<Articles>Hadrian, a Hated Emperor

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  • <論説>憎まれた賢帝ハドリアヌス : 政治史からみた五賢帝時代の実相
  • 憎まれた賢帝ハドリアヌス--政治史からみた五賢帝の実相
  • ニクマレ タ ケンテイ ハドリアヌス セイジシ カラ ミタ 5 ケンテイ ノ

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When Hadrian, the third of the Five Good Emperors. died in 138 A. D., the Senate wished to annul his acta. Had his successor Antoninus not expended himself in urgent pleading and threats, Hadrian would have been branded as a tyrant. Why was he hated by the Senate? Because of his complicated character and very forcefull personality? In this article, beginning with this simple question, we have tried to clarify the character of Hadrian's politics. Our arguments are as follows. On 9 August 117 it was announced at Antioch that Trajan had adopted Hadrian as his successor. When, on the 11th, the news of his death reached Antioch, the Syrian army proclaimed Hadrian the emperor. Because the circumstances were ambiguous, however, his adoption has been suspected of being fictitious. Despite a great deal of effort to get at the truth about this affair, modern scholars cannot reach a final and trustworthy solution. So we have tried to consider the significance of his accession from a different point of view ; the significance for the senatorial aristocracy. Our detailed prosopographical data can show us that the establishment of Hadrian's government caused a change in the leading part of the senatorial aristocracy. New elite, whose leaders were Spanish senators, arose, and the influential men of Trajan's age declined. The execution of the four consulars in 118 was the most horrible incident in the process of this change. So Hadrian was hated by the senators who had been powerful during the reign of Trajan, especially the senators of Italian stock. But Hadrian before long became independent of his Spanish party. At the end of his reign he adopted L. Ceionius Commodus, an Italian aristocrat as his successor, and oppressed his own Spanish relatives. So he was hated again, this time by some senators of Spanish stock. After the death of Commodus, Hadrian adopted Antoninus. By this adoption Hadrian intended to unite two powerful groups, Italian and Spanish. His plan resulted in great success. But his reputation with many senators was very poor because of the memory of the senators executed in 118 and 136.

Journal

  • 史林

    史林 71 (6), 934-981, 1988-11-01

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

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