It could also have just been a simple case of murder on the Nile for reasons forgotten or unknown. It was believed that human sacrifice could extend the life of another. It could have been that Antinous was drowned on purpose to try and prolong Hadrian’s life. The longer the affair lasted, the greater the risk of being remembered as a homosexual rather than a great Emperor. He may have thrown himself into the water to end the relationship that could have ruined his beloved Hadrian’s reputation. There are several theories as to how this happened. Antinous fell into the water and drowned. In the year 130 AD, yes about 1900 years ago, Hadrian and Antinous were sailing on the river Nile. The empire basically turned a blind eye to the gay activity, as Hadrian was so good at being an absolute boss. Hadrian was really very talented at keeping the empire together and spent so little time in Rome that he managed to escape any real consequences for his fabulous love life. Not getting his wife pregnant let the whole empire down and fanned the flames of gossip about him possibly being a complete homosexual – scandalous. Failing to produce a son was one of the biggest mistakes of Hadrian’s career. Hadrian was married to a woman and was expected to father an heir to the Roman throne. They also toured the empire together and were banging each other’s brains out from Britain to Byzantium. The love affair endured for years – Hadrian brought his boyfriend to state dinners and royal ceremonies. Foreigners were like animals, simply not as important as Romans and thus suitable human sex toys. Also as long as the sex object was a foreigner, as Antinous the Greek was, then it became even easier to accept. It was OK under certain guidelines, as long as Hadrian appeared to be the ‘Top’ and there was no real emotion involved, the rest of Roman society could tolerate the affair. Active Emperorįor a Roman Emperor to take a male lover was not a huge deal. Hadrian fell madly in love with him and made no secret of his affections for the young beauty. We do know that Antinous was Greek and exceptionally beautiful. As Antinous was a lowly Greek servant, even less of his story is written with any complete certainty.
Many of the sources documenting his legend are considered unreliable. We don’t know a lot about Hadrian for certain. The scandal was not really about two men having sex it was about two men having very real feelings for each other. It’s a tragic tale of immense love, scandal, sacrifice, and mystery. There’s a Roman love story between Emperor Hadrian and his Greek sex servant, Antinous, that is so fantastic, it’s almost impossible to believe. Hadrian and Antinous: An Ancient Love Story