the upper class of Roman society. One author has proposed to consider them part of the "Ulpio-Aelian dynasty".

Hadrian's parents died in 86 when he was ten years old. He and his sister became wards of Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus (who later became Trajan's Praetorian prefect). Hadrian was physically active and enjoyed hunting; when he was 14, Trajan called him to Rome