What distinguished Hadrian’s rule were two insights that ensured the empire’s long and prosperous future: He ended Rome’s territorial expansion, which had become strategically and economically untenable, by fortifying her boundaries with numerous "Walls of Hadrian", and he effectively "Hellenized" Rome by anointing Athens the empire’s cultural center, thereby making Greek learning and art vastly more prominent in Roman life. | What distinguished Hadrian’s rule were two insights that ensured the empire’s long and prosperous future: He ended Rome’s territorial expansion, which had become strategically and economically untenable, by fortifying her boundaries with numerous "Walls of Hadrian", and he effectively "Hellenized" Rome by anointing Athens the empire’s cultural center, thereby making Greek learning and art vastly more prominent in Roman life. |