ROMAN COINS FOUND AT LITTLE CHESTER. II9 



has not diminished since that time, though possibly it has 

 seldom been exceeded, supposing the statistics to be correct ; for 

 instance between the Po and the Apennines there were found 54 

 persons 100 years old — fourteen were no; two were 125; four 

 were 130; four were 135 to 137 ; and three 140. 



In character this Emperor was eminently mild and 

 moderate. He was a great lover of simplicity, and he was not 

 easily provoked, saying on one occasion when Demetrius, the cynic, 

 had done his best to vex him, " Thou dost all thou canst to make 

 me take thy life, but I do not kill dogs merely because they 

 bark." He was a great patron of art and letters, and though he 

 is said to have been avaricious, Tacitus said of him that he 

 was the first instance of a man becoming a better man on 

 obtaining supreme power. However this may have been, he 

 certainly is not accused of spending money on himself; it all 

 went to friends and towards the embellishment of Rome ; he re- 

 stored the Capitol, and the Temple of Jupiter, built the Temple of 

 Peace, and laid the foundations of the Coliseum. He was as great 

 an economist of time as of money, continuing to perform all the 

 duties of his office up to his last hour. He died on 24th June, 

 A.D. 79, aged 70. 



HADRIANVS . AVG . COS . HI . P . P.— Bust looking to 

 right; head laureated; rev. a figure of Justice draped, and 

 holding in right hand a balance, and in left a staff. Legend — 

 ^QVITAS . AVG . inscribed S. C Nothing visible on Exergue. 

 A.D. 117 ; reigned 20 years, from August nth, 117, to July 2nd, 

 138. ist Brass. Plate I., No. 5, Mr. Lichfield. 'Sioxwt reverses oi 

 Hadrian in ist Brass have a Britannia, but we do not know of 

 a Derbyshire example. 



Hadrian built the wall known by his name, extending 

 from mouth of the Tyne, near Newcastle, to Solway Firth, 

 according to some ; but only from the river Eden in Northumber- 

 land to the Tyne, according to others; the difference in distance 

 is considerable, being in the former case 80 miles, in the latter 8 

 miles. He built this wall on coming to Britain A.D. 120, in order 

 to prevent the incursions of the Northern barbarians. Hadrian 



