The Library of Hadrian (aka Hadrian's Library) in Athens was constructed circa 132-134 CE as part of Roman Emperor Hadrian's grand re-building plan for the city. The library was the largest in Athens and with its columned façade and high surrounding walls, built to impress. The building was used to store important literary works and legal and administrative documents as well as offer a place to hear lectures and host various philosophical schools.
Located just outside the northern corner of the Roman Agora, the library was built on the site of Late Hellenistic and Early Roman housing. Becoming the largest library in Athens it was built to house not only books but also as a repository for the official state archives. Several important schools of learning and philosophy also occupied the building.
LIBRARIES WERE A PLACE TO HEAR LECTURES AND DISCUSS INTELLECTUAL MATTERS WITH FELLOW VISITORS IN THE TRANQUILITY OF THE LIBRARY GARDEN.
Libraries in antiquity were not generally used as lending libraries but rather as places of study and storage. Documents were usually in the form of papyrus scrolls which were kept in partitioned wooden cupboards (armaria) set in niches in the walls of the room. Libraries were also a place to hear lectures and orators, and discuss intellectual matters with fellow visitors in the tranquility of the library garden. The Library of Hadrian was famously described by Pausanias as "the building with 100 columns of Phrygian marble, with halls with painted ceilings, alabaster walls, and niches with statues, in which books were kept" (Attica).
During the invasion by the Heruli in 267 century CE, the library suffered notable damage and in 277 CE, when the city sought to better protect itself, the library was made part of a fortification wall. The library was renovated by Herculius (407-12 century CE), the Prefectus (Eparch) of the Illyricum, and a statue of him was erected at the building's entrance. The inscription related to this statue is still visible on the left side of the entrance. It is possible that at the same time an early Christian church was built in the central garden space, although this four-apse structure may have been built in the mid-5th century CE. This Christian church, Athens' first in fact, was destroyed in the 6th century CE and so replaced by a large three-aisled basilica.