Hadrian's who held sway from 117 to 138 A. D. , was himself an architect. But, jealous of his fame, he tolerated no rivals, and Apollodoros, who criticised his youthful works, was satisfied by sentence of death that the emperor saw in him a superior in art, since lie dared to criticise the imperial attempts. During Hadrian's reign archi tectural activity increased both at Rome and in the provinces. We have already, as regards Rome, mentioned his buildings on the Forum (p. 85). Particularly characteristic of his time was his villa on the Tiber, in which a number of architectural monuments were copied, and in which in particular the Egyptian style was reproduced by the side of the Grecian.
Influence of Egyptian on Roman expression of Virgil, that the Romans had no art of their own, but allowed others to erect their works, finds here an interesting illustration. What we have previously met with was not Roman art, but Grecian in the service of the Romans. Wherefore should not Egyptian art be made useful also? Rome had opened her doors to Egyptian as well as to Grecian gods. The Egyptians, who held fast to their ancient culture and religion, were under Roman dominion, as well as the Greeks. The former lived in the same relations with Rome as did the latter; and if pure :esthetic proportions in the cre ations of the Greeks so inspired the Romans that they became Hellenized, so the grandeur and overpowering earnestness of the wonderland of the pyramids must have brought the might of their magic to bear upon sus ceptible spirits. No other art was so imposing and powerful, so earnest, and so awe-inspiring as that of the Egyptians; and if now even the ruins overpower and captivate our senses, what must have been the impression created by those works in the full splendor of their perfection, in all their wonderful consonance with nature's simplicity, upon an educated and thinking generation whose art, though displayed in such magnificent works, was not the outcome of their own inner consciousness, but was awakened by a foreign art ? What wonder that the tendency to the mas sive and imposing- at the cost of those more noble qualities, refinement and purity, should have been fostered into greater activity by the impression created by Egyptian art ? Temple of Venus and Hadrian's buildings of another class must be mentioned the Temple of Venus and Roma, a Corinthian pseudodipteral structure 5o metres (164 feet) wide by twice this dimension in length, with two cellx, placed back to back, while the entrances, cor responding to the pronaos and posticum of the ancient temple, were upon the opposite ends. Massive walls enclosed the cellre along the side-walls, on the interior of which were porphyry columns and statues in niches, and the whole carried a ponderous tunnel-vault. In the centre, the point
of actual contact of the cellx, there were two apses, each of which was covered by a half-dome. In each of these apses was a colossal seated figure of the Deity. The plan was designed by Hadrian, who proved himself an able architect, and who contributed materially to the broader development of Grecian temple-art, since by means of the vaulted interior he succeeded in carrying out the monumental idea, which could not so well be expressed by the wooden roof.
Other IVorks of Athens, Hadrian connected the old city with the new by a grand gateway still extant; it is an arch above which rise Corinthian columns. Of an aqueduct constructed by Hadrian there remained in the last century a series of Ionic columns the central intercolumniation of which was adorned with an arch resting on the archi trave. This served for the decoration of the spring-house. A market upon the north side of the citadel exhibits also Corinthian pilasters upon its exterior; these stand upon pedestals, and above each of them the entablature projects forward. A contemporary of Hadrian, Herodes Atticus, built at Athens, upon the southern side of the Acropolis, the Odeion, named after his wife, Regiila; he completed also, on the Ilissos, the Panatlienaic Stadium, which was constructed entirely of Pentelic iharble. He likewise erected a theatre at Corinth. A beautiful gateway at Nica, according to the inscription upon it, dates from Hadrian's time.
Jerusalem, which Titus had destroyed, was rebuilt by Hadrian under the title of 'Elia Capitolina; and in order to despoil it of its sacred cha racter he covered with a temple of Venus the site of the sepulchre of Christ, already become a place of pilgrimage for Christians. According to an inscription, all arch of triumph at Mama is one of Hadrian's struc tures. In Middle Egypt, Hadrian built the city of Antinoe to the memory of Antinous, who, in obedience to the oracle, prolonged the emperor's life by drowning himself in the Nile. This city was laid out according to a regular plan, with colonnades at the sides of the streets, those of the principal street being Doric; it was also adorned with a triple-portalled triumphal arch and other monumental buildings. To the same date belong the Corinthian temple at Nimes—still well preserved and known as the " Maison Carree,"—and another temple, generally called the " Temple of Diana," which served the purpose of a basilica and was erected in honor of the Empress Plotina, wife of Trajan.