History & The Arts
Hadrian's Rome
...religion (see Section 2) as a sign that he was divinely sanctioned to rule, but the emperor also surrounded himself with gods of his own making. In this respect he is perhaps most famous for how he treated Antinous after his death. Antinous was a young man, a great favourite and a probable homosexual partner of Hadrian, who drowned in the Nile in mysterious circumstances...