page_title: Hadrian
section_title: Africa, Parthia and Anatolia; Antinous (123–124)
hierarchical_section_title: Hadrian / Travels / Africa, Parthia and Anatolia; Antinous (123–124)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Delphi Antinous is a cult statue of Antinous, sculpted in Parian marble during the reign of Hadrian (117-138 CE). H. 1.8 m (5 ft. 10 ¾ in.). Found in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, 1893. It can bee seen at the Archaeological Museum of Delphi. Français&#160;: L'Antinoüs de Delphes est une statue de culte d'Antinoüs, en Marbre de Paros, œuvre de l'époque d'Hadrien (117-138 ap. J.-C.). H. 1.8 m (5 ft. 10 ¾ in.). Provenance: temple d'Apollon à Delphes. Il se trouve dans le Musée archéologique de Delphes. Italiano: L'Antinoo di Delfi è una statua del culto di Antinoo, in marmo pario, di un metro e ottanta di altezza, scolpita nell'epoca dell'imperatore Adriano (117-138 d.C.). Proviene dal tempio di Apollo a Delfi. Oggi si ammira presso il Museo archeologico di Delfi (Grecia).
context_page_description: Hadrian was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born into a Roman Italo-Hispanic family that settled in Spain from the Italian city of Atri in Picenum. His father was of senatorial rank and was a first cousin of Emperor Trajan. He married Trajan's grand-niece Vibia Sabina early in his career, before Trajan became emperor and possibly at the behest of Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina. Plotina and Trajan's close friend and adviser Lucius Licinius Sura were well disposed towards Hadrian. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that he had nominated Hadrian as emperor immediately before his death.
  Rome's military and Senate approved Hadrian's succession, but four leading senators were unlawfully put to death soon after. They had opposed Hadrian or seemed to threaten his succession, and the senate held him responsible for it and never forgave him. He earned further disapproval among the elite by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains in Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, and parts of Dacia. Hadrian preferred to invest in the development of stable, defensible borders and the unification of the empire's disparate peoples.
context_section_description: In 123, Hadrian crossed the Mediterranean to Mauretania, where he personally led a minor campaign against local rebels. The visit was cut short by reports of war preparations by Parthia; Hadrian quickly headed eastwards. At some point, he visited Cyrene, where he personally funded the training of young men from well-bred families for the Roman military. Cyrene had benefited earlier (in 119) from his restoration of public buildings destroyed during the earlier Jewish revolt.
  When Hadrian arrived on the Euphrates, he personally negotiated a settlement with the Parthian King Osroes I, inspected the Roman defences, then set off westwards, along the Black Sea coast. He probably wintered in Nicomedia, the main city of Bithynia. Nicomedia had been hit by an earthquake only shortly before his stay; Hadrian provided funds for its rebuilding, and was acclaimed as restorer of the province.
  It is possible that Hadrian visited Claudiopolis and saw the beautiful Antinous, a young man of humble birth who became Hadrian's beloved. Literary and epigraphic sources say nothing of when or where they met; depictions of Antinous show him aged 20 or so, shortly before his death in 130. In 123 he would most likely have been a youth of 13 or 14. It is also possible that Antinous was sent to Rome to be trained as a page to serve the emperor and only gradually rose to the status of imperial favourite. The actual history of their relationship is mostly unknown.
  With or without Antinous, Hadrian travelled through Anatolia. Various traditions suggest his presence at particular locations, and allege his foundation of  a city within Mysia, Hadrianutherae, after a successful boar hunt. At about this time, plans to complete the Temple of Zeus in Cyzicus, begun by the kings of Pergamon, were put into practice. The temple received a colossal statue of Hadrian. Cyzicus,  Pergamon, Smyrna, Ephesus and Sardes were promoted as regional centres for the Imperial cult (neocoros).
caption: Statue of Antinous (Delphi), polychrome Parian marble, made during the reign of Hadrian
exif: {}