The Emperor Hadrian (fl. AD 117–138) and Medicine

摘要

Topics relevant to medicine dating to the time of Hadrian's reign range from epigraphy through to textual sources and archaeology. Some of these were represented in the Hadrian Exhibition at the British Museum in 2008. Regarding the Emperor himself, however, literary sources are few and should be viewed with caution for they depend mainly on the Historia Augusta1 which is well known to be unreliable, its provenance having for long been disputed. Hadrian was born in Rome on 24 January AD 76, he died in Baiae on 10 July AD 138, having lived for 62 years, five months and 17 days. He was buried in his Mausoleum at Rome, the present Castel Sant'Angelo. These are all the facts we know about the Emperor that are certain.2