Hadrian

Hadrian's Wall was damaged when the Sycamore Gap tree came down, analysis finds

I perked up when I saw a mention of the Roman emperor Hadrian in the news. Not because he was an especially good guy, but because there's a lot of extant art and architecture associated with him - you come to appreciate such stuff when studying the dusty past :)

For instance, Hadrian had many artworks made of his boyfriend, Antinous, who was said to be very attractive, but who sadly died by drowning in the Nile. Here are busts of Hadrian and Antinous at the British Museum ...

Another concrete example of Hadrian's existence is his villa outside of Rome ...

And, of course, then there was his wall mentioned in the news story ...

But I think more people will be familiar with something else belonging to Hadrian - his tomb in Rome - although most Catholics now call it the Castel Sant'Angelo ...