page_title: Ancient Rome
section_title: From Hadrian to Commodus
hierarchical_section_title: Ancient Rome / Empire – the Principate / Nerva–Antonine dynasty / From Hadrian to Commodus
context_page_description: In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire.
  The civilisation began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, traditionally dated to 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The civilization was led and ruled by the Romans, alternately considered an ethnic group or a nationality. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.
  In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a democratic classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic semi-elective military dictatorship during the Empire.
context_section_description: Many Romans emigrated to Hispania (modern-day Spain and Portugal) and stayed for generations, in some cases intermarrying with Iberians; one of these families produced the emperor Hadrian. Hadrian withdrew all the troops stationed in Parthia, Armenia and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), abandoning Trajan's conquests. Hadrian's army crushed a revolt in Mauretania and the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea. This was the last large-scale Jewish revolt against the Romans and was destroyed with massive repercussions in Judea. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed. Hadrian renamed the province of Judea "Provincia Syria Palaestina," after one of Judea's most hated enemies. He constructed fortifications and walls, like the famous Hadrian's Wall between Roman Britannia and the barbarians of modern-day Scotland. A famous philhellenist, Hadrian promoted culture, specially the Greek. He also forbade torture and humanized the laws. Hadrian built many aqueducts, baths, libraries and theaters; additionally, he traveled nearly every single province in the Empire to check the military and infrastructural conditions. After Hadrian's death in 138 AD, his successor Antoninus Pius built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers of rhetoric and philosophy. Antoninus made few initial changes when he became emperor, leaving intact as far as possible the arrangements instituted by Hadrian. Antoninus expanded Roman Britannia by invading what is now southern Scotland and building the Antonine Wall. He also continued Hadrian's policy of humanizing the laws. He died in 161 AD.
  Marcus Aurelius, known as the Philosopher, was the last of the Five Good Emperors. He was a stoic philosopher and wrote the Meditations. He defeated barbarian tribes in the Marcomannic Wars as well as the Parthian Empire. His co-emperor, Lucius Verus died in 169 AD, probably victim of the Antonine Plague, a pandemic that killed nearly five million people through the Empire in 165–180 AD.
  From Nerva to Marcus Aurelius, the empire achieved an unprecedented happy and glorious status. The powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. All the citizens enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence. The Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. The Five Good Emperors' rule is considered the golden era of the Empire.
  Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius, became emperor after his father's death. He is not counted as one of the Five Good Emperors. Firstly, this was due to his direct kinship with the latter emperor; in addition, he was passive in comparison with his predecessors, who were frequently leading their armies in person. Commodus usually took part on gladiatorial combats, which often symbolized brutality and roughness. He killed many citizens, and his reign was the beginning of Roman decadence, as stated Cassius Dio: "(Rome has transformed) from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust."
caption: The Pantheon, Rome, built during the reign of Hadrian, which still contains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world
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