why was hadrian less popular than trajan?
Well they were both in the top 5 list of Emperors, although as you say Trajan at 3rd just had the edge on Hadrian who was 4th. In a nutshell, if you compare the two, Trajan was all about expanding the empire and conquering new lands and peoples, which in itself led to size issues in that the vastness of the empire became difficult to manage. Hadrian on the other hand (who succeeded Trajan) decided to contract and consolidate, preferring to close borders (some big wall somewhere!) and defend. Trajan was a military man and believed in warfare, whilst although Hadrian was also a military man he was very fond of the arts and poetry. Ancient Romans werent greatly fond of an arty-farty emperor who didnt really spend a lot of time in Rome during his reign and was also a known homosexual (Antinous was his lover), Romans preferred an ambitious emperor that would keep rule for the people and bring them wealth and power through the might of Rome. Hadrian was unpopular when he ascended to become e
