Following Hadrian

The mosaic is a large square divided into four strips of scenes featuring men and animals, bordered by a chain-style frame. The top two sections depict intense hunting scenes: a shepherd fighting a lion, a soldier fighting a lioness, and two horseback hunters defeating a bear and a wild boar. The lower scenes are pastoral but with a hint of the exotic: a shepherd watching his goat and sheep graze in the shade of trees; an ostrich on a leash held by a dark-skinned man; and a boy holding the leashes of a zebra and a spotted animal that looks very much like a camel but might be meant to represent a giraffe.

#MonsaicMonday - 6th-century AD mosaic in the Diakonikon-Baptistery of the Moses Memorial Church in Mount Nebo, Jordan, depicting a hunting-and-herding scene, interspersed with various animals.

Hadrian passed a decree prohibiting men from visiting public baths in the mornings so women could bathe in privacy.

"lavacra pro sexibus separavit" (He provided separate baths for the sexes)
HA Hadr. 18.10

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

As reported in the Historia Augusta, Hadrian provided financial assistance specifically for women.

"[...] by his donations, he [Hadrian] helped a number of women to sustain life."
HA Hadr. 7.11

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

Mummy portrait of Lady Aline, from Hawara (Egypt), 1st-2nd century AD. Her portrait was painted in tempera on the linen pressed onto the mummy's face, likely after her death.

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

Mummy portrait depicting a woman wearing a necklace, a Medusa pendant and golden ear-pendants with pearls. Dated AD 161-192.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria.

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

Fresco depicting a woman, so-called Sappho, holding writing implements (a wax tablet and stylus). From Pompeii. Naples National Archaeological Museum.

Fresco showing a woman looking in a mirror as she dresses (or undresses) her hair. From the Villa of Arianna at Stabiae (Castellammare di Stabia). Naples National Archaeological Museum.

Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale depicting a woman with a cithara. Dated ca. AD 50–40. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Fresco depicting a seated woman. From the Villa Arianna at Stabiae. Naples National Archaeological Museum.

Roman frescoes depicting women.

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

The Empress Plotina was the wife of Trajan and Hadrian’s adoptive mother. She grew very fond of Hadrian and played an instrumental role in the development of Hadrian's career. When Plotina died, she was deified, and Hadrian had a basilica built in her honour at Nemausus.

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

The Empress Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian. Sabina was the younger daughter of Trajan's niece Salonia Matidia. She was born in the mid-80s and married her 24-year-old second cousin, the future emperor Hadrian, when she was around 15, in about AD 100.

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

“Someone, I tell you, in another time will remember us.”
― Sappho

#InternationalWomensDay ♀️

#OnThisDay in AD 161, after a peaceful reign of nearly 23 years, Antoninus Pius died of fever in his villa at Lorium. He was 74. With the death of their adoptive father, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus became co-emperors.

#OnThisDay in 12 BC, Augustus became pontifex maximus, the most important position in the ancient Roman religion.

The Pontifex Maximus led the Collegium Pontificum, overseeing state cult, religious laws, worship, and the calendar. The pontiffs managed sacred sites and public morality.

#ReliefWednesday - Sassanid relief depicting the triumph of Shapur I (r. AD 240-270) over Valerian at Naqsh-e Rostam, located 3 km north of Persepolis. It is the most impressive of eight Sassanid rock carvings cut into the cliff beneath the tombs of their Achaemenid predecessors.

Imperatore Caesare divi Hadriani filio / divi Traiani nepote divi Nervae pronepo/te T(ito) Aelio Hadriano Antonino Augusto Pio / co(n)s(ule) IIII tribuniciae potestatis XXI / L(ucius) Matuccius Fuscinus legatus Augusti pr(o) / pr(aetore) consul designatus patronus col(oniae) d(ecreto) d(ecurionum) p(ecunia) To the Emperor Caesar, son of the deified Hadrian, grandson of the deified Trajan, great-grandson of the deified Nerva, Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, consul for the fourth time, holding tribunician power for the twenty-first time. Lucius Matuccius Fuscinus, imperial legate with praetorian authority, consul-designate, patron of the colony, by decree of the town council, with public funds (set this up).

#EpigraphyTuesday - Building/dedicatory inscription in the Forum of Thamugadi (Timgad, Algeria) dedicated to Antoninus Pius and set up by consul designatus Lucius Matuccius Fuscinus. Dated AD 158/9.

CIL 08, 17858
edcs.hist.uzh.ch/en/document?...

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic in the House of the Planetarium in Italica (Spain) with busts of the planetary deities who gave their names to the days of the week.

In the centre is Venus. Anticlockwise from bottom centre are Jupiter, Saturn, Helios or Sol, Luna or Selene, Mars, and Mercury.

March on the Mosaic with the months of the year starting with Martius. From Thysdrus (El Jem, Tunisia). Dated to the 1st half of the 3rd century AD. The March panel shows the Salii, who were the "leaping priests" of Mars, beating daggers on a shield to create music. The twelve Salii used song and dance as part of religious rituals held in March during the Spring equinox. Sousse Archaeological Museum, Tunisia.

Head of Mars Ultor (the Avenger), part of a relief sculpture and based on similar representations from the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus. Dated 2nd century AD. Palazzo Altemps, Rome.

Fresco of a statue of Mars in the House of Venus, Pompeii.

Statue of Hadrian as Mars, the Roman god of war, from Italy, AD 117–125. Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Happy Kalends of March!
March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war, by Romulus. It inaugurated the beginning of the military campaign season, which lasted until October. Martius (March) originally was the first month of the Roman year.

Are you looking forward to visiting a free Iran?
Iran is a country with a long and rich history, where many civilisations thrived over thousands of years. With 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Iran offers an incredible variety of archaeological & cultural wonders.
www.worldhistory.org/article/1871...

"O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not, therefore, begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my body".

Plutarch, Life of Alexander 69.

#FrescoFriday - Ceiling fresco depicting Cupid and Psyche. From the ancient Roman civil settlement of Lauriacum, dated to the 2nd century AD.

Museum Lauriacum, Enn, Austria.

#EpigraphyTuesday - Altar to Zeus from Perge in Pamphylia, Asia Minor.

Διός

IK Perge 233
inscriptions.packhum.org/text/313966?...

In the pentagonal field below the platform is an inscription: MEMORIA / BLOSSI HONO/RATVS INGENVS ACTOR / PERFECIT (‘Tomb or memory of Blossus/Blossius. Honoratus (his) agent of free status brought (it) to completion’).

#MosaicMonday - The Mosaic of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, a Christian floor mosaic depicting a scene identified as the biblical story of Daniel in the lions’ den. From a Christian mausoleum at Furnos Minus (Tunisia), dated to the 6th century AD.

National Museum of Bardo, Tunisia.

However, this is not a mask of a royal family member, but a Roman cavalry helmet known as the Emesa helmet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emesa_h...

A Greek inscription found in the Great Mosque of Homs reveals it was built over the Temple of the Sun of Emperor Elagabalus The discovery of a Greek inscription at the base of a column during restoration work at the Great Mosque of Homs, in Syria, has reignited academic controversy regarding the exact location of the Templ...

A Greek inscription found in the Great Mosque of Homs in Syria reveals it was built over the Temple of the Sun of Emperor Elagabalus. www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/02/a...

AD 120 – The army erects a wooden palisade on the German frontier (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN Hadrian’s deep concern with consolidating and defining the Empire started very early in his reign. Upon ascending the throne, the new emperor abandoned Trajan’s newly conquered province…

AD 120 – The army erects a wooden palisade on the German frontier.
followinghadrian.com/2020/09/23/a...

#RomanSiteSaturday - The Pont d'Aël is a well-preserved Roman aqueduct bridge in the Aosta Valley, northern Italy. It was built in 3 BC for irrigation and to supply water to the newly founded colony of Augusta Praetoria, and was privately financed by a Roman entrepreneur named Caius Avillius Caimus.

18 February AD 121 – Titus Haterius Nepos, the prefect of Egypt, visits the Memnon Colossus (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN On 18 February AD 121, Titus Haterius Nepos, the prefect of Egypt, visited the Colossus of Memnon at the Theban necropolis and heard the statue sing. Nepos immortalised his encounter by inscribing …

18 February AD 121 – Titus Haterius Nepos, the prefect of Egypt, visits the Memnon Colossus
followinghadrian.com/2021/02/18/1...

Summer AD 124 – Hadrian tours Asia (part 2) and visits Pergamon and Sardis (#Hadrian1900) FOLLOWING HADRIAN In the summer of 124, Hadrian continued his journey through the province of Asia, heading south to visit the great cities of Pergamon, Sardis, Smyrna and Ephesus. From Hadrianotherae, where the Emp…

followinghadrian.com/2024/08/22/s...

#EpigraphyTuesday - Inscription from the city of Thyatira celebrating Pergamon's achievement of becoming a neokoros (temple warden) for a second time, specifically for the imperial cult temple built for Trajan (Trajaneum).
Dated AD 114, Upper Acropolis, Pergamon, Turkey.

One of its most significant scenes is believed to be the earliest known portrayal of the poet Hesiod receiving inspiration from Calliope, Queen of the Muses. The Pegasus Mosaic is composed of around 160 shades of naturally colored stone tesserae, creating exceptional depth, shading, and lifelike expression. It is signed by the artist, Euporos.

#MosaicMonday - The Pegasus Mosaic at the Museum Hotel Antakya, dated to the 2nd century AD. It was discovered 8.5 meters beneath the surface during excavations for the hotel. At its centre is Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, surrounded by panels depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses.

The Hadrianic Temple of Diktynna in Crete FOLLOWING HADRIAN On the eastern tip of the Rodopou Peninsula in West Crete are the scanty remains of a temple dedicated to the Cretan goddess Diktynna (Diktynnaion). Diktynna was the virgin goddess of hunting, wors…

The Hadrianic Temple of Diktynna in Crete.
followinghadrian.com/2017/06/11/t...

#RomanSiteSaturday - The Roman Theatre of Carthago Nova in modern-day Cartagena, Spain. The theatre was built between 5 and 1 BC, as evidenced by its dedication to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, grandsons of Augustus. It had a capacity of 7,000.