THE PANTHEON/Agrippa & Hadrian Biographies

[Bianca]

VIEW OF THE REAR OF THE PANTHEON AS SEEN FROM PIAZZA DELLA MINERVA.

IN THE FOREGROUND, ATOP BERNINI'S MARBLE ELEPHANT, IS 'MINERVA'S CHICK' -

THE SMALLEST OF ROME'S 13 EGYPTIAN OBELISKS.

[Krystal Coenen]

Nice work, Bianca.  It is a shame that so many more modern building have been built around the Pantheon.  It, and it's elements, look out of place these days compared to the other different styles of architecture surrounding it.  I would have liked to have seen Rome in it's prime.

Krystal

[Bianca]

Kristal,

I am so sorry I didn't see your post until now.

I do agree that so many modern buildings have been built around the Pantheon and I too wish
I could have seen Rome in its prime.

Unfortunately the city (and the country) are so old and there is so much antiquity - under and
above ground - that we tend to be very blase' about it all.  Note also that at the time of Michel-
angelo, only, interest started taking hold to rediscover the treasures of Ancient Rome. 

Aside from the millennia, the "CHURCH" and its nobility had plundered Roman buildings during all that
time.  What they couldn't tear down, they used for their new places of worship - thankfully, in the
case of the Pantheon.

Unfortunately, "to the victors go the spoils......"


P.S.  If it makes you feel any better, when I am in Italy I NEVER go to visit the churches, even
though I know that is where the works of art are. 

In protest, I have always limited myself to seeking out only more "ancient glories......"


Also, see below from the beginning if this thread:

[Bianca]

                                                       T H E   P A N T H E O N





Only in a city such as Rome could the Pantheon be considered quaint.

Found in a city containing hundreds of opportunities to view overwhelming ruins, the Roman Pantheon slips dreamily into the landscape.

Of all the great buildings constructed during the crest of the Roman Empire, only this one still stands.

Seemingly impervious to time or destruction, the walls and dome of the Roman Pantheon rise from Piazza della Rotonda, and bathe the square in a warm, protecting light.




PantheonThe Pantheon (Latin Pantheon), from Greek Πάνθεον Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the Gods") is
a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Ancient Rome.

It is the best preserved of all Roman buildings, and perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world.
It has been in continuous use throughout its history.

Although the identity of the Pantheon's primary architect remains uncertain, it is largely assigned to Apollodorus of Damascus. Since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Christian church.

[Bianca]

[Bianca]

                             







                                                                A N C I E N T




Agrippa's Pantheon was destroyed along with other buildings in a huge fire in 80 AD; the current building dates from about 125 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, as date-stamps on the bricks reveal. It was totally reconstructed with the text of the original inscription ("M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT" meaning, "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, built during his third consulate") which was added to the new facade, a common practice in Hadrian's rebuilding projects all over Rome. Hadrian was a cosmopolitan emperor who traveled widely in the East and was a great admirer of Greek culture. He seems to have intended the Pantheon, a temple to all the gods, to be a kind of ecumenical or syncretist gesture to the subjects of the Roman Empire who did not worship the old gods of Rome, or who (as was increasingly the case) worshipped them under other names. How the building was actually used is not known.







Cassius Dio, a Graeco-Roman senator, consul and author of a comprehensive History of Rome, writing approximately 75 years after the Pantheon's reconstruction, mistakenly attributed the domed building to Agrippa rather than Hadrian. Dio's book appears to be the only near-contemporary writing on the Pantheon, and it is interesting that even by the year 200 there was uncertainty about the origin of the building and its purpose:

Agrippa completed the building called the Pantheon. It has this name, perhaps because it received among the images which decorated it the statues of many gods, including Mars and Venus; but my own opinion of the name is that, because of its vaulted roof, it resembles the heavens. (Cassius Dio History of Rome 53.27.2)

The building was later repaired by Septimius Severus and Caracalla in 202 AD, for which there is another, smaller inscription. This inscription reads "pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restituerunt" ('with every refinement they restored the Pantheon worn by age').

[Bianca]

HADRIAN'S BUST

Musei Capitolini, Roma








                                         Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus




 

Reign August 10, 117 – July 10, 138

Full name Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus

Born 24 January 76(76-01-24)
Rome or Italica

Died July 10, 138 (aged 62)
 Baiae

Buried
1) Puteoli
2) Gardens of Domitia (Rome)
3) Hadrian's Mausoleum (Rome)

Predecessor Trajan

Successor Antoninus Pius

Consort to Vibia Sabina

Issue
Lucius Aelius,
Antoninus Pius
(both adoptive)

Dynasty Nervan-Antonine

Father Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer

Mother Domitia Paulina

[Bianca]

Early life



Though there was a late tradition that Hadrian was born in Italica located in the province called Hispania Baetica (the southernmost Roman province in the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), he himself stated in his autobiography, now lost, that he was born in Rome on 24 January 76 of a family originally Italian but Hispanian for many generations. However, this might just be a political stunt to show he was Roman in every way.

His father was Hispanian Roman Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, who as a senator of praetorian rank would spend much of his time in Rome.  Hadrian’s forefathers came from Hadria, modern Atri, an ancient town of Picenum in Italy, but the family had settled in Italica in Hispania Baetica soon after its founding by Scipio Africanus. Afer was
a paternal cousin of the future Emperor Trajan.

His mother was Domitia Paulina who came from Gades (Cádiz). Paulina was a daughter of a distinguished Hispanian Roman Senatorial family. Hadrian’s elder sister and only sibling was Aelia Domitia Paulina, his niece was Julia Serviana Paulina and his great-nephew was Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator. His parents died in 85/86 when Hadrian was nine, and the boy then became a ward of both Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus (who was later Trajan’s Praetorian Prefect).  Hadrian was schooled in various subjects particular to young aristocrats of the day, and was so fond of learning Greek literature that he was nicknamed Graeculus ("Little Greek").

Hadrian visited Italica when he was 14 and enlisted in the army there, but was recalled by Trajan who thereafter looked after his development. He never returned to Italica although it was later made a colonia in his honour. His first military service was as a tribune of the Legio II Adiutrix. Later, he was to be transferred to the Legio I Minervia in Germany. When Nerva died in 98, Hadrian rushed to inform Trajan personally. He later became legate of a legion in Upper Pannonia and eventually governor of said province. He was also archon in Athens for a brief time, and was elected an Athenian citizen.

Hadrian was active in the wars against the Dacians (as legate of the V Macedonica) and reputedly won awards from Trajan for his successes. Due to an absence of military action in his reign, Hadrian's military skill is not well attested, however his keen interest and knowledge of the army and his demonstrated skill of administration show possible strategic talent.

Hadrian joined Trajan's expedition against Parthia as a legate on Trajan’s staff. Neither during the initial victorious phase, nor during the second phase of the war when rebellion swept Mesopotamia did Hadrian do anything of note. However when the governor of Syria had to be sent to sort out renewed troubles in Dacia, Hadrian was appointed as a replacement, giving him an independent command.  Trajan, seriously ill by that time, decided to return to Rome while Hadrian remained in Syria to guard the Roman rear. Trajan only got as far as Selinus before he became too ill to go further. While Hadrian may have been the obvious choice as successor, he had never been adopted as Trajan's heir. As Trajan lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina (a supporter of Hadrian), he at last adopted Hadrian as heir. Then he died. Allegations that the order of events was the other way round have never quite been resolved.

[Bianca]

Securing power


 
Marble statue of Emperor Hadrian (Istanbul Archeological Museum).Hadrian quickly secured the support of the legions — one potential opponent, Lusius Quietus, was instantly dismissed.  The Senate's endorsement followed when possibly falsified papers of adoption from Trajan were presented (although he had been the ward of Trajan). The rumor of a falsified document of adoption carried little weight — Hadrian's legitimacy arose from the endorsement of the Senate
and the Syrian armies.

Hadrian did not at first go to Rome — he was busy sorting out the East and suppressing the Jewish revolt that had broken out under Trajan, then moving on to sort out the Danube frontier. Instead, Attianus, Hadrian's former guardian, was put in charge in Rome. There he "discovered" a plot involving four leading Senators including Lusius Quietus and demanded of the Senate their deaths. There was no question of a trial — they were hunted down and killed out of
hand. Because Hadrian was not in Rome at the time, he was able to claim that Attianus had acted on his own initia-
tive. According to Elizabeth Speller the real reason for their deaths was that they were Trajan's men.

[Bianca]

Hadrian and the military


 
Extent of the Roman Empire under Hadrian.Despite his own great stature as a military administrator, Hadrian's reign was marked by a general lack of major military conflicts, apart from the Second Roman-Jewish War. He surrendered Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible. There was almost a war with Parthia around 121, but the threat was averted when Hadrian succeeded in negotiating a peace.

The peace policy was strengthened by the **** of permanent fortifications along the empire's borders (limites, sl. limes). The most famous of these is the massive Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain, and the Danube and Rhine borders were strengthened with a series of mostly wooden fortifications, forts, outposts and watchtowers, the latter specifically improving communications and local area security. To maintain morale and keep the troops from getting restive, Hadrian established intensive drill routines, and personally inspected the armies. Although his coins showed military images almost as often as peaceful ones, Hadrian's policy was peace through strength, even threat.

[Bianca]

The Second Roman-Jewish War



Further information: Bar Kokhba revolt

In 130, Hadrian visited the ruins of Jerusalem left after the First Roman-Jewish War of 66–73. He promised to rebuild the city, but planning it as a pagan metropolis to be called Aelia Capitolina. A
new pagan temple on the ruins of the Second Temple was to be dedicated to Jupiter.

In addition, Hadrian abolished circumcision (brit milah), which he, as an avid Hellenist, viewed as mutilation.  A Roman coin inscribed Aelia Capitolina was issued in 132. Hadrian's policies triggered the massive Jewish uprising (132–135), led by Bar Kokhba and Akiba ben Joseph. Following the outbreak of the revolt, Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain, and troops were brought from as far as the Danube. Roman losses were very heavy, and it is believed that an entire legion, the XXII Deiotariana was destroyed.  Roman losses were so heavy that Hadrian's report to the Roman Snate omitted the customary salutation "I and the legions are well" .

Hadrian's army eventually defeated the revolt however. According to Cassius Dio, during the war 580,000 Jews were killed, 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed. After the end of the war, Hadrian continued the religious persecution of Jews, according to the Babylonian Talmud. He attempted to root out Judaism, which he saw as the cause of continuous rebellions, prohibited the Torah law, the Hebrew calendar and executed Judaic scholars. The sacred scroll was ceremoniously burned on the Temple Mount. At the former Temple sanctuary, he installed two statues, one of Jupiter, another of himself. In an attempt to erase any memory of Judea, he removed the name off the map and replaced it with Syria Palaestina, after the Philistines, the ancient enemies of the Jews. He reestablished Jerusalem as the Roman pagan polis of Aelia Capitolina, and Jews were forbidden from entering it.

[Bianca]

Castel Sant'Angelo, the ancient Hadrian Mausoleum.







Cultural pursuits and patronage
 


Castel Sant'Angelo, the ancient Hadrian Mausoleum.Hadrian has been described, by Ronald Syme among
others, as the most versatile of all the Roman Emperors. He also liked to display a knowledge of all intellectual and artistic fields. Above all, Hadrian patronized the arts: Hadrian's Villa at Tibur (Tivoli) was the greatest Roman example of an Alexandrian garden, recreating a sacred landscape, lost in large part to the despoliation
of the ruins by the Cardinal d'Este who had much of the marble removed to build Villa d'Este. In Rome, the Pantheon, originally built by Agrippa but destroyed by fire in 80, was rebuilt under Hadrian in the domed form it retains to this day. It is among the best preserved of Rome's ancient buildings and was highly influential to a many of the great architects of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods.

From well before his reign, Hadrian displayed a keen interest in architecture, but it seems that his eagerness was not always well received. For example, Apollodorus of Damascus, famed architect of the Forum of Trajan, dismissed his designs. When Trajan, predecessor to Hadrian, consulted Apollodorus about an architectural problem, Hadrian interrupted to give advice, to which Apollodorus replied, "Go away and draw your pumpkins. You know nothing about these problems." "Pumpkins" refers to Hadrian's drawings of domes like the Serapeum in his Villa. It is rumored that once Hadrian succeeded Trajan to become emperor, he had Apollodorus exiled and later put to death. It is very possible that this later story was a later attempt to defame his character, as Hadrian, though popular among a great many across the empire, was not universally admired, either in his lifetime or afterward.

[Bianca]

Hadrian, wreathed and in Greek dress
offers a sprig of laurel to Apollo.

Marble, from the temple of Apollo
at Cyrene, ca. 117–125.







Hadrian wrote poetry in both Latin and Greek; one of the few surviving examples is a Latin poem he reportedly composed on his deathbed (see below). He also wrote an autobiography – not, apparently, a work of great length or revelation, but designed to scotch various rumours or explain his various actions. The work is lost but was apparently used by the writer — whether Marius Maximus or someone else – on whom the Historia Augusta principally relied for its vita of Hadrian: at least, a number of statements in the vita have been identified (by Ronald Syme and others) as probably ultimately stemming from the autobiography.

Another of Hadrian's contributions to the arts was the beard. The portraits of emperors up to this point were all clean shaven, idealized images of Greek athletes. Hadrian wore a beard as evidenced by all his portraits. Subsequent emperors would be portrayed with beards for more than a century and a half.

Hadrian was a humanist and deeply Hellenophile in all his tastes. He favoured the doctrines of the philosophers Epictetus, Heliodorus and Favorinus and was generally considered an Epicurean, as were some of his friends such as Caius Bruttius Praesens. At home he attended to social needs. Hadrian mitigated but did not abolish slavery, had the legal code humanized and forbade torture. He built libraries, aqueducts, baths and theaters. Hadrian is considered by many historians to have been wise and just: Schiller called him "the Empire's first servant", and Edward Gibbon admired his "vast and active genius", as well as his "equity and moderation".

While visiting Greece in 125, he attempted to create a kind of provincial parliament to bind all the semi-autonomous former city states across all Greece and Ionia (in Asia Minor). This parliament, known as the Panhellenion, failed despite spirited efforts to instill cooperation among the Hellenes.

Hadrian was especially famous for his romance with a Greek youth, Antinous, whom he met in Bythinia in 124 when the boy was thirteen or fourteen. While touring Egypt in 130, Antinous mysteriously drowned in the Nile. Deeply saddened, Hadrian founded the Egyptian city of Antinopolis. Hadrian drew the whole Empire into his mourning, making Antinous the last new god of antiquity.

Hadrian died at his villa in Baiae. He was buried in a mausoleum on the western bank of the Tiber, in Rome, a building later transformed into a papal fortress, Castel Sant'Angelo. The dimensions of his mausoleum, in its original form, were deliberately designed to be slightly larger than the earlier Mausoleum of Augustus.

According to Cassius Dio a gigantic equestrian statue was erected to Hadrian after his death. "It was so large that the bulkiest man could walk through the eye of each horse, yet because of the extreme height of the foundation persons passing along on the ground below believe that the horses themselves as well as Hadrian are very small."

[Bianca]

This aureus by Hadrian celebrates the games
held in honor of the 874th birthday of Rome.






                                                           Hadrian's travels





Purpose
 


This aureus by Hadrian celebrates the games held in honor of the 874th birthday of Rome.The Stoic-Epicurean Emperor traveled broadly, inspecting and correcting the legions in the field. Even prior to becoming emperor, he had traveled abroad with the Roman military, giving him much experience in the matter. More than half his reign was spent outside of Italy. Other emperors often left Rome to simply go to war, returning soon after conflicts concluded. A previous emperor, Nero, once traveled through Greece and was condemned for his self indulgence. Hadrian, by contrast, traveled as a fundamental part of his governing, and made this clear to the Roman senate and the people. He was able to do this because at Rome he possessed a loyal supporter within the upper echelons of Roman society, a military veteran by the name of Marcius Turbo. Also, there are hints within certain sources that he also employed a secret police force, the frumentarii, to exert control and influence in case anything should go wrong while he journeyed abroad.

Hadrian's visits were marked by handouts which often contained instructions for the construction of new public buildings. Hadrian was willful of strengthening the Empire from within through improved infrastructure, as opposed to conquering or annexing perceived enemies. This was often the purpose of his journeys; commissioning new structures, projects and settlements. His almost evangelical belief in Greek culture strengthened his views: like many emperors before him, Hadrian's will was almost always obeyed. His traveling court was large, including administrators and likely architects and builders. The burden on the areas he passed through were sometimes great. While his arrival usually brought some benefits it is possible that those who had to carry the burden were of different class to those who reaped the benefits. For example, huge amounts of provisions were requisitioned during his visit to Egypt, this suggests that the burden on the mainly subsistence farmers must have been intolerable, causing some measure of starvation and hardship.  At the same time, as in later times all the way through the European Renaissance, kings were welcomed into their cities or lands, and the financial burden was completely on them, and only indirectly on the poorer class.

Hadrian's first tour came in 121 and was initially aimed at covering his back to allow himself the freedom to concern himself with his general cultural aims. He traveled north, towards Germania and inspected the Rhine-Danube frontier, allocating funds to improve the defenses. However it was a voyage to the Empire's very frontiers that represented his perhaps most significant visit; upon hearing of a recent revolt, he journeyed across the sea to Britannia.

[Bianca]

Hadrian's Wall, a fortification in
Northern England
(viewed from Vercovicium)







Britannia
 


Prior to Hadrian's arrival on Great Britain there had been a major rebellion in Britannia, spanning roughly two years (119–121).[17] It was here where he initiated the building of Hadrian's Wall during 122. The wall was built chiefly to safeguard the frontier province of Britannia, by preventing future small scale invasions and unwanted immigration from the northern country of Caledonia (now modern day Scotland).

Caledonia was inhabited by tribes known to the Romans as Caledonians. Hadrian realized that the Caledonians would refuse to cohabitate with the Romans. He also was aware that although Caledonia was valuable, the harsh terrain and highlands made its conquest costly and unprofitable for the Empire at large. Thus, he decided instead on building a wall. Unlike the Germanic limes, built of wood palisades, the lack of suitable wood in the area required a stone construction. Hadrian is perhaps most famous for the construction of this wall whose ruins still span many miles and to date bear his name. In many ways it represents Hadrian's will to improve and develop within the Empire, rather than waging wars and conquering.

Under him, a shrine was erected in York to Britain as a Goddess, and coins were struck which introduced a female figure as the personification of Britain, labeled BRITANNIA.   By the end of 122 he had concluded his visit to Britannia, and from there headed south by sea to Mauretania.