The story of Ancient Roman Emperor Hardrian and his lover Antinous has long been the stuff of literal legend, captivating the queer imagination from Michelangelo to Oscar Wilde. But what was the actual nature of their relationship: mutual, predatory, or were they just roommates?
If you were an Ancient Roman, you would probably recognize Antinous by his face—as depicted in the thousands of statues Hadrian had built after the youth’s death. But before he was a chiseled celebrity, Antonious was born to a Greek family of modest means. Much of his early life is unknown, but he was raised in the outskirts of Claudiopolis (in northern Turkey) around 111CE.
Hadrian (of the famed Hadrian’s Wall still standing in Britain) first encountered Antinous in 123CE during one of his many tours of the empire. It is unclear whether the emperor took to the youth immediately, but by about 127CE Antinous was a regular in Hadrian’s entourage.
Antinous’s status as a favorite of the emperor was well known in elite circles. It is also known that Antinous accompanied Hadrian on his many travels across Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor. During one of these travels, in a heroic feat to rival Hercules, the pair liberated a Libyan village from a rampaging lion, with Hadrian rescuing Antinous right from under its claws (an event likely exaggerated by the emperor).
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But these facts from surviving accounts tell us little about their actual relationship. It’s perfectly possible that an intense, mutual bond existed between the two. It’s also easy to imagine how the power dynamic between an emperor and a poor country youth could be exploited. In addition to status, there’s the age difference, though Antinous’s exact age is unknown. Ancient Rome inherited some aspects of the Ancient Greek practice by which an older man would court an adolescent boy (this tends to get emphasized in same-sex histories, but it’s important to note that heterosexual marriages of the time consisted of similar age dynamics).
What we do know is how Hadrian behaved after Antinous died. In October 130CE, at the age of 18 or 19, Antinous drowned in the Nile river. The mysterious nature of his death has the makings of an ancient whodunnit—was it an accident? a lovers’ quarrel? a human sacrifice covered up? Scholars have been debating for literal millenia. But in the immediate aftermath of the death, Hadrian’s agonized weeping was so intense it made history books.
Hadrian immediately established a cult of worship, defying his own senate to declare Antinous a god. Since the deification of humans was typically reserved for imperial families, this unorthodox behavior was strongly opposed by worshipers of the more traditional gods and the burgeoning Christian community. The center of the cult was established at the site of Antinous’s death, where Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis. The cult of this beautiful god of death and rebirth spread rapidly across the empire, as Antinous’s humble origins found wide appeal.
Many artifacts uncovered across the old empire demonstrate the cult’s popularity, but none are as impressive in their sheer multitude as the sculpture. Hadrian commissioned over 2,000 sculptures showing an Adonis-like youth with curly locks, of which over 100 still survive.
We may never know what their relationship was truly like, but we do know that Hadrian’s actions suggest profound grief at Antinous’s death. For the gays who came after in less tolerant times, for whom Hadrian and Antinous’s story was inspirational, the myth of their love became more important than what we don’t know.
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