Hadrian, Publius Aelius

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Hadrian, Publius Aelius (ad 76–138) Roman Emperor (117–138). Nephew and protegé of Emperor Trajan, he adopted a policy of imperial retrenchment, discouraging new conquests, relinquishing territory hard to defend, and ordering the construction of Hadrian's Wall in Britain. He erected many fine buildings, notably the vast Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, and also rebuilt the Pantheon. The erection of a shrine to Jupiter on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem provoked a Jewish revolt (132–35), which was ruthlessly suppressed.