Hadrian
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Hadrian (Publius Aelius Trajan Hadrian; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138.
Quotes
[edit]- Lascivus versu, mente pudicus eras.
- Animula vagula blandula,
hospes comesque corporis,
quae nunc abibis in loca,
pallidula, rigida, nudula,
nec ut soles dabis iocos?- Dear fleeting sweeting, little soul,
My body's comrade and its guest,
What region now must be thy goal,
Poor little wan, numb, naked soul,
Unable, as of old, to jest? - "Hadrian's Dying Farewell to His Soul", in the Historia Augusta, "Hadrianus", pt. 2, sec. 25, par. 9 (tr. J. W. Duff, 1934)
- Dear fleeting sweeting, little soul,
Quotes about Hadrian
[edit]- He was himself an artist; and he loved the arts, as they conduced to the glory of the monarch.
- Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1 (1776), ch. 2
- He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces in person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the most enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy. But the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As they prevailed, and as they were attracted by different objects, Hadrian was, by turns, an excellent prince, a ridiculous sophist, and a jealous tyrant. The general tenor of his conduct deserved praise for its equity and moderation. Yet in the first days of his reign, he put to death four consular senators, his personal enemies, and men who had been judged worthy of empire; and the tediousness of a painful illness rendered him, at last, peevish and cruel. The senate doubted whether they should pronounce him a god or a tyrant; and the honours decreed to his memory were granted to the prayers of the pious Antoninus.
- Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1 (1776), ch. 3
External links
[edit]
- J. W. Duff, Minor Latin Poets (1934), p. 445