia, where Hadrian may have first encountered Antinous (see here), the Emperor crossed the Sea of Marmara to Thrace. Accompanying him was the renowned sophist and teacher of rhetoric, Antonius Polemon. Polemon chronicled this journey in his Physiognomica, a treatise on physiognomy later preserved in a 14th-century Arabic translation. In his writings, Polemon recalls, "I was a… Continue reading Spring AD 124 – Hadrian visits Thrace and founds Hadrianopolis (#Hadrian1900)
After sailing along the southern Black Sea coast, possibly visiting the Pontic towns of Amisus, Sinope and Amastris (see here), Hadrian is thought to have spent the winter of 123/4 in Nicomedia or possibly Byzantium. Nicomedia was the capital of the dual province of Pontus et Bithynia, located in what is now Izmit, northern Turkey.… Continue reading Early AD 124 – Hadrian spends the winter in Nicomedia, tours Bithynia and “meets” Antinous (#Hadrian1900)
After his inspection tour of the eastern frontier provinces (see here), Hadrian travelled through the Pontic mountains to the Black Sea port of Trapezus (present-day Trabzon), the northernmost end of the Cappadocian limes. Trapezus was one of the furthest points reached by Hadrian, and in the AD 130s, his friend Lucius Flavius Arrianus, as governor of… Continue reading Autumn AD 123 – Hadrian reaches Trapezus and sails westwards along the Pontic coast (#Hadrian1900)
After spending the winter of AD 122/3 in Tarraco (see here), Hadrian left Spain and set sail for Antioch and the Euphrates frontier, probably reaching his destination in June 123. According to a drastically abbreviated passage in the Historia Augusta, the Emperor aimed to meet the Parthian king (or receive Parthian envoys), indicating a renewal of hostilities between… Continue reading June AD 123 – Hadrian returns to the East and inspects the frontiers of northern Syria and Cappadocia (#Hadrian1900)
Having returned to Gaul from Britain (see here), Hadrian made the only recorded visit to his native land as emperor during the winter of AD 122/3. He took up residence in Tarraco (Tarragona), Rome's oldest foundation on the Iberian Peninsula and the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis. Anthony Birley proposed identifying some members of Hadrian's retinue.… Continue reading Winter AD 122/3 – Hadrian stays in Tarraco and rebuilds the Temple of Augustus (#Hadrian1900)
In late AD 122, Hadrian departed from Britain and sailed towards Gaul. He travelled southwards to Nemausus (Nîmes) in Narbonensis, then crossed the Pyrenees and arrived in Spain. His journey would have followed the Via Agrippa from Bononia (Boulogne) on the North Sea to Lugdunum (Lyon), then down the Rhone valley, and finally along the… Continue reading Autumn AD 122 – Hadrian returns to Gaul and commemorates his horse and Plotina (#Hadrian1900)
This summer, in the year we celebrate the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's Wall, I participated in the excavations at Vindolanda, the famous frontier fort and settlement in Northern England at the edge of the Roman Empire. Vindolanda is a fascinating excavation site, one of the most productive in the world. Every year, between April and… Continue reading Digging at Vindolanda (2022)
After a lengthy inspection tour on the Rhine and Danube frontiers, Hadrian arrived in Britannia in the summer of 122 with his friend Aulus Platorius Nepos, the man chosen to be the new governor of the province. Nepos' previous posting had been to Germania Inferior, where Hadrian had just spent the last couple of weeks… Continue reading Summer AD 122 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 5 Britannia (#Hadrian1900)
