On 4 August AD 119, a copy of a letter written by Hadrian and addressed to Quintus Rammius Martialis, the prefect of Egypt (AD 117-19), was published in Alexandria. In his letter, Hadrian granted illegitimate children of soldiers conceived during their fathers' military service the right to inherit. The text was translated in Greek from… Continue reading 4 August AD 119 – A letter from Hadrian conferring new rights to illegitimate children of soldiers is published in Alexandria (#Hadrian1900)
On 25 August AD 117, two weeks after Hadrian's proclamation in Antioch, the new prefect of Egypt (Praefectus Aegypi), Quintus Rammius Martialis, addressed a circular letter to the strategoi of the Egyptian districts (nomes) announcing the imperial accession of Hadrian and instructing them to declare festivities for ten days. The document, written in Greek, has been… Continue reading 25 August AD 117 – The announcement of Hadrian’s accession in Alexandria (#Hadrian1900)
This month's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a grey basalt Osiris-Canopus jar. The vase represents a form of the Egyptian god Osiris depicted as a jar topped by a human head known as Osiris-Hydreios, or commonly Osiris-Canopus, because it was originally exclusively connected to the Canopic region of Egypt. It was discovered in the middle… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Osiris-Canopus jar
On this day in 130 AD, Hadrian founded Antinoopolis (Egypt), in memory of his beloved Antinous who had drowned in the Nile a few days earlier. Antinoopolis is located on the east bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt near the modern village of Sheikh ‘Ibada. The site was originally an Egyptian city with a temple… Continue reading Painted portrait of a woman from Antinoopolis, Egypt
