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Tragic, Antinous was, for he only lived to twenty one years old. There's a mystery surrounding his death. The
Historian Augusta only reported, "[Hadrian] lost his Antinous along the Nile." Hadrian himself was about as brief, "He fell into the Nile." That this is all the extant written commentary on the subject is
made all the more frustrating by the fact that the word Hadrian used
for"fell" can imply either an accidental fall or a deliberate one. So was it murder, or an accident, or suicide? In all the accounts Antinous is shown as beautiful and possessing great intelligence and a sharp wit. All of his skills weren't only in the intellectual department, as he was also considered a great hunter and athlete. Suicide isn't very likely. If he was all that athletic, would he just trip and fall? Still, accidents do happen. However, he was despised by the emperor's jealous aides. Though it's never been proven that he was murdered. The grief stricken Hadrian declared Antinous a god and founded the city of Antinopolis in Egypt on the spot where the youth's body was found. He also commissioned statues of Antinous to be erected throughout the empire. Not only that, a massive temple to Antinous, dating to 134 AD, shortly after his death, has been recently uncovered during new excavations at Hadrian's sprawling villa, about 19 miles (30 km) east of Rome. The first exploratory excavations have revealed a series of fountains and planters for interior gardens, niches for statues and very important marble fragments, some with Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The love story between the Emperor Hadrian and former slave boy
Antinous, although brief, will not be forgotten.
(facts from a story found at ©:365Gay.com 2002)
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