Antinoos (or Antinous or Antinoo) was the love of Hadrian, Roman Emperor (117-138 BCE) He

had Antinoos' likeness sculpted and delivered all over the Empire where it was to inspire the
masses. Antinoos died in a tragic drowning in the Nile very young and was deified by Hadrian.
Generations later, his likeness still inspires a small subset of the masses :)

Antinoos & Hadrian's world coincided with the Roman tendency to classicize its artworks in an
attempt to present itself as the archetype. In expressing their personal vision of the emperor, the
great artists of the age were united in their adaptation of classical models to the realities of their
contemporary life. Antinous, was not only a beautiful youth from Bithynia but the beloved
favourite of the Emperor. And after drowning in Egypt in 130, his image inspired artists to follow
in the footsteps of the great Greek sculptors, Calamis, Phidias, and Praxiteles, reverting to the
ancient figurative tradition in order to portray contemporary power in aesthetic, religious and
philosophical terms. Perfect models were to be found in mythology, from which portraits of
Antinous assumed the body and attitudes of heroes and deities, from the edge of India to the
coast of Portugal.

We have links to Antinoos life, his likenesses around the world, the religious cult that is still
practiced by a small group of folks and his place in Roman history. If you have additional
Antinoos information or links, please feel free to pass them on!

Hadrian
and
Antinous
"And such a one is the new God Antinous, that was the
Emperor Hadrian's minion and the slave of his unlawful
pleasure; a wreth, whom that that worshipped in obedience to
the Emperor's command, and for fear of his vengeance, knew
and confessed to be a man, and not a good or deserving man
neither, but a sordid and loathsome instrument of his master's
lust. This shameless and scandalous boy died in Egypt when
the court was there; and forthwith his Imperial Majesty issued
out an order or edict strictly requiring and commanding his
loving subjects to acknowledge his departed page a deity and to
pay him his quota of divine reverences and honours as such: a
resolution and act which did more effectually publish and
testify to the world how entirely the Emperor's unnatural
passion survived the foul object of it; and how much his master
was devoted to memory, than it recorded his own crime and
condemnation, immortalized his infamy and shame, and
 bequeathed to mankind a lasting and notorious specimen of
the true origin and extraction of all idolatry"
- ST Anthanasius, 350 AD

The deification of Antinous, his medals, statues, city, oracles,

and constellation, are well known, and still dishonor the
memory of Hadrian. Yet we may remark, that of the first fifteen
emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was
entirely correct.
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 1 Page 76
(footnote)

Faced with such harshly prudish comments, it is of no wonder that many like myself have
become fascinated in the boy whom they address. The majority of references one will see in
modern times to Antinous are either such as the above or take the form of proudly displayed
quips declaring the manes of famous homosexuals throughout history which tell us little other
than the fact that, like most Greek men or his era, Antinous participated in homosexual activities.
In deed, there are few works that even bother mentioning the boy as it has been the tendency of
the majority of historians to sweep Antinous under the rug to avoid what they consider a
defamation of Emperor Hadrian, who has long been considered one of the most successful of the
Emperors of Rome.

The story of Hadrian and Antinous, seen by some as a real life version of the myth of Zeus and
Ganymede, is a romance and a tragedy. That the young Antinous was the lover of the Emperor,
who is known for his Hellenistic ways, is of little true amazement and in itself would not have
caused a scandalous cry to echo through the centuries. However, when the boy who is thought to
have been the only true love in Hadrian's life was found drowned in the Nile it sent the Emperor
into a swell of grief so mighty that it altered the Roman world.

Hadrian
Publius Aeliues Hadrienus was born January of 76 AD, most likely in
Rome but possibly in Italica, near Seville. In his youth, he developed a
fondness for Hellenic culture that was to earn him the nickname,
"Graeculus," or "The Greekling."

In 85 AD, Hadrian's life was changed by the death of his father. The boy
was left in the care of two guardians, his father's dear friend Acilius
Attianus and his father's cousin, Trajan, who became Emperor in 98 AD.
The relationship between Hadrian and Trajan is open to speculation. It
seemed to vary between immense affection to near hatred. Since it is oft
said that the only thing that the two truly had in common was a love of
boys, it is possible though not proven that they were in fact lovers and it
has long been alleged that many of the troubles between the two were
caused by the boys they kept. It has also been alleged, with less evidence,
 Emperor Trajan that Hadrian became the lover of the Empress Plotina. While the two
"He looked stupid and was where very close, the relationship seems to have been more similar to
believed honest."
that of mentor to student as the Empress was most well known for her
learning and love of history. There also seems to have been a maternal
aspect to the relationship as in letters, Hadrian refers to Plotina as "my
dearest and most honoured mother" and she to him as, "my own dear
son."

In the year 100 AD, two years after his guardian became Emperor,
Hadrian was wed to the young great-niece of said guardian. The girl,
Sabina, was approximately 13 and still fairly young even by Roman
terms of marriage. There was never to be much fondness between Sabina
and Hadrian, and indeed there was much hostility, who were married for
purely political reasons as Sabina was the Emperor's closest unmarried
female relative. In retaliation to the lack of emotion given her by her
husband, Sabina apparently took steps to insure that Hadrian would
never have a child by her. To describe his wife, Hadrian used the words,
"moody and difficult," and declared that if he were a private citizen free
to do his own will, he would divorce her. However, despite the hostility
between the couple, Hadrian was very fond of his mother-in-law,
Matidia, who he praised as, "helpful to all, troublesome to no one, ill-
humoured with nobody." It was in her honour that the first temple in
Rome ever to be built in the name of a woman was constructed by order
of her son-in-law.

Although by 117, Hadrian had been given control of the armies of the
east and it had been rumored for many years the he was to be officially
adopted by Trajan as heir, no papers where ever produced to the effect
until the time of Trajan's death. The papers arrived in Rome two days
before the news of the Emperor's death and it was long rumored that the
Empress Sabina
clever Plotina had forged the documents to aide her protege. It is
arguable that Hadrian would most likely have been able to win the
Empire either way due to his control of the army and his connection to
Trajan by blood and marriage, but formal documents from Trajan could
hardly have hurt his cause..

While Hadrian hastily dealt with the war in Tigris and Euphrates that
Trajan had died before completing and went on to suppress the Jewish
revolts in t he Middle East, Plotina and Attianus, the other guardian of
Hadrian's childhood and current Prefect of the Guard, made swiftly to
Rome with the ashes of Trajan and praise of Hadrian. The case to crown
Hadrian Emperor was defended before the Senate with the help of
Attianus, who managed to bully the Senate into executing four of the
most distinguished consolers of Trajan's rule. These men were powerful
 and thought to be against Hadrian, whom the Senate never fully forgave
for the death sentences although there was no proof directly connecting
him to the action. For taking the trouble to help Hadrian ascend to
Emperor, Attianus was swiftly promoted to the Senate, which was seen
as a form of political extinction, for Hadrian was never to look kindly
upon anyone who implied a weakness in his position or character by
openly aiding him.

Hadrian was, throughout most of his life, known as a military man. He,
like many other young Romans, joined the army when he was a teenager
and went to train in Italica. He rose through the ranks as was befitting of
one of his position in life and became a well-respected general. He was a
leader known for such radical behavior as marching with his troops and
sleeping alongside him. Had this occurred only infrequently, one might
Hadrian's Wall
postulate that it was only for effect, but as it was a mark of the majority
of his campaigns, it would seem to be a deep felt command style.

Hadrian was also known for his architecture. It is theorized that Hadrian
actually had a hand in the design of many of the buildings that were
erected by his order. The most obvious construct of Hadrian's reign is by
far Hadrian's Wall, built to defend Roman Britain from the Scottish Picts
in the North. More impressive and important was the construction by
Hadrian of a series of defenses stretching between the Rhine and Danube
Rivers. Although these defenses where mostly of wood and failed to
survive very long, they did serve to protect Rome against the Germanic
tribes that were much more of a threat to the Empire than the Picts were.
Entrance Arch to old Athens And, of great use to the Empire and to Greece in particular, Hadrian did
much to improve the infrastructure of the East, adding new roads,
Constructed by Hadrian
aqueducts, temples, theatres, circuses, and other city improvements.

Another mark of Hadrian's reign was a strong economy. Obviously, all of

Hadrian's construction projects must have had funding, as did the
numerous well fare projects he set up. That he managed to do this
without raising taxes even after dissolving all debts owed to the
government on his crowning, says much not only for his economic
pollicies and brilliance, but also much for the waste and embezzlement of
many of his predecessors. This was undoubtedly helped by the Emperor's
memory, which was often said to be near photographic; it is claimed that
he never forgot the face and name of any he came into contact with, even
if it were only in passing. Combined with the fact that Hadrian's
extensive touring of his realms usually took place on foot or horse so that
he could get a closer feel for the provinces and their people, it is not
 difficult to see why Hadrian was so popular a man.

Antinous

Antinous was born in the town of Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Greek

province of Bithynia on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. His birth was
definitely in November and most probably on the 27th. The year of his
birth is not known, but at the time of his death in 132, he was described
as "ephebe" and "meirkakion," two words meant to convey a boy is his
late teens or a young man of around twenty. From this we can postulate
that Antinous was born in either 110, 111, or 112. His parentage is
unknown, as no details of his family have remained extant. It is thought
that his parents may have originally been mentioned in the epitaph on the
obelisk that Hadrian erected for the boy after his death, but the section
A Young Antinous where such mention is thought to have been contained is agonizingly
chipped off the stone.

Little is known as to how Antinous came to be in the house of Hadrian. It

is thought that he was taken from Claudiopolis during one of Hadrian's
tours of the provinces in 123, when the boy was around eleven or twelve.
Whether he was taken by force or went willingly is open to speculation,
but that he later became the Emperor's favorite seems to preclude his
ever being a slave since Hadrian was known to accept social boundaries.
The fact that many busts where made of an Antinous aged around
thirteen would indicate that he was a member of the Emperor's circle
soon after leaving his home. It is thought that he was taken to Rome as a
page and perhaps entered into the imperial paedagogium. The
paedagogium may have, in part, served as a harem of boys, but its
official role was that of a polishing school designed to train the boys to
become palace or civil servants. It is impossible to say exactly when
Hadrian became enamored of Antinous but it is thought to have been
sometime between the Emperor's return to Italy in 125 and his next trip
to Greece in 128, on which tour Antinous accompanied him as favorite.

It is important when discussing the relationship between Hadrian and

Antinous to give acknowledgement to the system of pederasty that
existed their time. It was primarily a Hellenic institution and that Hadrian
should have felt drawn to it is not at all unusual given his love of all
things Greek. In the old Grecian way, the love of a man for a boy was
considered to be the purest form of love. Love for a woman, ancient
 philosophers held, was a waste for a woman was an inferior being and
lust felt for a woman was a dirty thing only necessary for procreation.
But a boy was equal in all ways save age and hence worthy of adoration.
The boy in such couples, known as the "eromenos," would generally be
entering puberty when the relationship began and would leave it when he
began to show facial hair in his late teens or early twenties. Any male
who preferred the submissive role in relationships after this point was
refereed to as pathetic. The older man in the relationship, referred to as
"erastes," was usually between the ages of twenty and forty, for as was
proverbially stated, "to be a lover when old is the worst of misfortunes."
(Obviously, Hadrian did not follow this advice.) In return for the respect,
devotion, and sexual satisfaction offered by the eromenos, the erastes
would provide the boy with training in mind, body, morals, customs, and
responsibilities as well as devoted affection. As the boy's family would
most likely never have given him more than passing attentions, the
affections of his erastes were seen as healthy and good for the child. That
spiritual love should also have a physical component was seen as
obvious and proper in most circles and hence few thought anything at all
wrong or even odd about the system of pederasty. In deed, so much
poetry and art was dedicated to it that even men who never took
eromenoi and who seemed to have actually preferred the attentions of a
woman often wrote verses praising boys anyway, just so that they would
be accepted by their peers.

Antinous was the perfect eromenos for Hadrian. He was accounted

beautiful by all that beheld him, was said to have great intelligence and a
sharp wit, and was a great hunter and athlete. Hadrian was a man who
took much pleasure in art, his villa was filled with pieces collected on his
travels, and would surely have been pleased by the appearance of
Antinous, who even in life is said must have resembled the statues of
beauty that he is still known for. One of Hadrian's well-publicized
passions was for the hunt. It is well known that under Plotina's guidance,
Hadrian had become well learned and developed an appreciation for
intelligent conversation such as Antinous could be expected to provide.
And, of course, Antinous was a Greek. He was young enough and from a
stature of enough distance from that of Hadrian that the Emperor could
easily feel the superior in the relationship, but Antinous was also
extraordinary enough to maintain Hadrian's attention for a period of
several years.

The Death of Antinous

 Precisely what happened to Antinous in October of 130 is unknown. The
Historia Augusta reports, "he [Hadrian] lost his Antinous along the
Nile." Hadrian simply wrote, "He fell into the Nile." That this is all the
extant written comment from the Emperor on the subject is made all the
more frustrating by the fact that the word he used for "fell" can imply
"He lost his Antinous either an accident fall or a deliberate one. It is quite impossible to
while sailing along the definitely pick one of these options, particuarly in light of the fact that
Nile and wept for him the body of Antinous has been lost. An accidental fall seems unlikely,
like a woman. but it is an option that modern scholars are unable to completely
Concerning this, there disregard. Most historians prefer instead a theory of self-sacrifice.
are various reports:
some assert that he It is almost certain that the death was by drowning such as Hadrian
sacrificed himself for claims as the cults of Antinous, as well as the deities to which is he
Hadrian, others what often compared, proclaim. There are some that have in intervening
both his beauty and centuries suggested death by other means, but with little to no evidence.
Hadrian's excessive One theory is that Antinous was a victim of a court plot and hence
sensuality make murdered. However, Antinous had no real power at court and absolutely
obvious." no gossip relating to a murder or even strife centering on him has
-from the Historia Augusta survived, if it ever existed. That the leading suspect in this theory seems
to be the Empress Sabina seems ridiculous since Hadrian himself wrote
in Antinous's epitaph of the favorite's friendship to the Empress.
Another theory seems to center around a vague phrase that Antinous had
lost his manhood. Rather than viewing this as a strike at his homosexual
behavior, coming close to being "pathetic" as he aged, some postulate
that it implies a death from complications with castration. Granted, this
is the sort of thing that would be hushed, but Hadrian had been very
adamant about a law that prohibited castration and since Antinous was
already at least eighteen, such an operation would not have served to
preserve a boyish appearance, so there was little reason for Hadrian to
order it. Yet another bizarre theory is that he was disemboweled in an
Hadrian in Mourning oracular ceremony. That Hadrian would have allowed his beloved such a
grizzly and painful death seems highly unlikely and the theory is based
solely on the translation of the word "hierourgetheis" found in a writing
by Dio Cassius. Normally, the word would imply a sacrifice including
the removal of entrails, but it is fairly likely that he used the word
loosely or figuratively.

But even knowing that Antinous drowned in itself tells us little. It may
have been an accident. One theory purports that perhaps he was a victim
of a boating accident, tipping over a small boat which he sailing.
However, not only is there no evidence for this, but it would have been
sheer stupidity for Antinous to have been on a small boat in the section
of the Nile he is thought to have drowned in (IE that by Antinopolis)
and the Nile celebrations he is theorized to have been participating in
were that year very subdued on account of the low flooding. If we

"As Christ died for to
save mankind, so
Antinous expired at
least for the Roman
Empire."
-Beloved and God,
Royston Lambert
Coins depecting the lion
hunt on which Hadrain
saved the life of Antinous by
slaying the cat.
ignore the possibility of an accidental death, this leaves us with two
options: sacrifice or suicide, or perhaps most likely, a combination
thereof. It is sacrifice to which the writers of the ancient world most
often seem to indicate.
That Antinous may have sacrificed himself has much support. Firstly, he
was at the time in Egypt. The last two floodings of the Nile had been
unsatisfactory and there was an ancient tradition in Egypt to send a
sacrifice to drown in the river as a way of influencing the river gods to
send better floods in upcoming years. There was undoubtedly much talk
of reviving that custom in 130 for a third drought would bring famine to
Egypt, which would lead to turmoil in the Empire. That persons
drowned in the Nile tended to be deified on death may well have
appealed to Antinous.
Secondly, there was a theory in ancient Greece that by dying one could
add years to the life of the one for whom one died. The anti-psyche, as
the Greeks referred to the custom, was a furthering of the concept that
love freely given has the power to heal. That Hadrian was at the time
suffering from the illness that was later to kill him is quite possible and
Antinous may have thought that his death would heal the Emperor, who
had only days before saved Antinous's life when a hunted lion nearly
felled him.
One may well wonder why a young and vibrant man would sacrifice
himself for his Emperor and for Rome. There is the obvious answer that
people often do strange and illogical things for love. Antinous may well
have believed that he would win immortality in the waters of the Nile
and hence may not have seen his death as an end to his life. And,
although there is no direct evidence that Antinous was suffering from a
depression, he had to have realized that he was passing the age of
eromenos. Within a year or two at most Antinous would either have to
give up his position as royal favorite or accustom himself to the
condemnation, "pathetic." Whatever would become of Antinous after his
decline from favorite could only be a lessening of position and if he
truly loved Hadrian he would undoubtedly be alarmed at the prospect of
ending their relationship not only for reasons of status, but for reasons
of the heart. Or, perhaps, Antinous had simply grown to feel shame at
his position and was driven into the waters with a sense of helplessness
and lack of self worth that could scarcely be considered rare in teenagers
of any time period.
 For whatever reason Antinous entered the waters of the Nile, he did
obtain a form of immortality. Had he passed quietly from his role as
favorite he may well have disappeared from history, but with his death
and Hadrian's response to it, he was assured a place in future
remembrance.

Deifying Antinous
It is unclear as to who first proclaimed the deity of Antinous. Emperor
Hadrian was grief stricken by the death of his favorite to the point that
many contemporaries wondered if he was still able to do his job
properly. It was not uncommon for the admirers of youth prematurely
deceased to make a great show of despair and that Hadrian had not only
lost his beloved but most likely felt deep guilt for the death, whether it
was suicide, sacrifice, or a simple accident. The problem was that as
Emperor, Hadrian was expected to be able to separate his private grief
from his public self, which he seemed to have great difficulty doing.

It is possible that in his grief, Hadrian simply envisioned his lost

Antinous as a god, perhaps after a dream. However, what seems most
likely is that the Egyptians decided to bestow deity on the boy without
Hadrian's influence, as it was a fairly common practice to deify those
who died in the Nile. That the god Antinous is often seen as an aspect of
the Egyptian god Osiris, who also drowned in the Nile, may bee seen to
support this. It is certain that if the Egyptians did begin to refer to
Antinous as divine that the grief burdened Emperor would have latched
onto the theory.

Statue of Osiris-Aninous Hadrian was to remain in morning for the next eight years, ending the
from Hadrian's Villa
period only with his death. He was surrounded by sculptures of
circa 117-138 AD
Antinous as a god and dedicated numerous temples to the new deity
throughout the Empire as well as the Antinous's largest monument, the
Nile city of Antinioopolis. A new star was discovered promptly after
Antinous's death and given his name in the theory that it was his soul
shiny down on Earth. A certain bright red flower was quickly renamed
Antinoeios, wreaths of which would be given to winners in the
competitions held in Antinous's name. A poet named Pancrates wrote a
Homeric epic about the last lion hunt Antinous participated in, during
which Hadrian had to intercede to save the boy's life. Pancrates was
immediately granted a life membership into the Museion by the
Emperor. Soon statues and poetry dedicated to the young god
 abounded.

It is easy to wonder whether or not Hadrian truly believed that Antinous

had joined the gods. It is, of course, difficult if not impossible to prove
either way, but he did seem genuine in his observances. When
considering this question, one must keep in mind that being discussed is
a man seen to be a god on earth himself who was completely shattered
by his grief. It does not seem far-fetched that he may well have
convinced himself that the legends surrounding Antinous where true.
Surely it would have been comforting for him to think that his beloved
Coin Portraying the Star of
Antinous was not completely gone from the world.

That the Emperor could believe that his mortal companion had
transferred to a god is certainly odd, but not drastically so. The better
question would be as to why other people where willing to believe in
the boy-god.

For the Egyptians, it was not difficult to accept the new deity. The
believed he had sacrificed himself into the Nile in order to help them;
worship was the least they could do for him. There was a whole
pantheon of Nile gods who had entered the river to serve Osiris; they
had once been human and were now minor gods. By Egyptian standards
this was perfectly normal.

For the Greeks, the idea of a young local boy turned hero in the cause
of love would have had an undeniable appeal. In his home province of
Arcadia, Antinous was warmly accepted as an aspect of the god
Hermes, the renowned mediator who was also rumored to have been
born in Arcadia. Others saw in the beautiful youth aspects of the
popular god Dionysos, patron of the arts, wine, cordiality, and fertility.

"The Country of It is important when considering the Greek acceptance of a divine

Antinous the God" Antinous to remember that they seemed to genuinely believe in
Hadrian's own divinity. Temples to the Emperor abounded in the
Hellenistic provinces and statues of the Emperor as a god were very far
from rarities. It is not too large a step to accept a hero, beloved of a god
on earth, who may have died to help said god, into the pantheon of
lesser gods.
 It is open to debate how willing the residents of Rome where to accept
Antinous. Unlike the Greeks, the peoples of the Italian province had
never seemed to view Hadrian as more than an Emperor. While it was
not uncommon for a deceased Emperor to be entered into the hall of
gods, it was seen as the utmost bad taste to deify and Emperor still
living to take advantage of the title.

It has long been an argument for a cold shoulder from Rome that the
local provinces did not issue coins to Antinous as most of the outer
provinces did. However, this argument is rather lacking since the
provinces in question did not have the right to issue independent
coinage.
A Roman Bust of Antinous
Although Italy seems to have had little reason to accept Antinous's
initial divinity other than the will of the Emperor that he be so
recognized, there is evidence that the followers of Antinous were to be
found in Rome until the rise of the Christian Emperors.

Whatever the actual circumstances of his death, Antinous was seen in

popular myth to have died in turn for the flooding of the Nile, the
Emperor Hadrian, the Hellenistic way of life, and the Roman Empire
itself. And as the spread of Christianity was later to prove, there is a
powerful draw of a deity was lost his human body for the good of the
world, even if that world ended at the borders of the Empire.

Hadrian After Antinous

The days following Antinous's death brought great emotional upheaval
and strain to the Emperor. Trudging through a despair and sense of guilt,
Hadrian's first impulse was to follow his beloved into the otherworld.
However, Hadrian was Emperor and his life was not really his to give.
So he struggled onward while the turmoil of two selves, the private and
the empirical, straining against each other wrecked havoc on public
affairs and Hadrian's health.

It is unknown exactly what happened to the remains of Antinous. Being

drowned in the Nile, his body would have been taken by the Egyptians
for the embalming they believed necessary to survive in the afterlife. It
is likely that Hadrian allowed this procedure to honor his beloved. The
real mystery is in what happened to the body after embalming. Reports
vary on the subject and to date the body of Antinous has yet to be found
and identified. It is possible that he was entombed on the banks of the
 Nile, perhaps in the large temple that was to be the center of the city of
Antinioopolis. However, it is also fairly likely that Hadrian would have
objected to leaving his favorite buried in Egypt and may well have had
the body transported elsewhere, perhaps to the grounds of his Italian
villa. The memorial obelisk that Hadrian had constructed in honor of
Antinous would do much to solve this mystery since it proclaims to
mark the spot of his burial but for the fact that it was undeniably moved
about by numerous Emperors. Hence, the only real clue that can be
assumed from the obelisk is that the body was not left in Egypt, for the
hieroglyphics it contains are thought to be a foreign attempt to imitate
Egyptian writing rather than something completed by Egyptian artisans.
Antinous's Memorial Obelisk
which once marked his
burial spot

Whether or not the body of Antinous was entombed there, it was to be at

least two months before Hadrian was to finally leave Egypt. Much of
this time was spent planning the city of Antinioopolis and the basic
tenants of the cult of Antinous. While occupying his mind with these
The Pecile at Hadrian's Villa matters, he completed his tour of Egypt, which is recorded to have lasted
A possible burial site?
until the December following Antinous's death. There are no factual
records of his presence from that time until the following August, when
he reappeared in Greece. It is a matter of some speculation as to exactly
what the Emperor was doing for those four unaccounted months.

It is thought that on his way to Greece, Hadrian may have passed briefly
through Judea. The exact details of several edicts affecting the Jewish
peoples are confused in that they seem to have been issued sometime in
either 130 or 131. If they were in fact passed in 131, they may well have
been a result of Hadrian's grief. Early in his reign, Hadrian had outlawed
castration. He extended this in 130 or 131 to include circumcision, a
practice used by Egyptians and Arabs but of particular religious
importance to the Jews. The Egyptians were later to be given certain
exemptions to this law, but Hadrian showed no such favor to the Jewish.
The Jewish holy city of Jerusalem was re-founded by Hadrian as a
Roman colony with Greek settlers. In further disregard for Jewish
beliefs, Hadrian built a temple to Jupiter on the very spot where a great
Temple of the Jews, a center stone of Jewish religion, had stood. This
action seems particularly out of character for Hadrian, who had in the
past seemed well inclined towards the Jews and had extended much
more religious tolerance towards the Christians than most other non-
 Christian Emperors did. This lack of regard for the Jewish people was to
result in not only severe headaches for Hadrian, but in troubles that are
still effecting the world nearly two thousand years later.

In the summer of 131, Hadrian spent touring Greece, where he was met
with a warm reception. He probably stopped briefly in Bithynion, the
birth place of Antinous, where he was gifted with numerous statues of
his likeness and most likely spent some time working out the rights and
plans for the new cult of Antinous.

Leaving Bithynion, Hadrian proceeded to Athens for the dedication of

the massive temple of Olympian Zeus, a section of which was granted to
the Divine Hadrian. Sometime during 131 or 132, Hadrian first began to
make progress towards the establishment of the Panhellenion. The
Panhellenion was a council representing the Grecian cities and colonies
that did much to unify the Hellenistic world. While the Panhellenion did
not have sovereignty and was subject in all things to Rome and while it
spent much time on trivial matters such as festival organization, it gave
the Greeks a sense of unity and self confidence.

After touring Greece Hadrian seems to have disappeared again, this time
not for four months but for four years. All that is really known about his
location from 132 to 136 is that on the 5th of May, 134, he wrote a letter
in Rome. It is thought likely that he spent two years touring parts of his
Empire, returning to Rome in early Spring, 134. In Rome, Hadrian
completed his great legal codification and his mausoleum, which still
Hadrian's Mausoleum stands on the banks of the Tiber and suggests a preoccupation with
death.

In 132, Judea had erupted in a Jewish revolt, partially triggered by

Hadrian's recent anti-semantic behavior and partially fueled by centuries
of Jewish unrest under Roman occupation. The revolt led to three years
of bloody battles in which the Romans suffered great losses. When
Julius Severus was brought from Britain to lead the Roman forces in
Judea, the tide of war began to turn very slowly in favor of the Romans.
At some time, probably in late 135, Hadrian was drawn into the conflict
personally. By this point, Hadrian had completely lost patience with the
Jews, who he had fought twice in his lifetime. After the fall of Bettir in
135, the Jewish forces collapsed. The Hadrian of old would probably
have been forgiving of the survivors, who had already lost over half a
million of their colleagues, however the new Hadrian came down on
them with a violent vengeance. The leaders where gruesomely executed,
the prisoners of war where sold off as chattel at bargain prices, and the
Jewish people were banned from the city of Jerusalem. During the
course of the war, the Jews had lost over nine hundred villages and over
 six hundred thousand lives had been lost in battles and war related
complications, such as famine, disease, and fire. As had been feared by
many before the uprising began, Judea was left desolate after the
fighting stopped. Judea, which became Palaestina, was yanked from the
influence of Judaism in a motion that can still be felt very much in our
own twentieth century.

After the nightmare of Judea, Hadrian returned again to Rome in 136,

suffering from poor health and depression. He retired to his villa where
he dictated his memoirs from beneath a statue of Antinous. Sometime in
137 is thought the Sabina died of causes unknown. While this probably
did not affect Hadrian as an emotional loss, it could not have lessened
his sense of mortality. Hadrian issued a series of coins commemorating
his visits to thirty-eight of the provinces of the Empire in a deliberate
attempt to remind the world of his good deeds as Emperor. He also did
much to promote the cult of Antinous in Rome, but by 137, Hadrian's
illness had become undeniable as he became delirious with pain.

With Hadrian's obvious illness and "advanced" age (he was sixty), came
another unavoidable concern. As Sabina and his personal tastes had
ascertained, Hadrian had no heir. His nearest blood relative, a great-
nephew names Fuscus, was at the time twenty three and in Hadrian's
mind too impressionable for the throne, particularly in light of the man's
devious grandfather, whom Hadrian had long held a grudge against.
Instead, Hadrian adopted Lucius Commodus, who know became Aelius
Ceasar, a thirty-five year old who had perhaps taken Antinous's position.
The public reaction to this was one of marked opposition; it cost
Hadrian quite a bit of gold to settle the populace into acceptance of the
highly unsuitable heir. It has been theorized that perhaps Hadrian
Commodus- promoted Commodus under the assumption that he would die of the
Lucius Ceionius
illness from which he was suffering soon after taking the throne, leaving
Aelius Caeser
it to his son-in-law, the vastly popular Marcus Aurelius. However, as it
turned out, Commodus's illness dealt its final stroke when it drove
Commodus to overdose on a medication that was supposed to have
given him the strength to address the Senate on January 1st, 138, while
Hadrian was still living.

Hadrian was again devastated at the loss of a man who was definitely a
friend and quite possibly a lover. To make matters worse, in early 138,
or possibly late 137, Fuscus, enraged at being overlooked for the throne,
attempted to hatch a plot against Hadrian on the advice of his
grandfather. Hadrian had Fuscus executed and developed a paranoia
about the motives of everyone around him. Anyone who had ever felt a
hope that they would be chosen to succeed him was now fearful of the
Emperor's actions as he ranted dire threats. When Hadrian insisted on
 the suicide of his brother-in-law for little reason, the man complied but
before dying issues a cure that Hadrian would long for a death that
would evade him.

On the 25th of February, in one of his increasingly rare times of sanity,

Hadrian adopted as heir a Senator who was to be known as the Emperor
Antoninus Pius. As part of the agreement of adoption, Hadrian insisted
that Antoninus name as his heirs Commodus's son Lucius, who was
betrothed to Antoninus's daughter, and Marcus Aurelius, who, despite a
predisposition towards the arts was later to become Emperor.

After naming Antoninus heir, Hadrian withdrew from politics and public
life. True to his curse, Hadrian had lost all desire to live and his pain had
Antoninus Pius reached the point of the unbearable. He turned to active attempts at
suicide, but the dagger was forced from his weakened hand and the
doctor he order to poison him took the poison himself rather than kill his
Emperor. Enraged, Hadrian ordered the deaths of all those who stood in
way of his own death, bitterly commenting that he had the power to kill
everyone but himself. Antoninus calmly rescinded the orders and
Hadrian continued to suffer. Finally, in Naples, Hadrian took vast
amounts of medications to force an overdose. And hence he died at the
age of sixty two after nearly twenty one years of rule on the 10th of July,
138, hated by all of Rome despite undeniably being one of the greatest
of the Roman Emperors.

After his death, when most of the people who had supposedly been
victims of the bloodlust of Hadrian's last year began to crawl out of
hiding and back into Roman public life, it became clear that the
supposed reign of terror had been a mental paranoia rather than a reality.
Even so, the Senate had to be forced by Antoninus to grant Hadrian the
divine honors generally bestowed on the empirical person after death or
even to allow his ashes into the Mausoleum. Like his life, Hadrian's
death had much more of a heartfelt effect on the peoples of Greece, who
genuinely grieved his passing while the people of Rome coldly turned
their backs on his memory.

Antinous the God

The Cult of Antinous was not destined to become one of the most
influential, wealthy, or lasting religious sects of the late Roman Empire,
but it was one of the widest spread. There are defiantly traces of public
worship and recognition of the divine Antinous in some seventy cities
throughout the Empire and the vast spread of his busts implies that even
if worship of Antinous was not to occur in most homes of the Empire, his
name and his features were well known by all.
 His obvious center of worship in Egypt was his own city, Antinioopolis,
which was destined not only to be a cult center but an oasis of Greek
culture on the Nile. The city was founded on October 30th, 130, by
Hadrian's decree, but was not completed until after Hadrian's death. The
The Entrance to core citizens where chosen by lottery from Ptolemais, an upper Nile city
Antinioopolis, known for taking pride in its "pure" Greek heritage.
as seen in 1800
The Theatre at Antinioopolis
Other Egyptian cities, including Alexandria and Hermopolis also latched
on to Antinous as a popular deity. Of course, his worship was not limited
to Egypt; as we have discussed, the Greek peoples also welcomed
Antinous as a god. The city of Manthineia from which the settlers of
Antinous's hometown, Bithynion, originated was quick to claim its
connection to the new god as a "local boy done good." Athens, with its
affinity for Hadrian, also took great care to recognize Antinous, as did
numerous other Greek cities, such as Delphi, Olympia, Nikopolis, and, of
course, Hadrianopolis. That Antinous was particularly popular at home in
Asia Minor is of no mystery. He was openly exalted in twenty odd cities
in the area, including the large metropolis of Nikomedia and his now
holy place of birth, Bithynion. Perhaps with less zeal, Antinous was also
recognized in ten Italian cities as well as Hadrian's Villa, which turned
into as much a shrine to Antinous as a home to the Emperor. That relics
of Antinous have been found as far away as the Danube, Holland,
Portugal, Gaul, Malta, Lebanon, and the shores of the Black Sea implies
that he must have had a least a few followers in these far reaches as well.

The remains of the temples of Antinous imply that they were modest
buildings of small wealth. However, the god was offered daily food and
drink, birth and death festivals, and a faith filled with many mysteries
and initiations. While Antinous was sometimes identified with the
Imperial cult, he was held in more value a deity independent of the royal
family. Unlike the Imperial deities, Antinous kept his human personality
on Olympus. And, as it has oft been put, the people developed a belief in
Antinous (said by some to parallel a faith in Jesus) while few ever
bothered to hold a belief in the Imperials.

Throughout the Empire, Antinous's divinity took on several forms. Most

Antinous-Dionysos popularly in Greece, he was frequently seen as the divine ephebe who
The Divine Ephebe personified the beauty and spirit of youth. On many coins, he is seen as a
divine hero, a man who gained immortality and deity through value,
virtue, and deed. Another aspect of Antinous is of a lesser god, an aspect
of a major god. As an aspect, Antinous was generally connected with
Hermes, Dionysos, Iachos, or Osiris, but could also be seen in Apollo,
 Pan, or various local deities.

In Egypt he was most popular as a daemon. A daemon referred to a spirit

who was thought to reside in a temple and to inspire prophecies, heal
illness and work other miracles as well as serve as a mediator between
the gods and mortals. Daemons where generally benevolent and
protective, but would fight in defense of a follower and where known to
occasionally take on a task of vengeance. The acts of vengeance and the
warnings that under the control of a powerful necromancer a daemon
could be lethal where to eventually lead in the Christian concept of the
demon.

The characteristics of the god Antinous were similar to a number of other

deities. He was seen as a mediator, much as was Hermes. Akin to
Dionysos and Pan, Antinous was often seen as a patron of the arts,
particularly of the stage. Also like Hermes, Pan and Dionysos, Antinous
was thought to hold the power to renew life, which led to an image of
Antinous as a protector of crops and live stock as well as a god of
fecundity and procreation.

The main role which Antinous was seen to play is similar to a great
Antinous-Dionysos
number of other deities and it speaks of his character that he was not
simply lost among them. The most obvious thing about the god Antinous
was that he had gained divinity by rescued Hadrian from death and then
triumphing over his own death. Thus he was seen as a friend to the
deceased, a guardian of the soul and an escort through the realms of
Hades. Dionysos, although mostly known as a god of fertility, was also
known as the "Lord of Souls" after his journey into the underworld to
rescue his mother, Semele. Hermes was another famous conductor of
souls who was known to have led Persephone back from the underworld
to this world on the behest of her mother. Antinous also had an obvious
connection to the god Osiris, who was famous for being saved from
death by Isis and who latter went on to save his brothers from the
underworld. The obelisk that Hadrian constructed for Antinous states that
after his death Antinous was "raised again to life" to become a god, much
like another deity then rising in popularity, Jesus Christ.
The god Antinous was a diverse deity with many facets. Although some
would argue that this is a lack of focus was a detriment, it can also be
seen as a strength as it allowed his cult to spread much further than a
more focused worship could have.

Antinous was the last great god to arise from the Roman Empire. A
beautiful provincial youth who became the beloved of an Emperor and
then a god, Antinous was a strikingly popular figure and a last
manifestation of an Ancient spirit that would soon be lost to the world.
His name is still known, his features still recognized, and his story even
now kindles interest, reverence, and moral controversy. His name is
paraded as both a banner of gay pride through history and as a symbol of
the decadence of the Roman Empire. However, no matter what may be
thought of his morals and deeds, it is very hard to argue that providing
fuel for close to two millennia of debate and speculation is not a
remarkable achievement for a small town Grecian boy.