HADRAMUT

hadramut, a district on the south coast of arabia, bounded w. by yemen, e. by oman and n. by the dahna desert. the modern arabs restrict the name to the coast between balhaf and sihut, and the valley of the wadi hadramut in the interior; in its wider and commonly accepted signification it includes also the mahra and gara coasts extending eastwards to mirbat; thus defined, its limits are between 14 deg. and 18 deg. n. and 47 deg. 30' to 55 deg. e., with a total length of 550 m. and a breadth of 150 m. the coastal plain is narrow, rarely exceeding 10 m. in width, and in places the hills extend to the seashore. the principal ports are mukalla and shihr, both considerable towns, and kusair and raida, small fishing villages; inland there are a few villages near the foot of the hills, with a limited area of cultivation irrigated by springs or wells in the hill torrent beds. behind the littoral plain a range of mountains, or rather a high plateau, falling steeply to the south and more gently to the north, extends continuously from the yemen highlands on the west to the mouth of the hadramut valley, from which a similar range extends with hardly a break to the border of oman. its crest-line is generally some 30 m. from the coast, and its average height between 4000 and 5000 ft. a number of wadis or ravines cutting deeply into the plateau run northward to the main wadi hadramut, a broad valley lying nearly east and west, with a total length from its extreme western heads on the yemen highlands to its mouth near sihut of over 500 m. beyond the valley and steadily encroaching on it lies the great desert extending for 300 m. to the borders of nejd. the most westerly village in the main valley is shabwa, in ancient days the capital, but now almost buried by the advancing desert. lower down the first large villages are henan and ajlania, near which the wadis 'amd, duwan and el 'ain unite, forming the w. kasr. in the w. duwan and its branches are the villages of haura, el hajren, kaidun and al khureba. below haura for some 60 m. there is a succession of villages with fields, gardens and date groves; several tributaries join on either side, among which the w. bin ali and w. adim from the south contain numerous villages. the principal towns are shibam, al ghurfa, saiyun, tariba, el ghuraf, tarim, formerly the chief place, 'ainat and el kasm. below the last-named place there is little cultivation or settled population. the shrines of kabr salih and kabr hud are looked on as specially sacred, and are visited by numbers of pilgrims. the former, which is in the wadi ser about 20 m. n.w. of shibam, was explored by theodore bent in 1894; the tomb itself is of no interest, but in the neighbourhood there are extensive ruins with himyaritic inscriptions on the stones. kabr hud is in the main valley some distance east of kasm; not far from it is bir borhut, a natural grotto, where fumes of burning sulphur issue from a number of volcanic vents; al-masudi mentions it in the 10th century as an active volcano. except after heavy rain, there is no running water in the hadramut valley, the cultivation therefore depends on artificial irrigation from wells. the principal crops are wheat, millet, indigo, dates and tobacco; this latter, known as hamumi tobacco, is of excellent quality. hadramut has preserved its name from the earliest times; it occurs in genesis as hazarmaveth and hadoram, sons of joktan; and the old greek geographers mention adramytta and chadramotites in their accounts of the frankincense country. the numerous ruins discovered in the w. duwan and adim, as well as in the main valley, are evidences of its former prosperity and civilization. the people, known as hadrami (plural hadarim), belong generally to the south arabian stock, claiming descent from ya'rab bin kahtan. there is, however, a large number of seyyids or descendants of the prophet, and of townsmen of northern origin, besides a considerable class of african or mixed descent. van den berg estimates the total population of hadramut (excluding the mahra and gara) at 150,000, of which he locates 50,000 in the valley between shibam and tarim, 25,000 in the w. duwan and its tributaries, and 25,000 in mukalla, shihr and the coast villages, leaving 50,000 for the non-agricultural population scattered over the rest of the country, probably an excessive estimate. the seyyids, descendants of [h.]osain, grandson of mahomet, form a numerous and highly respected aristocracy. they are divided into families, the chiefs of which are known as munsibs, who are looked on as the religious leaders of the people, and are even in some cases venerated as saints. among the leading families are the sheikh abu bakr of ainat, the el-aidrus of shihr and the sakkaf of saiyun. they do not bear arms, nor occupy themselves in trade or manual labour or even agriculture; though owning a large proportion of the land, they employ slaves or hired labourers to cultivate it. as compared with the other classes, they are well educated, and are strict in their observance of religious duties, and owing to the respect due to their descent, they exercise a strong influence both in temporal and spiritual affairs. the tribesmen, as in arabia generally, are the predominant class in the population; all the adults carry arms; some of the tribes have settled towns and villages, others lead a nomadic life, keeping, however, within the territory which is recognized as belonging to the tribe. they are divided into sections or families, each headed by a chief or abu (lit. father), while the head of the tribe is called the mukaddam or sultan; the authority of the chief depends largely on his personality: he is the leader in peace and in war, but the tribesmen are not his subjects; he can only rule with their support. the most powerful tribe at present in hadramut is the kaiti, a branch of the yafa tribe whose settlements lie farther west. originally invited by the seyyids to protect the settled districts from the attacks of marauding tribes, they have established themselves as practically the rulers of the country, and now possess the coast district with the towns of shihr and mukalla, as well as haura, hajren and shibam in the interior. the head of the family has accumulated great wealth, and risen to the highest position in the service of the nizam of hyderabad in india, as jamadar, or commander of an arab levy composed of his tribesmen, numbers of whom go abroad to seek their fortune. the kathiri tribe was formerly the most powerful; they occupy the towns of saiyun, tarim and el-ghuraf in the richest part of the main hadramut valley. the chiefs of both the kaiti and kathiri are in political relations with the british government, through the resident at aden (q.v.). the 'amudi in the w. duwan, and the nahdi, awamir and tamimi in the main valley, are the principal tribes possessing permanent villages; the saiban, hamumi and manahil occupy the mountains between the main valley and coast. the townsmen are the free inhabitants of the towns and villages as distinguished from the seyyids and the tribesmen: they do not carry arms, but are the working members of the community, merchants, artificers, cultivators and servants, and are entirely dependent on the tribes and chiefs under whose protection they live. the servile class contains a large african element, brought over formerly when the slave trade flourished on this coast; as in all mahommedan countries they are well treated, and often rise to positions of trust. as already mentioned, a large number of arabs from hadramut go abroad; the kaiti tribesmen take service in india in the irregular troops of hyderabad; emigration on a large scale has also gone on, to the dutch colonies in java and sumatra, since the beginning of the 19th century. according to the census of 1885, quoted by van den berg in his _report_ published by the government of the dutch east indies in 1886, the number of arabs in those colonies actually born in arabia was 2500, while those born in the colonies exceeded 20,000; nearly all of the former are from the towns in the hadramut valley between shibam and tarim. mukalla and shihr have a considerable trade with the red sea and persian gulf ports, as well as with the ports of aden, dhafar and muscat; a large share of this is in the hands of parsee and other british indian traders who have established themselves in the hadramut ports. the principal imports are wheat, rice, sugar, piece goods and hardware. the exports are small; the chief items are honey, tobacco and sharks' fins. in the towns in the interior the principal industries are weaving and dyeing. the mahra country adjoins the hadramut proper, and extends along the coast from sihut eastwards to the east of kamar bay, where the gara coast begins and stretches to mirbat. the sultan of the mahra, to whom sokotra also belongs, lives at kishin, a poor village consisting of a few scattered houses about 30 m. west of ras fartak. sihut is a similar village 20 m. farther west. the mountains rise to a height of 4000 ft. within a short distance of the coast, covered in places with trees, among which are the myrrh- and frankincense-bearing shrubs. these gums, for which the coast was celebrated in ancient days, are still produced; the best quality is obtained in the gara country, on the northern slope of the mountains. dhafar and the mountains behind it were visited and surveyed by mr bent's party in 1894. there are several thriving villages on the coast, of which el-hafa is the principal port of export for frankincense; 9000 cwt. is exported annually to bombay. ruins of sabaean buildings were found by j. t. bent in the neighbourhood of dhafar, and a remarkable cove or small harbour was discovered at khor rori, which he identified with the ancient port of moscha. authorities.--l. van den berg, _le hadramut et les colonies arabes_ (batavia, 1885); l. hirsch, _reise in sudarabien_ (leiden, 1897); j. t. bent, _southern arabia_ (london, 1895); a. von wrede, _reise in hadhramut_ (brunswick, 1870); h. j. carter, _trans. bombay as. soc._ (1845), 47-51; _journal r.g.s._ (1837). (r. a. w.) hadria [mod. _atri_ (q.v.)], perhaps the original terminal point of the via caecilia, italy. it belonged to the praetutii. it became a colony of rome in 290 b.c. and remained faithful to rome. the coins which it issued (probably during the punic wars), are remarkable. the crypt of the cathedral of the modern town was originally a large roman cistern; another forms the foundation of the ducal palace; and in the eastern portion of the town there is a complicated system of underground passages for collecting and storing water. see _notizie degli scavi_ (1902), 3. (t. as.) hadrian (publius aelius hadrianus), roman emperor a.d. 117-138, was born on the 24th of january a.d. 76, at italica in hispania baetica (according to others, at rome), where his ancestors, originally from hadria in picenum, had been settled since the time of the scipios. on his father's death in 85 or 86 he was placed under the guardianship of two fellow-countrymen, his kinsman ulpius trajanus (afterwards the emperor trajan), and caelius attianus (afterwards prefect of the praetorian guard). he spent the next five years at rome, but at the age of fifteen he returned to his native place and entered upon a military career. he was soon, however, recalled to rome by trajan, and appointed to the offices of _decemvir stlitibus judicandis_, _praefectus feriarum latinarum_, and _sevir turmae equitum romanorum_. about 95 he was military tribune in lower moesia. in 97 he was sent to upper germany to convey the congratulations of the army to trajan on his adoption by nerva; and, in january of the following year, he hastened to announce the death of nerva to trajan at cologne. trajan, who had been set against hadrian by reports of his extravagance, soon took him into favour again, chiefly owing to the goodwill of the empress plotina, who brought about the marriage of hadrian with (vibia) sabina, trajan's great-niece. in 101 hadrian was quaestor, in 105 tribune of the people, in 106 praetor. he served with distinction in both dacian campaigns: in the second trajan presented him with a valuable ring which he himself had received from nerva, a token of regard which seemed to designate hadrian as his successor. in 107 hadrian was _legatus praetorius_ of lower pannonia, in 108 _consul suffectus_, in 112 _archon_ at athens, _legatus_ in the parthian campaign (113-117), in 117 _consul designatus_ for the following year, in 119 consul for the third and last time only for four months. when trajan, owing to a severe illness, decided to return home from the east, he left hadrian in command of the army and governor of syria. on the 9th of august 117, hadrian, at antioch, was informed of his adoption by trajan, and, on the 11th, of the death of the latter at selinus in cilicia. according to dio cassius (lxix. 1) the adoption was entirely fictitious, the work of plotina and attianus, by whom trajan's death was concealed for a few days in order to facilitate the elevation of hadrian. whichever may have been the truth, his succession was confirmed by the army and the senate. he hastened to propitiate the former by a donative of twice the usual amount, and excused his hasty acceptance of the throne to the senate by alleging the impatient zeal of the soldiers and the necessity of an imperator for the welfare of the state. hadrian's first important act was to abandon as untenable the conquests of trajan beyond the euphrates (assyria, mesopotamia and armenia), a recurrence to the traditional policy of augustus. the provinces were unsettled, the barbarians on the borders restless and menacing, and hadrian wisely judged that the old limits of augustus afforded the most defensible frontier. mesopotamia and assyria were given back to the parthians, and the armenians were allowed a king of their own. from antioch hadrian set out for dacia to punish the roxolani, who, incensed by a reduction of the tribute hitherto paid them, had invaded the danubian provinces. an arrangement was patched up, and while hadrian was still in dacia he received news of a conspiracy against his life. four citizens of consular rank were accused of being concerned in it, and were put to death by order of the senate before he could interfere. hurrying back to rome, hadrian endeavoured to remove the unfavourable impression produced by the whole affair and to gain the goodwill of senate and people. he threw the responsibility for the executions upon the prefect of the praetorian guard, and swore that he would never punish a senator without the assent of the entire body, to which he expressed the utmost deference and consideration. large sums of money and games and shows were provided for the people, and, in addition, all the arrears of taxation for the last fifteen years (about l10,000,000) were cancelled and the bonds burnt in the forum of trajan. trajan's scheme for the "alimentation" of poor children was carried out upon a larger scale under the superintendence of a special official called _praefectus alimentorum_. the record of hadrian's journeys[1] through all parts of the empire forms the chief authority for the events of his life down to his final settlement in the capital during his last years. they can only be briefly touched upon here. his first great journey probably lasted from 121 to 126. after traversing gaul he visited the germanic provinces on the rhine, and crossed over to britain (spring, 122), where he built the great rampart from the tyne to the solway, which bears his name (see britain: _roman_). he returned through gaul into spain, and then proceeded to mauretania, where he suppressed an insurrection. a war with the parthians was averted by a personal interview with their king (123). from the parthian frontier he travelled through asia minor and the islands of the aegean to athens (autumn, 125), where he introduced various political and commercial changes, was initiated at the eleusinia, and presided at the celebration of the greater dionysia. after visiting central greece and peloponnesus, he returned by way of sicily to rome (end of 126). the next year was spent at rome, and, after a visit to africa, he set out on his second great journey (september 128). he travelled by way of athens, where he completed and dedicated the buildings (see athens) begun during his first visit, chief of which was the olympieum or temple of olympian zeus, on which occasion hadrian himself assumed the name of olympius. in the spring of 129 he visited asia minor and syria, where he invited the kings and princes of the east to a meeting (probably at samosata). having passed the winter at antioch, he set out for the south (spring, 130). he ordered jerusalem to be rebuilt (see jerusalem) under the name of aelia capitolina, and made his way through arabia to egypt, where he restored the tomb of pompey at pelusium with great magnificence. after a short stay at alexandria he took an excursion up the nile, during which he lost his favourite antinous. on the 21st of november 130, hadrian (or at any rate his wife sabina) heard the music which issued at sunrise from the statue of memnon at thebes (see memnon). from egypt hadrian returned through syria to europe (his movements are obscure), but was obliged to hurry back to palestine (spring, 133) to give his personal attention (this is denied by some historians) to the revolt of the jews, which had broken out (autumn, 131, or spring, 132) after he had left syria. the founding of a roman colony on the site of jerusalem (dio cass. lxix. 12) and the prohibition of circumcision (spartianus, _hadrianus_, 14) are said to have been the causes of the war, but authorities differ considerably as to this and as to the measures which followed the revolt (see art. jews; also e. schurer, _hist. of the jewish people_, eng. tr., div. 1, vol. ii. p. 288; and s. krauss in _jewish encyc. s.v._ "hadrian"), which lasted till 135. leaving the conduct of affairs in the hands of his most capable general, julius severus, in the spring of 134 hadrian returned to rome. the remaining years of his life were spent partly in the capital, partly in his villa at tibur. his health now began to fail, and it became necessary for him to choose a successor, as he had no children of his own. against the advice of his relatives and friends he adopted l. ceionius commodus under the name of l. aelius caesar, who was in a feeble state of health and died on the 1st of january 138, before he had an opportunity of proving his capabilities. hadrian then adopted arrius antoninus (see antoninus pius) on condition that he should adopt m. annius verus (afterwards the emperor marcus aurelius) and the son of l. aelius caesar, l. ceionius commodus (afterwards the emperor commodus). hadrian died at baiae on the 10th of july 138. he was without doubt one of the most capable emperors who ever occupied the throne, and devoted his great and varied talents to the interests of the state. one of his chief objects was the abolition of distinctions between the provinces and the mother country, finally carried out by caracalla, while at the same time he did not neglect reforms that were urgently called for in italy. provincial governors were kept under strict supervision; extortion was practically unheard of; the _jus latii_ was bestowed upon several communities; special officials were instituted for the control of the finances; and the emperor's interest in provincial affairs was shown by bis personal assumption of various municipal offices. new towns were founded and old ones restored; new streets were laid out, and aqueducts, temples and magnificent buildings constructed. in italy itself the administration of justice and the finances required special attention. four _legati juridici_ (or simply _juridici_) of consular rank were appointed for italy, who took over certain important judicial functions formerly exercised by local magistrates (cases of _fideicommissa_, the nomination of guardians). the judicial council (_consiliarii augusti_, later called _consistorium_), composed of persons of the highest rank (especially jurists), became a permanent body of advisers, although merely consultative. roman law owes much to hadrian, who instructed salvius julianus to draw up an _edictum perpetuum_, to a great extent the basis of justinian's _corpus juris_ (see m. schanz, _geschichte der romischen literatur_, iii. p. 167). in the administration of finance, in addition to the remission of arrears already mentioned, a revision of claims was ordered to be made every fifteen years, thereby anticipating the "indictions" (see calendar; chronology). direct collection of taxes by imperial procurators was substituted for the system of farming, and a special official (_advocatus fisci_) was instituted to look after the interests of the imperial treasury. the gift of "coronary gold" (_aurum coronarium_), presented to the emperor on certain occasions, was entirely remitted in the case of italy, and partly in the case of the provinces. the administration of the postal service throughout the empire was taken over by the state, and municipal officials were relieved from the burden of maintaining the imperial posts. humane regulations as to the treatment of slaves were strictly enforced; the master was forbidden to put his slave to death, but was obliged to bring him before a court of justice; if he ill-treated him it was a penal offence. the sale of slaves (male and female) for immoral and gladiatorial purposes was forbidden; the custom of putting all the household to death when their master was murdered was modified. the public baths were kept under strict supervision; the toga was ordered to be worn in public by senators and equites on solemn occasions; extravagant banquets were prohibited; rules were made to prevent the congestion of traffic in the streets. in military matters hadrian was a strict disciplinarian, but his generosity and readiness to share their hardships endeared him to the soldiers. he effected a material and moral improvement in the conditions of service and mode of life, but in other respects he does not appear to have introduced any important military reforms. during his reign an advance was made in the direction of creating an organized body of servants at the disposal of the emperor by the appointment of equites to important administrative posts, without their having performed the _militiae equestres_ (see equites). among these posts were various procuratorships (chief of which was that of the imperial fisc), and the offices _ab epistulis_, _a rationibus_ and _a libellis_ (secretary, accountant, receiver of petitions). the prefect of the praetorian guard was now the most important person in the state next to the emperor, and subsequently became a supreme judge of appeal. among the magnificent buildings erected by hadrian mention may be made of the following: in the capital, the temple of venus and roma; his splendid mausoleum, which formed the groundwork of the castle of st angelo; the pantheon of agrippa; the basilica neptuni; at tibur the great villa 8 m. in extent, a kind of epitome of the world, with miniatures of the most celebrated places in the provinces. athens, however, was the favourite site of his architectural labours; here he built the temple of olympian zeus, the panhellenion, the pantheon, the library, a gymnasium and a temple of hera. hadrian was fond of the society of learned men--poets, scholars, rhetoricians and philosophers--whom he alternately humoured and ridiculed. in painting, sculpture and music he considered himself the equal of specialists. the architect apollodorus of damascus owed his banishment and death to his outspoken criticism of the emperor's plans. the sophist favorinus was more politic; when reproached for yielding too readily to the emperor in some grammatical discussion, he replied that it was unwise to contradict the master of thirty legions. the athenaeum (q.v.) owed its foundation to hadrian. he was a man of considerable intellectual attainments, of prodigious memory, master of both latin and greek, and wrote prose and verse with equal facility. his taste, however, was curious; he preferred cato the elder, ennius and caelius antipater to cicero, virgil and sallust, the obscure poet antimachus to homer and plato. as a writer he displayed great versatility. he composed an autobiography, published under the name of his freedman phlegon; wrote speeches, fragments of two of which are preserved in inscriptions (a panegyric on his mother-in-law matidia, and an address to the soldiers at lambaesis in africa). in imitation of antimachus he wrote a work called _catachannae_, probably a kind of miscellanea. the latin and greek anthologies contain about a dozen epigrams under his name. the letter of hadrian to the consul servianus (in vopiscus, _vita saturnini_, 8) is no longer considered genuine. hadrian's celebrated dying address to his soul may here be quoted:-- "animula vagula, blandula, hospes comesque corporis, quae nunc abibis in loca pallidula, rigida, nudula; nec, ut soles, dabis iocos?" the character of hadrian exhibits a mass of contradictions, well summed up by spartianus (14, 11). he was grave and gay, affable and dignified, cruel and gentle, mean and generous, eager for fame yet not vain, impulsive and cautious, secretive and open. he hated eminent qualities in others, but gathered round him the most distinguished men of the state; at one time affectionate towards his friends, at another he mistrusted and put them to death. in fact, he was only consistent in his inconsistency (_semper in omnibus varius_). although he endeavoured to win the popular favour, he was more feared than loved. a man of unnatural passions and grossly superstitious, he was an ardent lover of nature. but, with all his faults, he devoted himself so indefatigably to the service of the state, that the period of his reign could be characterized as a "golden age." the chief ancient authorities for the reign of hadrian are: the life by aelius spartianus in the _scriptores historiae augustae_ (see augustan history and bibliography); the epitome of dio cassius (lxix.) by xiphilinus; aurelius victor, epit. 14, probably based on marius maximus; eutropius viii. 6; zonaras xi. 23; suidas, _s.v._ [greek: adrianos]: and numerous inscriptions and coins. the autobiography was used by both dio cassius and marius maximus. modern authorities: c. merivale, _hist. of the romans under the empire_, ch. lxvi.; h. schiller, _geschichte der romischen kaiserzeit_, i. 2, p. 602 (1883); j. b. bury, _the student's roman empire_ (1893), where a concise table of the journeys is given; p. von rohden, _s.v._ "aelius" (no. 64) in pauly-wissowa's _realencyclopadie_, i. 1 (1894); j. durr, _die reisen des kaisers hadrian_ (1881); f. gregorovius, _the emperor hadrian_ (eng. tr. by mary e. robinson, 1898); a. hausrath, _neutestamentliche zeitgeschichte_, iii. (1874); w. schurz, _de mutationibus in imperio ordinando ab imp. hadr. factis_, i. (bonn, 1883); j. plew, _quellenuntersuchungen zur geschichte des kaisers hadrian_ (strassburg, 1890); o. t. schulz, "leben des kaisers hadrian," _quellenanalysen_ [of spartianus' _vita_] (1904); e. kornemann, _kaiser hadrian und der letzte grosse historiker von rom_ (1905); w. weber, _untersuchungen zur geschichte des kaisers hadrianus_ (1908); h. f. hitzig, _die stellung kaiser hadrians in der romischen rechtsgeschichte_ (1892); c. schultess, _bauten des kaisers hadrian_ (1898); g. doublet, _notes sur les oeuvres litteraires de l'empereur hadrien_ (toulouse, 1893); j. b. lightfoot, _apostolic fathers_, ii. 1, 476 seq.; sir w. m. ramsay, _church in the roman empire_, pp. 320 seq.; v. schultze, in herzog-hauck's _realencyklopadie_, vii. 315; histories of roman literature by teuffel-schwabe and schanz. on aelius caesar, see _class. quart._, 1908, i. (t. k.; j. h. f.) footnote: [1] the chronology of hadrian's journeys--indeed, of the whole reign--is confused and obscure. in the above the article by von rohden in pauly-wissowa's _realencyclopadie_ has been followed. weber's (see bibliog.) is the most important discussion.