Bust of Hadrian

This is a bust-portrait sculpture of Hadrian, Roman emperor from 117 to 138, wearing cuirass.He was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus, probably at Italica, near Santiponce(in modern-day Spain), into a Hispano-Roman family. His father was of senatorial rank and was a first cousin of the emperor Trajan. Early in Hadrian's career, before Trajan became emperor, he married Trajan's grand-niece Vibia Sabina, possibly at the behest of Trajan's wife, Pompeia Plotina. Plotina and Trajan's close friend and adviser Licinius Sura were well disposed towards Hadrian. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that immediately before his death, he had nominated Hadrian as emperor. Rome's military and Senate approved Hadrian's succession, but soon after, four leading senators who had opposed Hadrian, or seemed to threaten his succession, were unlawfully put to death; the senate held Hadrian responsible for this, and never forgave him. He earned further disapproval among the elite by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and recent territorial gains in Mesopotamia, Assyriaand Armenia, and parts of Dacia. Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders, and the unification, under his overall leadership, of the empire's disparate peoples. He is known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. Hadrian energetically pursued his own Imperial ideals and personal interests. He visited almost every province of the Empire, accompanied by a probably vast Imperial retinue of specialists and administrators. He encouraged military preparedness and discipline, and fostered, designed or personally subsidised various civil and religious institutions and building projects. In Rome itself, he rebuilt or completed the Pantheon, and constructed the vast Temple of Venus and Roma. In Egypt, he may have rebuilt the Serapeum of Alexandria. An ardent admirer of Greece, he sought to make Athensthe cultural capital of the Empire and ordered the construction of many opulent temples there. His intense relationship with the Greek youth Antinous and the latter's untimely death led to Hadrian's establishment of an enduring and widespread popular cult. Late in his reign, he suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judaea; with this major exception, Hadrian's reign was generally peaceful.本件作品为罗马皇帝哈德良（117年至138年在位）的胸像雕塑，身着胸甲（cuirass）。他原名普布利乌斯·埃利乌斯·哈德良努斯（Publius Aelius Hadrianus），大概率出生于今西班牙桑蒂蓬塞（Santiponce）附近的伊塔利卡（Italica），出身希斯帕尼亚-罗马贵族家庭。他的父亲拥有元老院议员等级，是皇帝图拉真的嫡表兄。在图拉真即位前，哈德良便迎娶了图拉真的甥孙女维比娅·萨比娜（Vibia Sabina），此事或许是遵照图拉真妻子庞培娅·普洛蒂娜（Pompeia Plotina）的旨意。普洛蒂娜与图拉真的密友兼顾问利基尼乌斯·苏拉（Licinius Sura）都对哈德良颇为赏识。 图拉真驾崩后，其遗孀宣称，皇帝临终前已指定哈德良为继承人。罗马军方与元老院认可了哈德良的继位，但不久后，四位曾反对哈德良或疑似威胁其继位的资深元老院议员被非法处决；元老院将此事归咎于哈德良，且始终未能原谅他。哈德良放弃图拉真的扩张政策，弃守帝国在美索不达米亚、亚述、亚美尼亚以及达契亚部分地区新近夺取的领土，这进一步引发了精英阶层的不满。哈德良更倾向于投入资源建设稳固且可防御的边境线，并在其整体领导下实现帝国境内各民族的统一。他因修建标志着不列颠行省北部边界的哈德良长城（Hadrian's Wall）而闻名于世。 哈德良积极践行自身的帝王理念，同时追求个人志趣。他陪同规模庞大的皇家扈从团队（包含各类专家与行政官员）巡访了帝国几乎所有行省。他倡导军备整饬与军纪严明，并推动、设计乃至个人出资兴办各类民事与宗教机构及建筑工程。在罗马本土，他重建并完成了万神殿（Pantheon），还修建了宏伟的维纳斯与罗马神庙（Temple of Venus and Roma）。在埃及，他或许重建了亚历山大里亚塞拉皮雍（Serapeum of Alexandria）。作为狂热的希腊文化爱好者，他致力于将雅典打造为帝国的文化之都，并下令在当地修建诸多奢华神庙。 他与希腊青年安提诺乌斯（Antinous）之间的深厚情谊，以及安提诺乌斯的英年早逝，促使哈德良创立了长久且广泛流传的民间崇拜。统治末期，他镇压了犹地亚（Judaea）地区的巴尔·科赫巴起义（Bar Kokhba revolt）；除此之外，哈德良的统治整体上较为平和。