THIS LIFE-SIZE MARBLE HEAD PROVES ANTINOUS SHARED A TEMPLE WITH THE GODDESS DIANA

Archaeologists discovered this rare, high-quality marble portrait head of Antinous during excavations at the ancient city of Teos, located in modern-day Seferihisar, Izmir, Türkiye not far from the site of ancient Smyrna, a city which Hadrian and Antinous visited in 129 AD.

The portrait head fragment was unearthed in the southeast corner of the temple within the city's agora (market square). The temple itself was originally dedicated to the goddess Diana along with the goddess Roma and Emperor Augustus. 

This artifact is one of the few marble portraits of Antinous of this size found in Anatolia. Its specific placement within an existing imperial sanctuary indicates that the citizens of Teos actively integrated Antinous into their civic imperial worship. 

The ongoing excavations ... spearheaded by Ankara University and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ... have continually yielded immense historical data from the site.

Alongside the Antinous portrait, teams have uncovered 13 distinct inscriptions and new statue bases, expanding modern understanding of Teos's political and religious landscape during the Roman period.

Teos is known for hosting the Guild of Dionysian Artists, an association of poets, actors and musicians, in the third century B.C. The city's strong artistic tradition earned it a reputation as a center for the arts in antiquity.