“Every woman’s breast” MLP Florus 3. The Latin runs: Mulier intra pectus omnis celat virus pestilens; / dulce de labris loquuntur, corde vivunt noxio.
“the woman through whom he had secured” Dio 69 10 3.
“honored her exceedingly” Ibid.
“Although she asked much of me” Ibid., 32.
he famously brought down a huge boar Ibid.
he broke his collarbone Ibid., 69 10 2.
“Borysthenes the barbarian” MLP Hadr 4. Borysthenes Alanus, / Caesareus veredus, / per aequor et paludes / et tumulos Etruscos / volare qui solebat / … die sua peremptus / hic situs est in agro. The Alani were Iranian nomads who reared Borysthenes. Also the next quotation.
he loved his horses and dogs HA Hadr 20 13.
“There you will slaughter” Mart 1 49 23–30.
a certain Publius Rufius Flavus Sherk 180, CIL II 4332.
“one of the slaves of the household” HA Hadr 12 5.
he failed to revisit his hometown of Italica Dio 69 10 1.
Suetonius’ successor as ab epistulis We know that Vestinus became Hadrian’s ab epistulis, but it is not certain that he followed immediately on Suetonius.
Hadrian scattered cultural largesse Birley, p. 153. Malalas 278f.
“very elegant” temple See Birley p. 153, Suda sv Jovianus.
“War with the Parthians” HA Hadr 12 8.
expeditio Augusti BMC III p. 425 no. 1259ff., pp. 434–35 no. 1312ff.
Janus began to appear on the coinage Ibid., p. 254 no. 100, p. 437 no. 1335.
“doorkeeper of heaven and hell” Macr 19 13.
“However, when the shouting got louder” Xen Anab 4 7.
memorial cairns built by the Greek soldiers Diod 14 29 4.
“although [it] has been erected” Arrian Peri 1 3–4.
“long street of great beauty” Pliny Ep 10 98 1.
“disgusting eyesore” Ibid.
An earthquake had struck the province Syncellus Chron p. 659 7–8.
XIX. THE BITHYNIAN BOY
Chief literary sources—Plato, Plutarch, and others on love. Polemon on a possible assassination attempt.
“building, or rather excavating” Pliny Ep 39 5–6.
his birthday … November 27 Smallwood 165, line 5.
a cheerful, chubby-faced teenager Bust, Munich Glyptothek, Inv. No. GL286; head, British Museum, Inv. No. 1900. Juvenile portraits may or may not have been posthumously carved or copies of earlier ones, but, even if posthumous, are an indication of contemporaries’ understanding of Antinous’ age when first noticed.
In about 130 we see Antinous in a carved relief Tondo, Arch of Constantine, Rome.
a woman called Antinoe Paus 8 8 4–5. Also, after Antinous’ death, a divine cult in his honor was established at Mantinea; so the connection was credited, even if mistakenly.
A late reference to Antinous as Hadrian’s “slave” Jer de vir ill 22.
“no one keeps you from coming here” Plaut Curc 33–38.
The Cretans engaged in a procedure Strabo 10 4 21.
“Lovers of their own sex” Plato Symp 181 D.
“the true genuine love” Plut Mor 751a.
no one falls in love with an ugly youngster? Cic Tusc 4 33 70.
“Lesbia of the Lesbians” Mart 7 70.
Mousa Paidike This is Book 12, Anth Pal.
“who used to fancy himself” Juv 9 46–47.
a procurer of every luxury Aur Vic 14 7.
agmen comitantium Ep de Caes 14 4 5.
“cohorts … every kind of specialist” Ibid.
the imperial Paedogogium in Rome I accept here the traditional location on the Palatine Hill, although another address places the Paedogogium on the Caelian Hill. Perhaps there were two similar or related establishments. In this section, I am indebted to Clarence A. Forbes, “Supplementary Paper: The Education and Training of Slaves in Antiquity,” American Philological Association 86 (1955), 321–60; also to Lambert, pp. 61–63.
the gravestone of one of its directors ILS 1831. The widow of the “paedogogus of the slave boys of our Caesar” was called Ulpia Helpis, which suggests that she won her freedom from Trajan. So Ganymedes would have died not before Trajan’s reign and very possibly in Hadrian’s.
“colleges for the most contemptible vices” Colum 1 praef. 5.
Juvenal grumpily complained Juv 5 121–22.
some two hundred graffiti The Paedogogium had a long life, and the dating of these graffiti ranges from the first to the third century.
tomb of the Greek warrior Ajax Philo Her 1 2; the reference at Paus 1 35 3 must refer to Hadrian’s visit, unless it is to be supposed that the tomb needed restoration twice in the same period.
Hadrianutherae, or Hadrian’s Hunt HA Hadr 20 13.
“select and genuinely Hellenic” Philo v. Soph 1 25 3.
his Greek text A book called Polemon’s Physiognomica.
“Once I accompanied the greatest king” Pol Physio (ed. G. Hoffmann, in R. Forster, Scriptores Physiognomici I, pp. 138ff.); also the succeeding quotations. See Birley, pp. 164–66.
The prosperous city of Stratonicea Oliver, pp. 201–4.
a woman stepped forward Dio 69 6 3.
“the emperor Hadrian” Galen, The Diseases of the Mind, 4.
“accomplish what kings could only attempt” Pliny Ep 10 41 5. 249 “In general,” observed Dio Dio 70 4 2.
“young men of the city” Smallwood 72b.
a late and not altogether dependable source Malalas, p. 279.
“Julianus himself” Digest, Constitution “Tanta …” 18.
recast their constitution Jer Chron 280–81.
XX. THE ISLES OF GREECE
Chief literary source—Pausanias on Greece. Also Burkert on Eleusis.
The piglet squealed For my account of the Mysteries I am mainly indebted to Burkert, especially pp. 285–90. There are many theories of what took place during the rites, but I try to take a conservative line. The first section concerns what were called the Lesser Mysteries, where initiates were purified; these usually took place in March, but could be held at other times. Special arrangements were surely put in place for an emperor. It appears that Hadrian was not initiated during his previous visit to Athens.
for more than one thousand years Legend has it that the Mysteries started in 1500 B.C. Their popularity was long sustained. Peter Levi writes: “As late as 1801 Demeter was still worshipped at Eleusis; when her last cult image, a two-ton kistophorus from the inner porch, was stolen by Professor E. D. Clarke of Cambridge, the visitors were terrified. An ox ran up, butted the statue repeatedly and fled bellowing. The people prophesied the shipwreck of Clarke’s ship: it occurred off Beachy Head, but the statue is now in Cambridge.” Paus vol. 1, book 1, note 231.
“We have learned from them the beginnings of life” Cic Leg 2 14 36.
weapons were banned HA Hadr 13 2.
“uncovered her shame” Clem 2 176–77.
a new bridge over the river Kephisos Jer Chron 280–81.
“ruler of the wide, unharvested earth” Smallwood 71a.
“Hadrian, god and Panhellene” IG 222958.
When he was at Eleusis It is a reasonable assumption that the princeps noticed the distorted market in fish during his visit to Eleusis, but it is only an assumption.
“I want the vendors to have been stopped” Oliver, pp. 193–95.
a tour of the Peloponnese See Birley, pp. 177–182.
“a peacock in gold” Paus 2 17 6.
“founder, lawgiver, benefactor” IG VII 70–72, 3491.
“not even the emperor” Paus 1363.
buried at the roadside Ibid., 8 11 7–8.
an annual celebration Xen Anab 5 3 9–10.
“He wore local dress” Dio 69 16 1.
“Do not detract from anyone’s dignity” Pliny Ep 8 24.
“Those who introduce the emperor’s opinion” Plut Mor 814—15.
“hundred columns, walls and colonnades” Paus 1 18 9.
a
complicated dispute CIG 1713.
“very magnificent and splendid” Plut Mor 748—49.
“be gracious, kindly receive” IG 7 1828.
“the soul from the world” Plut Mor 764—65.
XXI. HOME AND ABROAD
Chief literary source—Historia Augusta. Also the guidebook, and MacDonald and Pinto, on Hadrian’s villa; and the speech at Lambaesis.
“many-colored, it is said, like a rainbow” HA Hadr 13 3.
entire crest had been blown off M. Coltelli, P. Del Carlo, and L. Vezzoli, “Discovery of a Plinian basaltic eruption of Roman age at Etna Volcano, Italy,” Geology 26 (1998), 1095–98.
“the Aelian villa with the colorful walls” CIL 14 3911.
rus in urbe Mart 12 57 21.
“built his villa at Tibur” HA Hadr 26 5.
his “house at Tibur” Oliver, p. 74 bis.
Some scholars suggest … a cult theater MacDonald, pp. 162ff.
“devoted to music and flute players” Fronto de fer Als 4.
His most astonishing architectural innovation It is possible that Hadrian was influenced by the palace of Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, which was isolated by a canal, and the Herodion, Herod the Great’s circular palace-fortress.
He had been born in or about 113 Dio has Pedanius Fuscus about six years younger. An ancient horoscope places his birth in 113, and because of its broad contemporaneity (it would have been published not long after his death when he was still “news”) is more likely to be accurate.
an odd little congratulatory poem ILS 5173. It survives in an inscription. See the inspired interpretation by Edward Champlin in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 60 (1985) 159ff.
“his kindly disposition” Marc Aur 1 1.
“the simple life” Ibid., 13.
“solemn child from the very beginning” HA Marc 2 1.
“in Hadrian’s lap” Ibid., 4 1.
“erotic and fond of gladiators” CCAG 8, 2 p. 85, 18 to p. 86, 12.
“the emperor’s health” Smallwood 24 16.
the personification of health … feeding a snake BMC III 476 etc.
Hope, Spes, holding up a flower Ibid., 486.
“subcutaneous disease” … “burning” Ep de Caes 14 9.
“it rained on his arrival” HA Hadr 22 14.
“Caesar’s untiring concern” Smallwood 464, col. II 4–5.
fossatum Africae See Birley, pp. 209–10.
“Jupiter Best” … “Winds that have the power” CIL 8 2609—10.
“Military exercises” Sherk 148 (and the further quotations).
XXII. WHERE HAVE YOU GONE TO, MY LOVELY?
Chief literary sources—Dio Cassius and Historia Augusta. Also Epitome de Caesaribus and Aurelius Victor on Antinous. Lambert on Antinous. Betz on magic.
tetradrachm worth six sesterces BMC III p. 395.
first citizen Thuc 1 139.
“introduced a bill to the effect” Plut Per 17.
He decided to launch a new Panhellenion On Hadrian’s Panhellenion, see A. J. Spawforth and Susan Walker, “The World of the Panhellenion: I. Athens and Eleusis,” The Journal of Roman Studies 75 (1985).
to recruit the past Arafat, p. 30.
its shrine not far from the Roman Agora There has been debate about its location. I follow Camp, p. 203.
“This is Athens, the onetime city” IG II2 5185.
“with such severity that it was believed” HA Hadr 13 10.
“after procuring peace from many kings” Epit de Caes 14 10.
Pharasmenes was king of the Iberi HA Hadr 13 9, 17 11–12 and 21 13.
Paul of Tarsus called it mutilation Phil 3 2–3.
the new city’s celebratory coinage Birley, p. 233.
A fourth-century church father, Epiphanius Epiph 14.
No later than the end of August Alexandrian coinage celebrating Hadrian’s adventus is dated in the fourteenth year of the reign, which ended on August 28, 130. See Birley, p. 237.
“Dead men don’t bite” Plut Pomp 77 4.
“How pitiful a tomb” App Civil War 2 86.
investing in restoration projects Jer Chron 197.
“By Mouseion,” wrote Philostratus Phil v. Soph 1 22 3.
“put forward many questions” HA Hadr 20 2.
“Although he wrote verse and composed speeches” HA Hadr 15 10–11.
“The emperor can give you money” Dio 69 3 5.
“extremely obscure work” HA Hadr 16 2.
“You are giving me bad advice” Ibid., 15 13.
“Some writers go on to record the cures” Strabo 17 1 17.
a village called Eleusis Ibid., 17 16.
“First Hadrian with his brass-fitted spear” MS Gr Class d 113 (P), Bodleian Library, Oxford.
the town of Oxyrhyncus Birley, p. 246.
“with shaved head” Lucian Philospeud 34f.
“performed the sacrifices” Strabo 17 1 29.
instruction in the art of a spell Betz, pp. 82ff.
Opposite Hermopolis the riverbank curved See Lambert, p. 127, for this description.
“wept for the youth like a woman” HA Hadr 14 5.
“the Greeks deified him” Ibid.
“O my daughter” Laszlo Kakosy, “The Nile, Euthenia, and the Nymphs,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 68 (1982), 295.
“Antinous … had been a favorite” Dio 69 11 2.
“when Hadrian wanted to prolong his life” Aur Vic 14 9–10.
“Concerning this incident there are varying rumors” HA Hadr 14 6.
“malicious rumors spread” Aur Vic 14 8.
the superannuated gigolo See page 243 above.
“if he could find another” Eur Alc 13–18.
“I myself believe that Achilles” Arrian Peri 23 4.
his little horror poem Hor Epo 5.
A new coin type shows an equally youthful Hadrian BMC III p. 318, no. 603. The reverse shows heads of Trajan and Plotina, and another interpretation concerns the legitimacy of his adoption.
“This town was a perpetual peristyle” Lambert, p. 198.
a shrine to house his remains … at Tibur The account I give of the Antinoeum at Tibur is drawn from Mari and Sgalambro passim. Brick date-stamps show that building started soon after 130. The site was excavated from 1998.
“Antinous rests in this tomb” Ibid., p. 99.
“the honor paid to him falls little short” Origen 336.
Antinous as Iakchos Opper p. 190.
“I never saw him in the flesh” Paus 897.
Hadrian “set up statues” Dio 69 11 4.
his own active websites Current at the time of writing: sites include http://antinous.wai-lung.com/, http://www.antinopolis.org/, and the homoerotic http://www.sacredantinous.com/.
XXIII. “MAY HIS BONES ROT!”
Chief literary sources—Dio Cassius and Bar Kokhba papyri on Judaea. Also Christian writers and Talmudic references.
“very like the twanging” Paus 1 42 3.
“The emperor Hadrian” Bernand, Les inscriptions grecques et latines du Colosse de Memnon.
“Know that I take every opportunity” Smallwood 445.
“they wanted to leave” Jos AJ 12 5 1.
“endeavored to abolish Jewish superstition” Tac His 5 8.
Hadrian was still in Egypt Dio 69 12 2.
They armed themselves Ibid.
“they occupied the advantageous positions” Ibid., 69 12 3.
“I look into the future” Numbers 24 17.
“This is the Messiah” Midrash Rabbah Lamentations 2 2–4.
“At first the Romans took no account” Dio 69 13 1–2.
Roman casualties Fronto de bell Parth 2.
Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome Page 42
