Hadrian dedicates the Olympieion and founds the Panhellenion, 131–132

Hadrian dedicates the Olympieion and founds the Panhellenion

Wintering in Athens in 131–132, Hadrian dedicated the colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus, begun more than six centuries earlier, and inaugurated the Panhellenion — a league of Greek cities centred on Athens that expressed his vision of a revived Hellas within the Roman Empire.

Date

between 131 and 132exact date unknown: an interval is given

Place

Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympieion)today: Athens, Greece · Balkans and Anatolia

Participants

Hadrian, Roman Empire

Threads

Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)

Also known as

Panhellenion; Panhellenium; Olympieion; Temple of Olympian Zeus; Arch of Hadrian; Панэллинион; Олимпейон; Храм Зевса Олимпийского; Арка Адриана

Hadrian was an ardent philhellene. Before his accession he had been made an Athenian citizen and, in 112, archon of the city; as emperor he came back to Athens in 124–125, in 128 and in 131–132, was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, revised the city’s constitution and paid for new buildings and an aqueduct. The Temple of Olympian Zeus had been begun by the sons of the tyrant Peisistratus in the late 6th century BC, resumed by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV in the 2nd century BC and plundered by Sulla, who carried parts of it off to Rome. Hadrian finished it: with 104 Corinthian columns 17 m high it was the largest temple in Greece, and its cella held a colossal statue of Zeus in gold and ivory. Pausanias saw the precinct crowded with statues of the emperor, who took the title Panhellenios. The nearby Arch of Hadrian — inscribed on one side “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus” and on the other “This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus” — was possibly put up for the occasion, and the Library of Hadrian dates from the same year.

The Panhellenion, prepared since 128, admitted cities that could prove Greek descent — among them Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Argos, Rhodes, Thessalonica, Cyrene and the cities of Crete. Chiefly a religious and ceremonial body, it cast Hadrian as the heir of Pericles, whose Panhellenic congress is known only from Plutarch; the rich cities of Asia Minor showed little enthusiasm for it. The league lasted at least until the 250s. The temple was pillaged when the Heruli sacked Athens in 267 and was probably never repaired.

Connections

Related events

Plutarch’s Parallel Livesc. 96 – c. 120 · Balkans and AnatoliaHadrian posed as heir to Pericles, whose Panhellenic congress is known only from Plutarch’s Life of Pericles

Hadrian’s Pantheonbetween 114 and 118 – between 125 and 128 · Western and Central EuropeHadrian’s great building projects in Rome and in Athens

Death of Antinous and founding of AntinoöpolisOctober 130 · Middle East and Egyptthe same journey of Hadrian through Egypt and the East

Bar Kokhba Revolt132–136 · Middle East and Egyptnews of the revolt reached Hadrian in Athens

Same participants

Hadrian’s Wall122 – c. 128 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire

Same place

Costoboci sack Eleusisbetween 170 and 171 · Balkans and Anatolia

Adjacent events in the thread

Alan raid of 135135 · Balkans and Anatolia

Hadrian dedicates the Olympieion and founds the Panhellenion

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Same participants

Same place

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Meanwhile in the world

Eastern Europe

Middle East and Egypt

Central and Northern Asia

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East Asia

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