Classical history intersects Judean and early Christian history: Hadrian, Sabina and Antinous

How did the text get redacted to prohibit homosexuality?

I have suggested that the interpretation was redacted into the text following the bar Cochba revolt, as a way of “commemorating” Hadrian, who was known to have had a male lover.  If we look at that relationship, it seems more evident that not only was the text redacted in that way and for that reason, but that the death of his lover may have had something to do with why Hadrian’s response to the bar Cochba revolt was as savage, as barbaric, as it was.

Hadrian (born Publius Aelius Hadrianus) came from a well-established family.  His father, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, was a senator of praetorian rank, who spent much of his time in Rome.  Afer was a paternal cousin of Trajan’s.  Hadrian’s mother, Domitia Paulina, was the daughter of a Spanish-Roman family of Senatorial rank.  Hadrian’s parents died in 86 CE, when he was 10.  He became a ward of the Emperor Trajan and Publius Acilius Attianus, Trajan’s Praetorian Prefect.

Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, who was also his second cousin once removed.  Sabina was daughter of Salinina Matidia, Trajan’s niece, and of Lucius Vibius Sabins, a consul.  Sabina’s father died in 84.  After his death, Sabina lived with her grandmother and her mother in Trajan’s household.  In 100 CE, Sabina and Hadrian married at the request of Trajan’s wife, who was Sabina’s aunt.   The marriage sealed Hadrian’s claim to succeed the Emperor.

Hadrian joined Trajan's expedition against Parthia as a legate on Trajan’s staff.  He did nothing of note during the first phase, which was victorious.  He did nothing of note during the second phase, when Mesopotamia was engulfed in rebellion.  When the governor of Syria was sent to Parthia to deal with troubles there, Hadrian was appointed as his replacement. 

Although Hadrian had been made Trajan’s ward, Trajan had never adopted him.  Trajan had never designated him as heir.  When Trajan died, a document of adoption, signed by Trajan’s wife, was produced.   Trajan’s wife had endorsed Hadrian’s marriage to her niece Sabina.

Sabina had an affair with the historian Suetonius, who was Hadrian’s secretary.  At her death in 128 CE, Hadrian obtained for her the title of Augusta, and had her deifed (a not-uncommon practice for honoring the deceased spouse of the Emperor).

During his marriage to Sabina, Hadrian began an relationship of his own, to Antinous, a youth from Bithynia in Turkey (111 CE-October 130 CE).  He joined Hadrian’s entourage at a young age,  It is not known how, when or where they met.   Antinous drowned in the Nile in October 130.  It is not known if his death was accidental or if he had been sacrificed or if he sacrificed himself.

Following his death, Hadrian had Antinous declared a god.  Cities were founded in his name and commissioned images depicting him as a god.  Temples were built for his worship in Bithynia, Mantineia, and in Athens.  Festivals were celebrated in his honor.  Oracles were delivered his name.  Medals were struck bearing his image—the only time that occurred for someone who was not an Emperor/Empress. 

Hadrian commissioned an obelisk which he dedicated to Antinous.  The sides of the obelisk are covered with reliefs and with hieroglyphs that Hadrian composed.

The following English paraphrase translation of the text is based on the German translation of the hieroglyphic texts in Hugo Meyer: Der Obelisk des Antinoos (1994), pp. 84–88. [...] indicates where the original inscription is defaced.

• [East face] Salvation plea, put forward by Osiris-Antinous, whose heart is in very great jubilation, since he has recognised his own form after being raised again to life and he has seen his father Re-Harachte [God of the Rising Sun]. His heart speaks: “Oh! Re-Harachte, highest of the gods, who hears the calling of gods and men, of the glorified ones and of the dead. Hear also the cry of one who approaches thee [Hadrian]! Grant him reward for what he did for me, thy beloved son, the King of Upper- and Lower-Egypt, who has set a precept of worship inside the temple sanctuaries for all men, to the satisfaction of the gods. He that is beloved by Hapi [God of the Nile Inundation, representing fertility & abundance] and all the gods, the Lord of the Crowns [Hadrian Caesar], may he live safe and sound, may he live forever, like Re, with a prosperous and newly risen [rejuvenated] old age. He is the Lord of Prosperity, the Sovereign of every land, the Pre-Eminent [Augustus]. The great of Egypt and the Nine Arches [foreign lands] bow themselves and unite under his feet as Master of Both Lands [Pharaoh of Egypt]. They come into being every day through his word. His might extends to the boundary of this whole land, even to the four corners of the world. The bulls and their cows breed lustily and produce their offspring for him [Hadrian], to gladden his heart and that of his great and beloved royal consort, the Lady of Both Lands [Queen of Egypt] and the cities, Sabina, who lives, is safe and in health, ‘Sebaste who lives forever’ [Augusta]. Hapi, father of the gods, makes the fields fruitful for them and arranges the inundation at its time, the flooding of the Two Lands [the annual flooding of the Nile valley from July to October, irrigating the Egyptian farmland.]
• [West face] The god Osiris-Antinous, the justified – he grew into a youth with a beautiful countenance and magnificently adorned eyes [...] strength, whose heart rejoices like a demi-god’s after he has received a command of the gods at the time of his death. For him is repeated every ritual of the Hours [funerary cult] of Osiris [god of the underworld, regeneration & rebirth], together with each of his ceremonies as a Mystery. He will spread his doctrine in the whole land, benevolent in the instruction and effective in declaration. Nothing comparable has been done for the ancestors until now. And similarly for his altars, his temple and his titles because he breathed the air of life and his esteem arises in the hearts of mankind. Lord of Hermopolis, Thoth! [ibis-headed moon-god], Lord of the Word of God [hieroglyphics], rejuvenate his spirit, as everything in its time, in the night and day, at all times and in every moment! Love of him [Antinous] is in the hearts of his followers and awe of him by all [...] and his praise by all acolytes when they worship him. He takes his seat in the Halls of the Righteous, the Glorified and the Excellent Ones, who are in the company of Osiris in the Realm of the Dead, while the Lord of Eternity gives him absolution. They perpetuate his word on earth, having gladdened their hearts because of him. He goes to every place, as he wishes. The Gatekeepers of the Underworld say to him “Praise to you!” They loosen their bolts and open their gates before him, daily for millions and millions of years. The duration of his life never elapsing in eternity.
• [North face] The god Osiris-Antinous, the justified, whose place this is; he makes a sports arena in his place in Egypt, which is named after him [Antinoöpolis], for the strong ones [athletes] that are in this land, and for the rowing-teams and the runners of the whole land and for all men who belong to the place of the sacred writings where Thoth is present. They receive the prizes awarded and crowns [garlands of flowers (?)] on their heads, while they are repaid with all sorts of good things. There are daily sacrifices on his [Antinous] altars, as the sacrifices were offered every day in the olden days. He will be praised as the artisans of Thoth respond to his glory. He goes out from his place to the numerous temples of the entire land; he grants the requests of those who call on him and he heals the sickness of those in need, sending them dreams. When his work is completed among the living, he takes every form to his heart, because the seed of the gods came into being in his body [...] the healing body of his mother. He was elevated from his birthplace through [...]
• [South face] The god, who is there [the Hereafter], rests in this place [the Antinoeion at Tivoli], which is situated in the estate of the Lord of Prosperity of Rome [Hadrian]. He is known as a god in the sacred places of Egypt. Temples were erected for him and he is worshipped like a god by the prophets and priests of Upper- and Lower-Egypt, as well as by the Egyptians inhabitants. A city was named after him [Antinoöpolis]. Participants in his Grecian cult in Both Lands [of Egypt] and those who are in the temples of Egypt came here from their own districts and are given cultivated land to make their life good beyond measure. A temple of this god is there [Antinoöpolis], he is called Osiris-Antinous, the justified; it is constructed of good white stone, surrounded by statues of the gods [sphinxes (?)] and statues, also by numerous columns, made as our forefathers did, and also as the Greeks made them. All the gods and goddesses will give him the breath of life, so that he breathes, eternally rejuvenated.

Dio’s comment on Hadrian’s reaction to Antinous’ death:

Antinous was from Bithynium, a Bithynian city which we also call Claudiopolis, and he had become Hadrian's boy-favourite (paidika); and he died in Egypt, either by falling into the Nile, as Hadrian writes [lost], or, as the truth is, having been offered in sacrifice (hierourgethesis). For Hadrian was in any case, as I have said, very keen on the curious arts, and made use of divinations and incantations of all kinds. Thus Hadrian honoured Antinous - either on account of his love for him, or because the youth had voluntarily undertaken to die for him (ethelontes ethanatothe) (for there was need for a life to be surrendered willingly, to achieve what Hadrian intended), by founding a city on the spot where he suffered this fate and naming it after him [Antinoöpolis; modern El Sheik'ibada]. He also set up statues of him, or rather sacred images, practically all over the world. Finally he declared that he had seen a star, which he took to be that of Antinous, and gladly listened to the fictitious tales spun by his companions, to the effect that the star had really come into being from the soul of Antinous and had then appeared for the first time. As a result of this, indeed, he was ridiculed, especially because when his sister Paulina died he had not immediately accorded her any honours."

Justin Martyr (ca 100-165 CE) wrote in his Apologia:

Antinous, who was alive but lately, and whom all were prompt, through fear, to worship as a god, though they knew both who he was and what was his origin."

Clement of Alexandria (150-211 CE) wrote in Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Greeks):

Another new deity was added to the number with great religious pomp in Egypt, and was near being so in Greece by the king of the Romans [Hadrian], who deified Antinous [in 130CE], whom he loved as Zeus loved Ganymede, and whose beauty was of a very rare order: for lust is not easily restrained, destitute as it is of fear; and men now observe the sacred nights of Antinous, the shameful character of which the lover who spent them with him knew well. Why reckon him among the gods, who is honoured on account of uncleanness? And why do you command him to be lamented as a son? And why should you enlarge on his beauty? Beauty blighted by vice is loathsome. Do not play the tyrant, O man, over beauty, nor offer foul insult to youth in its bloom. Keep beauty pure, that it may be truly fair. Be king over beauty, not its tyrant. Remain free, and then I shall acknowledge thy beauty, because thou hast kept its image pure: then will I worship that true beauty which is the archetype of all who are beautiful. There is a tomb of the beloved boy (eromenos). A temple of this Antinous and a city [Antinoöpolis]. For just as temples are held in reverence, so also are sepulchres, and pyramids, and mausoleums, and labyrinths, which are temples of the dead, as the others are sepulchres of the gods. As teacher on this point, I shall produce to you the Sibyl prophetess:- 'Not the oracular lie of Phoebus, Whom silly men called God, and falsely termed Prophet; But the oracles of the great God, who was not made by men's hands, Like dumb idols of Sculptured stone.'

In 130, Hadrian visited Jerusalem, which was still in ruins from the war of 66-70.  He rebuilt the city and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus.  He rebuilt the Temple and dedicated that to Jupiter, too.  He also built a temple to Venus.  This temple would later be venerated by Christians as the site of the tomb of Christ.

Hadrian abolished circumcision, because as a man who ardently admired Greek civilization, he believed it to be a form of mutilation. 

The bar Cochba revolt began in 132.