ore than half a million of Jews are said to
have perished. At length Julius Severus came from Britain to lead the
Roman armies, and the rebellion was suppressed. The Jews were now
forbidden to live in Jerusalem or its neighborhood, and the nation was
scattered over the habitable world.

A war which seemed about to break out with the Albanians and Iberians in
the East was prevented by Hadrian, who, with his usual policy, sent
large presents to his enemies, and thus converted them into friends. He
now returned from his travels to Rome, where he built his magnificent
villa at Tibur, the extensive ruins of which may still be seen; and he
passed the remainder of his life either at Tibur or in Rome. His health
had been affected by his incessant labors, and in A.D. 135 he was seized
with dropsy. Having no children, he adopted L. Ceionius, under the name
of L. AElius Verus, a young noble, who, however, died on the first day of
the year A.D. 138. Hadrian then adopted Arrius Antoninus (afterward the
Emperor Antoninus Pius), and presented him as his successor to the
Senators assembled around his bed. At the same time he obliged him to
adopt L. Commodus Verus, the son of the former Verus, and also M. Annius
Verus, the future Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Ill health seems now to have
fatally affected the mind and disposition of Hadrian. He became morose
and cruel. He put many eminent nobles to death, and is said to have sunk
into debauchery at his Tiburtine villa. His disease proving incurable,
he several times attempted suicide; but having removed to Baiae, hoping
for some relief in that fine climate, he died there July 10th, A.D. 138,
aged sixty-three. He was buried in the villa of Cicero, near Puteoli.
When the Senate, enraged at his cruelties in the latter part of his
life, wished to annul his acts, and would have refused him divine
honors, Antoninus interposed, and excused his adopted father on the plea
that ill health had disordered his mind. For this filial conduct he
received the name of Pius. The Senate not only numbered Hadrian among
the deities, but ordered temples to be erected in his honor. He left the
empire prosperous and at peace. During his reign the Senate lost its
importance in the administration of affairs, since Hadrian supplied its
place by a _Consistorium Principis_, or council, composed of eminent
men, presided over by a distinguished lawyer. Hadrian was fond of
letters and the arts, and adorned every part of his e