Early Roman Empire, Nerva-Antonine Dynasty (96-193), 14 Hadrian: Introduction, Third Jewish Revolt, Succession

14 HADRIAN (62; r.117-138)

Introduction

Trajan had not officially designated an heir but just before his death, according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, he had named Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian, Trajan’s ward and nearest male relative, had served in Spain (90), in Pannonia (95), in Moesia (96), in Germania (97), as governor of Pannonia Inferior (107), with Trajan in Dacia (101), in the East (113) and was now stationed at Antioch as the governor of Syria (117). When the news of Trajan’s death reached Antioch, the Syrian troops acclaimed Hadrian as emperor and by the time the Senate learned of his accession it was a virtual fait accompli.

Hadrian was greatly aware of the dangers to the Empire of threats of rebellion in Britain, Dacia, Moesia and Mauritania, and he set about repairing the situation, withdrawing from most of Trajan’s Eastern conquests (namely Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia but not Arabia), and removing the governor of Judaea, Lusius Quietus, from his post.

This brought to a head the so-named ‘conspiracy of the four consulars’: Lusius Quietus, ⁶⁰Cornelius Palma (cos.99), Publilius Celsus (cos.102) and Avidius Nigrinus (cos.110) were said to have plotted against Hadrian’s life and were executed by the Senate before he reached Rome (July 118), but Hadrian gained a lasting reputation for cruelty.

Hadrian travelled extensively, coordinating administration and strengthening the frontier defences. In 120/1 he went to Gaul and then to the Rhine, where he instituted stricter legionary discipline. Crossing to Britain in 121/2 he ordered his famous wall to be built between the banks of the Tyne River on the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea. In 122 he returned to Gaul and in 123 he sailed from Spain to the East and toured the Troad, Propontis and Phrygia, founding or restoring communities. In 125 he went to Achaea and returned via Sicily to Rome in 127. In 128 he visited Africa and returned to Rome for a few weeks before wintering in Athens. In 129 he travelled to Caria, Cilicia, Cappadocia and Syria; journeyed up the Nile in 130 and returned to Rome in 131.

Bar Kokhba (Third Jewish) Revolt (132-135)

In 130, Hadrian went to Judaea and announced that Jerusalem (which had not yet recovered from being razed by Titus) was to be rebuilt into a Roman city with a temple dedicated to the Roman god Jupiter. His intention was to put an end to Jewish rebelliousness; the new city would accommodate a new population of Romans and would be used to suppress the Jews. Work on the rebuilding began in 131; and in 132 a revolt led by Simon bar Kosiba, also known as Simon bar Kokhba (‘Son of the Star’), quickly spread across the country. 

The Romans sent Quinctius Certus Publicius, the governor of Syria, who brought with him Syrian legions as well as legions from Egypt and Arabia. The Jewish rebels beat these back, severely damaging the Twelfth Legion. The decisive stage of the revolt began when ²⁸Julius Severus (cos.127), the governor of Britain, arrived with his own legions and those of the Danube provinces. The rebels were driven out of Galilee and fierce fighting now ensued in Judaea. The Jews were gradually pushed back to their fortress village of Betar, southwest of Jerusalem, which subsequently came under siege. In 135 Betar fell and Bar Kokhba was killed.

  After crushing the revolt the Romans consolidated the political units of Judaea, Galilee and Samaria into the new province of Syria-Palaestina. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a city but named it the Roman pagan polis of Aelia Capitolina, and Jews were forbidden to enter it.

Succession

In 136, being childless himself, Hadrian adopted Ceionius Commodus, later called ⁰⁶Aelius Caesar (cos.136), but he died in 138. Hadrian then adopted Antoninus Pius (fl.120-161), a relation of his wife, and caused him to adopt Marcus ⁰⁸Aurelius (fl.136-180) and Aelius’ son Lucius Aelius (9) Verus (fl.161-169). Hadrian died at Baiae, Gulf of Naples.