British Museum examines Rome's premier gay couple

saratiddyFri 11/01/08 16:56

He is best-known in the UK for building a defensive wall as protection against the fierce Scots.

However, back in Rome the Emperor Hadrian was noteworthy for taking his gay lover as a consort, a new exhibition about his life reveals.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict opens at the British Museum later this year.

Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus, to give him his full name, was made emperor in AD117, when the Roman Empire was at its prime.

Many of the artefacts at the exhibition relate to his male companion, Antinous, a young Greek.

Antinous accompanied Hadrian during his travels. There is a poem written on papyrus, with an image of the couple hunting together, and written memorials Antinous wrote to Hadrian after his death at the exhibition.

It was not uncommon for the ancient Romans to have gay lovers, even if they were married.

However, Hadrian was the first emperor to announce his love officially.

When Antinous died, Hadrian was so distraught he named an Egyptian city after him.

The curator of the exhibition, Thorsten Opper, said that the way how Hadrian publicly 'worshipped' Antinous was unusual.

"He had to marry, and he had a politically arranged marriage to Sabina, who was the great-niece of the former emperor Trajan, which in effect, set up his succession," he told The Independent.

"But clearly, it was a loveless marriage with no children.

"What was unusual is that he had a lot of flings, and then after his lover drowned in the Nile AD130 he made him a god.

"Hadrian was clearly bereaved and he had lots of images put up.

When a city was founded close to the spot where Antinous drowned, he named it Antinopolis. It was a sort of hero cult-worship of Antinous."

Hadrian insisted on the deification of Antinous, a distinction usually for former emperors and their family. But this wasn't appreciated by the Romans as they did not believe this distinction should be awarded to a foreigner.

It was not their relationship in it itself that was offensive to the public opinion but instead the religious and political dimension that Hadrian gave to his relationship with Antinous.

However, Hadrian's sexual orientation wasn't the only unusual aspect of his reign.

He was seen as a peacemaker because he pulled his soldiers out of Mesopotamia or today's Iraq.

Hadrian was also an educated art lover and he designed the still existent Pantheon in Rome, at the time a bold construction and a breakthrough in design.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict opens at the British Museum in London on 24th July 2008.

Article: www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6533.html

saratiddyFri 11/01/08 17:00

From British Museum Website on Exhibition:

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

24 July – 26 October 2008 - Reading Room

Tickets on sale from 6 February 2008

This special exhibition will explore the life, love and legacy of Rome's most enigmatic emperor, Hadrian [reigned AD 117–138].

Ruling an empire that comprised much of Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East, Hadrian was a capable and, at times, ruthless military leader. He realigned borders and quashed revolt, stabilising a territory critically overstretched by his predecessor, Trajan.

Hadrian had a great passion for architecture and Greek culture. His extensive building programme included the Pantheon in Rome, his villa in Tivoli and the city of Antinoopolis, which he founded and named after his male lover Antinous.

This unprecedented exhibition will provide fresh insight into the sharp contradictions of Hadrian's character and challenges faced during his reign.

Objects from 31 museums worldwide and finds from recent excavations will be shown together for the first time to reassess his legacy, which remains strikingly relevant today.

£12, concessions available

Tickets on sale from 6 February 2008

UK Partnership Tour
In lead up to Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, the Museum is sending one of its star objects, a rare bronze head of Hadrian, to two sites along Hadrian's Wall from 8 February until 8 June 2008.

Through its Partnership UK programme, the British Museum will send on loan one of the star pieces of the Hadrian: Empire and Conflict - a bronze head of the Emperor Hadrian.

The head was found in the River Thames in 1834 and comes from a statue, one and a quarter life size, which may have been erected in a public space in London in AD122 to commemorate Hadrian's visit to Britain.

It is the first time the original head will have been seen outside London. This great work of art will be shown at Tullie House, Carlisle at the western end of Hadrian's Wall, then at Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum in Wallsend, in the heart of Tyneside.

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle
8 February – 13 April 2008

Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths & Museum, Wallsend
16 April – 8 June 2008

Article: www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/future_exhibitions/hadrian_empire_and_conflict.aspx