The Cult of Antinous: Sex, Religion and Politics in the Age of Hadrian (Ancient Monographs Book 1)

Antinous was about eighteen when he drowned in the Nile in AD 130. Within months he had a city named after him, temples in Egypt and Greece, a new star in the sky – and a cult that would outlive the Emperor Hadrian himself. For more than two centuries Pagans prayed to Antinous the God for healing, safe travel and salvation, while Christian writers attacked him as a dangerous rival to Christ.Who was this beautiful boy from Bithynia? Why did his cult spread so quickly and last so long? And what does his story tell us about sex, religion and power in the High Roman Empire?In this short, accessible lecture-text, historian Sean Gabb follows Antinous from provincial obscurity to divine status. Drawing on literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence, he examines:Greek and Roman attitudes to male–male sex, and how Hadrian and Antinous fitted – and did not fit – those ideals.The scant but revealing evidence for Antinous’ life with Hadrian, the lion hunt in Egypt, and the mysterious circumstances of his death in the Nile.The foundation of Antinoopolis and the astonishing spread of his worship across the eastern provinces, from Egypt to Greece and Asia Minor.The way Antinous was fused with Osiris, Dionysus, Apollo and other gods, becoming a travelling saviour figure who healed the sick and answered prayers.The religious crisis of the second and third centuries: the decay of traditional Paganism, the growth of salvation cults, and the rise of Christianity – with Antinous as a consciously created alternative Christ.The destruction of his temples, his long obscurity, and his modern “resurrection” in art, literature and contemporary Paganism.Originally delivered in June 2023 as part of a university Pride celebration, this is not a specialist monograph but a lively, plainly written introduction of around sixty pages, complete with illustrations and a substantial bibliography.It will appeal to readers interested in:the social and religious history of the Roman Empirethe history of sexuality and same-sex love in antiquitythe conflict between Paganism and early ChristianityHadrian, late classical art, and the modern cult of Antinous.About the authorSean Gabb is a historian, novelist and classicist. Writing fiction as Richard Blake, he has produced a celebrated series of Byzantine thrillers, praised by the Morning Star as “a near-perfect blend of historical detail and atmosphere with the plot of a conspiracy thriller”. He is also the author of numerous works on classical literature and the history of ideas. Read more