Editing Hadrian (section)

===Greece, Asia, and Egypt (128–130); Antinous's death===
In September 128, Hadrian attended the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] again. This time his visit to Greece seems to have concentrated on Athens and [[Sparta]] – the two ancient rivals for dominance of Greece. Hadrian had played with the idea of focusing his Greek revival around the [[Amphictyonic League]] based in Delphi, but by now he had decided on something far grander. His new [[Panhellenion]] was going to be a council that would bring Greek cities together. Having set in motion the preparations&nbsp;– deciding whose claim to be a Greek city was genuine would take time&nbsp;– Hadrian set off for Ephesus.<ref>Anthony Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', pp. 215–120</ref> From Greece, Hadrian proceeded by way of Asia to Egypt, probably conveyed across the Aegean with his entourage by an Ephesian merchant, Lucius Erastus. Hadrian later sent a letter to the Council of Ephesus, supporting Erastus as a worthy candidate for town councillor and offering to pay the requisite fee.<ref>Boatwright, p. 81</ref>
[[File:Agilkia Hadriantor 03.jpg|thumb|Gateway of Hadrianus in [[Philae]]]]
Hadrian arrived in Egypt before the Egyptian New Year on 29 August 130.<ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Foertmeyer |first1=Victoria Anne |type=PhD|title=Tourism in Graeco-Roman Egypt |date=1989 |publisher=Princeton|pages=107–108}}</ref> He opened his stay in Egypt by restoring [[Pompey the Great]]'s tomb at [[Pelusium]],<ref>Birley, ''Restless Emperor'', p. 235</ref> offering sacrifice to him as a [[Greek hero cult|hero]] and composing an [[epigraph (literature)|epigraph]] for the tomb. As Pompey was universally acknowledged as responsible for establishing Rome's power in the east, this restoration was probably linked to a need to reaffirm Roman Eastern hegemony following social unrest there during Trajan's late reign.<ref>Boatwright, p. 142</ref> Hadrian and Antinous held a lion hunt in the Libyan desert; a poem on the subject by the Greek Pankrates is the earliest evidence that they travelled together.<ref>Opper, ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'', p. 173</ref>

While Hadrian and his entourage were sailing on the [[Nile]], Antinous drowned. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, and accident, suicide, murder and religious sacrifice have all been postulated. ''Historia Augusta'' offers the following account:
{{blockquote|text=During a journey on the Nile he lost Antinous, his favourite, and for this youth he wept like a woman. Concerning this incident there are varying rumours; for some claim that he had devoted himself to death for Hadrian, and others&nbsp;– what both his beauty and Hadrian's sensuality suggest. But however this may be, the Greeks deified him at Hadrian's request, and declared that oracles were given through his agency, but these, it is commonly asserted, were composed by Hadrian himself.<ref>''Historia Augusta'' (c.&nbsp;395) Hadr. 14.5–7</ref>}}

Hadrian founded the city of [[Antinopolis|Antinoöpolis]] in Antinous' honour on 30 October 130. He then continued down the Nile to [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], where his visit to the [[Colossi of Memnon]] on 20 and 21 November was commemorated by four epigrams inscribed by [[Julia Balbilla]]. After that, he headed north, reaching the [[Fayyum]] at the beginning of December.<ref>Foertmeyer, pp. 107–108</ref>