Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/384

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

370 HADRIAN HADROSAURUS next to Oman, is occupied by the Mahra tribe. The principal seaport of Hadramaut is Ma- kallah, which has a considerable trade with India and Yemen, exporting to the former vegetable products, and to the latter carpets, silk shawls, linen, and yambeas or girdle knives. The people of the coast are fond of going abroad, and many of them are seen in India and Egypt, serving as soldiers or sailors ; but they usually return to their country when they have acquired a competence. Hadramaut, in the narrower sense, constituted a part of the ancient Arabia Felix. It derived its name from the Adramitse, an Arabian tribe, who were actively engaged in the drug, spice, and silk trade, of which their capital Sabatha was the emporium. HADRIAN, or Adrian (PuBLius ^LITJS HADRI- ANUS), a Roman emperor, born in Rome, Jan. 24, A. D. 76, died July 10, 138. His father, a Roman senator, married the aunt of Trajan ; and when he died, Trajan, who had not yet suc- ceeded to the empire, became one of Hadrian's guardians. The emperor Nerva adopted Tra- jan, and the next year died, and Hadrian trav- elled from upper to lower Germany, and was the first to announce the event to the new em- peror. He next married Julia Sabina, grand- daughter of Trajan's sister; and through this new connection, joined to the favor of the em- peror's wife Plotina, he rose rapidly to vari- ous high offices at Rome, being qurestor in 101, tribune of the people in 105, praetor in 107, and legatus prcetorius of Lower Pannonia in 108. He accompanied Trajan in most of his expedi- tions, and distinguished himself in the second war against the Dacians (104-106). Trajan made him his private secretary, and probably selected him as his heir. When Trajan died, Hadrian was in command of the armies of the East, and was proclaimed emperor at Antioch, Aug. 11, 117. He immediately wrote to the senate apologizing for this haste, and asking their sanction of his election, which they at once gave. Hadrian's policy was pacific. He renounced the conquests made by Trajan east of the Euphrates, concluded a treaty with the Parthians, and returned to Rome, where he celebrated a triumph in honor of his predeces- sor (118). Some warlike movements of the Sarmatians now drew him toward Dacia, but his progress was checked by intelligence of the discovery of a conspiracy at Rome, led by men of high rank. He directed the chief conspira- tors to be put to death, a severity which offend- ed many. To recover his popularity he can- celled the arrears of taxes for the last 15 years, and assured the senate that he would never again put to death a senator without their con- sent. In 119 he began his tour through the Ro- man empire, visited Gaul and Germany, and in Britain built a rampart of earth about 60 m. long for the defence of the Roman province, extending from Sol way frith to the North sea near the mouth of the Tyne. He then re- turned through Gaul, spent a winter in Spain, crossed into Mauritania, visited Egypt and western Asia, and finally paused at Athens for three years, where he was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, and presided at the pub- lic games. In this journey he won the favor of the provincials by his liberality, and by va- rious public works which he planned and exe- cuted for their benefit. The Jews having re- volted in 131, he punished them with great severity. Judea was desolated and reduced almost to a wilderness ; the Jews were ex- pelled from Jerusalem, and were forbidden to return thither, a Roman colony being planted in their place. His health declining, he chose Titus Aurelius, afterward known as Antoninus Pius, his heir, but obliged him to adopt the son of ^Elius Verus, and also M. Annius Verus, the future Marcus Aurelius. He had built a mag- nificent villa near Tibur, where he now passed much of his time. As death approached, his mind became affected, and he grew suspicious and cruel. He was an able and generally a wise ruler. His literary attainments were consid- erable ; he wrote and spoke with eloquence, and left numerous works in prose and verse, all of which are lost except a few epigrams. HADROSAURUS, a gigantic extinct dinosaurian reptile, living on the shores and in the forests of the cretaceous epoch, abundant in the re- Hadrosaurus. gion of New Jersey, where its remains have been found. It attained a length of 30 ft., its femur having been found 5 ft. lon<r, considera- bly longer than that of the great iguanodon of