by Michael Berndl
The city of Antinoopolis was founded on 30th October 130 AD by Emperor Hadrian on the east bank of the Nile, about 9 km east from Hermopolis Magna. The city was named in tribute to Antinous, a young man from Claudiopolis in Bithynia, who drowned under mysterious circumstances in the Nile during Hadrian’s journey to Egypt in 130 AD. Even in antiquity, the death of Hadrian’s supposed lover gave rise to various hypotheses about the cause of death, including accident, suicide or even ritual sacrifice.
However, the founding of Antinoopolis is not solely attributed to the death of Antinous. Research suggests that Hadrian may also have pursued strategic plans, such as strengthening or establishing an administrative centre. He had the city built in the style of a Greek polis on the remains of the city of Besa, where a large temple of Ramses II from the New Kingdom was located. It was laid out according to the Hippodamian scheme, with porticoes running along the main street, and housed numerous buildings such as magnificent temples, a triumphal arch on the Nile and other structures outside the city, such as baths, a circus and a gymnasium.
Antinous may also have been laid to rest in a large mausoleum in the city. Administratively, Hadrian modelled himself on the Egyptian Greek city of Naukratis, whose municipal constitution he adopted. He also granted privileges to the new citizenry, which was made up of settlers from Greek cities in Egypt and war veterans, making the city a culmination point for “new Hellenes”.
Antinoopolis gained significance in various aspects: culturally with the establishment of the Antinoeia festival, economically through the construction of the Via Hadriana linking Antinoopolis to Berenice on the Red Sea, and politically when it was designated as the capital of a new province named Thebaïs by Emperor Diocletian in 297. Nonetheless, the precise role of the city in the Hermopolites region and its connection to Hermopolis remain unclear due to scarce sources.
Despite their geographical proximity, the Greek city of Antinoopolis and the ancient Egyptian city of Hermopolis were initially closed to each other, but that the cities inevitably had significant economic and cultural influence on each other due to the gradual “de-Hellenisation” of Antinoopolis over the centuries and their geographical proximity.
Bibliography:
- A. Birley, Hadrian. Der rastlose Kaiser (Mainz am Rhein 2006)
- A. Free, Antinoopolis. Eine griechische Stadt im römischen Ägypten, in: K. Gabler – A. Verbovsek – S. Bickel – E. Hemauer (eds), Formen kultureller Dynamik. Impuls, Progression, Transformation, BAJA 10 (Wiesbaden 2021) 105–114
- J. Fündling, Kommentar zur Vita Hadriani der Historia Augusta, Antiquitas 4 (Bonn 2006)
- C. P. Jones, New Heroes in Antiquity. From Achilles to Antinoos (Cambridge, MA 2010)
- E. Kühn, Antinoopolis. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Hellenismus im römischen Ägypten. Gründung und Verfassung (Göttingen 1913)
- M. Malouta, Antinoopolis and Hermopolis. A Tale of Two Cities, in: P. Schubert (ed.): Actes du 26e Congrès International de Papyrologie. Genève. 16–21 août 2010 (Geneva 2012) 463–469
- H. Meyer (ed.), Der Obelisk des Antinoos. Eine kommentierte Edition (München 1994)
- P. Schubert, Antinoopolis: pragmatisme ou passion?, CdE 72 Fasc.143, 1997, 119–127
- M. Zahmt, Antinoopolis in Ägypten. Die hadrianische Gründung und ihre Privilegien in der neueren Forschung, in: W. Haase – H. Temporini (eds): Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Teil 2 Principat X, 1 (Berlin 1988) 696–706