I20 ROMAN COINS FOUND AT LITTLE CHESTER. 



was a learned and accomplished man. He made a complete 

 circuit of all his provinces, and his coins have been found to have 

 upon them no less than 20 provinces. Visiting Jerusalem, he 

 caused the city to be restored, and built a temple to Jupiter 

 Capitolinus on site of Solomon's, and caused a marble swine to 

 be placed there, and heathen divinities in sacred places. He 

 first adopted ^lius Verus to be his successor, but that prince 

 dying suddenly, he then chose Antoninus, on 25th February, 138, 

 which was the last year of Hadrian's reign. The malady he 

 suffered from was dropsy, and his sufferings were very great, so 

 much so that he at one time desired to be put to death. In his 

 last hours he composed the well-known lines, " Hadrian's Address 

 to his Soul," which have been translated as follows :■ — 



" Poor little, pretty, fluttering thing, 



Must we no longer live together? 

 And dost thou prune thy trembling wing, 



To take thy flight thou know'st not whither ? 

 Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly, 



Lie all neglected, all forgot, 

 And passive, wav'ring, melancholy 



Thou dread'st, and hop'st thou know'st not what ?" 



Taken in the light of the age in which he lived, and compared 

 with those that preceded him, the character of Hadrian stands out 

 favourably. He was evidently a man of great mental power, 

 and there is much in him to admire ; though he was not altogether 

 free from the cruelty which seems to have been incident to a 

 Roman Emperor. 



The legend on this coin is of the date between A.D. 119 to 

 138. Hadrian is remarkable as being the first Roman Emperor 

 that wore a beard; before his time they were all smoothly shaven.* 

 His accomplishments were many and various, and several of 

 his great works remain, such as his temple and the bridge of 

 St. Angelo. (This coin is in possession of Mr. Lichfield.) 



ANTONINVS . PIV . AVG. Bust to right, draped, head 



'•■ Decline and Fall of Rome," p. 109. 



