'THE LOVE GOD' BY MARTIN CAMPBELL IS A BRILLIANT NOVEL ABOUT ANTINOUS

THE most brilliant novel about Antinous to appear in over half a century ... THE LOVE GOD ... is authored by our own MARTINUS CAMPBELL, priest of Antinous.

While that sounds like biased praise, we Antinomaniacs are hard to please and would not hesitate to pick apart a poorly researched book or one that denigrated Antinous, even if it were written by one of our best friends ... perhaps especially if it were. 

At the same time, a sycophantic book that presented Antinous as being cloyingly sweet and angelic would be unbearable and not believable.

So we are gratified (and greatly relieved) to report that this book truly is a remarkable work of historical fiction right up there with Marguerite Yourcenar's landmark MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN 60 years ago.

Martin traces the life of Antinous from the moment his tousle-haired head emerges from his mother's womb under auspicious stars in Asia Minor to the moment his head sinks beneath the swirling waters of the Nile on a starry evening in Egypt.

Antinous comes to life as a young man of breath-taking beauty who is filled with conflicting passions and loyalties. He is a young man who at times is naive, yet at other times worldly wise with an ability to see the world as it is ... and to describe it with at times brutal honesty to the most powerful man in the world.

Above all, this is a gentle love story between Antinous and Emperor Hadrian, himself a man of contradictory passions and priorities.

Martin himself is a man shares these passions. He has rebounded from a series of debilitating strokes to resume a daunting array of political activism for LGBTIU health and rights issues ... while working on this novel.

Based in a hilltop home overlooking the sea in Brighton England, he spent the best part of a decade researching this novel, retracing the footsteps of Antinous across Greece and Italy, as far north as Hadrian's Wall and as far south as the Nile in Upper Egypt.

Historical facts are excruciatingly accurate ... even the positions of the stars and planets at the moment of the birth of Antinous have been calculated to precision.

An academic scholar can read this book with satisfaction, noting obscure and arcane references which only the experts in the field of Antinology fully appreciate.

At the same time, however, this is a fun book to read even for those who have never heard of Antinous in their lives and who have no firm grasp of Roman civilization in the 2nd Century AD.

There is intrigue, skulduggery, near-death by lightning, getting lost in a subterranean labyrinth, a storm at sea, earthquakes ... and some fairly hot man sex as well, albeit tastefully brought to the page.

The narrator is the Classical Love God himself: Eros. He shoots his amorous arrows and ensures that Antinous and Hadrian fulfill the destiny which the Fates have in store for them ... despite efforts by certain people in the Imperial Court to thwart the Fates.

But the genius of this book is that there are no black-and-white villains or heroes. Antinous is a young man with all the problems and drives of late adolescence. Hadrian is a man with a mid-life crisis of doubt and regret.

Others such as Empress Sabina and her constant companion Julia Balbilla and their coterie of fawning courtiers and freedmen are not really hateful towards Antinous so much as they are simply perplexed by him. 

They view him the way some members of the Royal Household might look at the favorite Corgi of the Queen, unable to comprehend her affection for it, her grief when it dies.

They whisper amongst themselves: What hold does Antinous have over Hadrian? 

Just who does he think he is? And is he a threat to them? 

What is so different about Antinous that Hadrian doesn't grow weary of him ... as he always has with previous toy boys? 

Because they cannot understand how he fits in the scheme of Imperial court life, some really rather wish he would just disappear ... voluntarily or otherwise. 

And through it all is the boyhood friend of Antinous who has accompanied him on this long journey with mixed feelings and with growing envy and jealousy. 

The boiling emotions all stem from Eros, who winks knowingly at the reader as he shoots one arrow after another with unerring accuracy to ensure that Antinous fulfills his destiny ... to take his place alongside Eros as a God of Love.

The result is a richly entertaining and beautifully written novel which appeals to those seeking authoritative scholarly accuracy as well as readers who just want a riveting and memorable adventure yarn.

The Love God is available as Kindle and as a paperback ... CLICK HERE to order.

HOW'S THIS FOR A DIVINE SIGN? ANTINOUS MAKES MIRACULOUS APPEARANCE ON HOLLYWOOD TEMPLE'S STREET CORNER

ANTINOUS miraculously appeared on July 6th, 2018, which is International Kissing Day ... literally around the corner from the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

A larger-than-life, hand-painted wall advertisement adorned a building at the corner of La Brea and Melrose in Hollywood.

The advertisement was for Sabrina Carpenter's new single, which was being released that week. The image was all over social media.

"As soon as I saw the picture I knew where it was and ran down to see if it was true," our spiritual leader ANTONIUS SUBIA says. "It's a miracle! It's a great sign from Antinous!"

The image chosen by the artist for the advertisement is ... as sacred synchronicity would have it ... the Townley Antinous ... the same bust which is on the main altar of the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

Now, the same bust of Antinous (as Dionysus-Bacchus) was featured as cover art for Sabrina Carpenter's single "Almost Love" ... and was emblazoned on a wall just a few steps away from the Hollywood Temple of Antinous!

The actress and singer's track was the first from her upcoming third album "Singular".

That weekend, Sabrina debuted the song with an amazing performance at Wango Tango in Los Angeles.

"The moment when the light is red before the go. The moment when the curtain’s down before the show. The moment when you’re done, but maybe just one more. That's how I feel before I get you all alone," she sings on the song.

WEAR A WREATH OF FLOWERS DURING THE LUDI APOLLINARES

FROM the 5th to 13th of July is the Ludi Apollinares, a Roman festival in honour of Apollo. This was celebrated with horse racing and theatre plays. Livy writes: "The people took part in them wearing wreaths of flowers. The doors to the houses were opened, meals eaten in the open." So a picnic outside today would make a lovely way to celebrate. Photo art by Keith MezaenAset Hoberg.

05-13 de julho é o Ludi Apollinares , um festival romano em honra de Apollo . Este foi celebrado com corridas de cavalos e peças de teatro . Livy escreve: " As pessoas participaram neles vestindo coroas de flores As portas para as casas foram abertas , refeições consumidas no aberto. ". Assim, um piquenique fora hoje faria uma maneira bonita de comemorar . arte da foto por Keith MezaenAset Hoberg .

5-13to de julio es el Ludi Apollinares , un festival romano en honor de Apolo. Este fue celebrado con las carreras de caballos y obras de teatro . Livio escribe: " Las personas que participaron en ellos con coronas de flores Las puertas de las casas se abrieron , comidas comidas al aire libre. ". Por lo que un picnic fuera hoy haría una bonita manera de celebrar. Foto del arte de Keith MezaenAset Hoberg .

MAP OF ANCIENT ROMAN TRAVEL ROUTES ALLOWS YOU TO FOLLOW ANTINOUS

WE know that Antinous and Hadrian traveled to many far-flung provinces of the Roman Empire ... and now an interactive map helps you appreciate how long it would have taken ... and how it would have cost ... to follow in their footsteps.

Rome was at its largest under Hadrian. The Roman Empire stretched across the length and breadth of UK, Europe and beyond covering a staggering 1,061,780 square miles (2,750,000 square km).

But its size was can also be attributed to its downfall as managing such a large expanse of land proved costly and time consuming. 

To put this expanse into perspective, historians have created the interactive ORBIS: Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World that lets you explore the Empire, and see how long it would have taken ... and how much it would have cost ... to travel the world in the time of Antinous and Hadrian.

The map of the Roman world was created by Walter Scheidel, an historian in the Classics and History Departments at Stanford.

It features 632 sites including urban settlements and mountain passes, and covers close to 4 million square miles (10 million square km) of land and sea.

The map reveals how much it would have cost to travel on roads and seas across the Roman Empire, and calculates the route based on the season or mode of transport chosen.

Map modes include travelling by foot, horses, relay, oxcart, porter, private chariot, and during a rapid military march.

Travelling by Imperial Entourage is perhaps the only option missing.

SEEK THE LOST TOMB OF ANTINOUS WITH BEN PASTOR'S 'THE WATER THIEF'

IT's summer vacation time in the Northern Hemisphere and anyone who is interested in historical fiction in general and Antinous in particular should read this book by Ben Pastor, the award-winning Italian-American historian and author. 

She knows more about Hadrian and Antinous than almost any other living expert. 

Her historical novel THE WATER THIEF is an example of fine scholarly research, as are indeed all of her books.

This novel traces the efforts of Aelius Spartianus to discover the fabled LOST TOMB OF ANTINOUS. 

Aelius Spartianus is a true-life figure who did in fact write a biography of Hadrian nearly 200 years after the death of Antinous.

Set in the year 304 AD, it tells of this very literate Roman army officer who is commissioned by Emperor Diocletian to do research on his predecessor the Divine Hadrian, who had died nearly two centuries earlier. 

It is while delving into the mystery of the death of Antinous and while trying to learn the whereabouts of the Boy's tomb that the officer stumbles onto evidence of a letter penned by Hadrian uncovering a covert conspiracy to bring down the Empire ... a conspiracy that is still very much at work in 4th Century Rome. 

As Spartianus comes ever closer to finding the answer to the death of Antinous, the conspirators' efforts to thwart him become ever more violent, resulting in numerous brutal murders and attempts on the officer's life.

Pastor's descriptions of Rome in the year 304 AD are superb. You get a real feel for the teeming city in mid-summer, with all the odors and noise, colors and steamy heat that that implies. 

Best of all, for those of us who love and worship Antinous, are the chapters in which Spartianus ensconces himself in Hadrian's derelict villa outside Rome. 

It is there, as he stares up into the stars at night, that he makes a startling connection between the layout of the villa and the eight visible constellations in the nighttime sky in late October when Antinous died ... indicating that Hadrian's obsession with horoscopes and astrology led him to create an earthly universe where time stood still at the death of Antinous.

Did Hadrian's belief in astrological fate compel him to have Antinous killed? Or did Antinous take his own life in a bid to fulfill his astrological fate? 

Or was it more mundane? Did he and Hadrian have a lovers' tiff that ended tragically? Was he done in by young male rivals intent on gaining Hadrian's affections for themselves? 

Or was something even more sinister at work? And why is someone desperate to preventing the officer from finding out what happened to Antinous all those years ago?

For those of us who love Antinous, this book is a joy to read. Pastor works in many small and obscure details which are well known to his modern-day followers. 

To give just one example, the Roman officer expends a great deal of effort trying to locate and decipher the OBELISK OF ANTINOUS which today stands in a park in Rome and is the focus of much current research in the 21st Century.

The obelisk's key inscription, which is the focus of modern experts seeking his tomb, says that Antinous "rests within the garden bounds of the great lord of Rome". 

Just as today's researchers have puzzled over the meaning of that phrase, Ben Pastor's protagonist must also make sense of it ... and he arrives at a startling answer that almost costs him his life and jeopardizes future of the Empire.

The novel's characters are well drawn and the reader identifies with Spartianus as he attempts to unravel this Gordian Knot while at the same time pulling together the strands of his own personal life.

There are numerous gay characters and they emerge as well-rounded and believable characters, especially the flamboyant Egyptian gays who find themselves unwittingly the target of unscrupulous killers in their very midst.

The tales of Antinous and Hadrian which unfold as the investigation progresses are a true pleasure to read, if only because they are all so contradictory and often far-fetched ... precisely as they are to today's researchers. 

Spartianus must work his way through this thicket of tall tales and outright lies and defamations in order to determine precisely what sort of persons Hadrian and Antinous were ... in order to save the Empire two centuries after their deaths.

One of the more outlandish tall tales is told to Aelius by a Roman transgender hustler named Cleopatra Minor who claims to have frequented a notorious whorehouse which specializes in boys for aristocratic customers whose villas line the Bay of Naples. 

Cleo claims it is "well-known there" that Antinous was a boy prostitute who had just arrived from Bythinia and "had barely become accustomed to his little bed" when Hadrian stopped by the whorehouse and took a fancy to him.

There are lots of other, equally intriguing characters in this book. But the most intriguing character of all, of course, is the one character who cannot take active part in the plot but whose presence is felt at every turn of the plot:

Antinous himself.

Though the 4th Century murders take center stage in the story, this book actually is more concerned with telling the story of Antinous and Hadrian and their abiding love affair which spans the gulf of the centuries.

As you read the novel, you get a growing awareness of Antinous as the living, breathing, three-dimensional human being that he must have been in life. 

The more Spartianus looks into the life of Antinous, the more he becomes obsessed with the Blessed Boy. He simply has to find that tomb, even if it means his death and the downfall of Rome.

We won't give away the thrilling ending, except to say that, when Spartianus finally "exchanges glances" with Antinous (in a manner of speaking), Spartianus is overcome with emotion ... and the reader finds it hard to hold back the tears. 

CLICK HERE to order, but don't wait too long ... or the Water Thief will catch up with you.

ANTINOUS IN LAODICEA THE MERCURIAL CITY OF FINANCES

LAODICEA was the financial center of the Eastern Empire plus being the location of a fabled Temple of Hermes/Mercury (photos on this page).

And in these 21st Century days of financial crisis it is interesting to see how Emperor Hadrian promoted his own "financial stability mechanism" with on-site bail-outs and emergency cash injections.

In July 129 AD, Hadrian and Antinous arrived in triumph at Laodicea following their glowing visit to Ephesus.

The welcome was stupendous, especially since the Laodiceans knew the emperor was bringing not only chests full of money but also trade and business contracts and tax incentive reforms, all aimed at boosting prosperity and banking security.

The city stood on a spur of Mount Salbacus, one mile from the left bank of the Lycus, between the Asopus and Mount Cadmus, where it had a commanding view of the region between the Lycus and the Caprus.

It was one of the principal cities of Asia Minor, both as a major production center and a commercial hub, being famous for its woollen fabrics and its sandals.

It had received from Rome the title of free city, and it became the centre of a conventus juridicus, which comprised twenty-four cities besides itself.

Its wealthy citizens embellished it with beautiful monuments. The city had a school of  medicine and gave birth to the two skeptic philosophers, Antiochus and Theiodas. 

Its coins and inscriptions show evidence of the worship of Zeus, Æsculapius, Apollo, and the emperors.

Laodicea was one of the richest cities in the world, being the banking center of the east. So, great preparations must have been made for the visit of the Imperial entourage.

Entering the city of Laodicea during the summer of 129, Hadrian and Antinous were immediately welcomed by the wealthy population.

Due to its location and to the nearby medicinal baths, the city of Laodicea was a banking capital of the region and a place where wealthy merchants went to retire and enjoy the clean mountain air.

It was therefore a place very enthusiastic about the reforms that Hadrian had made and about his policies of Hellenism, which the Laodiceans would have considered good for business.

The Laodiceans had a great Temple to Zeus, Apollo and to Hermes, and it is the Temple of Hermes that is here of great importance because in Roman theology.

Mercury was the god of commerce which was all important in the rich city of Laodicea. It is therefore to the wealth of commerce, which had enriched the lives of the retirees of Laodicea, that we praise the policies of Hadrian the leader of Roman business.

FLAMEN ANTONIUS SUBIA suggests deeper spiritual insights which make this "Mercurial" city special to us:

"Antinous must have had an intense initiation into these financial mysteries, which were carried out in the courtyard of the Temple of Mercury, close to the watchful eye of the god. We pray to Mercury who ensures our livelihood and the success of the material world, which keeps our modern civilization in a constant state of progress."

THE DAY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STATUES OF ANTINOUS WAS FOUND

ON July 1st, 1894, this historic photograph was taken of the discovery of one of the most beautiful statues of Antinous ever found.

French archaeologists were in the process of uncovering this statue at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece when the photographer asked the diggers to pose for posterity.

Hadrian and Antinous visited Delphi and were initiated into Mysteries.

The Delphi Antinous statue was found standing perfectly upright, which indicates that it had been very carefully buried by the priests so as to protect it from marauding Christians. Apparently this statue was considered to be very special.

There are many larger-than- life statues of Antinous. And there are many busts. But the Delphi is one of the few life-size statues, and Johnston said it is possible that it was indeed modeled from the living Antinous.

If that was indeed the case, then it is possible, according to John J Johnston, a leading expert on Antinous, that Antinous was 5-foot-8 (173 cms) in height.

Owing to the long exposure time, the photographer asked the workmen to stand still (or as still as possible) for what must have seemed like an eternity to these simple men (one or two looking like a young Antinous) while the shutter was open.

This photo is one of the most emotionally touching portraits of ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD. It proves that the Ancient Priests of Antinous took special care to hide their precious statue from the barbarians. They didn't just dump Him into a hole -- they carefully buried Him standing upright with dignity!!

The photo is superb ... Antinous stands eternally in focus in the center ... the mortal men are blurred like the flames of votive candles which flicker briefly and go out ... only Antinous endures.

One young Antinous-looking man's face is in focus ... representing those few mortals who look into the Mysteries of Antinous....