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Hadrian’s second eastern tour (128–133 CE) was the longest and most complex journey of his reign, combining cultural patronage, diplomacy, provincial administration, and ultimately war. Hadrian (reign 117–138 CE) travelled through Greece and Asia Minor before moving into Syria and the eastern frontier, visiting cities such as Palmyra and Antioch and maintaining the diplomatic settlement with the Parthian Empire. His travels then continued through Arabia Petraea and Judaea into Egypt, where the death of his companion Antinous in 130 CE led to the foundation of Antinoopolis. Athens remained a central focus of Hadrian’s philhellenism, receiving major civic and religious patronage during repeated imperial visits.
The final eastern journey also reveals the limits of Hadrian’s policy of integration and stability. His reconstruction of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, together with wider tensions in Judaea, formed part of the background to the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 CE), one of the most destructive conflicts of his reign. The contrast between monumental patronage in Greece and Egypt and violent rebellion in Judaea demonstrates the complexity of Roman imperial government: cultural benefaction and provincial engagement could strengthen loyalty, but Roman authority ultimately remained coercive. Hadrian’s return west by 134 CE thus closed a journey that encapsulated both the ambitions and contradictions of his model of empire.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Netchev, S. (2021, December 06). Map of the Hadrian’s Second Eastern Tour, 128–133 CE: Greek Culture, Eastern Diplomacy and the Crisis in Judaea. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14938/map-of-the-hadrians-second-eastern-tour-128-133-ce/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Hadrian’s Second Eastern Tour, 128–133 CE: Greek Culture, Eastern Diplomacy and the Crisis in Judaea." World History Encyclopedia, December 06, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14938/map-of-the-hadrians-second-eastern-tour-128-133-ce/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Hadrian’s Second Eastern Tour, 128–133 CE: Greek Culture, Eastern Diplomacy and the Crisis in Judaea." World History Encyclopedia, 06 Dec 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14938/map-of-the-hadrians-second-eastern-tour-128-133-ce/.
