A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

5o6 Period of the Five Good Emperors
He banishes
luxuries.
His knowledge
of
affairs.
Spartianus,
Eadrian, n.
with money, some with offices.
The military discipline,
which after Caesar Octavianus had declined through the
neglect of the emperors, Hadrian restored. This he did
partly by regulating the offices and the expenses, and partly
by suffering no soldier, without due cause, to be absent
from the camp. Another means to this end was the appointment
of tribunes, not for their popularity with the
troops, but because of each one's sense of justice. By his
own example, too, he encouraged the rest to strict discipline,
for he was accustomed to walk clad in armor twenty
miles a day along with his infantry.
Dining-rooms, porticos, grottoes,
he banished from the camp.
and pleasure-gardens
He himself generally wore a
simple cloak with a plain belt fastened by a buckle without
jewels; and by his side hung a sword with no more ornament
than an ivory handle. His sick troops he visited in
their quarters; and he himself always selected the place for
encampment. The office of centurion he conferred on none
but those of robust health and good character; no one
could be a tribune unless he had a full beard and was old
enough to fill his office with prudence and force. A tribune
was not permitted to accept the smallest gift from his
soldiers.
Delicacies of every kind he removed absolutely from the
army; and not only did he improve the arms and the furnishings
of the soldiers, but regulated their ages, so as to
enlist none too young for effective service and to retain no
one longer than the humane law of earlier times prescribed.
It was his especial care to know the soldiers individually
and to keep informed as to their numbers.
Furthermore he tried to acquaint himself with the military
supplies of the empire, and he examined minutely the
revenues from the provinces in order to relieve all needs;