At that time, the architectural arch divided the urban area into new areas and old areas. To the east is the new urban area expanded by Emperor Hadrian, and to the west is the old urban area. The edge of the arch frame is engraved with two inscriptions, one on each side. The side facing the Acropolis reads: "This is Athens, the ancient city of theseus." In the other direction, facing the new town, the inscription reads: "This is Hadrian's city, not theseus's city. "This famous building is supported by Corinthian crown pilaster.
Hadrian Arch faces Zeus Temple across the road. The temple of Zeus is located in the south of the road, while Hadrian Arch is located in the north. These two buildings were built by Hadrian, the emperor of the Roman Empire, more than 900 years ago. It is said that this building was built to celebrate the arrival of Emperor Hadrian and his contribution to the city. However, due to age, weathering and air pollution, Hadrian Arch has also been damaged to some extent, and many architectural details have fallen off, making the handwriting more blurred. Now we can't see the original forms of Zeus Temple and Hadrian Arch, and we can only recall the glory at that time through broken walls.
It is not known who built Hadrian Arch, but it is estimated that it was built by Athenian citizens or another Greek group at that time. It was a landmark building that was mainly used to distinguish urban boundaries at that time. The whole monument was built entirely of Pantelic marble mined from Mount Pantelic, which was used to build many famous buildings, such as the famous Parthenon. The colonnade on the base adopts Corinthian main column style, and the top of the column is carved with decorative patterns of Ranunculus ternatus leaves, which is beautifully carved. Hadrian's arch is engraved with words on both sides. After a long time, the words are blurred, but they can still be recognized. The words "This is Athens, the ancient city of theseus" are engraved on the wall facing the Acropolis, and the words "This is Hadrian, not the ancient city of theseus" are engraved on the wall facing the Temple of Zeus, which clearly marked the boundaries of the city at that time. Hadrian Arch is located 325 meters southeast of the Acropolis.
Theseus, son of King agis of Athens, was a great hero of Athens. There is a famous story in Greek mythology, in which theseus voluntarily went to the maze and successfully killed Minotaur, a half-man, half-cow monster who devoured sacrificial boys and girls for a living. However, on the way to victory, theseus forgot his agreement with his father. His fleet didn't change from black sails, which represents the tragic fate, to white sails, which led his father to think that the mission failed and jump off a high cliff in grief. Later generations named this sea "Aegean Sea" after the old king in memory of him. There are too many allusions related to Greek mythology in reality. Hadrian, nicknamed Emperor Yong, was one of the five wise emperors of the Roman Empire. His reign was 1 17-138. He is a descendant of the Roman nobility living in Spain and a cousin of the Roman emperor Trajan. /kloc-When he was 0/4 years old, he went to Rome. /kloc-began to serve in the army at the age of 0/6. He experienced the Rhine War and the Danube War successively. Hadrian was deeply appreciated by Trajan and was entrusted with an important task. 1 17 Shortly after Trajan's death, Hadrian succeeded to the throne of Rome, and Rome entered a golden age. Nearly 100 million people began to enjoy a peaceful, prosperous and safe life. Hadrian is strong and tall, with thick curly hair and sharp eyes. When marching, he was not afraid of the change of weather and terrain, and he ate the same diet and drank cheap drinks as the soldiers, which won the soldiers' love.
Hadrian was also a learned emperor. Among all the Roman emperors, he was the most literate, and he made achievements in the fields of literature, art, mathematics, philosophy and astronomy. He has the temperament of an artist, which is reflected in his poetry, architectural design and lifestyle. Many buildings during his reign have also been preserved, including Hadrian's Great Wall, arches and villas. Hadrian is considered to be ahead of the times in many aspects, and his contemporaries praised him as "friendly without losing majesty, serious without losing humor, frugal without losing generosity, versatile and pursuing change". Hadrian (Tacitus Elias TraJanas Hadrian, 65438+761October 24-10/July 0 10, Emperor Yong of posthumous title, one of the five sages of the Roman Empire, reigned11.
On his deathbed, Trajan adopted Hadrian as his adopted son. Hadrian is Spanish, too. He is Trajan's cousin. From his early years, he followed Trajan to various places, which won the appreciation of the emperor and was entrusted with important tasks from time to time: in 9 1 year, his cousin Trajan served as consul, and he began to become a member of the Roman Senate. 1at the end of 997, the Roman emperor Nerva accepted Trajan as his adopted son and appointed him as the heir to the throne. He was ordered to go to Western Gaul to convey congratulations to Trajan. From then on, he became the highest ruling class of the empire. /kloc-married Trajan's eldest niece in 0/00. 105, he was promoted to civilian tribune, breaking the convention. In the second year, he was promoted to consul and took charge of military power. 107, he became the governor of Lower Pannonia on the Danube. 108 as consul. 1 12 became the consul of Athens. Before 1 17, Trajan was ordered to command the heavy troops assembled in Syria. Shortly after Trajan's death, he was promoted to head of state by the Syrian army, and this action was quickly approved by the Senate. The first important thing Hadrian did after he succeeded to the throne was to stop the Eastern War and conclude a peace treaty with King Pattaya. He abandoned the provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia established by Trajan, made Armenia a small kingdom only attached to Rome, and shrank the eastern border of the Roman Empire back to the Euphrates River. Hadrian clearly realized that Trajan's conquest of the East could only be carried out at the expense of all imperial troops. At that time, the frontier forces of the north and the west were very empty, and the residents of Mesopotamia were obviously hostile to Rome. In this case, it will be an extremely difficult task to stick to the new border beyond the right bank of the Euphrates River. On other borders, Hadrian also abandoned the policy of large-scale attack and only focused on defense. In order to resist the Germanic invasion, he built the Great Wall in today's southern Germany, connecting the upper reaches of the Rhine River and the Danube River. In addition, he also built a "Hadrian side wall" across the east and west in the northern part of the British Island to resist the invasion of "barbarians" living in present-day Scotland.
Hadrian's era is an important development stage of Roman state bureaucracy. The bureaucratic management system of the empire has laid the foundation in the era of Julia Claudius. But at that time, it was the liberated slaves who occupied an important position in the central bureaucracy, because there was no difference between the central organization and the private property management organization of the Fuehrer, whose members mainly came from the liberated slaves and the Fuehrer's slaves. This situation is not in line with the interests of the whole slave-owning class, especially the middle slave-owning class. Therefore, it must be changed. By the time Flavi came to power, the number of slaves who were freed in the imperial administrative organs decreased obviously, and the rank of knight gradually became the main supplement of the imperial bureaucracy. By Hadrian's time, knights almost squeezed out all the freed slaves and became a real bureaucratic class. At the same time, Hadrian turned the Fuehrer's Advisory Council founded by Augustus into a bureaucracy. Like ordinary officials, members of advisory committees can receive their salaries from the state treasury regularly. As a result, the Advisory Council itself lost the last trace of doing things independently and became a tool to carry the will of the emperor. Hadrian was a learned emperor. He is the most literate of all Roman emperors, and he has made great achievements in literature, art, mathematics and astronomy. He has an artist's temperament, which is fully reflected in his poems, his architectural design and his lifestyle. He loved ancient Greek culture very much and became the first Roman emperor with a beard. Many buildings during his reign have also been preserved, including Hadrian's Great Wall and villas. Emperor Hadrian loved to travel. During his reign, all provinces in the empire left his footprints. In this regard, Gibbon wrote in the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "Hadrian's life is almost always on an endless journey. Because he has many talents, including soldiers, politicians and scholars, he can completely satisfy his curiosity by completing his duties. Regardless of the change of seasons and climate, he always walks barefoot in the snow of Caledonia and the hot plains of Upper Egypt. During his reign, there was not a province in the empire that was not visited by this autocratic emperor. " 12 1 year, I visited the whole empire, inspected the army and checked the defense of the border. First to Gaul and Germans, then to Britain, and then from Britain to Spain, to suppress the uprising in Mauritania (Morocco). Then eastward, through the Balkans by land, and then through the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor (Anatolia). He negotiated with Parthia and then visited the northwest of Asia Minor. /kloc-sailed to Athens on 0/24 and returned to Rome the following year. 128, the second tour until Syria and Arabia. Then cross the sea to Egypt, explore the Nile, and then go to Athens.
Hadrian's strong curiosity and vanity led him to "become a great emperor, a ridiculous debater and a jealous tyrant." Of course, the general trend of his behavior is justice and gentleness. Hadrian recognized Anthony as his adopted son, provided that he also adopted Kyle Horillo and Lucius Verus as adopted sons. In this way, Hadrian identified two generations of heirs for the empire. Later, historical facts proved that his vision was good. Anthony and Horizo were both excellent emperors.