Editing Antinous (section)

===Life with Hadrian===
[[File:Marble Busts of Hadrian & Antinous, from Rome, Roman Empire, British Museum (16517587460).jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|[[British Museum]] busts of [[Bust of Hadrian|Hadrian]] (left) and [[Townley Antinous|Antinous]] (right), both part of the [[Townley Marbles]]]]
The Emperor Hadrian spent much time during his reign touring his empire,{{sfn|Gómez|2019|p=227}}{{sfn|Aldrich|Wotherspoon|2000|p=195}} and arrived in Claudiopolis in June 123, which was probably when he first encountered Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=60}}{{sfn|Everitt|2010|p=xxiii}}  Given Hadrian's personality, Lambert thought it unlikely that they had become lovers at this point, instead suggesting it probable that Antinous had been selected to be sent to Italy, where he was probably schooled at the imperial paedagogium at the [[Caelian Hill]].{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=61&ndash;62}} Hadrian meanwhile had continued to tour the empire, only returning to Italy in September 125, when he settled into [[Hadrian's Villa|his villa]] at [[Tibur]].{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=63}} It was at some point over the following three years that Antinous became his personal favourite, for by the time he left for Greece three years later, he brought Antinous with him in his personal retinue:{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=63}}{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|p=204}}

{{quote|The way that Hadrian took the boy on his travels, kept close to him at moments of spiritual, moral or physical exaltation, and, after his death, surrounded himself with his images, shows an obsessive craving for his presence, a mystical-religious need for his companionship.|Excerpt from Royston Lambert's ''Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous''{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=97}}}}

Lambert described Antinous as "the one person who seems to have connected most profoundly with Hadrian" throughout the latter's life.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=30}} Hadrian's marriage to [[Vibia Sabina|Sabina]] was unhappy,{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=39}} and there is no reliable evidence that he ever expressed a sexual attraction for women,{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|pp=216–217}} in contrast to much reliable early evidence that he was sexually attracted to boys and young men.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=90&ndash;93}} For centuries, [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|pederasty existed]] among Greece's leisured and citizen classes, with an older {{transliteration|grc|erastes}} (the "lover," aged between 20 and 40) undertaking a sexual relationship with an {{transliteration|grc|[[eromenos]]}} (the "beloved," aged between 12 and 18) and taking a key role in his (the latter's) education.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=78}}{{sfn|Speller|2003|pp=280-281}} There is no historical evidence available to support at what age Antinous became a [[favourite]] of Hadrian.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=59}}<ref>118 Fox, T. E. (2014). The Cult of Antinous and the Response of the Greek East to Hadrian's Creation of a God [Undergraduate thesis, Ohio University].</ref> Such a societal institution of pederasty was not indigenous to Roman culture, although the practice was somewhat common among the patricians. {{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

It is known that Hadrian believed Antinous to be intelligent and wise,{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=63}} and that they had a shared love of hunting,{{sfn|Jones|2010|p=82}}{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|p=204}} which was seen as a particularly manly pursuit in Roman culture.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=65}} Although none survive, it is known that Hadrian wrote both an autobiography and erotic poetry about his boy favourites; it is therefore likely that he wrote about Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=48}} During their relationship, there is no evidence that Antinous ever used his influence over Hadrian for personal or political gain.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=73&ndash;74}}

In March 127, Hadrian &ndash; probably accompanied by Antinous &ndash; travelled through the [[Sabine]] area of Italy, [[Picenum]], and [[Campania]].{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=71}} From 127 to 129, the Emperor was then afflicted with an illness that doctors were unable to explain.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=71}} In April 128, he laid the foundation stone for a temple of Venus and Rome in the city of Rome, during a ritual where he may well have been accompanied by Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=71}} From there, Hadrian went on a tour of North Africa, during which he was accompanied by Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=71&ndash;72}} In late 128, Hadrian and Antinous landed in [[Corinth]], proceeding to [[Athens]], where they remained until May 129, accompanied by Empress [[Vibia Sabina|Sabina]]; the Caesernii brothers, frequent companions of the Emperor; and Pedanius Fuscus the Younger (a great-nephew of Hadrian).{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=100&ndash;106}} It was in Athens in September 128 that they attended the annual celebrations of the [[Eleusinian Mysteries|Great Mysteries of Eleusis]], where Hadrian was initiated into the position of {{transliteration|grc|[[Eleusinian Mysteries|epoptes]]}} in the [[Telesterion]].<ref>Cassius Dio pp. 444-445 {{cite book| title = Roman History}}</ref> It is generally agreed,{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=168}} although not proven, that Antinous was also initiated at that time.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=101&ndash;106}}

[[File:Luk Konstantyna 6DSCF0032.JPG|right|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[tondo (art)|tondo]] at left depicting Hadrian's lion hunt, accompanied by Antinous, on the [[Arch of Constantine]] in Rome]]

From there they headed to [[Asia Minor]], settling in [[Antioch]] in June 129, where they were based for a year, visiting [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]], [[Arabia Petraea|Arabia]], and [[Judea (Roman province)|Judaea]].{{sfn|Everitt|2010|pp=xxiii-xxiv}} From there, Hadrian became increasingly critical of Jewish culture, which he feared opposed Romanisation, and so introduced policies banning circumcision and building a Temple of Zeus-Jupiter on the [[Temple Mount|former site]] of the [[Second Temple|Jewish Temple]].<ref>Cassius Dio p. 447 {{cite book| title = Roman History}}</ref>{{sfn|Everitt|2010|pp=279–280}} From there, they headed to Egypt.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=110&ndash;114}} Arriving in [[Alexandria]] in August 130, there they visited the sarcophagus of [[Alexander the Great]].{{sfn|Speller|2003|pp=115-116}} Although welcomed with public praise and ceremony, some of Hadrian's appointments and actions angered the city's Hellenic social elite, who began to gossip about his sexual activities, including those with Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=115&ndash;117}}

Soon after, and probably in September 130, Hadrian and Antinous travelled west to [[Roman Libya|Libya]], where they had heard of a Marousian lion causing problems for local people. They hunted down the lion, and although the exact events are unclear, it is apparent that Hadrian saved Antinous's life during their confrontation with it,{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=122}} before the beast itself was killed.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=118&ndash;121}} Hadrian widely publicised the event, casting bronze medallions of it, getting historians to write about it, commissioning [[Pancrates]] to write a poem about it,{{sfn|Opper|1996|p=173}} and having a [[tondo (art)|''tondo'']] depicting it created which was later placed on the [[Arch of Constantine]]. On this ''tondo'' it was clear that Antinous was no longer a youth, having become more muscular and hairier, perceptibly more able to resist his master; and thus, it is likely that his relationship with Hadrian was changing as a result.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=118&ndash;121}}

Throughout history there has been much controversy concerning the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous. In Royston Lambert's book ''Beloved and God'', he writes "But as far as the central issues go – the history of Antinous, his relationship with Hadrian and the death – we have precious little more information than the earliest writers."{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=24}} Many of these early writers were biased towards Hadrian especially in regard to his relationship with Antinous.{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|p=185}}{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=55–57}}

The controversy surrounding the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous is due to a lack of extant evidence for where Antinous was during the years from 123–130 CE.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=60-61}}<ref name="Fox, T. E. 2014">Fox, T. E. (2014). The Cult of Antinous and the Response of the Greek East to Hadrian's Creation of a God [Undergraduate thesis, Ohio University].</ref> The first mention of Antinous is from Pancrates and his Lion Hunt poem from 130 CE.<ref name="A.R. Birley, Hadrian 2008">A.R. Birley, Hadrian: The Restless Emperor, 241; T. Opper, Hadrian: Empire and Conflict (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008), 173.</ref>

Hard evidence regarding Antinous's life is available in the form of the Pincian obelisk on [[Pincian Hill]]. On the west side of the relief is a mutilated phrase which states "he grew up to be a beautiful youth". This would suggest that Antinous was already an [[Ephebos|ephebe]] and that he was established in his home in Bithynia when he met Hadrian.<ref>D.R. Cartlidge, D.L. Dungan, Documents for the Study of the Gospels, 195; R. Lambert, Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous, 60.</ref> Many scholars believe, with the circumstantial evidence,{{Clarify|date=September 2023}} that the relationship of Hadrian and Antinous lasted approximately three years: from 127 CE to October 130 CE, when Antinous drowned in the Nile.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=22}}<ref name="Fox, T. E. 2014"/> The conclusion is that there is little documentation for or about the actual relationship of Hadrian and Antinous.<ref name="A.R. Birley, Hadrian 2008"/>{{sfn|Aldrich|Wotherspoon|2000|p=26}}