244
HADRIAN’S BUILDINGS.
substantial works: when, e.g., he writes against the theatres,
and has to treat of a reality, he shews that he is a great author
and is very instructive ; while Aristides, in his declamation on
the battle of Leuctra, is trying to entertain his readers with
idle and silly trash. Tertullian is one of those writers whom I
can recommend to every one, not merely to theologians on ac-
count of his importance in ecclesiastical history, but to scholars
also, who should devote more attention to the ecclesiastical
fathers, in general, than they do, and thus follow the example
of Scaliger, IIemsterhuys, Valckenaer, and others. We cannot
acquire a thorough knowledge of the history of those times,
without studying such writers as Justin Martyr, Clement of
Alexandria, and Athenagoras.
LECTURE CXXI.
Hadrian’s name is immortalised chiefly by his architectural
works. Among the great buildings of ancient Rome, none
was more stupendous than his Mausoleum, the moles Hadriani.1
We know from Procopius2, that the emperor’s statue which
adorned it, was thrown down during the siege of Rome by the
Goths. This Mausoleum, with all its inscriptions, continued
to exist during the middle ages ; but afterwards it was destroyed
intentionally, until the destroyers grew weary of their work;
but it is still the greatest building extant, and its gigantic
masses shew its original beauty. At a distance of two miles
from Tibur, stand even now the enormous ruins of Hadrian’s
villa, where statues of the most exquisite beauty have been
brought to light. The strange outlines of this building still
shew its peculiar beauty, which is now in some manner in-
creased by the luxuriant vegetation that has overgrown the
ruins. Certain plants which were kept in the gardens of the
villa, and which do not occur in any other part of Italy, have
become indigenous on that spot from the time of Hadrian.
With regard to Hadrian as an author, we have only a few verses
of his, which have been preserved by Spartianus in his life of the
l Spartian. Hadnani 9 ; Dion Cass. Ixix. 23. 2 Bell. Goth. i. 22.
T. ANTONINUS PIUS.
245
emperor3, a doubtful epigram (ɪ, myself, consider it genuine)
upon his favourite horse Borysthenes4, and a few other trifles.
There are also some verses of his in the Greek Anthology ;
but all of them are somewhat strange and far-fetched, like
everything he did. He was, however, the author of numerous
poems.
Hadrian was succeeded in A.D. 138, by T. Antoninus Pius,
whom he would not have adopted, if M. Aurelius Antoninus
had been at a more advanced age; for Hadrian was very much
attached to this boy, even when he was no more than six years
old, a fact which speaks greatly in favour of Hadrian. The
real name of M. Aurelius was M. Annius Verus; and Hadrian
used to call him Verissimus, on account of his extraordinary
veracity and great kindness. Had he been older, Hadrian
would unquestionably have chosen him for his successor; but
as it was, he adopted T. Antoninus Pius, the husband of a
sister of M. Aurelius’ father. I have already remarked that,
before this time, Hadrian had adopted Aelius Verus, an un-
worthy man. It is strange that Hadrian could at the same
time love a person like this Aelius Verus, and M. Aurelius,
who was the very embodiment of human virtue ; but we must
believe that Hadrian’s bad and sinful habits left him in the
moments when he looked upon that innocent child. T. An-
toninus Pius was married to Faustina, the sister of Annius
Verus, the elder. The Roman names about this time are so
confused, that it requires the greatest caution to avoid being
misled. The family of T. Antoninus Plus originally belonged
to Nemausus in the province of Gaul, whereas his two prede-
cessors had been of Spanish extraction. It was by a mere fic-
tion that Italy was still considered as the centre of the empire.
The history of the reign of Antoninus, Pius, which lasted more
than twenty-two years, is extremely obscure5; we know infi-
nitely less about this period than about the earliest times of the
Roman republic; aɪɪd I have, for instance, a much more accu-
rate knowledge of the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, than of
the history of this emperor. The personal character of Anto-
ninus Pius was very good ; he obtained the surname of Pius
3 Spartian. Hadrian, 25.
i Mcj er, Antholog. Vet. Lat. Epιgr. et Poem. No. 211. vol i. p. 71.
'' Tho Sevcntjeth book of Dion Cassins is lost, and was lost even at the time
when Xjphihnus and Zonaras made their abridgments; and we are therefore
almost confined to the mιseιal>le life in the “ Histona Augusta.”—N.