Winter AD 121/2 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 3 Noricum...
At some stage during his inspections of the northern military borders and fortifications, Hadrian was in the province of Noricum. The evidence for this visit derives from coins celebrating his official...
View ArticleSpring AD 122 – Hadrian inspects Germania Inferior (#Hadrian1900)
In 122, perhaps in late spring, Hadrian returned from the Danube to the Rhine. The last stage of his journey along the German frontier before moving to Britannia would have taken him down the Rhine to...
View ArticleSummer AD 122 – Hadrian inspects the northern frontiers: part 5 Britannia...
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...
View ArticleDigging at Vindolanda
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...
View ArticleAutumn AD 122 – Hadrian returns to Gaul and commemorates his horse and...
Towards the end of AD 122, Hadrian left Britain and set sail for Gaul, travelling southward to Nemausus (Nîmes) in Narbonensis before crossing the Pyrenees to Spain. His route would have certainly been...
View ArticleWinter AD 122/3 – Hadrian stays in Tarraco and rebuilds the Temple of...
Having returned to Gaul from Britain (see here), Hadrian made his only known visit to his native land as emperor during the winter of AD 122/3. He took up his residence at Tarraco (Tarragona), Rome’s...
View ArticleFelicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂
Happy 1947th birthday, Hadrian! I made some Cato’s Globi (Pastry Balls) as Hadrian’s birthday cake this year. Globi (original recipe from LacusCurtius): Mix the cheese and spelt in the same way (as...
View ArticleJune AD 123 – Hadrian returns to the East and inspects the frontiers of...
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...
View ArticleDigging at Vindolanda (2023)
Another fortnight of digging at Vindolanda ended earlier this month. It was my second season of excavations there, and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time last year (read here). As I was alone...
View ArticleA new fragment of the Fasti Ostienses dated to AD 128 found at Ostia Antica
A new slab of the Fasti Ostienses, an ancient Roman marble calendar (extant in fragmentary form) recording imperial news, magistrates and events related to the city of Ostia, the harbour city of...
View ArticleThe only known copy of Hadrian’s lost autobiography in the Chicago Institute...
The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago possesses a papyrus with the inventory number E8349, which contains the only surviving copy of Hadrian’s lost autobiography....
View ArticleRemembering the Sycamore Gap Tree
Standing tall for nearly three hundred years, the lone Sycamore tree that grew within a dramatic dip in Hadrian’s Wall was cut down in the early morning of 28 September 2023 in a mindless act of...
View ArticleAutumn AD 123 – Hadrian reaches Trapezus and sails westwards along the Pontic...
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...
View ArticleFelicem diem natalem, Hadriane! 🎂
Happy 1948th 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...
View ArticleEarly AD 124 – Hadrian spends the winter in Nicomedia, tours Bithynia and...
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...
View ArticleSpring AD 124 – Hadrian visits Thrace and founds Hadrianopolis (#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...
View ArticleSummer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia, visits Cyzicus and Troy and hunts a...
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 Antonius Polemo and...
View ArticleSummer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 2) and visits Pergamon and Sardis...
The second part of Hadrian’s journey through the province of Asia in the Summer of 124 took him southward to the great cities of Pergamon, Sardis, Smyrna and Ephesus. From Hadrianotherae, where the...
View ArticleSummer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 3), visits Smyrna and Ephesus and...
After Pergamon and Sardis (see here), two other great cities of western Asia had their turn to receive Hadrian and his party, Smyrna and Ephesus. Both metropoleis were perennial rivals, competing with...
View ArticleAutumn AD 124 – Hadrian arrives in Athens and attends the Eleusinian...
Eleven years had passed since Hadrian last visited Athens. During his stay there, while in his mid-thirties, he became an Athenian citizen, enrolled in the tribe Besa and served as archon (IG II² 2024)...
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