CILICIA. Tarsus. Antinoüs, died 130. Medallion (Bronze, 39 mm, 25.53 g, 12 h). ANTINOOC HPΩC Bare head of Antinoüs to left. Rev. ΑΔΡΙΑΝΗϹ ΤΑΡϹΟΥ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΩϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΟΥ Antinoüs as river god Kydnos, crowned with sedge, reclining left and leaning left arm on urn, holding small tree in his right hand and reed in his left; below, ΚΥΔΝΟC. BMC 156. Blum p. 53, 12. RPC III online 3296 corr. (reverse description). Very rare. Minor traces of corrosion and some weakness, otherwise, about very fine.


Born circa 110-112, Antinoüs, Hadrian’s favorite, met the emperor in the early 120s and accompanied him on his journey through Greece, Asia, and Egypt in 128-130. His premature death in the Nile in October 130 soon became surrounded by legends. Although it may have been an accident, rumors circulated that Antinoüs had committed sacrificial suicide, believing that this would prolong the life of his patron, or that he had been murdered by Hadrian’s jealous wife, Sabina. Grieving over the loss of his beloved companion, the emperor ordered the foundation of the eponymous city of Antinoopolis at the site of his death and had him deified, establishing him as a hero with his own priesthood.

The wide appeal of this cult, which quickly spread throughout the Greek East, is attested not only by numerous statues – more than a hundred survive – and honorary games, but also by the substantial number of poleis that struck coins in Antinoüs’ name. This coinage is of particular interest, as it provides evidence for local forms of worship of the new hero. At Kios, Antinoüs was equated with Pan (ΠANI ANTINOΩ); at Corinth, with Hermes and Bellerophon; at Ancyra and Nicopolis, he was praised as the deified Antinoüs (ANTINOOΣ ΘΕOΣ or ANTINOON ΘΕON); and in many cities, he was assimilated to Dionysos.

At Tarsus, as also at Adramytium, Antinoüs was worshipped as a 'new Iakchos,' a daimonic figure associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries and carried in the Eleusinian processions. Hadrian and Antinoüs had both been initiated into the Mysteries during their visit to Greece in 128, and the identification of the deceased imperial favorite with a figure so closely linked to Eleusis is therefore hardly surprising.