Editing Antinous (section)

===The cult's spread===
{{multiple image|total_width=390|image1=Marble bust of Antinous portrayed here as the reborn god Dionysus, known as Lansdowne Antinous, found at Hadrian's Villa in 1769, c. 130 - 138 AD, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (UK) (16704989622).jpg|image2=Marble_bust_of_Antinous,_Fitzwilliam_Museum,_Cambridge_(16705025192).jpg|footer=The "[[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lansdowne]] Antinous" was found at Hadrian's Villa in 1769 ([[Fitzwilliam Museum]], Cambridge)}}
Hadrian was keen to disseminate the cult of Antinous throughout the Roman Empire.{{sfn|Ritner|1998|p=13}} He focused on its spread within the Greek lands, and in Summer 131 travelled these areas promoting it by presenting Antinous in a syncretised form with the more familiar deity [[Hermes]].{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=152}} On a visit to [[Trabzon|Trapezus]] in 131, he proclaimed the foundation of a temple devoted to Hermes, where the deity was probably venerated as Hermes-Antinous.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=162}} Although Hadrian preferred to associate Antinous with Hermes, he was far more widely syncretised with the god [[Dionysus]] across the Empire.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=180}}{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=277}}
The cult also spread through Egypt, and within a few years of its foundation, altars and temples to the god had been erected in Hermopolis, Alexandria, [[Oxyrhynchus]], Tebytnis, [[Lykopolis]], and [[Luxor]].{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=152}}

The cult of Antinous was never as large as those of well-established deities such as [[Zeus]], [[Dionysus]], [[Demeter]], or [[Asclepios]], or even as large as those of cults which were growing in popularity at that time, such as [[Isis]] or [[Serapis]] and was also smaller than the official imperial cult of Hadrian himself.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=184}} However, it spread rapidly throughout the Empire, with traces of the cult having been found in at least 70 cities.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=184}} The cult was most popular in Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, and the North African coast, but a large community of worshippers also existed in Italy, Spain, and northwestern Europe.{{sfn|Skinner|2013|p=334}} Artefacts in honour of Antinous have been found in an area that spans from Britain to the [[Danube]].{{sfn|Skinner|2013|p=334}}

Although the adoption of the Antinous cult was in some cases done to please Hadrian,{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=160}} the evidence makes it clear that the cult was also genuinely popular among the different societal classes in the Empire.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=190&ndash;191}}{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|p=261}} Archaeological finds point that Antinous was worshipped in both public and private settings.{{sfn|Skinner|2013|p=334}}{{sfn|Jones|2010|p=81}} In Egypt, Athens, Macedonia, and Italy, children would be named after the deity.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=192}} Part of the appeal was that Antinous had once been an ordinary person himself,{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=160}} and thus was more relatable than many other deities.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=177&ndash;178}} It is also possible, however, that his cult borrowed power from parallels between Antinous and beautiful young male immortals in the Greco-Roman pantheon like [[Apollo]], Dionysus, and Silvanus as well as mortal youths beloved by gods in classical mythology like [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], [[Hylas]], [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinth]], and [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]],{{sfn|Vout|2005|p=83}}{{sfn|Vout|2007|p=100–106}} and that images of the sensuous youth invited imaginary erotic bonding between him and his worshippers.<ref name=ahb /> These characteristics were common also to the cults of [[Attis]], [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]], and [[Adonis]].{{sfn|Danziger|Purcell|2006|p=260}} Like the latter, Antinous was treated as a [[Dying-and-rising deity|dying-and-rising god]] not only in Egypt, but in Rome and Greece; the Obelisk of Antinous in Rome describes the honour and, "Osirantinous" as "the Reborn" and "the Everlasting."{{sfn|Vout|2007|page=111}}

[[File:Antinous Aristaeus Louvre Ma578.jpg|thumb|200px|left|upright|Antinous as [[Aristaeus]] from the collection of [[Cardinal Richelieu]], now at the [[Louvre]]]]
At least 28 temples were constructed for the worship of Antinous throughout the Empire, although most were fairly modest in design; those at Tarsos, Philadelphia, and Lanuvium consisted of a four-column portico.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=185-186}} It is likely, however, that those which Hadrian was directly involved in, such as at Antinoöpolis, Bithynion, and Mantineia, were often grander, while in the majority of cases, shrines or altars to Antinous would have been erected in or near the pre-existing temples of the imperial cult, or Dionysus or Hermes.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=184&ndash;185}} Worshippers would have given [[votive offerings]] to the deity at these altars; there is evidence that he was given gifts of food and drink in Egypt, with libations and sacrifices probably being common in Greece.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=186}} Priests devoted to Antinous would have overseen this worship, with the names of some of these individuals having survived in inscriptions.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=186}} There is evidence of oracles being present at a number of Antinoan temples.{{sfn|Aelius Spartianus|p=44}}{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=186}}

Sculptures of Antinous became widespread,{{sfn|Gómez|2019|p=230}} with Hadrian probably having approved a basic model of Antinous's likeness for other sculptors to follow.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=165}}{{sfn|Vermeule|1979|p=95}} These sculptures were produced in large quantities between 130 and 138, with estimates being in the region of around 2,000, of which at least 115 survive.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=189&ndash;190}} Forty-four have been found in Italy, half of which were at Hadrian's Villa Adriana, while 12 have been found in Greece and Asia Minor, and 6 in Egypt.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=188}} Over 31 cities in the Empire, the majority in Greece and Asia Minor, issued coins depicting Antinous,{{sfn|Speller|2003|p=161}} chiefly between the years 134&ndash;35. Many were designed to be used as medallions rather than currency, some of them deliberately made with a hole so that they could be hung from the neck and used as [[talisman]]s.{{sfn|Vermeule|1979|p=95}}{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=189}} Most production of Antinous-based artefacts ceased following the 130s, although such items continued to be used by the cult's followers for several centuries.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=194}} Later survivals of his cult largely rested in the Eastern Roman Empire, where his acceptance into the pantheon of gods was better received.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thesiscommons.org/8jfp3|title=Antinous: From the Pederastic to the Divine|last=Wong|first=Desmond|date=2013}}</ref>

Games held in honour of Antinous were held in at least 9 cities and included both athletic and artistic components.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=187}} The games at Bythynion, Antinoöpolis, and Mantineia were still active by the early 3rd century, while those at Athens and Eleusis were still operating in 266&ndash;67.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|p=195}} Rumours spread throughout the Empire that at Antinous's cultic centre in Antinoöpolis, there were "sacred nights" characterised by drunken revelries, perhaps including sexual orgies.{{sfn|Lambert|1984|pp=186&ndash;187}} The cult of Antinous endured far beyond Hadrian's reign.<ref>see Trevor W. Thompson [https://www.academia.edu/9076863/Antinoos_The_New_God_Origen_on_Miracle_and_Belief_in_Third-Century_Egypt "Antinoos, The New God: Origen on Miracle and Belief in Third Century Egypt"] for the persistence of Antinous's cult and Christian reactions to it. Freely available. The relationship of P. Oxy. 63.4352 with Diocletian's accession is not entirely clear.</ref> Local coins depicting his effigy were still being struck during [[Caracalla]]'s reign, and he was invoked in a poem to celebrate the accession of [[Diocletian]],{{sfn|Vout|2007|p=89}} who reigned more than a century after Antinous' death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diocletian|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diocletian |website=Britannica |date=8 September 2023 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}}</ref>