Bronze head of Hadrian, from a larger statue (one and a quarter times life-size). Dredged up from th
Bronze head of Hadrian, from a larger statue (one and a quarter times life-size). Dredged up from the bed of the Thames in London, 1831. The recorded find spot was likely close to the statue’s original location in a central area of Londinium. The statue may have been put up to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britannia in 122 CE. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Source: X License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Today, July 10, marks the Dies Mortis Divi Hadriani Augusti, the death of the Emperor Hadrian, in 138 CE. Hadrian spent most of his 21-year reign outside Italy, visiting Rome’s provinces with the goal of improving the lives of ordinary people. During his rule, he improved the economy, made the government more responsive to the people, codified Roman law, and constructed many temples and other public works. Among his most lasting achievements were the building and restoration of many temples, and promulgation of the cult of Antinous.Hadrian’s ashes were interred in the mausoleum he commissioned on the right bank of the Tiber, now known as the Castel Sant’Angelo. The 64-meter circular colonnade is said to have been surmounted by a gilded statue of Hadrian as Helios, driving the chariot of the sun. He was deified by the Senate during the first year of the reign of his successor, Antoninus Pius, who also built a temple in his honor in the Campus Martius.Ave, Divus Hadriani! May your example of pietas inspire in us greater devotion to the gods and service to humanity! -- source link
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