xiv.] HADRIAN'S SYSTEM. 295 the emperor. Throughout it we meet with accounts of the con- dition of the fortifications along that line, in which the writer mentions that he had replaced earthwork embankments and wooden towers by brick walls, and had everywhere examined the fortifications and trenches ; the entire statement being drawn up in such a manner as to imply that the defences were a question of primary interest to the person to whom the letter was addressed1. Indeed, Hadrian is spoken of quite plainly by Dio as having been the chief organiser of this system. The following is his account : * Hadrian used to travel from province to province, visiting both the country districts and the cities; and in the course of his inspections of the forts and walls count of he transferred some to more suitable positions, while others he dismantled or erected at new points. He also personally superintended and examined every detail; not merely the condition of the camps in general — their arms and military engines, their trenches, ramparts and palisades— but also what affected the individual soldiers, the rank and file as well as the officers — their manner of life, and dwellings and habits; and in many cases, where novel arrangements had been introduced tending to greater comfort, he remodelled and amended them. Besides this, he exercised the men in all kinds of fighting, approving some and censuring others, and instructing them all in their duties. And in order that they might profit by his example, wherever he went he led a hardy life, and never at such times availed himself of a carriage or four-wheeled chariot, but always walked or rode ; nor did he protect his head, either in 1 Arrian, Perfylus Ponti Euxini, § i«, in C. Muller's Geographi Graed Minores, vol. I. p. 376: Kal rd^pos 5«rX^ TejMjSejSXijToi T$ 4/tarlpa. ndXcu fj£» ovv yyww rb reixps rjv Kal vur & & v\Lvdov 6irrij$ rnnxqrat KO! avrb Kal ol TvpyoL, Kal jreXdoxu OP ram atfry riav fiapflapw, fv/iriye 8% els Kirfvvw Karcwn^ai TO\tofaclat rods & afrr$ fpovpovrras. 'Brei^ ft Kal rov Sppov txPW i