Publius
Aelius Hadrianus was born on 24 January AD 76, probably at Rome,
though his family lived in Italica in Baetica, a Roman city in Spain
and some historians disagree and contend that he was actually born
in Italica. Having originally come from Picenum in north-eastern when
this part of Spain was opened up to Roman settlement, Hadrian's family
had lived in Italica for some three centuries. With Trajan also coming
from Italica, and Hadrian's father, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer
(Afer for Africa, having had dealings there), being his cousin, Hadrian's
obscure provincial family now found itself possessing impressive connections.
His connections to the imperial palace came from the marriage of his
grandfather, a senator, to Ulpia, the aunt of Trajan. When Hadrian's
father died in 85 AD, Hadrian fell under the care of his guardians,
Trajan himself (who as yet, was not emperor). Emperor from 117-138
AD. The reign of Hadrian is considered one of the great ages in the
history of the Roman Empire.
Notes on the life of Hadrian:
 During
his education, Hadrian displayed an intense fondness for all things
Greek, earning him the nickname "Greek ling" (or "Little
Greek")
Through Trajan's influence he entered into government service and
held the rank of tribune, with postings in Pannonia, Moesia, and Germania
Superior. During this last posting (97 AD) word arrived that the emperor
Nerva had died. Trajan succeeded him. Hadrian traveled with Trajan
to Rome and married Trajan's grandniece, VibiaSabma.
Hadrian saw duty in both the First and Second Darian Wars (102-103
and 105-106 AD). He became a quaestor, legate, and praetor during
the conflicts and then governed Pannonia in 107. A consulship followed
in 108, along with the governorship of Syria in 114. A second consulship
was set to be his in 118, but Trajan died on August 8, 117, in Cicilia.
Hadrian was at Antioch at the rime of Trajan's death. He may not have
been the emperor's first choice as successor, but through Attianus
and the Empress Pompeia Plotina, Hadrian's adoption was announced
on the 9th, two days before the official pronouncement of Trajan's
demise. Despite such a suspicious beginning, the new emperor assumed
power immediately.
Of all the Roman emperors he was the greatest lover of art, travel
and every activity of the spirit, and he personally cultivated the
arts of painting, music, and poetry and especially architecture. It
is thus logical to conclude that he not only commissioned but also
was the real planner of this villa-city.... just as he was the planner
of the capital's greatest temple, the Temple of Venus and Rome, and
almost certainly of the Pantheon and his own Mausoleum (now Castel
Sant'Angelo).Work attributed to Hadrian in Rome:
Opened the sixth Imperial Forum with the Temple of Venus
and Rome; rebuilt from its foundations the most original and finest
temple of the Roman era, the Pantheon, with hs dome, still
the largest dome made from masonry in the worid; and for his own burial
and that of his successors he erected the new Mausoleum across the
Tiber (now known as Castel Sant'Angelo. Also works in Ostia,
Athens, etc.Hadrian died on July 10, 138 AD at his villa at Baiae
(the Bay of Pozzouli)
There is only scattered, superficial information handed down to us
about Hadrian's Villa by the ancient writers. Several narrate that
the emperor wanted to "reproduce" in the villa itself the
buildings and places which had most impressed him during his stays
in Greece and Egypt: the Poedle, the Academy, the Lyceum and the Prytaneum
in Athens, the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly, the Sanctuary of Serapis
at Canopus near Alexandria in Egypt. The literal interpretation of
this version, which is actually anything but precise from the artistic
point of view, has given rise to a misunderstanding, which should
be eliminated if we want to understand thoroughly the importance and
significance of this distinguished monumental complex in the history
of classical architecture.
Scholars of the 16th century attempted to identify in the various
buildings of the Villa those that had been 'reproduced' in likeness
to the originals. With the exception of the Canopus, there is no question
of 'reproduction' or even architectural inspiration or reworking;
it was in fact only a matter of names, chosen for what we might call
sentimental motives and having nothing to do with stylistic conception.
Another theory: Hadrian used this site to practice (and experiment)
his favorite art, architecture. The certainty this theory is demonstrated
by are found in the extremely frequent cases in which modifications
and additions were made to architectural works during construction
or in a second phase very shortly afterwards Superimposed structures
can be seen which can only be explained as modifications to the original
project; here and there the remains of previous constructions appear,
below the pavement level, with a different orientation, constructions
completely demolished before the definitive structure built.
Whatever the purposes of the individual buildings, what is more interesting
is the way all the parts of the Villa are harmoniously united by three
common elements, which are basic motifs of architectural cohesion:
1. The alternation of constructed areas with areas reserved for gardens.
2. The large number of porticos, peristyles and cryptoportici providing
covered passages and at the same time linking the various buildings.
3. The great abundance of fountains, pools and canals, making water
an integrating factor if not actually a component of the architecture,
anticipating the concept which triumphed no less than fourteen centuries
later in Renaissance and Baroque art.
All intertwined as one. HADRIAN'S VILLA
"Hadrian's aesthetic aims and ambitions also found memorable
expression in the architecture of his reign, and most of all in the
extensive residence he created for himself on the southern olive-clad
slopes beside Tibur in the Roman countryside. The groups of loosely
related or independent buildings which constituted this 'Villa of
Hadrian' was intended to recall the sites and buildings which the
emperor had admired on his travels, but this was only a modest pretext
for a whole collection of bold and original forms. The creations of
some gifted and experimental architect, inspired by the emperor's
inquiring, restless brain, these adventurous structures ingeniously
exploit the potentialities of an uneven site, displaying total technical
mastery of their concrete, brick-faced material. Curvilinear shapes
of many varieties abound; there is hardly a straight or obvious line
anywhere to be seen."
- Michael Grant, The Roman Emperors'Villa' erected between
118 and 138 AD (though probably started around 125). The ruins occupy
an area of approximately 150 acres, but the further remains found
all around lead to the suggestion that the ancient villa occupied
almost five times this area. The various buildings in the Villa are
laid out along five main alignments, determined not by a rigidly unified
town-planning concept but rather by the nature of the terrain. Other
secondary alignments served as links with the main ones; and yet others
can be perceived in the areas not yet explored.Recommended Reading:
The Mute Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Italy. Paul MacKendrick.
W. W. Norton & Co. If you buy only ONE book as a companion to
the archaeological sites in Italy this should be the one!The Roman
Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome. 31BC-AD476.
Michael Grant. Charles Scribner's Sons. Good thumbnail background
on the life of Hadrian.Memoirs of Hadrian. Marguerite Yourcenar. Penguin
Modem Classics. Excellent historical fiction on the life of Hadrian.Lives
of the Later Caesars. Translated by Anthony Birley. Penguin Classics.
A very good account of Hadrian's life in this first part of the Augustan
History. |
