Lost Virtues? The Old and the Different

Hellenistic rulers and Roman emperors were honoured and/or worshipped by communities because of several qualities they possessed. Aim of this contribution is to look at these virtues and to investigate which ones disappeared and which ones continued to be praised as time went by. In the second case, continuity, it has been discussed if the virtues that remained during the Roman empire were understood in the same sense they had in the Hellenistic age. The answer to this question is mostly negative and the analysis contributes to shape the gradual but deep change that occurred at the level of society from Hellenismus to the Roman empire. The survey will be focused, as far as the Roman side is concerned, on Hadrian, one of the most revered emperors whereas, when looking at the spatial perspective, the main case-study will be constituted by Pergamon and its Asclepieion.