Late Spring AD 125 – Hadrian visits Sicily to climb Mount Etna and returns to Rome (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN

Within the late spring of AD 125, after visiting Delphi and probably spending a while in Dyrrachium (see right here), Hadrian set sail to return to Rome, having accomplished a four-year journey throughout the western and jap provinces. Nevertheless, as a substitute of crusing on to Rome and embarking for Brundisium, he selected to sail to Sicily. This detour didn’t seem to have any political or army motives and appeared to be one thing he did for his private curiosity. Drawn to the island’s pure magnificence and legendary previous, Hadrian determined to climb Mount Etna. His purpose was to achieve the summit to witness the dawn over the Ionian Sea, which, in line with the Historia Augusta, was “stated to be like a rainbow”.

Afterwards he sailed to Sicily,⁠ and there he climbed Mount Aetna to see the dawn, which is many-hued, they are saying, just like the rainbow. HA. Hadr. 13.3

Sicily, the biggest island within the Mediterranean, has lengthy been celebrated as a land of gods and heroes, a spot the place delusion and historical past blur into one majestic tapestry. The traditional Greeks liked travelling and treasured storytelling. Writers, poets and historians consumed these tales of gods, heroes and monsters, weaving them into epic tales of exploration and marvel. One of many largest inspirations for these tales was Sicily’s distinctive geology, which gave rise to many legendary accounts explaining its most distinctive options by the exploits of heroic figures. Mount Etna was believed to be the forge of Hephaestus, the god of fireplace and craftsmanship. The roaring of the volcano was stated to be the clanging of his hammer. The island was additionally the area of Demeter and Persephone. When Hades kidnapped Persephone from the meadows of Enna, Demeter’s grief turned the land barren, an everlasting delusion that explains the seasons, rooted within the soil of Sicily.

[Demeter and Persephone] made this island their favorite retreat as a result of it was cherished by them earlier than all others. Diodorus Siculus, Libr. 5.3.1

Terracota head of Hades, from Morgantina, dated c. 350 BC. Archaeological Museum of Aidone, Sicily, Italy.

Terracotta bust of Persephone, from the southern sanctuary or Demeter at Morgantina, dated c. 330-300 BC,. Archaeological Museum of Aidone, Sicily, Italy.

Cyclops and Giants, kids of Gaia, have been stated to roam these lands. Polyphemus, the one-eyed big blinded by Odysseus, hurled huge rocks into the ocean. The so-called Islands of the Cyclops, situated off the jap coast of Sicily, have their legendary origins in Homer’s Odyssey. It was right here that the one-eyed giants as soon as lived, probably the most notorious being Polyphemus, son of the ocean god Poseidon.’ An much more celebrated story regarding Sicily’s shoreline and seas additionally derives from Homer’s account of Odysseus’ adventures. In Homer’s epic story, Odysseus should sail by a slender channel, one which, in later custom, was recognized because the Strait of Messina, located between the island of Sicily and the Italian mainland. Scylla was described as a six-headed monster, whereas Charybdis was a deadly whirlpool. Strabo, the traditional geographer, vividly describes this treacherous maritime characteristic:

And within the ship-channel, solely a brief distance off town, is to be seen Charybdis,⁠ a monstrous deep, into which the ships are simply drawn by the refluent currents of the strait and plunged prow-foremost together with a mighty eddying of the whirlpool; and when the ships are gulped down and damaged to items, the wreckage is swept alongside to the Tauromenian shore, which, from this prevalence, is named Copria. Strabo 6, 2.268-9

Sicily was a culturally wealthy and strategically essential island influenced by waves of colonisation and indigenous improvement. By the eighth century BC, Greek settlers had established highly effective city-states equivalent to Syracuse, Agrigentum, and Gela, bringing with them artwork, philosophy, and architecture. On the identical time, Phoenician merchants based colonies alongside the western coast, together with Motya, which led to battle and competitors for dominance. These influences remodeled Sicily right into a cultural crossroads the place Greek, Phoenician, and native traditions intersected. The island incessantly turned a battleground, notably throughout the Sicilian Wars between the Greeks and Carthaginians. This complicated mosaic of peoples and rival powers made Sicily each rich and unstable, finally setting the stage for its conquest by Rome after the First Punic Struggle.

Sicily was annexed by the Romans in 241 BC, on the finish of the First Punic Struggle, making it the Republic’s first province and a strategic foothold within the Mediterranean. Wealthy in agriculture, particularly grain, the island was dubbed “Rome’s granary,” feeding the rising wants of the capital and its armies. Over 700 years of Roman rule, roads, aqueducts, and amphitheatres have been constructed, making Sicilian cities equivalent to Syracuse, Agrigentum, and Catania important to the empire’s financial and cultural framework.

Regardless of these developments, the island confronted harsh taxation and exploitation by Roman governors, which led to unrest, together with the well-known Servile Wars, the place enslaved folks revolted. Nonetheless, Sicily remained a significant a part of Roman energy, serving as a base for army campaigns and a crossroads of commerce. With the institution of six Roman coloniae by Augustus for his veterans (Syracuse, Tauromenium, Panormus, Catania, Tyndaris, and Thermae Himerenses), Sicily skilled a big inflow of Latin audio system, resulting in the event of Latin-Greek bilingualism, a pattern that continued till the Byzantine interval. 

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The emperor’s flotilla presumably landed on the harbour of an important metropolis on the island, Syracuse, earlier than heading north to Etna, the very best (3,330 metres) and most lively volcano in Europe (Birley, 1997). Hadrian’s ascent, as recorded within the Historia Augusta, is the only real direct historical account of Hadrian’s climb, and no additional particulars are offered concerning the ascent. A passage from Strabo’s Geography (Strab. 6.2.8) signifies that the ascent to the mountain passed off from the southwest facet by town of Aetna, which was situated within the neighborhood of the present-day Paternò. Strabo didn’t climb the mountain (not like Vesuvius, which he appears to have ascended, 5.4.8) however relied on a up to date eyewitness report.

Close to Centoripa is the city of Aetna, which was talked about a bit above, whose folks entertain and conduct those that ascend the mountain; for the mountain summit begins right here. The higher districts are naked and ash-like and stuffed with snow throughout the winter, whereas the decrease are divided up by forests and plantations of each kind. (Strabo, Geography 6.2.8)

Etna is actually the volcano with the longest recorded historical past and was a topic of curiosity amongst numerous historical authors. The earliest recognized account of a volcanic eruption is recorded in Pindar’s Pythian 1 (474 BC), which offers a mythological rationalization for the volcanic exercise of the eruption. An identical account can also be present in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Certain (circa 456 BC), the place Typhon, buried beneath Mount Etna, is linked to the eruption. One other massive eruption occurred in 396 BC, with a big lava movement reaching the ocean on Etna’s northeastern base. Diodorus Siculus notes that this eruption thwarted the Carthaginian military’s advance on Syracuse throughout the Second Sicilian Struggle (Diod. 14.59). In 122 BC, a violent Plinian eruption resulted in heavy tephra falls and huge ash clouds that darkened the sky for 3 days. This eruption devastated the traditional city of Catania, inflicting fires, roof collapses, and obscuring the solar behind a thick cloud of ash. Orosius, Cicero, and Seneca documented the destruction. Because of the intensive harm, the Roman authorities exempted Catania from taxes for ten years.

The volcano was fairly lively throughout the 1st century BC, with 4 recorded eruptions occurring between 49 and 32 BC. A big eruption passed off in 44 BC, and a volcanic cloud started to kind someday after Julius Caesar’s loss of life on March 15. The instant results of this eruption in Rome included well-documented atmospheric phenomena, most notably a darkening of the solar across the time of Caesar’s loss of life, together with the looks of three suns within the sky and a wreath-like “halo” across the solar (Dio. 45.17.5). The Roman poet Virgil straight related the phenomenon with an eruption of Etna (Verg. G. 1.466). The results of this eruption have been international, inflicting chilly climate, snowfall, and famines within the Mediterranean and as far-off as China (nonetheless, an eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano early the next yr is a extra probably trigger). Extra eruptions in 36 and 32 BC have been notably violent (Appian, Civil Wars 5.117; Dio, 50.8.3). The account of historical eruptions concludes with Suetonius, who famous that Mount Etna was lively in AD 40. As a consequence of its exercise, the mountain and its slopes are continuously altering, a phenomenon well-known in antiquity and talked about by Strabo (6.2.8).

The topmost elements of the mountain seem to bear many adjustments due to the way in which the fireplace distributes itself, for at one time the fireplace concentrates in a single crater, however at one other time divides, whereas at one time the mountain sends forth lava, at one other, flames and fiery smoke, and at nonetheless different instances it additionally emits red-hot plenty. (Strabo, Geography 6.2.8)

In the course of the Roman interval, a tradition of volcanic tourism developed round Mount Etna. In his work Pure Querys, Seneca discusses the volcanic phenomena of Mount Etna (2.30.1) and encourages his pal Lucilius to climb the volcano on his behalf of their correspondence (Letter 79.2). This means that ascending the volcano was a typical apply at the moment. Pausanias additionally notes that guests would throw valuable objects into the craters of Etna, believing it to be a beneficial omen if the fireplace consumed the providing (3.23.9). Nevertheless, probably the most express reference to climbing Mount Etna in historical texts is attributed to Hadrian.

Reaching the summit craters of Mount Etna will need to have been a unprecedented problem on the time, in all probability requiring a number of days of arduous climbing. Hadrian’s journey probably began at Aetna, situated on the foot of the volcano, and adopted native trails. He might have been accompanied by guides, native shepherds, or Sicilian mountaineers who have been aware of the volcano’s unpredictable nature. The filth tracks would have first wind by the fertile decrease slopes, lined with terraced vineyards and olive orchards. At crossroads alongside the way in which, there might have been shrines devoted to Vulcan or native spirits, the place choices may very well be made for a secure ascent. Because the group climbed greater, the plush greenery regularly gave strategy to stark lava flows and barren fields of volcanic stones from previous eruptions. The trail turned extra treacherous, and the air grew cooler and thinner. Close to the summit, snow should cling to the bottom, even in spring. On the principal crater, Hadrian might have witnessed unimaginable shows of sulfurous fumes and rumbling sounds.

As Hadrian stood going through east, the daybreak gentle regularly illuminated the sky, making a rainbow of colors that stretched throughout the horizon. Far beneath, the Ionian Sea started to shimmer, coming alive with the brilliance of the morning gentle.

Some students have recognized a hint of Hadrian’s passage on the volcano within the construction referred to as the Torre del Filosofo (“Tower of the Thinker”), situated at an altitude of 2920 m and visual till 1971, the yr an eruption destroyed it. The architectural model of the stays, which resembles Roman building methods, has led to the belief that Hadrian was the builder. The Torre del Filosofo is historically related to the Fifth-century BC thinker Empedocles of Akragas, who, in line with custom, jumped into the volcano in an try to attain immortality.

Strabo recounted the loss of life of Empedocles, noting that his destiny was revealed when one in every of his sandals “was discovered, they are saying, a brief distance outdoors the rim of the crater, as if it had been thrown up by the pressure of the fireplace” (6.2.8). Nevertheless, Strabo questioned the validity of this story, arguing that it was bodily unattainable because of the excessive warmth and nature of the volcano’s crater. Horace additionally refers back to the model that Empedocles died at Mount Etna:

Needing to be thought-about an immortal god , Empedocles leaped in chilly blood into fiery Etna (Horace, Ars Poetica, 464-466)

The Torre del Filosofo on Mount Etna was first documented by historian and antiquarian Tommaso Fazello in 1573 as vestiges of antiquity. It was described as having a sq. base made from bricks, measuring roughly 2.44 metres on either side and standing 76 centimetres excessive. Above this sq. base, a round second degree was constructed utilizing cement and lava stones. The partitions have been adorned with marble slabs secured in place by metallic clamps. In the course of the excavations, fragments of each marble and clamps have been found. The presence of marble cladding, items of Latin inscriptions, and the relative precision of the masonry point out that this can be a Roman-style building. In keeping with Nineteenth-century students, this model aligns with the interval of Hadrian’s reign.

Nineteenth-century students interpreted the tower as a monument commemorating Hadrian’s ascent of Mount Etna or as one which was erected to accommodate him. It could even have been a memorial constructed by Hadrian in honour of Empedocles.

Hadrian’s climb of Mount Etna appears to have deepened his ardour for mountaineering. 5 years later, whereas in Syria, he was to ascend Mount Casius, which stands at 1,620 metres and is related to Zeus. As soon as once more, the Emperor aimed to witness the dawn. Nevertheless, in line with the Historia Augusta, he was caught in a thunderstorm. As he sacrificed on the summit, a thunderbolt struck each the sacrificial sufferer and his attendant (HA. Hadr. 14.3).

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Whereas in Sicily, Hadrian might have stayed in Centuripae, situated on the southwest facet of Mount Etna, along with his pal Quintus Pompeius Falco, whose household hailed from there (Birley, 1997). Cicero described town, maybe with some exaggeration, as the biggest and richest in Sicily, boasting a inhabitants of 10,000 folks engaged in the cultivation of an in depth agricultural territory (Verr. 2.4.23). Located on an elevated terrain overlooking fertile valleys, Centuripae skilled important financial progress as a result of its sturdy agricultural manufacturing and thriving commerce. The town was well-known for producing grain, wine, and saffron, a luxurious product extremely valued in historical instances for each culinary and medicinal makes use of. Pliny the Elder recognised Centuripe’s saffron as among the finest varieties within the Roman Empire (NH 21.17).

The presence of rich landowners and retailers additional contributed to financial improvement. Outstanding households, notably the Pompeii and Roscii, with many members attaining senatorial standing, maintained ties to Centuripe and commissioned works, contributing to town’s wealthy cultural life, as evidenced by public buildings and monuments. The Pompeii household, together with Q. Pompeius Falco, had a big presence in Centuripe and Rome.

The presence of rich landowners and retailers additional contributed to Centuripe’s financial improvement. Outstanding households, notably the Pompeii and Roscii, had many members who attained senatorial standing. They maintained sturdy ties with Centuripe and commissioned numerous works that enriched town’s cultural life. The Pompeii household, particularly Q. Pompeius Falco, had a substantial affect in each Centuripe and Rome (Prado, 2024).

Pompeius Falco had a distinguished political profession. He started his senatorial profession underneath Domitian as a army tribune with the Rhine legions. Below Trajan, he served as consul suffectus in 108, ruled Decrease Moesia between 115 and 118, was awarded army honours (donis militaribus) for his function within the Dacian Wars, and underneath Hadrian ruled Britannia between 118 and 122, concluding his profession as proconsul in Asia round 123/124. The ample epigraphical proof means that the Pompeii household was outstanding within the elite society of early imperial Centuripae, indicating their ancestral house and the situation of their estates (Eck, 1996). The household, who had in all probability been granted Roman citizenship by Pompey the Nice and shaped strategic alliances by adoption and marriage with different elite households (the Prisci, Sosii and Falcones), left their mark on the city cloth of their house metropolis by commissioning public buildings, monuments, mosaics, statues, and tombs (Prado, 2024).

Probably the most conspicuous instance of their impression on Centuripae’s topography is the collection of honorific statues, full with figuring out inscriptions, all devoted by Falco’s son, Pompeius Sosius Priscus, who achieved the consulship in AD 149 (Pfuntner, 2013). His paternal grandmother, Clodia Falconilla (see right here), and paternal uncle, Q. Pompeius Priscus (see right here), in addition to his daughter, Pompeia Sosia Falconilla, have been commemorated within the cycle. The statues might have been devoted within the discussion board of Centuripae, in a constructing courting again to the 2nd century AD, across the time of Hadrian and the Antonines, which included different statues of emperors, members of the imperial household, and civic benefactors (Prado, 2024).

The portion of the discussion board excavated to this point consists of the Constructing of the Augustales, a gathering place for the Augustales, a gaggle of monks devoted to the imperial cult. The very identify “Edificio degli Augustales” is linked to the invention of an inscription composed of two fragments with a dedication to the Lares Augusti (the family deities that protected the Emperor) by a quadrumvir answerable for sustaining the imperial cult.

Photographs of emperors and members of the imperial household would have surrounded the over-life-size statues of the Pompeii. Certainly, the realm of the discussion board was stuffed with statues of Augustus, Julio-Claudian emperors, and members of the imperial household (see right here). A colossal head of Hadrian was additionally discovered close by, maybe indicating a connection to Sicily and probably to Centuripae following the Emperor’s go to.

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The cash minted later in Hadrian’s reign reward him as restorer (restitutor) of Sicily and commemorate his arrival (adventus) on the island. Considered one of these cash options Hadrian, draped in a garment, elevating the feminine personification of Sicilia, who wears a triskelion on her head, a long-established iconographic affiliation. In her left hand, she holds ears of corn. The inscription “RESTITVTORI SICILIAE” surrounds the scene, with the abbreviation “S C” (“Senatus Consulto”) within the exergue. The second instance exhibits the Emperor in a brief army tunic and boots, greeting the personification of Sicilia, who once more wears a triskelion and carries ears of corn in her left hand. This coin is inscribed with the legend “ADVENTVI AVG SICILIAE”. A 3rd and uncommon coin, the “Province Kind”, represents Sicily, depicted as a triskelion with a medusa head as its central motif. The legend SICILIA surrounds the determine.

Though Hadrian was praised as ‘restorer’ of the province, celebrating his restoration of Sicily, there is no such thing as a concrete proof, both literary, epigraphic, or archaeological, of Hadrian initiating or funding main architectural initiatives on the island. The coin concern was extra ideological and propagandistic quite than tied to particular acts of munificence or building. Nevertheless, important city and architectural developments occurred throughout the 2nd century AD in Taormina (Roman Tauromenium), Syracuse, and Catania, reflecting the architectural and cultural traits of the Hadrianic interval. Notable examples embody the spectacular Hellenistic theatre of Taormina, which underwent a significant renovation and growth within the late Trajanic and early Hadrianic intervals, ensuing within the fully brick construction that’s seen at present.

Comparable architectural developments additionally occurred in cities like Syracuse (Siracusa) and Catania (Catina) throughout this era. Probably the most seen monuments of imperial Catina, situated simply south of Mount Etna alongside the Ionian coast, are buildings dedicated to leisure, leisure, and spectacle. These embody the theatre-odeum complicated within the centre of the traditional metropolis and, on its northern edge, the amphitheatre, in addition to quite a few bathtub complexes scattered all through the city centre. The theatre, initially constructed within the late 1st century BC, underwent alterations or renovations at quite a few factors throughout the imperial interval, the precise dates of that are troublesome to determine with certainty. Nevertheless, after smaller-scale works datable to the Augustan/Julio-Claudian and Flavian intervals, probably the most dramatic renovations, specializing in the scaenae frons with imported stones and elaborate friezes, passed off throughout the Hadrianic and Trajanic intervals (Pfuntner, 2013). The amphitheatre, situated on the northeastern fringe of city, was inbuilt two phases. The primary constructing erected within the 1st century AD was very small and included solely the internal ambulatory and the corresponding a part of the cavea. Below Hadrian, the constructing was considerably expanded with the development of the exterior ambulatory. With a diameter of 125 x 105 metres and a cavea that would maintain 15,000 spectators, it was one of many largest amphitheatres within the Roman Empire.

In Syracuse, there have been no utterly new constructions throughout the Hadrianic interval, however current buildings have been renovated and expanded. Most notably, the amphitheatre underwent important renovations, together with the addition of a marble parapet, and the Greek theatre’s orchestra was tailored to host aquatic spectacles. Nevertheless, this transformation might have occurred barely later (Pfuntner, 2013).

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After his volcanic ascent and, maybe, a quick inspection of jap Sicily, Hadrian resumed his journey to Rome. Hadrian was to revisit Sicily in 128 whereas on his strategy to Africa. The only real piece of proof of Hadrian having visited the province once more is an inscription devoted to a younger senator from Aquileia, T Caesernius Quinctianus, son of a high-ranking procurator from the earlier reign, who turned a comes Augusti per Siciliam Africam et Mauretaniam, or a companion of Hadrian throughout his tour of Sicily, Africa and Mauretania (CIL V, 865). This time, the Emperor might have visited the western finish of the island, which was within the route of Africa.

The precise route Hadrian took from Sicily to the capital is barely a matter of hypothesis. He might have travelled by sea to Puteoli after which continued alongside the Through Appia or on to Ostia. Another risk is that he sailed to Tarentum to attach with the Through Appia after which travelled northward into Beneventum. Birley notes that some proof of Hadrian’s actions within the area might date again to his journey, equivalent to his appointment of a curator operum publicorum (public works supervisor) in Venusia, a station on the Through Appia (ILS 6485). In Beneventum, he entrusted one Ennius Firmus, an area man, to oversee the development of baths (curator operis thermarum, CIL IX 1419). He awarded Aeclanum the standing of colonia (colonia Aelia Augusta Aeclanum, CIL IX 1111) and a citizen of the city, Gaius Eggius Ambibulus, was set to develop into consul ordinarius alongside Marcus Annius Verus (who would later develop into Marcus Aurelius) the next yr.

Two years prior, Hadrian had collaborated with farmers to enhance the Through Appia between Aeclanum and Beneventum (about 15 Roman miles), for which the Emperor paid 1,147,000 sesterces, whereas the possessores agrorum (farmers) contributed 569,000 sesterces to revive a bit of the street over 15 3⁄4 miles (CIL IX 6075, 6072). Milestones bearing his identify have been erected alongside the restored street and marked with the variety of miles from Rome. One specific milestone signifies the space of CLXXIIII miles from Rome (see right here).

Hadrianus Aug. Pont. Max. Trib. Pot. VII Cos. III Viam Appiam per millia passus XV DCCL longa vetustate amissam adiectis HS |XI|XLVII advert HS DLXIXC quae possessores agrorum contulerunt fecit.

Beneventum was an essential station alongside the Through Appia. It turned a municipium in 86 BC, and Roman veterans have been settled there by Augustus and Nero within the 1st century AD. Trajan constructed a brand new street from Beneventum to Brundisium, referred to as the Through Traiana. This new department of the Appian Approach offered a shorter route by the mountains east of Benevento to the Adriatic coast. Accomplished by Hadrian shortly after the loss of life of his predecessor, the Arch of Trajan commemorated the opening of the Through Traiana. The Arch is a single, barrel-vaulted monumental arch resembling the sooner Arch of Titus in Rome in kind and proportion; nonetheless, it’s extra richly embellished, with aid panels masking each facades of the Trajanic arch. On one of many reliefs is represented Trajan, accompanied by Hadrian and adopted by lictors within the act of being acquired by Rome along with two consuls and penates.

From Beneventum, the imperial occasion may have continued to proceed alongside the Through Appia or by the Samnite nation on the traditional street connecting Beneventum to Corfinium with a cease at Saepinum, house of the influential Neratii household (Birley, 1997). Whichever method he went, every metropolis that he entered would placed on a ceremony of greeting and petitions can be offered. The emperor’s arrival within the capital was celebrated with public prayers for his secure return, and cash have been minted to commemorate his impending return, displaying the Genius of the Senate and the Genius of the Roman folks sacrificing earlier than an altar, with the legend v(ota) s(uscepta) professional pink(itu), i.e. vows supplied up for the specified secure homecoming. Neptune additionally dominated the coinage, known as NEP RED for Neptunus Redux or homebringer (Abdy, 2019). Lastly, a powerful sestertius of Hadrian haranguing the residents within the discussion board was in all probability an elaborate Adventus kind related to the Emperor’s return to Rome (Abdy, 2019).

It could be assumed that his entry to town was festive, and an imperial act of generosity, typically within the type of money handouts to the Roman populace, might have adopted. Certainly, related to his return is a coin commemorating the Emperor’s fourth Liberality (largesse), in all probability given quickly after (RIC II.3 822).

There have been quite a few massive constructing initiatives for Hadrian to examine. Most notably, the reconstruction of the Pantheon was accomplished in all its magnificence and was probably devoted round this time. The Temple of Venus and Roma, one in every of Rome’s largest temples, might have begun its planning or was within the early levels of building. Moreover, an enormous new temple devoted to the Deified Trajan and Plotina was in progress. There was additionally an enormous new temple of the Deified Trajan and Plotina, which he had commissioned on the very starting of his reign (see right here).

Hadrian was not solely developing in Rome; an much more engaging architectural marvel awaited him at Tibur, the place his personal nation retreat continued to develop. A passage within the Historia Augusta, the one description of the Villa that survives in Roman literature, experiences that Hadrian named among the buildings in his Villa after celebrated locations and monuments he had seen on his travels.

His villa at Tibur⁠ was marvellously constructed, and he truly gave to elements of it the names of provinces and locations of the best renown, calling them, as an example, Lyceum, Academia, Prytaneum, Canopus, Poecile and Tempe. And so as to not omit something, he even made a Hades. HA. Hadr. 26.5

The primary section of building, which noticed probably the most important quantity of constructing exercise, passed off between AD 118 and Hadrian’s return from the East. Hadrian stayed on the Villa throughout the summer season of 125 and meant to remain there for a while. We have now proof of Hadrian’s writing exercise at his magnificent villa. A letter to Delphic Amphictyony in response to a earlier letter (see right here) was written in August/September “from his home at Tibur” (CID 4:152bis).

Hadrian was to stay in his imperial villa till he launched into his second journey in 128, solely interrupted by a five-month tour of northern Italy to the valley of the River Padus (Po Valley) in AD 127 to examine the area and its infrastructure. It’s extremely probably that Antinous, who had met whereas travelling by Bithynia the yr earlier than (see right here), was now residing with him.

Sources & references:

• Fuduli, L. and Salamone, G. (2015). Hadrianus Restitutor Siciliae, in Mélanges de l’École française de Rome – Antiquité [Online], 127-1 (hyperlink)
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• Fuduli, L., & Salamone, G. (2015). Hadrianus Restitutor Siciliae: Documenti monetali ed evidenza archeologica. MEFRA, 127(1), 201–215.
• Abdy, R. (2019). Roman Imperial Coinage Quantity II, Half 3: From AD 117 to AD 138 – Hadrian (The Roman Imperial Coinage)