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==Early life==
Although it was an accepted part of Hadrian's personal history that Hadrian was born in [[Italica]] located in the province called [[Hispania Baetica]] (the southernmost Roman province in the [[Iberian Peninsula]], comprising modern [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]), his biography in [[Augustan History]] states that he was born in Rome on 24 January, 76 AD, of a family originally Italian,<ref>But see footnotes 4 and 5.</ref> but Hispanian for many generations. However, this may be a ruse to make Hadrian look like a person from Rome instead of a person hailing from the provinces.<ref>''Historia Augusta'', 'Hadrian', I-II, here explicitly citing the autobiography. This is one of the passages in the Historia Augusta where there is no reason to suspect invention. But see now the Canto's 31 contrary arguments in the ''op.cit. supra''; among them, in the same Historia Augusta and, from the same author, Aelius Spartianus, ''Vita Sev.'' 21: ''Falsus est etiam ipse Traianus in '''suo municipe''' ac nepote diligendo'', see also [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriano#cite_note-nacimiento-0], and, characterizing him as a man of provinces (Canto, ''ibid''.): ''Vita Hadr''. 1,3: ''Quaesturam gessit Traiano quater et Articuleio consulibus, in qua cum orationem imperatoris in senatu '''agrestius pronuntians risus esset''', usque ad summam peritiam et facundiam Latinis operam dedit''</ref> His father was the Hispano-Roman [[Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer]], who as a [[Roman Senate|senator]] of [[praetor]]ian rank would spend much of his time in Rome.<ref> On the numerous senatorial families from Hispania residing at Rome and its vicinity around the time of Hadrian’s birth see R.Syme, 'Spaniards at Tivoli', in ''Roman Papers IV'' (Oxford, 1988), pp.96-114. Tivoli (Tibur) was of course the site of Hadrian’s own imperial villa.</ref> Hadrian’s forefathers came from Hadria, modern [[Atri, Italy|Atri]], an ancient town of Picenum in Italy, but the family had settled in [[Italica]] in Hispania Baetica soon after its founding by [[Scipio Africanus]].
Afer was a paternal cousin of the future Emperor [[Trajan]]. His mother was Domitia [[Paulina]] who came from Gades ([[Cádiz]]). Paulina was a daughter of a distinguished Hispano-Roman Senatorial family. Hadrian’s elder sister and only sibling was Aelia Domitia [[Paulina]], married with the triple consul [[Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus]], his niece was Julia Serviana [[Paulina]] and his great-nephew was Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, from [[Barcino]]. His parents died in 86 when Hadrian was ten, and the boy then became a ward of both Trajan and [[Publius Acilius Attianus]] (who was later Trajan’s Praetorian Prefect).<ref>Royston Lambert, ''Beloved And God'', pp.31–32.</ref> Hadrian was schooled in various subjects particular to young [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrat]]s of the day, and was so fond of learning [[Greece|Greek]] literature that he was nicknamed ''Graeculus'' ("Greekling").
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