The Image of Antinous and Imperial Ideology By James Fleming A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Classical Studies Supervisor: Dr. Jitse Dijkstra Department of Classical Studies Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © James Fleming, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 Table of Contents Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. iv GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Antinous .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Scholarship ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Definitions ............................................................................................................................................... 13 The Next Step ......................................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER ONE: THE MANY FACES OF ANTINOUS..................................................................... 18 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 18 The Four Types ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Representations as Other Figures ............................................................................................................ 25 Provenance and Context .......................................................................................................................... 31 Conclusion: The Corpus .......................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER TWO: HADRIAN, PHILHELLENISM, AND POLICY .................................................. 39 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 39 The Emperor’s Ideology ......................................................................................................................... 40 Roman Portraiture ................................................................................................................................... 49 Hadrian’s Beard ...................................................................................................................................... 58 Conclusion: Hellenic or Military? ........................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER THREE: ANTINOUS AND IDEOLOGY .......................................................................... 64 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 64 The Cult of Antinous............................................................................................................................... 65 The Cult of Antinous and Imperial Policy .............................................................................................. 71 Ideology and the Cult Image ................................................................................................................... 78 Conclusion: Antinous and Hellenism...................................................................................................... 88 GENERAL CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX: IMAGES ........................................................................................................................... 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 122 ii Abstract The statues of Antinous, Hadrian’s favourite, are often believed to be primarily products of Hadrian’s philhellenism. The easiest explanation for Antinous’ unusual historical profile is that Hadrian loved Greek culture, Antinous was Greek, and the statues, mimicking Greek art, are an extravagant commemorative effort. Closer examination reveals that this is too simplistic an explanation. By quantifying extant statues of Antinous based on provenance and iconography, summarizing Hadrian’s ideology, examining Hadrian’s own image, and considering the cult of Antinous, we can see that Antinous played an important role in Hadrian’s ideology. His cult was a social and religious unifier and helped bridge the gaps between communities and foster shared pride and community amongst adherents; the statues, often cultic objects, visually conveyed this purpose through various iconographic connections to other cults. All this complemented Hadrian’s agenda of imperial unity and consolidation. Philhellenism cannot be denied entirely, but the primary purpose of Antinous’ statues was ideological. iii Acknowledgements The process of writing a thesis can be very solitary, with many long days spent in a quiet office poring over texts and documents. During times like those it is important to remember and acknowledge that it is not a solo effort, and that this thesis would not have been possible without the support of many others. Many thanks to my supervisor, Jitse Dijkstra, for keeping me on track and helping me refine my rough drafts into more polished prose. I would also like to thank him for accepting my unusual research idea, as it strays from the department’s usual focus on Late Antiquity, and then showing me how to turn that idea into a real thesis. I also want to thank Sabrina Higgins; it was for her class at Mount Allison University that I wrote my first paper on Antinous. She saw the thesis potential in it and inspired me to pursue the topic and enter the master’s program. I would also like to thank my peers and professors at Mount Allison, for helping me fall in love with classical history. At the University of Ottawa, I would like to thank all of the professors I worked with – Geoffrey Greatrex, Rajiv Bhola, Jitse Dijkstra, Marie-Pierre Bussières, Dominique Côté, and Pierluigi Piovanelli. I knew next to nothing about Late Antiquity when I began this program, and learning about it from them was an engaging and rewarding experience. Special thanks also to Dr. Bussières, who helped me pick apart sections of my thesis and stitch them back together into something stronger. To my friends here at the University of Ottawa, thank you for helping me survive this process, not just with academic help and ideas, but with a positive social environment and the comforting sense that we are all in this together. And to my friends outside of the university, as well as my brother, Matthew, thank you for listening to me complain on the bad days about how hard it is to write a thesis, and chatter on the good days about how exciting Antinous is and how much I love classics. Finally, to my dad and mom, Kevin and Joanna, who were and are always there for me, I cannot thank you enough. iv General Introduction Introduction Perhaps one of the most recognizable faces from antiquity belongs to a certain Greek youth, barely older than a child, who died nearly two thousand years ago. He looks downward, not quite meeting the viewer’s eyes; some might call him coy, others thoughtful. His face, softened a little by youth, has a straight nose and slightly furrowed brows. His hair is all heavy curls, brushing down over his forehead and ears and hanging down the back of his neck. He leans his weight onto one foot, hips and shoulders not quite level. His body is almost the classical ideal of the heroic nude, but his lack of muscular definition makes him appear younger and softer. Several dozens of statues of this youth exist, and yet he is portrayed with remarkable consistency. This is Antinous, in his most common portrait style, the young favourite of Emperor Hadrian. Despite the fact that Antinous died so long ago, his image is almost immediately recognizable. What a long life his image has had. Soon after his death he became a hero, and was venerated across the Roman Empire; countless portraits were fashioned in his image to honour the Empire’s new deity. His worship faded under the cultural dominance of Christianity, but he found new life in the Renaissance, when his images began to resurface and found new admirers. Sculptors drew inspiration from his images - so closely, in fact, that it is thought that some extant Antinous statues may be skillful modern-era forgeries.1 In the 18th century, Antinous became a symbol of homosexual desire and relationships, a codeword for attraction between men during a time that