Emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor. For Jews, Hadrian stands out as one of the cruelest of the Roman emperors, responsible for plowing the site of Jerusalem and crushing the resultant Bar Kokhva revolt, though among Roman emperors he’s generally considered one of the greatest and most benevolent, responsible for the pax Romana, bread for the poor and incredible building projects and infrastructure. In an ironic twist of fate, Antoninus Pious, his hand-picked successor, reversed the decrees of Hadrian. He allowed the Torah to be studied and its laws obeyed. He re-instituted the ban on statues of the emperor in synagogues, and allowed Jews to practice the rite of circumcision, banned by his predecessor. The Talmud includes many positive legends about Antoninus Pius, describing him as a close friend of Rabbi Judah the Prince, redactor of the Mishna (the first part of the Talmud).