During the First Mithridatic War, Athens was ruled by a tyrant, Aristion, installed by Mithridates the Great. In 88–85 BC, most Athenian buildings, both houses and fortifications, were leveled by the Roman general Sulla (138 BC78 BC) after the Siege of Athens and Piraeus, although many civic buildings and monuments were left intact. Under Roman rule, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. The Roman emperor Hadrian (), constructed the Library of Hadrian, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge, and finally completed the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Arch of Hadrian commemorates the foundation of the city by Hadrian, with the "city of Theseus" referred to on its inscription on one side of the arch, and the new quarter erected by Hadrian around the Temple of Zeus called the "city of Hadrian".