The Face in Every City: Hadrian and Antinous (130 CE) | LGBTQ+ History Sleep Story

Drift off to sleep learning about Hadrian and Antinous, the Roman emperor who lost the young man he loved in the Nile in October of 130 CE, and answered his grief by founding a city, declaring him a god, and putting his face in every province of the empire.Antinous was born around 110 CE at Bithynion-Claudiopolis in the province of Bithynia, in what is now northwestern Turkey, and joined Hadrian's court in the mid-120s. In October 130, while the imperial flotilla was travelling up the Nile near Hermopolis during the festival of Osiris, he drowned; Hadrian recorded it as an accident, while Cassius Dio, the Historia Augusta and Aurelius Victor all pass on the rumour of a voluntary sacrifice. The Historia Augusta says only that the emperor wept like a woman. On 30 October 130 Hadrian founded Antinoöpolis on the east bank of the Nile. He had Antinous deified as Osiris-Antinous, founded games at Antinoöpolis, Athens, Mantineia and Bithynion, and announced a new star in the constellation Aquila, a constellation named Antinous that stayed on star charts until the twentieth century. More than a hundred ancient portraits of Antinous survive, more than for nearly any figure of antiquity outside the imperial family. The cult outlived Hadrian by centuries; at Delphi, devotees buried his cult statue upright to save it from destruction, and French archaeologists brought it back into daylight, intact, in 1894. From Winckelmann and the Grand Tour to the coded drawing rooms of Victorian England, the name Antinous became one of the oldest passwords in queer history.This story is told twice: first at a natural, comfortable pace, then again more slowly with longer pauses to guide you gently into sleep. Let the flood go down. Let the marble hold the day's warmth. Let the river give it back.🌙 Perfect for: ancient Rome, LGBTQ+ history bedtime stories, Hadrian, classical art, queer antiquity, sleep meditation, insomnia relief, calm narration☕ Restful Rainbow is independent and listener-supported. If these stories help you rest, you can support the show here: https://restful-rainbow.captivate.fm/support"He wept like a woman." — Historia Augusta, on Hadrian#Hadrian #Antinous #AncientRome #LGBTQHistory #QueerHistory #SleepStory #BedtimeStory #RomanEmpire #Antinoopolis #ClassicalArt #SleepMeditation #CalmNarration #AncientEgypt #NileRiver #GayHistory #HistoryPodcast #InsomniaRelief #RestfulRainbow #Delphi #QueerAntiquity