Murder? Suicide? Accident? Sacrifice? Conspiracy?
The relationship between Hadrian and Antinous, the most powerful man of the Roman Empire and a young Greek boy from Bithynia, is known by many people. Their relationship is considered to be one of the most iconic love in Classical Antiquity. a sexual relationship between a grown man and a young boy was actually legal and accepted in the Ancient World.
Emperor Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire from 117 CE to 138 CE and is considered to be one of the ‘five good emperors’.
Hadrian met Antinous in Claudiopolis, Bithynia (modern day Turkey) in June 123 CE. Hadrian was probably attracted to the young Antinous due to the boy’s perceived wisdom. Therefore, Antinous was sent to Italy, where he was educated at the imperial paedagogium at the Caelian Hill. Antinous was educated at this academy for the next two years until Hadrian returned from his grand tour of the empire. When Hadrian settled in his villa at Tibur in in September 125 CE, the two saw each other again and this time Hadrian fell in love with the young Antinous. Historians such as Lambert explained that the main reason behind Hadrian’s love with Antinous was his unhappy marriage with his wife Sabina. It is also true that there is no clear evidence that Hadrian ever express a sexual attraction to women at all.
In September 130 CE Hadrian and Antinous travelled westward to Libya from Egypt. After arriving there they heard about a Marousian lion causing severe problems and destructions for the local inhabitants. They hunted down the lion during their expedition and it was in this particular trip that Hadrian saved Antinous’ life. we can see that Antinous was now depicted as a grown-up man. Having become more muscular, he now had more ability to resist his master Hadrian. It is likely that the relationship between Antinous and Hadrian was changing at this time.
In the crucial year of 130 CE, Hadrian and Antinous went back to Egypt in October and assembled at Heliopolis for their river cruise along the Nile. It was at this time, around the time of the festival of Osiris, that Antinous fell into the Nile and was drowned. The mysterious death of Antinous remains a debate between historians today and neither side can give an exact explanation.
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Under the slanting sunlight of late summer,
a body was found in the floodwaters of the River Nile,
near the little town of Hir-wer. It was that of a young man
aged 18 to 20, athletic in build and with hair
clustered down his neck in thick curls.
There were no signs of violence on his body.
Emperor Hadrian and his drowned boyfriend Antinous
Thus, rumors started circulating around the circumstances that led to the fatal event.
There was endless speculation, but not a clue as to why such a vigorous and healthy-looking young man had met such a premature death — apart from the evident fact that he had drowned.
Their grand romance is a tragic tale of immense love, sacrifice, mystery and scandal — but not scandalous for the reason one might think.
Homosexual relationships were not considered unusual in ancient Rome, with a man who penetrated another man — as long as he was his social inferior — perceived as behaving normally.
“However, when the ancient sources write about Hadrian and Antinous, they are concerned about Hadrian’s excessive devotion,” Professor Roche said.
on the same day that locals were commemorating the death (by drowning in the Nile) of the Egyptian god Osiris — Antinous drowned.
“In his autobiography,, Hadrian himself is said to have written that it was an accident; but others believed it was some kind of sacrifice which involved Antinous’ willing suicide,” Prof Roche said.
Malicious rumours about the circumstances surrounding Antinous’ death spread. According to Cassius Dio, the young man had agreed to sacrifice his life to ensure the emperor recovered from illness.
If he was sacrificed, it’s more likely that it wasn’t voluntary.
In ancient Egyptian tradition, sacrifices of boys in the Nile during the October Osiris festival were commonplace — with the goal to appease the gods, and ensure that the Nile flooded to its maximum capacity and fertilised the valley.
After learning of his lover’s death, the emperor’s anguish was uncontrollable — its intensity without precedent.
“Hadrian’s grief was extravagant,” Prof Roche said. “An ancient biography (The Augustan History) writes that he ‘wept like a woman’ — which is to say his grief was openly demonstrative, and lacking in the Roman male ideal of emotional self-control.”
Rather than wallow in his heartbreak, Hadrian was quick to commemorate his great love.
The small town of Hir-wer on the east bank of the Nile where Antinous died was renamed — becoming the only new city to be founded and replanned by the emperor.
Hadrian was severely saddened by the death of Antinous,,,,
it was reported that he shed tears for his young lover.
He decided to deify Antinous by following
the suggestion by the priest of Osiris in Egypt.
and became a God Antinous Osiris
Hadrian also announced that a new city should be built
on the site of Antinous’ death and was named Antinoopolis.
This was how Antinous was later seen as a deity in the eyes of many Egyptians
“When a city was founded close to the spot where Antinous drowned, Hadrian named it Antinopolis. It was a hero-cult worship.”
Unfortunate Antinoopolis vanished in time
Little remains of the city. The crumbled ruins of what was once a city of worship now surround the village of El-Shaikh Ebada — and local inhabitants reportedly bulldozed the remaining Roman Circus in 2015, to extend a Muslim cemetery.
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“The gender of those involved in a relationship was not in itself an issue,” associate professor of Latin at the University of Sydney, Paul Roche told news.com.au.
Publiched by Britisch Museum on valentine 2021
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another Publiced by Romeo (well known web by insiders)
Antinous - Hadrian and Antinous, after JL David Robert Sekulovich
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