Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage Into Eternity Part 3

Returning to our story and Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: " 'He fell into the Nile'. Such is Hadrian's own written account of the death of Antinous-at least as it has come down to us in the abbreviation of Dio Cassius' history. Even if the Emperor's original words, in a letter of his autobiography, were more profuse, they evidently satisfied no one at the time and the telegrammatic brevity of what we now read has satisifed no one since. Hadrian's laconic and vague words merely describe, they do not explain. How, we immediately ask did Antinous fall? And why?-by accident or design? Hadrian's phrase is almost dismissively abrupt; as though he was testily repudiating other explanations being proferred by contemporary gossip without giving anything away himself. From this, the suspicion has always lingered that Hadrian knew more than he was prepared to tell. Perhaps, however, he knew less than posterity is inclined to assume. His few words may reflect nothing more than his own scanty information. Antinous' last moments may have been as much a mystery to him as they remain to us."

Now, as this series heads into the home stretch I would like to make known what some ancient and perhaps modern historians have believed or disbelieved about the death of Antinous and will tell you what I think happened and also what I believe Royston Lambert believed-at least the way I am reading him. I will use both my own words and Beloved and God at the end of this post. We are still not quite finished with the series and I definitely want to get to all questions asked by commenters. Theory number one seems to have been that there was a court conspiracy against Antinous-maybe involving Sabina or perhaps Commodus acting together or alone. I do not think this is what happened although we will never know. The reason being is that there was no need to get rid of Antinous, especially as a mechanism for keeping the imperial throne. The star of Commodus was already rising fast and Antinous could not have gained the throne even if he had desired it, which I think is extremely doubtful. Sabina and Antinous may have even got along just fine, thinking especially of the earlier days of Hadrian's reign. They had both been subjected to the emperor's whims-on the surface of things Antinous came out much better than Sabina, but I beg you to look deeper. We will never know, but was the all embracing and perhaps suffocating adoration of Hadrian that much to be treasured by a very young man, who as I think the previous posts show, could more than think for himself and fend for himself.

Theory number two is that Antinous died during a voluntary castration performed in order to save the qualities that so endeared him to Hadrian. I think we can chuck this one out the window too. First of all would Hadrian have subjected his beloved to that barbaric practice? Thinking back over the previous posts and the research I have done I think this is very unlikely-with a probability of maybe 0.0005 percent! Hadrian had extended the ban of castration begun by Domitian and even extended it to circumcision. Secondly, why would he have waited so late to do the procedure as it was most likely too late to affect Antinous' appearance by now.


Theory number three is that Antinous simply fell accidentally into the Nile or drowned on an outing on a papyrus skiff. There is absolutely no evidence for or against this theory that could throw it into the dustbin for all eternity. Think about it for a moment though, with everything that was going on in the background. Would a religion that could compete with early Christianity have started with something as simple as an ooops or in the words of Scooby Doo, ruh roh!? Who knows? I do not like this one and think there is a better explanation. Certainly accidents in history do happen and to me anyway seem to have an effect on very major events, but stay with me.


Theory number four is of a forced procedure called hierougethesis, whereby Antinous would have been sacrificed and his entrails inspected-extispicium, to determine Hadrian's future. Hadrian did have occult leanings. There is absolutely no evidence for this and think again-would he really have subjected his beloved to this horrifying ordeal even with Antinous' ok? Remember just a matter of weeks before Hadrian had put his own life on the line to save Antinous with the situation with the great lion in Libya. There is no historical evidence to support that Hadrian's fear for his own life or reign superseded that of his love for Antinous at this point.

Here is what I think happened that day or eve in October 130 AD and I think Royston Lambert and others were or are thinking along the same lines so it is not just an unemployed, homosexual peasant with minimal education who always tends to think along romantic lines and has a tendency for hero and heroine worship. I think Antinous was looking at the future and any possible role he might have once Hadrian passed from the scene. I think he found this future wanting. I think the many stories of death, resurrection and subsequent deity had affected his mind, at the very least since participating in the Eleusinian Mysteries. I do not think that Antinous was vain in any way-an incredible accomplishment with all that had been thrown his way. I believe the sometimes overwhelming stress he had to be under-both from his relationship with Hadrian and thinking about future potential enemies and possibilites maybe coalesced in his mind during those final weeks. I think Antinous did actually love Hadrian in some way-maybe hugely and realized his life would have been much different had Hadrian never crossed his path. This story has tugged hugely at my romantic and idealistic heartstrings and not just because it is a quote unquote 'gay' story. I have found 'straight' romantic stories from history and even platonic and Sapphic love stories almost equally endearing. I can't possibly go into these in the scope of this post. I think Antinous voluntarily gave himself to the Nile-definitely to help his beloved, Hadrian. Antinous also may have done this because he was thinking not vainly of being a god, but to truely be able to walk through the veils of life and death.

Once again from Beloved and God: "Though this explanation of a sacrificial death most comfortably fits the facts, the mood and the traditions of the time and place, subsequent events and the psychological probabilities, Antinous' death must always remain a mystery, and the faint possibility that it was an accident after all can never be completely obliterated. It must have been as much a mystery at the time. It is likely that no one, including Hadrian himself, fully saw and knew all that transpired in the final moments. Perhaps Antinous, along with Hadrian and others, heard the advice and admonitions of the magicians of the temple and brooded on their implications. Then the young man disappeared. Later his body was found in the river near the township where Bes was worshipped. The Emperor, his jabbering courtiers and bemused posterity were left to deduce what had happened."
The image is of a bust of Antinous from Greece at the National Archaeological museum of Athens.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage Into Eternity Part 2

Once again we go to Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "But the incredulous local folk seemed to have such an affection for another god, Bes, that they 'exceptionally frequently' incorporated his name with their own, as in 'Besamon', and thereby misled later historians into thinking that that the place itself was called 'Besa'. Now Bes was a god particularly adept at warding off danger, the god to whom the poor fellahin frequently turned to for protection. By a strange coincidence, this god's name, and therefore his unlikely place on the Nile, connected with Hadrian and his beloved Athens. For it was in a deme called 'Besa' that Hadrian had been enrolled when made a citizen of Athens twenty years before. This district had been specially incorporated into the new phyle of 'Hadrian' created in 124-5 in the Emperor's honor in Athens."


Could the synchronicity in Hadrian's life of Bes, the god who warned about danger and Besa the deme of Hadrian come together in a kind of dance in the minds of both Hadrian and Antinous? Were the two minds and lives so meshed inside the web of fate thinking some of the same things and coming to the same or differing conclusions? Did someone else in the imperial entourage not have the best interests of Antinous in mind-maybe even hating him so badly the person wished him dead? Also along this line of thinking, maybe someone didn't really have anything against Antinous personally but perhaps thought a 'sacrifice' was in order to save Hadrian? Did the many tales of death and resurrection and subsequent godhood have an effect on the mind of a young man who must have had many thoughts about his future running through his psyche? We will never know exactly what happened on the Nile in that last week of October 130 AD. It was in this strange and obscure place that the swirling waters of the Nile took Antinous to his death.
The image is of a statue of Antinous as a god in the Museo Clementino in Italy. Dear reader I never dreamed I would do so many posts about the same subject all in such a short amount of time. My mind has a tendency to wander from subject to subject as I am interested in so many things. I felt an 'intuition' to do these posts this way and for once listened to my intuition. Originally my feelings and my feelings only about what happened on the Nile and a poem to go with it were going to be the end of this series. I will think about maybe continuing a bit into the subsequent years of Hadrian's reign and Antinous' deification. Normally here at MFM I would like to break things up much more-what can I say-the 'universe' told me to do this part this way.
So hopefully after coming back very soon to do the poem and the version of history that I think happened-everyone can come to their own conclusions, I will start doing MFM the way I had originally wanted to. I kind of laugh at myself-but it is a good laugh for thinking this was going to be 6-8 posts-I had even thought of going for an apostolic or judicial twelve. This series only ever came into being because of Beloved and God. Now that Jeff Wells new book Rigorous Intuition is on its way to me through the kindness of my brother, my new mission is to order Royston Lambert's book some way so I can have a copy for myself and not on loan from the library. In a ten star rating system, I would give Beloved and God a fifteen! What can I say-just an exquisite and to me priceless to the soul to read book. Peace and be well to anyone stopping or passing through!

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage Into Eternity Part One

The imperial party visited Hermopolis Magna, the chief shrine of Thoth, the god of science, letters, and philosophy. This site had long been visited by Greek tourists. The Hellenic equivalent of Thoth was the god Hermes. There is some historical evidence that Hadrian spent some time in the city, maybe discussing the occult arts with the local priests, as Thoth was also the god of magic and astrology. Maybe in this same journey Antinous heard of a fifteen year old girl, Isidora. Isidora had drowned only a year or so ago and because she had drowned in the Nile, the giver of eternal life, she had become the deity of a local cult. The cult was assimilated to Isis in Egyptian worship and the water nymphs in Greek worship.


The imperial entourage was probably at Hermopolis while the festival of the Nile was being celebrated on 22 October. Normally this would have been a very joyous occasion with many exuberant feelings being expressed with music, echoes of gratitude over the waters for its gifts of life and river boats great and small brightly lit with lamps as they floated serenely on its waters. By October 130 AD there could not have been the same scenes playing out on it and along its shores. For two years the great river had refused its blessings. In all likelihood there were pleadings and incantations of prayer beckoning Osiris to come back from the dead and bring the life giving flood waters with him. There was a little settlement downstream and opposite Hermopolis. The very modest village had mud huts and the only building of any distinction was a temple of Rameses II, itself also comparitively humble in scale. Thoth and the gods of old Egypt were worshipped here, Ra, Hathor and Harachte amog them. The local people also had another deity they worshipped which we will talk about in the next part.
The image is of a fresco discovered at Herculaneum, one of the major cities destroyed by Vesuvius when it erupted in 79 AD.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Seven

The imperial voyage along the Nile, with the flood waters so deficient and the locals becoming anxious must have had some must have had some effect on its members. One wonders if the omens seemed particularly bad to Hadrian, who for so long had a deep interest in the spiritual and the occult. The people of Egypt held Hadrian responsible for their plight. This was because Hadrian, was also Pharaoh in this land, the god who symbolized the fertility of the earth and had powers over the rising of the Nile. In the past, Egyptians could turn their anger upon the Prefect installed by Rome. Now, however, the Pharaoh was in their midst. In the past Hadrian had played the roles of saviour and benefactor. A bad harvest in Egypt could have terrible implications not only for the already overburdened peasantry but for other cities in the Empire and for Hadrian himself. Balbilla, the scholars of Museion, temple priests and magicians, whom the esoterically inclined Hadrian must have consulted may have told him how in the distant past such a crisis was dealt with.

From Beloved and God: In remote prehistoric times the Pharaoh himself had to be sacrificed to induce the waters to rise, though later a human or animal sacrifice had been used in substitution. An oracle, so tradition went, had instructed the Pharaoh Aegyptus to sacrifice his daughter to stop famine and bring fertility. Having done so the Pharaoh hurled himself into the river, doubly to appease the giver of plenty. There was another tradition of a gaily dressed young virgin being thrown to the river as its bride to secure a plentiful inundation. In Alexandria as late as 410 AD people still talked about the times when boys by pure parents were also offered to the Nile in sacrifice by its priests on the occasion of the great popular celebration of its flood, the Neilia, on 22 October. Indeed the sacrifice of a boy to placate the angry river was to persist down to modern times. Perhaps Antinous heard and brooded on such tales as the Emperor and his advisers discussed desperate expedients to avoid impending calamity."

The two themes of death and immortality had been with the imperial party on its journey since Eleusis. Perhaps Antinous had also heard of the legend of Osiris. In that legend Osiris' death had occurred in the same month the journey was now in, October. The enemies of Osiris had dismembered his body and scattered the remains in the river Nile. Osiris returned in triumph however. His victory over death brought fertility to the land and the vision of immortality to its people. From the Egyptian Book of the Dead: "Life springs up to us from his destruction, the soul liveth again." Indeed the holy Nile brought immortality and sanctity not just to Osiris, but to all mortals who drowned in it, men women and children included. People of all ages, rank and status were venerated in shrines and temples dedicated to them along the Nile's shores.

The image is of a Roman coin picturing Sabina as Augusta.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Six

Hadrian's original entourage had grown in size from the original group of intimates which had toured the Near East, much larger in fact. As the imperial group began to cruise up the Nile there was a flotilla of barges to accompany and accomodate them. From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "Hadrian himself was surrounded by officials, the Prefect, army and naval commanders, the head (epistrategos) of each of three divisions of the country and others. Round him also gathered a literary and scholarly band. The epistrategos of Thebaid, Gallus, Marianus, wrote Homeric epigrams more fluent than those of Balbilla herself. Perhaps the ubiquitous Polemo was present and certainly a poet called Arius from the Museion. Whether the Caesarnii and Pedianus Fuscus were still in the party is not known: probably they were." Lucius Ceionus Commodus, the up and coming, good looking aristocrat may have joined the imperial party by now. The evidence for his presence is scanty but there are no pieces of evidence or objections to his being there. Commodus was 29 and soon to be named praetor and was the recommended candidate of Hadrian. If the handsome and hedonistic young man was there, his presence may not have been entirely welcomed by Antinous. Commodus, whose rank and lineage made him able to succeed Hadrian was sensed to be in the ascendant. Antinous, whose background was perceived to be inferior and could not in any way succeed Hadrian was sensed to be declining in both status and power, although he was still the imperial favorite.

During previous visits to foreign lands Hadrian had thoughtfully made arrangements for he and his entourage not to have to be supported by the local people. However, in Egypt it was taken for granted that the Pharaoh-Zeus-god and his party would be supplied by the already overburdened and over-taxed peasants. The food, drink, pack animals, fish, fowl and many other items like torches and lamps were gathered at stops along the Nile river. Some of these were items of necessity, however many were items of luxury to be consumed by the ravenous imperial party. In all likelihood the locals were not to thrilled about this as you can imagine. Although the USA and its fellow 'industrial democracies' are not quite to this stage of burden and being over-taxed by a lying and vicious elite in my humble opinion (as one of the peasants)-we are getting there quickly-Ike, JFK, Emma, Eugene,MLK-we could use your help! Sorry-a little off-topic rant. Another problem that presented itself with the imperial cruise was that it was seen as impious, even for the Pharaoh to cruise on the Nile in full flood. Hadrian did seek to avoid retribution for this, he was a man who very much believed in omens, and only sailed upon it when its waters were receding. On this journey, however, this did not seem to be helping matters very much at all.

We turn once again to Beloved and God, a book without having read and taken such delight in I could not have possibly done this series: "The problem which turned Hadrian's voyage miserable from the beginning was that in the autumn of 130 there was not much of a flood on the Nile to sail on. Already the inundation of the autumn of 129 had fallen far short of the fourteen to sixteen cubits which produced a good crop of grain, and scarcity had been the result. The usual festive Nile coins had not been produced. Now, a year later, when the flood waters had reached their height in the September of 130 they were more seriously deficient. Again in despondency no Nile coins were issued. The imperial visitors should have sailed past plains covered with water, the towns standing on their hillocks like islands of the Aegean, but this autumn there was more land visible than water." There was anxiety and fears among the local populace about the coming harvest, we wonder if there were premonitions and forebodings among the imperial entourage.

Note to any readers I might have-I have tried 3 times now to space paragraphs for easier reading-if it doesn't work this time I will have to leave it until I figure out what I did wrong-sorry for the inconvenience.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Five

In the land of Libya to the west of Alexandria, a challenge had presented itself to Hadrian. This challenge was one the emperor could not resist and perhaps looked forward to taking on. A lion over two meters in length, with a short mane and a tawny-black color was roaming that land, making large areas of it uninhabitable. The nature of this lion was so violent and cunning, that Oppian called this particular breed 'the kings of all king lions'. Hadrian assembled a party of his most hardened companions, including Antinous and left civilized Alexandria for the purifying hardships of the Libyan desert, probably in the first days of September 130 AD. By now Antinous must have been between eighteen and twenty years of age. His appearance must have changed from that of a sensual ephebe to that of a lean and muscular young man.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "It would be untrue to say that Antinous was no longer beautiful. He was no longer the smooth ephebe but a hairy, lean and virile young adult. The arrival in Egypt had perhaps coincided with this ultimate (and ceremonial) transformation of his appearance which in itself must have posed anxious problems for his future role and status with regard to his imperial lover. Perhaps Hadrian did not much like the inexorable change wrought by time and so happily delayed, since it was to be an earlier image of Antinous which he preferred to disseminate later in stone and bronze, after the lad's death. For the time being, however, the living Antinous' evident maturity assured him pride of place in the perilous and manly exploit ahead." Where and how Hadrian's party finally caught up with the huge lion we do not know. What we can know from later historical accounts is that when they did, Hadrian was the first to throw his spear and wounded the lion but did not kill it. Maybe this was to test Antinous in some way. Also from Beloved and God: "Thus even at the height of danger Hadrian could coolly almost callously, try out his companion's nerve and skill." Antinous had no time to aim and bore most of the enraged lion's wrath. Hadrian had to intervene to save him and managed to kill the lion.

Antinous must have been overwhelmed with gratitude. Hadrian had not only saved his life but had rid the people of Libya of a menacing and fearful predator. Hadrian of course made sure his exploit was made known to the world of the time. Official historians recorded the event and Pancrates made it into a Homeric epic. This exploit was also recorded on medallions and on the appropriate tondo of the Arch of Constantine. This point in their relationship was both a climax and a turning point for both of them. They were bonded as men moreso than ever, but Antinous was losing the physical qualities that Hadrian cherished and was completely dependent upon him. Hadrian also, would never again in his reign have a chance to demonstrate his physical courage and strength to the world.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Four

We come back to our story about two years later in Egypt, between August and October 130 AD. The imperial party had landed in Alexandria by now. Hadrian was greeted cordially by a people he ruled over as a Pharaoh. This was because Augustus had made Egypt a personal possession of the Emperor. Augustus had conquered Egypt in 31 BC and had kept it outside of the ordinary provincial administration of the Empire. Egypt was Rome's breadbasket. The ruler of Egypt was appointed by the Emperor as a viceroy or Prefect of only equestrian rank. Egypt had a centralized bureaucracy consisting mainly of Greeks, as the country had been largely settled by them at this stage of history. Hellenistic culture had spread from the Greek colonies of Alexandria, Naucratis and Ptolemais to the other cities around the country. Two Roman legions kept the unruly populace under control.

Hadrian's welcome in Alexandria also had another side. The Greeks resented the lack of local autonomy Rome put in place almost everywhere else in the Empire. To the Alexandrian's there was a humiliating lack of independence enjoyed by every other Greek polis, or city in the world. The Alexandrian's greeted Hadrian with public affection, honors, statues and flattery in front of him. However, behind his back they mocked him with satires aimed at his sexual inclinations, some of which involved his relationship with Antinous. From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "Already as August wore on, and the folks of the Delta anxiously peered at the muddy waters and took their measures to ascertain if the Nile's flood was promising or ominous, Hadrian, always restless, must have been longing to get away. Alexandrian scorn had rapidly cut this Pharaoh-Zeus down to puny human size. The time had come for Hadrian publicly to reassert his divine stature and heroic mission."

The image is that of Roman catacombs beneath what would have been ancient Alexandria, now modern day Kom Al-Shouqfa, Egypt. There are three levels to the catacombs and the lowest level is underwater.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Three

Eleusis provided the backdrop for one of the most ancient myths. Persephone, or Kore, the daughter of Demeter the goddess of the earth had been kidnapped and taken to Hades, the kingdom of death, or underworld, to be the wife its ruler Pluto. Demeter, also a mother archetype, was very sorrowful at the loss of her daughter and renounced the pleasures of Olympus. Demeter roamed the world, grieving and looking for her daughter, in her sorrow she brought an eternal winter to the earth. Demeter took refuge in the palace of the king of Eleusis, Keleos and as a mark of gratitude she built a temple there. Zeus ordered that Persephone be returned because mankind would become extinct without food and so that Demeter would also return to Olympus. Before Demeter returned she instructed the kings of Eleusis, Keleos, Teleos and Triptolemus about how to celebrate her rites in her temple. This was to become the Eleusinian Mysteries. Through the devotion of her mother Persephone had triumphed over death, an early example of resurrection and renewal. Persephone came to personify the seasons, as from this point on she would spend two-thirds of her life upon the earth and on-third in Hades with Pluto.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "The mysteries of Eleusis were a bridge between the old and the new religions. Unlike the eastern faiths, this cult was not monotheistic nor totalitarian in its claims. It did not impose control over its initiates by strict codes of morals and practice supervised by a non-secular priesthood organized into an extensive Church. Like them,
however, it did provide impressive ceremonies and initiations necessitating total participation of body and soul. It did offer through a sustained union with the tribulations and triumphs of its goddesses, a transcendence over the pain, problems and status of the world, and sustenance in a common brotherhood of faith."

Again in our story, there isn't one hundred percent proof that Antinous took part in the mysteries. Most historians believe he did, and knowing the depth of his relationship to Hadrian I can't imagine him not being there, maybe standing very close to Hadrian and Sabina. The ways in which the mysteries may have changed Hadrian and Antinous, especially Antinous are interesting to contemplate in the light of subsequent events.

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed the latest post involving the story of Hadrian and Antinous. Once again I need to get caught up with how the story will unfold here. Tonight or tomorrow-the universe willing I would like to put up a post about some questions that I think relate to topics about the paranormal and leave it up for two to three days at the top to see if anyone would like to comment or criticize about the hypotheses I would like to talk about. I have kind of a busy week ahead and that would allow me to work on the final stretch of the H/A saga. I have enjoyed immensely talking about this time in history and what may have happened. I had even thought of taking other historical stories and making a series of them-and perhaps I will. However, as much as I have loved doing this I have noticed that getting involved with such a series is preventing me from focussing on the three main things I started MFM for. The three being paranormal questions and studies, poetry I have enjoyed and putting up posts showing my attempts at writing, so I will have to see. One of the things I find interesting is that some paranormal and Fortean studies do cross over into historical studies from the ancient mysteries to the new exploding field of synchromysticism. I would never have had the courage to start MFM without the support of friends who blog about this subject. Peace and be well to anyone passing through!

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part Two

The immediate destination of the imperial entourage was Athens. They were to arrive in the over-crowded city in September 128 AD to participate in the Great Mysteries of Eleusis. Hadrian had already taken part in 125 AD and was initiated into the grade of mystes. He was the first Emperor since Augustus to have done this. Hadrian, with his mystical yearnings, now wanted to become an epoptes, or 'one who has seen', a higher grade of initiation that few people great or small ever achieved.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "What happened to him and Antinous and perhaps the whole imperial entourage in these warm September days of preparation, renunciation and revelation, in Athens at the sanctuary of Eleusis some fourteen miles away, was to set the tone of the succeeding journey. It was to precipitate in and around the party and especially within Hadrian himself, a transcendent fervour, a sense of divine purpose and accomplishment, which were to last for some years. The faith and confidence generated by the mysteries, the imagery and deities of the profound myth of Demeter and Persephone, charged Hadrian's actions and imagination not only for the rest of the journey but, to a waning degree, for the rest of his life. Antinous too experienced something powerful and fundamental in and around the sanctuary of Eleusis that autumn, of that we can be sure, something which was in the end to shape and to explain the obscure death on the Nile two years later and all its dramatic consequences."

We will never know what happened within the enormous hall of initiation the telestrion. This huge area seated up to 3000 people. The mysteries were revealed there for two thousand years, perhaps millions of people had witnessed them. A person of either sex, any social status or rank could attend, even slaves. The mysteries must have been so awe-inspiring and deeply beautiful to experience that not one of them broke his or her vow of secrecy about them. There were severe penalties if one did break the oath of secrecy about them. Alcibiades was sentenced to death for just making fun of the chief priest. Pausanias, usually very informative, refused to even describe the area outside of the sanctuary because he feared committing sacrilege.

The images are of remains at Eleusis. Originally I had not intended doing another post about H/A so soon, but I am working on some ideas and thought as I had this completed I would go ahead and post it. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by.

Hadrian & Antinous: Voyage to the Sun Part One

As I begin the study of the voyage that was to change the lives of Hadrian and Antinous, perhaps everyone on the journey, I will not even attempt to use my own words at the start and go again to Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God for his beautiful way with words and imagery: " No one could foresee how momentous and extraordinary the great second journey was to prove: how it would last at least four and perhaps six years; how the status of Athens in the Greek world would be transformed; how the Greeks themselves would generate a fever-pitch of self-conciousness and exultation, resulting in unprecedented unity; how the most bloodthirsty war in the reign would be almost intentionally ignited; how two of the group now entering the Greek east as mortals would soon be elevated among its gods; how all the splendour and elation of this tour would be marred by inexplicable aberrations, tragedy, grief, and breakdown and how, throughout, in one way or another it was to be haunted by the unwelcome spectre or the deliberately provoked challenge of death."

Fortunately, we can know some of the people who accompanied Hadrian and Antinous on this journey. Sabina, who had finally been made Augusta. Sabina's younger and unmarried sister, Vibia Matidia. Vibia had brought among her ladies an older but lively woman, Julia Balbilla, who was a poetess and descended from the ancient kings of Commagene-a fact she made sure everyone knew of. Balbilla was related on the maternal side of her family to Balbillus, an astrologer and Prefect of Egypt. This was the same Balbillus who had advised Nero to kill some of his loyal subjects as a way to ward off omens of death. This makes one wonder if Julia Balbilla, perhaps dabbled in the ancient occult arts herself and if the examples set by her predecessors might have had any influence on Hadrian's interest in the subject and maybe influenced Antinous' own mind with a decision he would make on this fateful journey?

Some of the male companions on this voyage were well known and most probably enjoyed by both Hadrian and Antinous. The Caesarnii brothers, Statianus, who had already done secret missions for Hadrian and Macedo, whose image has been identified on the tondo of the boar hunt riding behind Antinous. The others that were known to have been on this voyage would all die young. Hadrian's nearest blood relative, Pedanius Fuscus, a great nephew, who was already atracting attention in Rome and was seen by many as being groomed for the succession. Later on Fuscus turned out to be a disappointment and never assumed this office. From Beloved and God: "It may be unlikely that Fuscus got on well with his almost exact contemporary Antinous whom he must have known and perhaps despised. There may have been rivalry and jealousy for Hadrian's attention between them. And the presence of this young, pushing and impeccably bred heir-presumptive can have done nothing to lessen Antinous' feelings of insecurity and complication of role."

Some historians say Lucius Ceionius Commodus, who was already becoming important to Hadrian was in the entourage at the beginning of the journey. However there isn't any historical record of this, although he may have joined it later in Egypt. There was one other young man that was present from the start, Lucius Marius Vitalis. Antinous may have got along with him as the young man had no imperial pretensions. He probably died in Athens. Here is a funerary inscription about him by his mother that talks about him and his short life: I, Lucius Marius Vitalis, son to Lucius, lived seventeen years and fifty-five days. Being accomplished in book learning, I persuaded my parents to let me learn art. I departed from the city in the suite of Hadrian Augustus Caesar. While I was studying, the Fates became jealous of me. They snatched me away from art to this place.
Maria Malchis, his most unhappy mother, to her most revered son.
With this young man most likely dying during the early part of this journey, we wonder-was this an omen of events to come?

The image is of a Roman mosaic of a cat. The next part of the series is ready to go. I would like to post some things in between this and have just barely started working on the post after the next. Hopefully if all goes well I can keep the H/A posts coming with not too many days between them. Best wishes to anyone enjoying this series, other things here or just passing through.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love The Eternal Romance

Hadrian's love and obsession for Antinous went far beyond that of the erastes-eromenos or Roman pueri delicati relatonships. Hadrian's love was obsessive and inflamed his passions to enormous heights. Hadrian was in all probability, extremely jealous of Antinous. This we know because of the way he guarded Sabina from any attention and from a previous post it is obvious the two cared little for each other. Hadrian was a cautious man as emperor and was in many ways a secretive man who closely guarded his thoughts on matters of state. However, when it came to the two men in his life he adored, Antinous and Commodus he displayed his feelings for in ways that had not been seen before in the world of the time. Hadrian made Antinous a god after his death and Commodus a Caesar. This was truly remarkable. We can only guess at the reasons Hadrian felt the need to make his love for Antinous so public after his death, but I think this small quote from Beloved and God is the closest to the truth. "One senses that like a true romantic Hadrian was absorbed more by the phenomenon of his own love than by the recipients of it, that his passion was but 'a version of the glorified self '."
Hadrian's love for Antinous was all-consuming and he was obsessed with him like no other. Once Antinous had died and Hadrian was in the last years of his reign his grief may have driven him to the edge of insanity. Even with all of this going on in the background, there is no reason to believe Hadrian negelected his duties as emperor. In fact many historians think of his reign in positive terms and many rank him right along with or second to his predecessor, Trajan.

Going from what we can know from history about Antinous, as mature and wise for his age as he may have been, it makes one wonder if Hadrian's passion for him may have been very difficult to bear at times. Also from Beloved and God: "But how much more difficult it was for this boy in addition to have to play the roles of god incarnate, intellectual companion, intrepid huntsman, wise counsellor and domestic diplomat all at once!"

There was a visit to the east in the year 128 AD that Antinous joined as a party in Hadrian's entourage. During this journey one wonders if Antinous contemplated Hadrian's overwhelming affections, the many roles he had to play in his life and possible doubts about his own future. Hadrian was not going to live forever and Antinous was not a remotely possible contender for the throne, even if he had wished this, which is extremely doubtful. If Hadrian did end up enjoying a very long life would he still be attracted to Antinous and could Antinous continue to play the role in Hadrian's life he had so been a part of ? Antinous was going to be a young man soon, no longer the ephebe that seemed to be so attractive to Hadrian's sensual tastes. Antinous had a lot to deal with for such a young lad, could it all have become too much?
The image is a statue of Antinous in Berlin's Altes museum.

I have decided to keep going as long as I can with our story. The only thing that would prevent me from adding more detail as we head into the final years of it are hours available to do research, connection problems and things like that. The coming posts as we head towards the end will be of varying length and specific themes. This post ended the series of what their relationship must have been like and the story behind it, there are more mysteries to come in this series and I will put up each post as it is finished. I hope also to keep on putting posts about other topics in between these and may have one about some questions about a paranormal phenomenon here very soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love The Eternal Romance

At whatever point in Hadrian's life that Antinous entered into it, there is one thing in our story of so many 'maybes' we can be absolutely sure of. This was not the relationship between a lust filled, dirty old man and a stupid, effete catamite. Was their relationship sexual? This we will never know with 100 percent certainty, but I certainly believe it most likely was. There were no viewpoints in most of the Greco-Roman world of the time that sexual relations between an older man and a younger man was something to be viewed with disgust. In fact what we would think of as pederasty today, became by classical times in Greece, a social institution. The older male lover (erastes) aged between 20 to 40 years old was expected to give the younger male (eromenos) aged between 12 to 18, not only affection, but oversee the development of his mind, morals and body. Also the erastes was expected to train the eromenos in customs and civic responsibilities. This institution was regulated by law and tradition. Again, from Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "In the leisured Greek family of classical times, the role of women was strictly limited, children were reared by slaves and the father was absorbed by affairs of his city. There seems to have been an emotional void in the relations of the conjugal pair and between fathers and sons. Though the boys went to schools, these were despised as mere places for narrow instruction rather than for any broader education."

For whatever reason the practice flourished, by the time of Hadrian it had changed very little from the 500 years preceeding him. It should be noted that the Romans themselves did not take to the practice at all like the Greeks did. The family in Rome was a very important institution and was the foundation and the most cohesive part of Roman society. In political and cultural life in Rome women played a very important part, especially when compared to a woman's status in Greece. The Roman upper-class considered many customs of the Greeks degrading. Bisexuality, however was very common to Latins and the Roman version of the Greek system was the custom of patronage and tutorship. Many young men in Rome climbed the social ladder by becoming the lover of an older man. The Roman version was also much more self-serving and lacked the spritual qualities of the Greek erastes-eromenos ideal.

Homosexuality in Rome was not always viewed with such an accepting attitude. In the days of Julius Caesar homosexuality could be the cause of a political attack, especially if the man being accused was said to have had played the passive role during sexual relations. Julius Caesar himself was said to have had an affair with the previously mentioned last King of Bithynia, Nikomedes IV. In this affair Julius was said to have played the passive role. Bibilus called him 'the Queen of Bithynia' and Curio depicted Julius Caesar as 'every woman's man and every man's woman'. Caesar's troops were apparently not offended by this at all and when marching in triumph through Rome sang happily 'all the Gauls did Caesar vanquish but Nikomedes vanquished him'. How times have changed-can you imagine twentieth century troops singing something like this about General Patton or Marshall Zhukov? Overall it seems to me that although Greece didn't equal Rome regarding the issue of sexuality and many other cultural, social and political norms the Romans did copy Greek ways in a lot of ways, but with a much more down to earth attitude. Note to reader-if this series is new to you and you would enjoy learning more about Greco-Roman history, the ways in which Greek and Roman cultures both clashed and harmonized at times and the views they had of each other are a fascinating area of study in and of itself.

From Beloved and God: "Against this background of unrestrained sexual indulgence, there did grow up in cultivated Roman circles a more genuine pederasty with a culture modelled on Greek precedents. Symonds' remark 'that instead of love lust was the deity of the boy-lover on the shores of the Tiber' is by no means always true. Many middle-aged men had their boy-lovers (called pueri delicati or paidika) whom they nurtured with the same passionate tenderness no doubt accompanied by physical love of the ancient erastes for his eromenos. No couples could have shown more solicitude than the wealthy barrister Flavius Ursus and his fifteen year old boy, or Melior and the young lad Glaucias whom he had freed and adopted as his own. Both these boys died young and their lovers' grief is expressed by poems by Statius which despite stilted imagery, vibrate with a genuine lamentation which must have been similar to Hadrian's for Antinous. Martial too could refine his coarse interests to exquisiteness when writing of the deaths of boy-lovers. In a tradition more like that of heroic Greece, we find Julius Alexander, being pursued by assassins sent by the Emperor Commodus in 189, opting instead of an easy escape alone, to stay with his exhausted boy-lover and to die with him."

As we can see Hadrian's relationship with Antinous was not without precedent and the cultural background of their relationship was well established. Dear reader, as a gay man I found the Hadrian and Antinous story very beautiful. However this post was very hard to write as I did not want to be mis-read as promoting a return to the ideals of ancient Greece. This part of the story is about something that just was and it would have been very intellectually dishonest for me to have left it out as it is very important to this series. Peace and be well to anyone who stops by. The image is that of the remains of Hadrian's temple to Venus at the Villa Adriana.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love-The Character of Antinous

What qualities did Antinous possess that so endeared him to Hadrian? From history we have accounts of him as being vapid, uncultured, stupid and a 'creature of the senses'. There are also accounts of his as being extremely gifted intellectually, a person very learned in philosophy and who had an 'extraordinarily deep spiritual life'. Once again the discrepancies of the views of people writing accounts of him and of course many other subjects are one of the things I find so very intriguing.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "Fortunately we have some contemporary evidence to decide the issue. Hadrian himself in the epitaph on the obelisk says categorically and authoritatively that Antinous' 'heart was wise, his intelligence that of a grown man.' Arrian in his analogy which seems to refer to Antinous also speaks of the 'strength of his mind and understanding'. In other words, the lad was not stupid but sage, not retarded but precocious."

Whatever qualities Antinous truly had they must have been enough to keep Hadrian interested in him enough to sustain a relationship that lasted at least two years, but they were most likely involved with each other closer to seven. Many historians believe that the shared mysticism between the two was their strongest bond. I will get into more of this in a later post. The primitive religions of Antinous' homeland, wild yet seductively mysterious may have led the youth towards following cults and gods of ecstasy and participation.

From Beloved and God: "However much we shall stress that Antinous appears the normal variable adolescent, there clearly was a magnetic, positive quality about him which drew Hadrian, impressed contemporaries and still pervades his cold marble images. There is about him an air of innocence surviving experience, of serenity overriding anxiety, devotion overcoming doubt. Not without justice has it been said that in him Hadrian's quest for the absolute was at last fulfilled."

Another quality-and maybe one of the most important ones that Hadrian and Antinous shared was the thrill of the hunt. As a youth Trajan had chastened Hadrian for his overindulgence in the sport. In peaceful times Hadrian had tested his courage and strength by hunting wild animals. Hadrian leaves history with no questions of his skill and bravery. He once killed a huge wild boar with a single blow and there is also the lion he confronted in Libya. This incident we will get to in a later post as it is a very important part of how deep the feelings between Hadrian and Antinous must have ran. Hadrian made sure history was to know of his victories in these hunts. He had inscribed poems, the issue of coins commemorating the gods of the chase, medallions and words etched in stone so future generations could admire him. Some of those emperors, Hadrian included could have used a few lessons in humility I think!

Noting many historical sources, some written and many also of coins, medallions and other artifacts we can see Antinous was very skilled at the hunt too. This has been ignored by some historians, especially those of the early Christian Church,who sought to defame his name. These sources simply assumed an imperial favorite would be effete and not have any qualities of athletic skill and courage.

One more quote from Lambert's exquisite book, Beloved and God, regarding what possibly drew Hadrian and Antinous as close as their mutual participations in the mysteries of Eleusis: "It is scarcely over-imaginative to propose that the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous ripened in this atmosphere of shared danger and excitement, of equality of prowess and endurance, of mutual aid and dependence, of masculine bonhomie, of heroic retrospect and mystical sublimation."

Dear reader-I think I am down to just three more posts for the H/A series-I should have had so much more of this research down and down on paper to transfer here. Please accept my apologies-especially as I have not even begun writing the last three parts (one or two of them may need to be sub-divided into two posts). As I continue my research I will try to have some other things at MFM in between and hope to have the last part of the Iris/Lucia story here very soon. Peace and be well!

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love- Sabina

As our story continues some might wonder if Hadrian had any sexual attraction towards women and what his relationship with his wife, Sabina ,was like. The historical evidence that shows Hadrian had any desire for heterosexual relations is extremely limited and in some cases the origin of the claims are suspicious. The claim that Hadrian had an aldulterous affair with Plotina, the wife of Trajan, is also of dubious veracity.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "Despite the confident claims of the school which sees him as the adulterous father of Commodus, or the shamefaced suggestion that he was the lover of Plotina, there exist in the whole of the extensive ancient literature about him only three meagre references to any erotic or sexual relations with women. The Historia Augusta tells us in the same breath ('it was said') he was addicted to passion for males and to adulteries with married women. Though it provides various confirmatory evidence for the males, it is amazingly silent about the women: not a name, not a rumour, not an anecdote is given. Origen, writing in about 249 AD, and doing his best to make Antinous, recently compared to Jesus, seem an ineffective nullity even in his specialty of perverted sex, sneers that, 'he did not even keep the man [Hadrian] from a morbid lust for women. Dio Cassius twice reports the gossip of his father that Plotina was in love with Hadrian, but not, it should be carefully observed, that Hadrian was in love with her."

Hadrian may have been bisexual, but there is a paucity of evidence from history to suggest aldulterous affairs with the opposite sex. Hadrian's relationship to Trajan's wife Plotina seems to be of a mother/son nature. In fact in modern day terms Hadrian would be thought of as seeking a mother substitute, even though his real mother Domitia Paulina lived to be in her sixties during her son's reign. He was very appreciative of the support he received from the women in his life at crucial times, but even here, especially in regards to Plotina's crucial support for him throughout his life, he did not bestow the type of honors and memorials upon her passing that even came close to his memorializations and tributes to the men in his life who he was close to that died.

Hadrian's relationhip with his wife, Sabina, appeared to have been strained if not outright hostile to say the least. There was a complete lack of mutual interests between the two and they had very different temperments. Sabina must have felt deep feelings of sexual and emotional rejection by Hadrian. She must have been extremely aggravated that as Hadrian pursued the young men he lusted after, he had rejected any men from his court who might have had an interest in Sabina. Only Sabina's female admirer's such as Balbilla were left to admire 'the amiable beauty of our queen'. I think Hadrian's only sexual interest in Sabina was to sire an heir to the throne. Sabina is said to have taken measures to prevent becoming pregnant by Hadrian out of spite-who could blame her? Maybe she took one of the sterility inducing drugs mentioned by Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the first century and early second century, who wrote the Satires.

Sabina must have felt extremely lonely and frustrated in her thirty-six years of marriage to Hadrian. A marriage without love or sexual fulfillment. She was publicly humiliated by Hadrian's affairs, who had no thoughts of keeping his dalliances with young males without scandal, as Trajan had spared Plotina from humiliation by keeping his love for some of the same sex in the background and without scandal. For a long time Sabina was denied the official title of Augusta during her marriage and was also denied coinage and other commemorations that other Emperors had bestowed upon their wives. When archaeologists began exploring Hadrian's Villa Adriana, twenty-two sculptures of Antinous were found and only two of Sabina.

I have come away from my studies of Sabina feeling sorry for her, she appears to have been an elegant and intelligent woman, who had the misfortune of a bad marriage and having to go through the many humiliations and to have endured the gossip of the day. In an upcoming post we will see however that maybe Sabina should not have felt so bad about her rejection by Hadrian-who was perhaps one of those people in history who are truly only capable of loving themselves. The next post in this series is written and I want to do just one or two things before putting it up, so it should be here in a day or two.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love-When Hadrian met Antinous

How did Antinous come to meet the Emperor Hadrian? I find this question particularly fascinating, as there is so much speculation about it. L.B. Dietrichson puts them meeting as late as 129-130 AD, when a group of slaves (please note previous post about this), supposedly including Antinous, were sent to Hadrian's camp. This date is now considered to be far too late. Dietrichson also had an interesting quote about Antinous in regards to the slanders cast upon him; "Antinous is the reflection which awakening Christianity throws back on dying antiquity."
I wonder what the leaders of the early Christian Church would have made of this?

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "Rydberg has Antinous as an earnest and brilliant student of philosophy meeting Hadrian in Athens at some unspecified time. Marguerite Yourcenar depicts the Emperor's eyes first resting on the form of a youth lolling, half absracted, next to a pool in the palace of Nikomedia in 123 AD. Carandini suggests that Hadrian encountered the boy on his first great journey and then met him again by appointment in Athens in 128 AD at the start of his second. Several recent historians assume that Hadrian and Antinous were already close enough to take part together in the mysteries of Eleusis in the September of 128, only a few days after the Emperor had arrived from Rome; a reasonable enough assumption though still begging the question of when they first met." So we have a range from various historians ancient and modern saying that Hadrian met Antinous when he was just a boy of 11 or 12 and some saying they met as late as 129-30-towards the end of Antinous' very short life.

The most important information that can be gathered is from the partially destroyed writing on the epitaph of the obelisk at Pincio. Going from this it seems that Antinous was respectfully taken away from his family, rather than kidnapped. Hadrian's devotion to Claudiopolis after the death of Antinous would indicate that Hadrian had at the very least a friendly if not close relationship to Antinous' family and birthplace.

The only time that historical evidence shows us for sure that Hadrian was in Claudiopolis during the lifetime of Antinous is 123 AD. This is the most likely year of Antinous joining the entourage of Hadrian's court. There is other circumstantial evidence involving a small set of sculptures of Antinous as a boy that could possibly be actual historical memories of him in Hadrian's circle at a young age of 11 or 12. There are more tenuous links to support this line of thought. From Beloved and God: "If the Arch of Constantine does illustrate the life of Antinous, then he must have been in the west as a page, especially if he figures on the bear hunt and the related sacrifice to Silvanus, a Latin god, with whom he was also to be significantly associated in Italy after his death."

So much of the historical evidence we have does not constitute absolute proof of the time Antinous joined Hadrian's court. Overall, the bits and pieces that can be put together suggest the 'most likely' scenario of Antinous leaving Claudiopolis in 123 AD in Hadrian's entourage, he would have been only 11 or 12 years old. Following this line of thinking he would have been taken to Rome as a page. Maybe he entered the paedagogium, whose official role was to train the boys to become civil servants of servants at the palace.

However the paedagogium may have also been used as a harem for boys. Antinous' star had risen and he was a companion of the Emperor by the mid-summer of 128 AD, when he was noticed at Caesarea. By this point in time Antinous would have been the imperial favorite. He was Hadrian's travelling companion to the Greek mainland, where it is largely agreed that they both participated in the Eleusinian mysteries in September of 128 AD.

The image at the head of this post is of Hadrian and Antinous depicted on one of the tondos of the Arch of Constantine. They are hunting wild boar in the late spring of the year 129 AD.
I have two more posts about our story here already written and ready to go-as I think these posts are better written and very interesting I am anxious to put them up here. I would like to mix things up a little in between with other things to prevent boredom with the story-but they should be here very soon unless any complications arise.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love- Slave?

The name Antinous was given may have come from the Antinous that was the most handsome of the doomed suitors of Penelope-we will never know. The young man's ancestry, as far as immediate family and other blood than purely Hellenic flowing through his veins can only be guessed at and there is too much lost to history to give any kind of story. He most probably had some other genes in him than Greek. This could have come from the diverse nature of Bithynia and the many varieties of peoples that crossed through his homeland. What we do know from historical images of him is that his features were not purely Hellenic.

From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "And indeed his features have elements which are obviously unclassical; the angle and bluntness of his nose, the breadth at its roots, the width of the face, the squatness of the neck, the thickness of the eyebrows and the indefinable curvature and protrusion of that 'pomegranate' mouth which many see as voluptuous."

There is only a tiny clue about his immediate family from the obelisk on the Pincio Hill in Rome. His mother's name is praised; there seems to be more about his family and birthplace where the granite is damaged, Hadrian had wrote the lines on this monument. Perhaps (this is another maybe to our story), Hadrian had known and liked the family of Antinous. From Beloved and God: "For what it is worth, this doubtful phrase might imply that Antinous came from a respectable family (otherwise Hadrian would have scarcely mentioned it) and was the first of perhaps several children, not an orphan or an abandoned waif as has sometimes been supposed."

Was Antinous a slave, as many historians and chroniclers from the early Christian era to the Renaissance and even after have said? Highly doubtful in my opinion. The denigration of the relationship and characters of Hadrian and Antinous began later in history after they passed from the stage. Much of the defamations seem to come from the viewpoint of homophobia. About only one in fifty scholars and scribes of ancient times describe Antinous as a slave. The thoughts about Antinous being a slave are suspicious in another very major respect. In ancient times the elevation of a slave to godhood would have been very unlikely. A slave was viewed as even worse than a catamite. Slaves did not even qualify for Hades, much less Olympus. Slaves were feared in ancient times if they tried to change their status, as this would threaten the whole social structure and order of those days. Certainly there would have been much outrage at the thought of a mere slave becoming a god that was to be worshipped by respectable free people.

Also wouldn't the many detractors of Hadrian, both pagan and Christian have seized this further opportunity to denounce him and defame his name? In all of the ancient references to Antinous he is called a slave in one extract given by Eusebius which was quoted by Jerome. Although when Jerome gives his own three independent views of Antinous he never mentions him as a slave. From Beloved and God: "Either these ancient critics did not know of the allegation (incredible if Antinous had been of servile status) or chose to deliberately ignore it because it was so obviously false that it was scarcely profitable to repeat it."

To me the charge that Antinous was a slave is absurd. Antinous may have even come from a family high on the social totem pole. The charge that Antinous was a slave seems to me to be coming from the viewpoint of homophobia, both from pagans and early Christian polemicists, and subsequently repeated through history-to the Renaissance and on to the time of Gibbons and beyond. In later posts I will also try to refute the charge that Antinous was a mere catamite to Hadrian and other charges. I have so enjoyed doing this set of posts and for someone who works at my speed these posts have been coming fast and furious. I will have to slow down in the future to do the story justice. Originally I didn't want to have too many other posts between the story, but I have found that in beating myself over the head trying to figure out what to include here and leave out I am rushing things for no good reason and it would be better to have higher information and quality rather than just trying to get the story done. I am already working on the next post for the series but it won't be here for a bit. I hope that this isn't off-putting to anyone that reads my blog. I am just not quick enough to give the story justice trying to get it all done at once. I hope folks will not mind other things being here with more frequency in between the saga of Hadrian and Antinous.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love-Defamations

"And such a one is the god Antinous, that was the emperor Hadrian's minion and the slave of his unlawful pleasure. A wretch that when worshipped in obedience to the Emperor's command, and to fear of his vengeance, knew and confessed to be a man, and not a good 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 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. Athanasius 350 A.D.

At the first Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., Athanasius argued against Arius and his doctrine that Christ is of a distict substance from the Father. He is revered as a saint by the Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.

Next we go to the famous historian Edward Gibbons, from his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "The deification of Antinous, his medals, 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."

As we can see the relationship between Antinous and Hadrian has had many detractors down through the centuries. I hope to refute many of their claims in the next set of posts. I just wanted to give a little background to how their relationship was viewed by the early Christian church, pagans and other historians. Much of the claims against Hadrian and Antinous were entirely false -at least I hope I can get you to agree with me with the evidence I will provide. You will have to make up your own mind ,as to whether you agree with me that there was much beauty and mystery in their relationship also. The next post about Antinous and the refutation of a particular charge against him is largely done and I hope to have it here tomorrow unless other issues prevent me from posting it.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love-Bithynia

The only set of dates we can surmise from history for the birth of Antinous are between the years 110 A.D. and 112 A.D. He was probably born in the month of November on the 27th. Antinous was born in Bithynia. In the year 74 A.D. the last king of Bithynia, Nikomedes IV had bequeathed his country to Rome. This happened during the time that Rome was absorbing the Hellenistic world. Rome made Bithynia into a province (approximately the size of modern Denmark), governed by a proconsul appointed by the Senate. In 64 B.C., Pompey had reorganized the system of Greek government and established twelve city-states. The civil wars of the late Roman republic wreaked havoc upon Greek soil and were financed by Greek resources. In the end the victory of Rome and Octavian over the Hellenistic east and Mark Antony happened at Actium in 31 B.C.

The Roman emperors were attracted to Bithynia for the main reason that it was equidistant from the two most vulnerable frontiers of the Empire in the late first century. The frontiers were the Euphrates to the south-east and the Danube to the north. If the Empire could hold the Cilician gates and the borderlands of the Propontis it could keep its power over the territories it had conquered and hold back incursions from hostile forces. Bithynia was quite literally a bridge culturally and geographically between Rome and Greece, between east and west, and between temperate Europe and the heat stricken orient.

The culture that Antinous was born into was quite varied. Bithynian cities were the origen of some major contributors to classical civilization: Dio, the rhetor of Prusa; Arrian the historian and Quirinus the sophist of Nikomedia, and later Dio Cassius the historian of Nicea. The rural people were never integrated into the classical city-culture of ancient Greece and retained their ancient eastern beliefs and dialects. Ancient eastern beliefs persisted, even if they disguised themselves in the orthodox Olympian deities. These beliefs grew more powerful as the old pantheon of gods were eclipsed by the eastern gods of mystery. Dionysos, who locals believed had been born in the Sangarius river and Demeter were both deities of renewal, fertility and ecstasy. These deities were to play a role in the destiny of Antinous. The ancient themes for the reverence for natural forces and the practice of secret mysteries and actual participation in those mysteries, are perhaps the belief system Antinous was reared in-rather than the observance of the cults of the anthropomorphic deities of Olympus.

Antinous was said to have been born in Claudiopolis in what is now north-west Turkey. Its acropolis was near a river in the midst of a beautiful plain. On these pastures grazed the cattle that produced the famous Salonian cheese, described by Strabo. The city ranked about eighth among the cities of Bithynia. Claudiopolis must have been a nice place to grow up in. It had none of the hustle and bustle of other crowded cities of the day and was quite pastoral in some respects. It had a flowing river, fresh mountain air and bountiful green meadows and pastures. A nice balance of rural and urban influences for a young man to experience growing up.

Claudiopolis literally stood along a great highway built in the 70s and 80s of the first century. The traffic-military, trade and agricultural increased year after year. It was crossed by people of great importance and those whose lives were much more mundane. The traffic between the east and the west along this great highway might have held a fascination for the young Antinous.
From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: "And there was always the incessant life of that great road-flowing faster than the river with a stream of people, commercial and military, eastern and western, magnificent and humdrum-to excite and intrigue. Indeed, that road was an ever-inviting open question: who knew who might pass this way next? "

I hope you enjoyed the introduction to some of the background and history of the area of the world that Antinous was born into. I wanted to do this post before getting into the actual relationship of Hadrian and Antinous and how they might have met and other things known and things we can only guess at about this story that has always held a deep interest for me. I do not know the time-frame of the next post in this series-hopefully within a week-maybe days depending on how my health is holding up. In the meantime I want to post more poetry and an example of my writing-how I start a very rough sketch of streaming conciosuness writing. I hope these words find any readers I may have in great spirits and enjoying life.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love- The Succession Pt.2

Publius Aelius Hadrianus: Born 24 January 76 A.D., Died 10 July 138
Age of 41 on becoming Emperor. Reigned from 117-138 A.D.

Our friend, Acilius Attianus, (or Hadrian's I should say) returns in this final post on the succession. Hadrian was still insecure about the security of his promotion to Emperor. Using Attianus, who with Plotina had hastened back to Rome with Trajan's ashes, Hadrian got rid of a powerful enemy, Lusius Quietus, a Moorish general, along with three other of the most honored and and elite generals and statesmen of Trajan's reign. Attianus had alleged the four were plotting Hadrian's assassination. Attianus was Prefect of the Guard and bullied the Senate into executing these men. The four men were undoubtedly unenthusiastic about Hadrian's reign, but there was no organized opposition to him and the truth of the charges in is doubt. Hadrian denied complicity in the deaths of the four consulars, but the Senate, behind its meek compliance never forgot or forgave him.

Before returning to Rome, Hadrian had to deal with the unrestful situation along the Danube frontier. This he accomplished with a combination of military action and diplomacy by way of bribery. He finally entered Rome on 9 July 118.

To help his unsettled relations with the Senate, he apologized for accepting the army's acclamation and not the Senate's selection as his power base. He also promised never again to punish any of its members without its consent (Why we wonder, if he had nothing to do with the previous deaths mentioned?). To soothe Rome's unrestful population he distributed a huge largesse of gold and also remitted debts to the Treasury to the enormous amount of 900 million sesterces (modern tax rebates and economic stimulus checks anyone?)- who says the United States has nothing in common with old Rome. In this series of posts I hope to bring out these similarites and would appreciate any reader's comments on this matter. The tax returns were burnt in a huge bonfire in Trajan's forum. From Royston Lambert's, Beloved and God: " It was a strange and disconcerting beginning for one who had waited so long and detrimentally to himself for his inheritance. Bloodshed, tax bonfires and massive bribery ushered in the 'times of felicity', advertised so proudly on the first coins of the reign bearing the slogans 'concord', 'peace, 'justice' and 'piety'." I have very much enjoyed Beloved and God-the book gave me the idea for this set of posts. I have the book out from the library now, but would like to order it from Amazon or a site that sells older books online-Beloved and God was published in 1984 by Viking.

Once he was Emperor, Hadrian acted very quickly on several matters. He immediately relinquished control of Roman conquests east of the Tigris and Euphrates. He gave a double sized donation of money and friends who were in control of twenty-one Roman Legions. He used Marcius Turbo, a very capable soldier, but who was only of equestrian rank and others to crush Jewish revolts in Palestine, Egypt, Mauretania, Libya and Cyprus.

This is the last post involving Hadrian's succession. The next posts in this series will be about Antinous and then Hadrian's relationship with Antinous. I hope to have these up in 4-6 days. It really is a great story. I do hope to have some fitting poetry here perhaps tonight or tomorrow depending on what I can find. I have been searching the web and books from the library for prose that fits this set of posts and don't know if I have found what I want here yet. I am still deciding if I should do any off-topic posts between this series-a lot may depend on how fast I can condense and bring out the important facts and mysteries of this story. Thanks so much for bearing with me and for people about to enjoy Thanksgiving my best wishes go out to you and your families and of course to any other readers I have who do not celebrate this holiday.

Hadrian & Antinous: Mystery & Love- The Succession

I am indebted to Royston Lambert's wonderful book, Beloved and God, for much of the information and ideas for this series of posts.
When Hadrian became emperor after Trajan's death in 117 A.D., the Roman Empire was at its height as far as the physical extent of the empire and its power over other nations. Part of the genius of the Roman Empire was the integration as opposed to subjugation of many, but not all of the peoples it conquered. Trajan himself had been born into a non-patrician family in the Hispania Baetica province in what would be modern day Spain. Vast works of engineering connected Rome to its far flung provinces. Some Roman roads are still in use today. Technology for brining water into cities had been developed in the east, but was transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable elsewhere. The Romans were known for their vast engineering accomplishments and even though some were improvements over existing ideas, their accomplishments surpassed most other civilizations of the time. Many Roman structures have withstood the test of time and were an inspiration to others, especially during the Renaissance.
This was the enormous, wealthy and proud empire Hadrian inherited from Trajan.

Hadrian was not adopted by Trajan to be the next emperor in a vacuum (although there are some questions regarding this as we shall see.) Fatherless at the age of ten, Hadrian became the ward of two other important men from Italica in Rome. Acilius Attianus was a knight, who later played a crucial part in Hadrian's accession. Trajan and his wife Plotina were a much more important influence on Hadrian's character. Trajan was the cousin of Hadrian's father and was 22 years older. Trajan's father and Hadrian's paternal grandmother were brother and sister. Plotina was born in Neumauses -modern day Nimes, France. She was a devoted follower of the Epicurean school of philosophy. Plotina is thought to have influenced Trajan to provide for fairer taxation for Romans, improved education, assisted the poor and helped to create tolerance in Roman society.

Trajan was childless and Hadrian was the nearest male relative. Hadrian married Sabina in 100 A.D.-she was between 12 to 14 years old at the time. Sabina was Trajan's great niece and his nearest unmarried female relative. This was a move to secure the succession for Hadrian and it was Plotina who persuaded the reluctant Trajan to agree to this vital marriage. Even after this there was a major problem. Trajan never openly acknowledged Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian did not rise more quickly through his official career than other men. He held the usual magistracies in Rome and military tribunates in Germany and on the Danube in 95-96 A.D. He was Trajan's quaestor to the Senate in 101, tribune of the plebs in 105. He was a commander in the Dacian war of 105-6, a strict governor of Pannonia in 107 and consul in 108 A.D. There were occasions when Trajan did seem to openly favor him, he rewarded Hadrian's military victories with the same diamond ring he had received from Nerva. The people of Athens also saw Hadrian as the official heir-they elected him archon or chief magistrate in 112.

There were a few different reasons Trajan may have been reluctant to bring himself to openly acknowledge Hadrian as his successor. The two men were greatly different in nature, even though historians see many similarities in the policies of their reigns. Trajan's personality was that of a direct, open and honest man, some believed he looked stupid although this obviously was not the case. Hadrian was just the opposite. He took delight in his own appearance and was quite the dandy. Hadrian sported a well groomed, short beard and was the first emperor to do so- all of his successors followed this trend. He was taller than average and had fair skin. His grey-blue eyes were close set and his most memorable features apart from his prominent cheeks and strong nose were his eyes and mouth. Hadrian had a strong build. Hadrian was no intellectual, but he was friends with some of the most civilized men of his day and he endowed Rome with an excellent library. Here is a direct quote from Beloved and God: "But if the replies from Pliny's endless requests from Bithynia are his, or even reflect his opinions, he is revealed as a man of considerable wisdom, patience, and sensitivity, scrupulous of the rights of individuals and localities, though with perhaps an amused contempt for 'those poor Greeks', and lacking in curiosity."

Hadrian did share one trait with Trajan. That trait being the love of boys and beautiful young men, and this perhaps brought them into conflict at times. Whatever the causes of their conflicts in relation to one another it is obvious it went from so hot that it had sexual overtones. At times there was open hostility promoted by the jealous Servianus. Plotina again came to the rescue and got Hadrian the legateship of Syria in the Parthian war.

Trajan died in Cilicia after suffering a stroke while hurrying back to Rome. Trajan's stroke occurred after his disastrous campaign in Parthia to confront dissent within the Empire. Hadrian had been in Antioch at the time in charge of the army of the east. He received letters of his adoption as heir on 9 August 117 A.D. and news of Trajan's death on the 11th. It has been rumored for centuries that Plotina had forged the letters and kept news of her husband's death quiet for days so that they could be delivered. Plotina was a very resourceful and intelligent woman and there is no doubt she did whatever she could do to help Hadrian in this crisis. It was even rumored that she poisoned her husband's valet who knew too much. It was also rumored that she hired an actor after Trajan's death, to impersonate him. This of course being done to adopt Hadrian and confirm the succession. Whatever actions Plotina did or didn't take-maybe they only confirmed her husbands intentions-maybe not. This is one of the many reasons I find this story so fascinating. There are so many twists and turns and complete mysteries that we can only guess at-but we can make educated guesses.

Dear reader, I hope you have enjoyed this set of posts. I need to take some time off and confirm where I want to go with this story next. The next installment should be a week from now at the latest. In the meantime I am going to try to find one or two poems that would accentuate this story and post them before the next Hadrian and Antinous post. I am also waiting on one or two bits of news that I will post here if they happen before then. I also had some off-topic thoughts I was going to post about the roles we play in our day to day lives and what they reveal about our inner nature and the human heart-this after a row with my on again off again boyfriend-but I haven't decided to do this yet as I don't want to stray to far from the current topic. Peace and blessings be to you all. Hope to see you at MFM soon. Please feel free to comment-I love getting comments-I will post pretty much anything as long as it isn't hate mail-I also enjoy constructive critcism and if there are any details or facts I have got wrong-or even just the way I write-please comment.