Memoirs of Hadrian

I'm a lover of history and have studied a great deal of classical Greek and Roman history in college and through reading on my own in the subsequent years. Thus, I was excited to read that a new movie based on French writer Marguerite Yourcenar's novel, Memoirs of Hadrian (Mémoires d'Hadrien) is apparently about to begin production. From a gay perspective the movie should be quite interesting in asmuch as Hadrian's great love was for the beautiful Antinous, another male. The movie, describing the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian will be directed by John Boorman. Hadrian is expected to be played by Antonio Banderas while Charlie Hunnam (pictured at left) has been cast as his lover Antinous. Yes, indeed, the eye candy will be great. Needless to say, the knuckle draggers will be in a vapor if the movies correctly depicts the gay love affair between Hadrain and his Antinous. Heaven forbid that the REAL history of gays throughout history be told. Here are some highlights from The Guardian:

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Later this summer filming will start in Morocco on a version of the emperor's story by British director John Boorman. Based on Marguérite Yourcenar's 1951 novel, Memoirs of Hadrian, Boorman's film casts Antonio Banderas in the lead role and Charlie Hunnam as Antinous, the Greek boy who became his lover and then drowned mysteriously in the Nile.

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'Hadrian was a real visionary. We will be telling an intimate story and a broad, epic story,' said Boorman this weekend. 'He managed to consolidate the empire, but in doing so he sowed the seeds of its ruin. His armies began to soften.'

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This organised dictator had many guises. He was homosexual and loved architecture and art, but he was also portrayed as a warrior, a beacon of learning and even a god. On top of all this, he was also a poet and writer, penning his own lost memoir . . . Edward Gibbon, the 18th-century historian, began his account of Rome's decline and fall: 'Under Hadrian's reign, the empire flourished in peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces in person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the most enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy.'

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The physical remains of his energy are visible even today. Aside from the British wall, two other vast building projects - the restoration of the Pantheon and his tomb, the Castel Sant'Angelo, still add gravitas to the Roman skyline 1,900 years later.

QUEER TRUTH IN HISTORY MAKES HISTORY

As Proceed at Your Own Risk is currently reporting (http://rjr10036.typepad.com/proceed_at_your_own_risk/2008/01/history-and-que.html), the British Museum is going to OUT one of the greatest leaders in world history as an openly gay man. No, it's not Alexander the Great, although he too would qualify. Rather it is the Roman emperor Hadrian, who had a lover he notoriously acknowledged, the young Greek boy Antinous. BTW, Antinous died by drowning in the Nile in October, 130 AD**. Here are some story highlights:

Sponsored by British Petroleum, "Hadrian: Empire and Conflict'' (July 24 - Oct. 26) will feature some 200 loans from 31 countries and take place in the British Museum's specially refitted circular Reading Room. Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire from 117 to 138 A.D. and ordered the building of a wall dividing England and Scotland.

"Hadrian is part of a series of exhibitions on great empires that have shaped the world,'' MacGregor told reporters earlier this week. "It's those great empires that established the connections and patterns that the world is still living with.'' But, MacGregor was also quick to point out that this Roman emperor was also selected because multiple new discoveries offered a "chance to write new history,'' which is part of the British Museum's purpose, he said.

"Hadrian was gay, and we can say it," said Thorsten Opper, a British Museum curator who is publishing a profile of Hadrian to coincide with the show. In fact, Hadrian's lover, the young Greek boy Antinous, whose death caused the emperor tremendous grief, will feature throughout the exhibition. A head of Antinous, borrowed from Paris's Louvre Museum, will be displayed, as will a bowl from Georgia with his effigy. Upon his lover's death, Hadrian elevated Antinous to the status of God, a God celebrating same sex romantic love, a fact I suspect few of you were taught in school.

The exhibition will reveal the many faces of Hadrian, a skilled and ruthless military leader who crushed the Jewish revolt of 132 A.D. and faced down rebellions in Britannia, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia. At the same time, Hadrian's patronage of the arts will be celebrated. It was he who built Rome's Pantheon, one of the most emulated monuments in architectural history, which the British Museum's Reading Room itself was modeled after.

Hadrian supported one of Rome's most lively periods of art, music and literature in an environment that also celebrated male beauty and male homosexuality. Histories have often "speculated" that Hadrian "might have been bi-sexual." This was dishonest and incredibly offensive, but such is gay history--until now.

** within a few years of his death there were temples, statues by the thousands and devotion throughout the entire known world. He was the very last of the Roman gods, Antinous the Beloved.

Gays in History

I have always had an interest in archaeology and in Classical Greece and Rome. Thus this news story is of interest for several reasons:

A number of theories are under debate in archaeological circles surrounding a "very unusual" discovery in an ancient Roman suburb. But none of these theories--at least as far as the media are concerned--consider that this may have been the first official and largest and most lavish gay bathhouse ever conceived.

Archaeologists have uncovered a private 5-acre villa about which we know three facts. The first is that it was the spectacular home of an ancient Roman equivalent of a billionaire, Quintus Servilius Pudens. Secondly we know that Quintus Servilius Pudens was a close personal friend of the openly queer Emperor Hadrian. Thirdly, this is the largest private bathhouse ever discovered.

While many Roman Emperors have been the subject of endless Hollywood movies, PBS documentaries and various miniseries. I live for the day when someone has the courage and honesty to finally portray the spectacular love affair between the Roman Empire's most famous gay Emperor and the officially acknowledged love of his life, the young Greek boy, Antinous. Not only did Antinous enjoy near Empress status at the side of his Imperial lover, but when Antinous drowned during the sixth year of this relationship, the Emperor embarked on a radical departure from Roman tradition and declared the foreigner and commoner, Antinous to be a God--the official deification of homosexual love and same sex unions.

Cities were founded in the name of Antinous, medals struck with his effigy, and statues erected to him in all parts of the empire. Following the example of Alexander The Great (who sought divine honors for his lover, Hephaistion, when he died), Hadrian had Antinous proclaimed a god. Temples were built for his worship in Bithynia (the birthplace of Antinous) and in Athens itself. Festivals were celebrated in his honor and oracles delivered in his name. The city of Antinopolis or Antinoe was founded on the ruins of Besa, Egypt where he died.

The elevation of Antinous to the pantheon of Roman Gods, the impact of his legendary beauty and the enduring love of Hadrian for this Greek boy had an extraordinary impact on the development of art. His image even carried over into Italian classical Christian art.

In fact, Antinous is one of the best-preserved faces from the ancient world. Many busts, gems and coins represent Antinous as the ideal type of youthful beauty, often with the attributes of some special god. They include a colossal bust in the Vatican (here), a bust in the Louvre (the Antinous Mondragone), a bas-relief from the Villa Albani (here), a statue in the Capitoline museum (the Capitoline Antinous), another in Berlin, another in the Lateran and one in the Fitzwilliam Museum; and many more may be seen in museums across Europe. There are also statues in many archaeological museums in Greece including the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the archaeological museums of Patras, Chalkis and Delphi.

Hadrian and Antinous were at the center of a large circle of artists, musicians, poets, actors, playwrights and writers of which the "billionaire" Quintus Servilius Pudens was a part. And it was during this period that Pudens built what may have been the the world's largest private bathhouse--even larger than the one at Hadrian's own villa.

I wonder when the media will be brave enough to acknowledge and truthfully cover the role of gays in history. Sadly, the recent movie on Alexander the Great ducked most of the gay issues.