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Death on the Nile: Hadrian’s ill-fated lovers

Related Images

  • Figure 1: sculpture of Antinous Bust of Antinoüs (117–138 CE) known as the Antinoüs of Ecouen. Marble, 18th century copy, [Wikipedia](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antino%C3%BCs)
  • Figure 2: Medallion minted by the city of Smyrna under the reign of Emperor Hadrian, Polemon being magistrate. Reverse: bust of Antinoos - [Wikipedia](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antino%C3%BCs)
  • Figure 3: bust of Vibia Sabina (83-137) from the Capitoline Museum - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibia_Sabina)

While on his travels, Hadrian also had other interests beside his building programmes. On the way to the Levant he met his future lover: Antinous, a young man from Bithynia (modern-day Northern Turkey). There is not much information about the life of Antinous, the favorite of Hadrian.Alessandro Galimberti, P.Oxy.471: Hadrian, Alexandria, and the Antinous Cult, in Empire and Religion: Religious Change in Greek Cities under Roman Rule by Elena Muñiz Grijalvo, Juan Manuel Cortés Copete, and Fernando Lozano Gomez, (BRILL Leiden, 2017), 102. However, we do know about his death (Figure 1).

According to Hadrian himself, Antinous fell in the Nile whilst on a trip on the river. Cassius Dio, on the other hand, calls Hadrian out on this by saying: as the truth (of his death) is, by being offered in sacrifice. For Hadrian, as I have stated, was always very curious and employed divinations and incantations of all kinds. Accordingly, he honored Antinous, either because of his love for him or because the youth had voluntarily undertaken to die.

The voluntary sacrifice was necessary, according to Cassius Dio, for the benefit and the length of the life of Hadrian. After Antinous’ death, Hadrian deified his lover, designated a cult to him, erected statues and minted coins depicting Antinous (Figure 2), and even renamed a city after him. This resulted in the special connection to Egypt: this is where Antinous went from a lover to becoming a god.

: Before this well-choreographed tragedy unfolded, there was another politically charged romance: Hadrian’s wife Vibia Sabina. (Figure 3 and 4) She was the daughter of the sister of the contemporary emperor Trajan. Their marriage in 100 CE established the bond between Trajan and Hadrian, despite the fact that Trajan was not very inclined to see them marry.

However, according to Cassius Dio, Hadrian did not grow to be fond of his wife. At a certain moment he even removed some of his officials ”because without his consent they had been conducting themselves toward his wife,” and added to it ”he would have sent away his wife too, on the ground of ill-temper and irritability, had he been merely a private citizen.”Cassius Dio, Roman History, The Life of Hadrian part 1, 11.3.

Unfortunately we will never know the real truth about both his lovers. But the situation with Antinous clearly indicates the special bond Hadrian had with Egypt.