Death On The Nile (3 of 4)

By Pueros

Part 3 – Tibur & Athens

(Part 3a – Tibur)

‘Happy little book! I do not grudge it, but some boy reading you will stroke you, hold you under his chin, press you to his delicate lips, or roll you up on his knee.

O happiest of books, you will often be hidden next to his chest, or laid on his chair touching him, and you will talk to him, just you two alone together.

Then will you not, dear book, speak a word now and again in my favour?’

- Strato (2nd century Greek poet)

(Paedagogium Ad Caput Africae, Palatine Hill, Rome, 2 years later, Iul. DCCCLXXIX A.V.C. [early July, 126 AD])

Antinous had given up books for now and instead held a little nail in his hand. The boy planned to celebrate, in the traditional manner, his final day at the Paedagogium. The now 13 year-old was about to add his own graffiti inscription to those of most of his young, invariably very pretty, predecessors, who had previously graduated from the stern academy.

In Rome, few flat surfaces of plaster or marble, whether horizontal or vertical, escaped the frequently inventive graffiti of schoolboys or other souls wishing to record their presence, loves, artistry, learning or opinions in some way. Names, caricatures, alphabets, verses, profanities and the like were commonplace, so much so that many walls bore the inscriptions of owners begging, usually fruitlessly, passers-by not to ‘scariphare’, or ‘scratch’, on their buildings.

The ten or so boys graduating annually from the Paedagogium, for service in the adjacent palace, other Imperial residences or the travelling entourage of the Emperor, regularly exhibited their delight at their deliverance from the rod of their teachers by chronicling the happy event on walls before they left. Although Antinous’ own experiences in the strict school had not been too unpleasant, because of the friendships he had made, he did not intend to miss out on fulfilling scholastic tradition.

Adjacent to similar but older engravings, the young Bithynian now added his own, inscribing ‘Antinous exit de paedagogio’ on the wall that represented the latest site for such scrawls. The boy also appended a little vignette underneath, alluding to the hardships of school life. The drawing was illustrative of his new excellent literacy in Latin, as well as his inherent bright intelligence, humorous spirit and artistic genes.

Antinous’ drawing depicted a donkey turning a mill, whilst his legend declares ‘Labora aselle qvomodo ego laboravi et proderit tibi’, or ‘Work, work, little donkey, as I have worked myself, and you will be rewarded for it!’ Meanwhile, nearby, his best friends, Alexamenos and Corinthus, both scratched their names before adding, as the young Bithynian had done, ‘exit de paedagogio’. The threesome, having left their marks for posterity, then walked away, chatting happily about their imminent new lives in the service of Hadrian, who had just returned to Rome.

A little later, Marianus arrived alone. He too scrawled his own similar historical record. However, still deeply despising Antinous, he spitefully scratched away his enemy’s freshly carved name. He then added his own drawing involving Alexamenos, whom he blamed for most of his troubles, having unexpectedly come to the assistance of the new boy from Bithynia almost three years previously.

The picture by Marianus, who was of traditional Roman pagan heritage, depicted a blasphemous caricature of Jesus, represented with the head of a donkey, whilst fastened to the cross with feet resting on a horizontal piece of board. Included in his engraved drawing was the figure of the Christian, Alexamenos, with arms raised in adoration of his crucified saviour.

Marianus’ deliberately derogative inscribed legend beneath read ‘Alexamenos sebete qeon’, or ‘Alexamenos worships his god’. Having made his own commentaries for posterity, the still vengeful 13 year-old Roman then walked away from the scene, with a wry sneer on his undoubtedly handsome face.

All of the graffiti I describe are still extant, twenty centuries after they were scrawled, and viewable in modern Rome today in the Palatine Antiquarium.

As Marianus left his artwork, particularly satisfied that he had eradicated any sign of Antinous’ presence in the Paedagogium, he did not realise that his young enemy was to leave far grander monuments behind after his death, as testament to his exalted existence in the world of mankind.

(Villa Hadriana, Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], Latium, Italia, a few days later)

As in ordinary Roman schools, terms at the Paedagogium ended at the beginning of Iulius [July] and started again in September. No one wanted to be studying or teaching during the hot summer months experienced in Italia. However, those pupils, like Antinous, who were destined to return in the autumn but for whom journeys home for the holidays were either impractical, because of the distances involved, or impossible, because they no longer possessed homes to go to, still stayed in the Domus of Gelotiana.

Without lessons to go to, the remaining pupils occupied their time in play, chat and exploring Rome, under the supervision of the male slaves who otherwise performed the menial tasks, such as the cooking, cleaning and laundry, within the school. Their regime was invariably more liberal than that of the teachers, most of whom had fled to the countryside to escape the almost intolerably uncomfortable conditions in the crowded capital. Nevertheless, the servants, all eunuchs in order to remove any temptation that might develop to molest their beautiful young charges, if they had still retained their true masculinity, were always careful to ensure that no harm came to the boys. They knew that they were likely to forfeit more than their balls if they failed in this duty.

Antinous’ best friends, Alexamenos and Corinthus were amongst those who returned home, to respectively Philippi and Corinth in Greece, as was his enemy Marianus, although, being a native of Rome, he did not have nearly as far to travel. However, the popular young Bithynian was still not short of amicable companions during the two summers, of the years DCCCLXXVII and DCCCLXXVIII A.V.C., or ‘Ab Vrbe Condita’ [872 & 873 after the founding of the city {of Rome}, i.e. 124 & 125 AD], he was to spend at the Paedagogium.

Despite the oppressive urban heat, Antinous had enjoyed these last two summers. However, the boy was now pleased to be moving elsewhere to spend the months of Iulius, named after Julius Caesar, and Augustus, named after the very first Emperor. There would be no unhappy return to tuition under the iron discipline of teachers with the arrival of September, which was named after the Latin word for ‘seven’ because it was the seventh month in the original Roman calendar.

Antinous’ attitude prevailed despite the fact that he would also not be enjoying any holidays. Instead, he and his fellow 13 year-old graduates, including Alexamenos, Corinthus and Marianus, were sent east, about twenty Roman miles from the capital, to the town of Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], along the Via Tiburtina, which was part of the Via Valeria that crossed Italia to the Mare Adriaticum.

Tibur, in a very picturesque location overlooking the River Aniene, a tributary of the Tiber, was a favourite spot for the wealthy elite to spend their summers in their own palatial villas. One of the town’s attractions was its accessibility from the capital because of the intervening excellent cobbled roads and the fact that the local waterways were navigable, all the way from the port of Ostia, on the coast, via Rome.

Immediately after his accession to the Principate, Hadrian had started the building, near Tibur, of his own country villa, which was to become the biggest and most resplendent in the whole Empire. For the construction, he selected a hillside site, previously occupied mainly by olive trees but with magnificent views of the adjacent valley and Rome, just visible in the far distance, and deliberately flanked by streams that flowed into the River Aniene. These water sources were necessary for some of the spectacular characteristics the Emperor planned for his summer residence, especially the several large baths, lakes and artificial rivulets, which were prominent features, requiring vast quantities of the liquid.

Copious local supplies of water were one of the boons of Tibur, with the local hills constantly serving four of the massive aqueducts that served the capital. There were also other practical reasons for choosing the town for the location of Hadrian’s villa. The place was [and still is] famous for its travertine quarries, as well as the ample availability of tufa, pozzolana and lime, necessary for the production of Roman cement.

The selected locale, protected by two barracks, one for Praetorians, became a sumptuous landscaped complex of over thirty concrete, brick-faced buildings, many several storeys high, domed and possessing porticoes with tall Doric columns. Most of the constructions were given names of Greek edifices and cities in the eastern Empire, and reflected styles, particularly Hellenic, appreciated by Hadrian during his extensive travels.

The complex came to represent a revolution in ancient architecture. The creators seemed to revel in playing with light and shade, space and colour. Curvilinear shapes of many varieties particularly abounded, with hardly a straight line anywhere to be seen.

The site covered a huge area [at least 100 hectares, or about 250 acres, and possibly many more] and was veritably a country palace. Around a traditionally structured large villa, there were grand courtyards, gardens and colonnades, most with ornate fountains and pools and fed with water laced with fragrances, luxurious residential accommodation for the Emperor and his guests and plain but comfortable servants’ quarters, the latter constructed on an artificial platform.

There were also an audience hall, two libraries, one for Latin works and one for Greek, a lecture hall, two theatres, one consisting of a colonnade around a small lake with an central island, which possessed a tiny dwelling, and a bathing complex with a sun-heated room. There were Temples of Pluto and Venus. A Temple of Serapis was dug into the hillside at the end of an elongated colonnaded lake. There was even a small stadium for sports and other entertainment.

Below much of the complex, there was a series of underground passages and storage facilities, as well as the working and sleeping quarters for the many slaves. In other words, most of the mundane infrastructure and associated labourers needed to run such a huge palace was neatly tucked away, out of sight and out of mind.

Despite the huge, sprawling size of the splendid surface complex, it blended well with its verdant tree-covered surrounds. To a casual observer, this might have seemed an accidental fusion of architecture and landscape. However, the setting is actually testimony to not only the delicate proficiency of the Imperial architects responsible but also the knowledgeable oversight of Hadrian himself, who gave careful instructions as to how the site was to be developed.

The land, upon which Hadrian’s unparalleled palace was built, was ironically owned by his wife, the Empress Vibia Sabina. This fact is paradoxical because the Emperor developed the palatial complex to escape, whenever he was in Latium during the summer months, not only Rome but also his spouse.

Apart from enabling Hadrian to be separated from Sabina, who either lived in the palace on the Palatine or in her own residences elsewhere, the Emperor’s sojourns to Tibur also allowed him to enjoy, in relative privacy and more fulsomely, the company of his beautiful pages. Romans, despite secretly practising many sexual deviances themselves, evident by the large number of very popular specialist brothels located throughout the Empire, which catered for literally all tastes, were often publicly hypocritical.

Hadrian appreciated that indulging his pederasty openly in Rome would only attract unwelcome gossipy criticism amongst both the rich patrician and equestrian elites and the poor plebeian masses. Such disapproval would never be said to his face or effect his supreme all-powerful position. Nevertheless, the Emperor preferred not to fuel such reproach and, accordingly, approached his boy-loving activities with some discretion, if practising his passion in a country palace served by many hundreds of officials, servants and slaves could be so termed.

Antinous and his fellow 13 year-old graduates of the Paedagogium arrived at the largely complete ‘Villa Hadriana’ in mid-afternoon, having set off, in covered ox-drawn wagons, from Rome in the early morning. Going in the opposite direction on the next day would be the same number of older pages, whom the newcomers were directly to replace and who were destined for new comfortable lives in Imperial service elsewhere.

Antinous and his companions, including Alexamenos, Corinthus and Marianus, were welcomed by a chamberlain, who then handed them over to adult slaves, who were all eunuchs. These gelded men, wearing only loincloths, were allocated on an individual basis. They were also now to supervise the boys’ imminent ablutions, grooming and dressing, in the neat summer clothing and other paraphernalia of court pages, in readiness to meet their new master for the first time since his selection of them for Imperial service several years previously.

The eunuchs would additionally be responsible for looking after their particular individual young charges thereafter, from the time the boys rose until the time they went to bed every day. The gelded slaves would even keep a discreet watchful eye on them whilst they performed their duties for the Emperor, in whatever form that took, whilst constantly being ready to help and advise whenever required. The emasculated men, most black Africans, knew that their very lives could depend on ensuring the continued excellent appearance, welfare and proficiency of the pages.

Hadrian did not like his pages looking anything except immaculate. The Emperor also hated them becoming ill or accident-prone. On a number of occasions, the eunuchs pertaining to particular pages had been flogged for mistakes made by their young charges, on the grounds that they should have prepared or instructed the boys better in the relevant functions. Twice, gelded servants had been crucified for allowing their youngsters to contract and die of fever. However, the arrival, at this time, of a certain 13 year-old was to produce a radical change in the Imperial regime, which thereafter became very benevolent and liberal in its outlook to such matters.

Given the current regime, Antinous’ allocated eunuch, a tall, muscular black man aged about 30, was accordingly very keen to ensure that his latest young charge’s preparations, for the imminent reunion with Hadrian, were conducted expertly and without fault. Fortunately, the 13 year-old had been told in the Paedagogium of his slave’s problematic role, as part of his training. The boy was therefore himself eager to assist the gelded servant as best he could by being thoroughly co-operative.

Consequently, when the pair, like the other new, superficially incongruous couplings, had reached the large baths set aside for important servants, the boy quickly obeyed his eunuch’s request to strip in the ‘unctuarium’, so that he could be covered in olive oil. However, the 13 year-old was reluctant, after he had assumed nudity, to remove his sole ornamentation, a cheap medallion, which was nevertheless very precious to the young Bithynian.

The medallion brought back not only memories of the lovely boy who had presented the decorative accessory to Antinous, two years previously, but also the worrying incident that had preceded this event.

(Paedagogium Ad Caput Africae, Palatine Hill, Rome, 2 years previously, early July, 124 AD])

Marianus was in the process of presenting the broom handle to the somnolent Antinous’ tight pink sphincter, which was seemingly winking at him in tandem with his young victim’s shallow breathing. However, the young Roman then felt his cock harden again under his own subligaculum.

The thought then struck the 11 year-old Marianus, who was intent on wickedness, that this was an ideal opportunity for him to practice sodomy for the first time. He could not yet produce semen as a result of the masturbatory orgasms gained from his relatively large cock, a penile implement of which he was quite proud. Nevertheless, he was intensely attracted by the prospect of not only personally being responsible for deflowering Antinous but also enjoying the associated delight of experiencing the young Bithynian’s innards engulf his erection, whilst his own groin bounced up and down on the sublime curves of the boy’s lustrous buttocks. He additionally did not expect his pleasures to be interrupted at this time of day.

Marianus therefore placed the broom handle at the side of Antinous’ bed for later use, quickly shed his tunic and undergarment and prepared to mount his unconscious young victim. The 11 year-old’s eager and substantial erection then momentarily rested on the young Bithnyian’s anal aperture, ready to press forward to breach this virginal round muscular defence before satisfyingly invading the orifice beyond.

Unfortunately for Marianus’ immediate and longer-term ambitions, the dormitory door then opened.

(Villa Hadriana, Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], Latium, Italia, two years later, early July 126 AD)

The recollection of his rescue from undoubtedly fatal, given the nature of the school regime, sodomy made Antinous smile, as his new eunuch scraped the olive oil from his young charge’s divine nude body with a metallic strigil. Romans of standing rarely used soap for washing, preferring to utilise, before then bathing, oil to garner bodily sweat and dirt before scraping the soiled lubricant away with the curved blade, a cleansing technique that was actually very effective.

The best Roman bathing facilities, and those in Hadrian’s villa were the very best, comprised an ‘unctuarium’, where the oiling and scraping took place, a ‘sudatorium’, or ‘sweating room’, and three types of bath. These were, in the customary order indulged, warm, hot, and cold, or respectively ‘tepidarium’, ‘caldarium’ and ‘frigidarium’, although a return to the caldarium for a final dip, for de-thawing after the shock of the frigidarium, was common.

Only the very rich could possess their own bathing facilities and so large public baths, where the sexes were usually segregated by means of different ablution times, were found throughout the Empire. The offered amenities, serviced mainly by slaves, frequently included a ‘palaestra’, or ‘athletics ground’, and gymnasium for preliminary physical exercises, plus massage rooms. Such places became the focal points of much social, as opposed to sexual, intercourse, with meetings between people often organised there.

Naturally, the baths at Hadrian’s country palace possessed all of the facilities normally only associated with public premises. The new pages were to become well acquainted with the palaestra and gymnasium at Tibur, just as they had with the similar but much smaller and less resplendent amenities at the Paedagogium. Hadrian liked his beautiful boys to be exercised thoroughly, in the naked Greek style, every day if possible, supposedly to keep them fit, lithe and subtle for his service. However, some of the adult servants of the Emperor suspected that their Imperial master’s real motivation for insisting upon such regular physical activity stemmed more from the fact that he liked to watch the pleasant scene.

As Antinous’ new eunuch led his lovely new charge from the spacious unctuarium to the even larger tepidarium, he had already realised that the latest boy, to whom he had been allocated to care for over the immediate years ahead, was physically the loveliest he had ever seen. The gelded servant, having now had the benefit of a very intimate perspective of the 13 year-old newcomer, was counting not only the other couple of youngsters he had previously looked after but also all of the other pages whom he had observed in Imperial service.

It was perhaps therefore fortunate for the black eunuch’s own wellbeing that his own cock was incapable of rising to full erection as Antinous’ had done during the activity in the unctuarium. This was a now very common phenomenon, one that had regularly occurred latterly during the boy’s stay in the Paedagogium, when either Alexamenos or Corinthus, in return for reciprocation, would normally help him to apply and then scrape off the oil from his wondrous body. However, the young Bithynian’s initial embarrassment at the literal regular penile development was overcome when he noticed that similar displays of young male virility were also becoming frequent, in the same circumstances, on the delicious naked forms of his best friends.

Nevertheless, Antinous was slightly abashed at exhibiting such hardness in front of his new gelded slave until he appreciated that the eunuch was apparently completely unconcerned at the sight. The boy’s fortitude was reinforced by realising that most of the other new pages, currently being subjected to the same intimate attention, exhibited similar excitement on their universally still totally hairless genitalia. A subsequent quick plunge in the warm bath of the tepidarium, accompanied by several of his nude companions, also helped him to forget the matter, at least until the caldarium was reached.

The steamy caldarium often doubled as a sauna-like sweating room, with stone seating placed around the walls surrounding the large square bath, which was heated by the efficient underground boiler. The room itself was warmed by the excellent hypocaust system, whereby hot air rose from the furnace via flues.

The naked Antinous was laid face up on the warm stone seating, which was damp with condensation, so that he could be thoroughly and expertly massaged, whilst the sweating process proceeded. A further side-effect of such action was that his now softened penis became enlarged once more. However, given the earlier experience, there was no longer any embarrassment on the boy’s part. After all, he had begun to realise that such pampered activity was to be a familiar part of his daily routine for the next few years at least.

As the proficient eunuch began to move his gentle subtle hands slowly downwards from Antinous’ smooth chest, the boy managed to ignore the excited twitching of his now rampant cock to cast his mind back instead two years once more. The 13 year-old had been encouraged to do so by the feel of Mastor’s medallion, now held tightly in his right hand. The young Bithynian had been told that he could no longer wear his former lover’s gift but he nevertheless intended to keep the body ornamentation amongst his most precious possessions.

Antinous now recalled the time when his erstwhile young paramour awarded him the medallion.

(Paedagogium Ad Caput Africae, Palatine Hill, Rome, 2 years previously, early July, 124 AD])

Mastor had unexpectedly discovered that his timetable for departure from the Paedagogium had been brought forward from the following morning to that night. The captain of the already loaded Imperial galley, which would take him directly from Rome’s main port at Ostia to Ephesus in Lydia, Asia Minor, near where Hadrian was currently located, was keen to make full use of the prevailing excellent sailing weather. He now wanted to set off at first light without having to wait for his last passengers. Accordingly, he had sent a messenger to Rome to request the earlier despatch from the capital of the latest small group of very pretty 13 year-old pages destined for the service of the Emperor.

On hearing the news, Mastor immediately rushed from his own dormitory to say his farewells to Antinous and present the young Bithynian with his departing gift. All the soon-to-be 14 year-old had been able to afford was a cheap medallion, with a small charm depicting a tiny Eros and manufactured from a gold-coloured base alloy. However, he knew that his younger lover would appreciate that the object’s real value did not lie in its monetary worth but in the underlying sentiments accompanying its bestowal.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Imperial trireme in Ostia harbour was to remain forever ignorant that his action had almost certainly saved one of his young beautiful passengers, and the boy’s even younger and even more resplendent lover, from crucifixion.

Mastor was naturally very surprised to see a naked Marianus about to sodomise Antinous. The 13 year-old’s deep shock was at first compounded by an initial belief that his younger lover was somehow acquiescent in the deed, which could only be caused by one of two factors.

Antinous might have been exceptionally keen to obtain, as well as quick to secure, a replacement paramour, which would suggest that the boy’s feelings for the departing Mastor had not been as genuine as the 13 year-old had thought. Alternatively, the young Bithynian might have already been furtively and deviously carrying on with Marianus behind the young Germanian’s back.

Mastor was about to shut the dormitory door and storm away from the distressing scene in anguished disgust, which would undoubtedly have induced morose tears, when some fortunate thoughts entered his head. First, the young Germanian appreciated that the young Bithynian must have realised that allowing himself to be sodomised could be fatal. Second, the 13 year-old recognised that his 11 year-old lover and the similarly aged Marianus were known not to be friendly. Third, despite noisily catching two lovers in imminent coitus, he had not seen Antinous move or show any other sign of life.

Mastor now realised that Antinous’ inactivity was completely unnatural for such a lively and alert boy, even, as he well knew, during passionate lovemaking. The 13 year-old therefore thankfully remained in the dormitory to investigate matters. He began by asking the two 11 year-olds “What’s going on?”

The first consequence of Mastor’s enquiry, unanswered verbally, was the rapid flight from the scene by the still naked Marianus, who was guiltily shame-faced, although not because of his nudity. The second was recognition by the 13 year-old that his beloved Antinous had been drugged by the contents of the nearby amphora. The third was the production of much vomit, as young Germanian fingers thrust down the throat of an 11 year-old Bithynian induced the latter to expel orally most of the contents of his stomach. The fourth was the eventual reopening of long-lashed and heavy-lidded sensuous sky-blue eyes.

A fifth consequence was mercifully not physically terrible for Marianus because a recovered Antinous had exhibited his inherent compassionate forgiveness and forbidden anyone to beat up, or perpetrate even worse on, his fellow 11 year-old. The young Bithynian actually expressed sorrow that the young Roman had felt compelled to try to commit such a perfidious act, the full intent of which was evident from the discarded broom handle.

A petrified Marianus was instead found cowering, rather appropriately, in a small broom cupboard in an unoccupied wing of the Paedagogium, and, still naked, brought before a secret meeting involving all of his fellow pupils, about forty in number. Mastor chaired the scholastic court, in virtually his last act of leadership before he left the school for Asia Minor and Imperial service.

Given Antinous’ merciful attitude, from which no one, not even the much less compassionate Mastor, Alexamenos and Corinthus, could dissuade him, the unanimous sentence passed by the young Roman’s peers amounted to putting the tremulous boy on probation. He was warned that, if he ever attempted a similar crime again, his fellow pupils would not allow mercy to be an option. The miscreant was instead threatened with a terrible accident that would not only entail the enduring loss of his handsome looks but also other permanent physical damage.

After the meeting, Mastor took his private tearful leave of Antinous, amidst many hugs and kisses. As the 13 year-old gave the 11 year-old his gift of the materially cheap but spiritually priceless medallion, he warned his younger lover to take care, and to be particularly wary of Marianus, until they met again.

Marianus later naturally took heed of the warning from his fellow pupils and, whilst at the Paedagogium, never tried to secure revenge against Antinous again. Instead, the boy swallowed his pride and eventually privately apologised to the young Bithynian for his attempted perfidy, explaining his act as being caused by temporary madness induced by jealousy at the popularity of his fellow 11 year-old.

Marianus’ partly truthful explanation, but furtively insincere apology, encouraged the compassionate Antinous to try to befriend the apparently lonely young Roman, despite warnings from others, especially Alexamenos and Corinthus, who still distrusted the boy. The young Bithynian’s freshly developed supposed companionship with his erstwhile enemy was never close but it was to prove to be the only one ever secured by the latter. The newly established overt good relationship was also to persist for six years.

Unfortunately, the continued distrust of Marianus, by the likes of Mastor, Alexamenos and Corinthus, was eventually to prove well founded. Antinous had not really acquired a new friend but rather a still vengeful and wickedly devious viper, who was happy to bide his time to secure retribution against the young Bithynian.

When Marianus finally made his move against Antinous, it was to result in a tragedy that was felt throughout the Roman Empire, and reverberates still in modern times.

(Villa Hadriana, Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], Latium, Italia, two years later, early July 126 AD)

After his massage in the caldarium and bathe in the integral scented hot bath, the naked Antinous had reluctantly transferred to the nearby frigidarium for the compulsory quick dip. The boy, like many other youngsters, had not yet gained an appreciation, apparently only borne by adults, of the invigorating nature of a plunge into cold water. The 13 year-old was therefore happy to fulfil the chillingly unpleasant ritual quickly and be towelled dry by his accompanying black eunuch.

As the gelded slave proceeded, the shivering boy suddenly realised that, amidst wonderment at his new surrounds, he had forgotten his manners. “I’m sorry,” the 13 year-old therefore apologised, in his now excellent Latin, as the eunuch’s towel was drying his groin with extra care because another young erection had formed in the locale, “I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. My name’s Antinous!”

“I know, young master” the eunuch replied with a smile, “but thanks for telling me anyway. My name’s Paraetonius, after the Libyan port from which I was brought from Africa to Rome. It’s not, of course, my original name, which I’ve forgotten, along with the language I first spoke and most of the memories of the people amongst whom I was born in some faraway land.”

“You see, young master,” Paraetonius advised, with incongruous cheerfulness given the subject matter, “I was only about 4 years old when I was brought to Rome to be enslaved and castrated.” The slave, displaying a mischievous smile as he proceeded with his towelling, then asked “Would you like to know how they gelded me?”

Paraetonius thought that Antinous might be like most other boys, curious about such matters but too polite to enquire about them. The eunuch therefore did not bother waiting for his new charge to answer his question, which he intended only as rhetorical.

“I’m what the Romans call a ‘thlibias’, or ‘shattered’, eunuch, young master,” Paraetonius informed, “which means that, when I was 4, because my scrotum was too tiny to use a knife on, I was, after being thoroughly purged, sat naked in a tub of very hot water. This relaxed and softened my balls so that, after an appropriate period, the castrater could squash them to pulp between his thumb and forefinger. Natural bodily fluids then dissolved the mush away over time.”

As Paraetonius said these words, Antinous felt his own nicely low-hanging, completely smooth scrotum being delicately dried by the eunuch’s towel, now being held between the slave’s right thumb and forefinger. The association between his gelded servant’s appalling revelation and the emasculated man’s attention to the boy’s still intact balls, currently crowned by the maintenance of a fulsome erection above, now produced a strange reaction. The 13 year-old’s sublime body visibly flushed and vibrated, as he entered orgasm.

Antinous was, of course, currently ignorant of the fact that this embarrassing feat had been induced by a trick learnt and perpetrated by the pleasant but mischievous Paraetonius on his previous young charges, when they too had first met their new slave. The eunuch never fully understood why but the disclosure of his story of excruciating castration, simultaneous to fondling his young charges’ always delectable and already excited ball sacs, invariably caused climax. He supposed that the reaction had something to do with a dark side to male sexuality, which was perhaps normally latent but somehow became invigorated by a sudden irrational fear of genital endangerment.

An interesting consequence of Antinous’ current orgasm was the small creamy white residue the beautiful but red-faced boy left behind on the delighted Paraetonius’ towel. After giving his young charge time to recover his emotions and at least some of his dignity, the smiling and impressed eunuch asked “How long have you been producing your own seed, young master?”

The amazed Antinous now glanced at the evidence before truthfully responding in wonderment, as well as a whisper because of the nearby presence of others, “I’ve never cum before!” “Well, young master,” declared Paraetonius, now displaying a broader grin, which revealed his impressive array of sparkling white teeth, “you have now, and it’ll forever be a future feature of your orgasms, with the seed becoming more and more plentiful. We’ll soon have you servicing a gorgeous young filly, with buxom breasts and eager vagina, so that you can sire a replica of yourself!”

Antinous, abashment now replaced by proud incredulity, immediately recognised Paraetonius’ last suggestion for what it was, namely a joke, and joined his eunuch in laughter. Any reserve that might have earlier existed between 30 year-old slave and the delightful, in both character and physique, 13 year-old, whom he was to serve devotedly and well for the next four years, had been broken. The gelded servant always later considered that this period was the happiest and most privileged time of his life. This attitude prevailed despite the fact that, as a direct consequence of his association with the marvellous boy, he was to go on not only to secure his freedom from both slavery and menial servility but also to acquire a highly respected position and great wealth.

Antinous, like the other new pages, eventually emerged from the large baths, assigned to the more important of Hadrian’s servants, not only immaculately beautiful but also impeccably clean, groomed and dressed. Paraetonius had spent much time on combing the boy’s long silky blonde hair, the golden threads of which were relatively straight until they curled into tendrils at the ends, before crowning the whole splendid edifice with a fresh, brightly coloured, nicely aromatic and neat floral wreath.

Using his fingers, Paraetonius also scrubbed Antinous’ perfect white teeth, with the usual mint-flavoured herbal dental cleanser, before using small sharp scissors to manicure, with appropriate delicacy, the boy’s dainty eyebrows and the nails on his sweet hands and feet. The 13 year-old’s divine form was then gently rubbed all over in pleasant perfume before clothing and footwear were finally attached.

As with his companions, Antinous had been allocated four sets of similar summer attire to enable a fresh collection to be worn daily whilst the others were being laundered. The items had been crafted, from measurements recently taken at the Paedagogium, by expert tailors and cobblers. The garments would also be frequently renewed, not only because Hadrian liked his pages immaculately dressed but also as a result of the inevitable growth the boys’ gorgeous bodies would experience over the next few years.

Antinous’ sandals were of the most expensive leather. His light sleeveless summer tunic, of the richest cloth, was white, with purple borders to reflect the Imperial personage he was to serve. The garment was tucked neatly in at his slim waist by a discreet cord and was also very short, extending to just below his groin. Hadrian liked the fullest possible splendours of his boys’ lithe legs to be on permanent display.

Meanwhile, the very petite loincloth subligaculum underwear, hitched onto Antinous’ waist beneath the outer tunic, by virtue of another tight thin cord fastened in a small bow at the side, was also largely white with purple edgings. The square front flap barely covered a minuscule back-less tight-fitting thong, which was linked by a discreet string that ran under the boy’s body, and along his bumcrack, to the back of the waist-cord. The thong not only represented the last sparse concealment for the boy’s smooth genitalia but also provided a normally accurate outline of the underlying superb form of his sexual organs. Meanwhile, the rear flap just about secreted the central upper gradients of the 13 year-old’s silken curvaceous buttocks, whilst leaving the majority of the lovely flanks and a tiny portion of the very lowest slopes teasingly exposed.

The subligacula of his pages had been deliberately designed and fitted in this way to delight Hadrian, who, in private, often liked them to attend to him without the benefit of their tunics. The Emperor particularly enjoyed watching young individuals dance erotically for him, a skill taught at the Paedagogium, much to the initial chagrin but inevitable grudging acceptance of the pupils, who considered such routines more appropriate to either females or male whores, as opposed to freeborn boys. However, all of them were too afraid of the consequences not to become at least reasonably proficient at the art.

The front and rear flaps were also detachable to permit the wearers to be covered only by the thongs underneath. The small side bows, which fixed the whole subligacula in place, additionally allowed the undergarments to be quickly unfastened, with gravity then permitting complete nudity to be swiftly achieved.

After a couple of hours of careful preparation by their conscientious eunuchs, the ten new pages were finally ready for presentation to Hadrian. The Emperor had recently returned to Rome and Latium after several years of travels, during which he visited Sicilia last. Despite this island’s situation, at the literal foot of Italia, the local people and culture were, to the Princeps’ immense liking, still largely Greek, a legacy of colonies established there hundreds of years earlier by the likes of the then powerful Hellenic city states of Athens and Sparta.

The summer climate and the presence of his wife in Rome had quickly persuaded Hadrian to travel to Tibur, ostensibly to check on the progress of the works on his still unfinished new country residence. The Emperor had then been sufficiently impressed by the completion of much of the site, as well as terrified of returning to the appalling seasonal oppressiveness of his capital and permanent unpleasantness of his wife, to decide to remain in the villa complex for now.

This was why Hadrian’s new pages had been taken to the palace in Tibur, rather than to the one on the Palatine, adjacent to the Paedagogium in Rome. However, the easterly journey involved, of about 20 Roman miles, was, of course, nothing compared to the one Mastor and his companions had been compelled to undertake two years previously in order to enter Imperial service.

Hadrian was aware that the fresh additions to his retinue of pages were due to arrive. The Emperor was looking forward to reacquainting himself with the beautiful boys concerned, not having seen them since he had first spotted and selected them a few years previously during his copious journeying. Naturally, the Princeps’ eagerness did not just emanate from the aesthetic improvement that the 13 year-olds would bring to his permanent entourage. This fact was clearly evident by his cock, which had remained resolutely hard, under his own informal tunic, during the hours leading up to the keenly awaited scheduled time of the audience.

The most powerful man in the world was particularly looking forward to meeting the boy whom he prayed was still the most beautiful in existence. As Hadrian contemplated this hopefully highly pleasurable reunion with the youngster he had first met in Bithynia, he wondered how Antinous might have altered in the interim three years. The Emperor quietly but ardently begged the gods that any changes to the young divine form would be for the better. The deities concerned must currently have been pleased with the Princeps because the Imperial entreaties not only were met but also exceeded his wildest dreams.

The ten new beautiful pages, all resplendently prepared, were aligned for their audience in the shade provided from the still hot evening sun by an ornate tall Doric colonnade, which was adjacent to a large colourful garden, with a big pool, or ‘natatio’, and several grand fountains. As they waited nervously for Hadrian to arrive, Antinous wondered where Mastor might be.

Antinous had been looking forward to meeting his former lover again, whilst speculating how Mastor might have altered in the two years since they had last met. However, the non-appearance of the young Germanian, who would now be almost 16, worried the 13 year-old Bithynian, who began to fear that his erstwhile paramour might, for some reason, have been discharged from Imperial service. Such anxious speculation was, perhaps thankfully, terminated by the arrival of the Emperor to inspect his new pages.

Antinous happened to be positioned at the opposite end of the line from where Hadrian would first be reunited with his new young servants. However, the Emperor, hidden cock now throbbing vigorously, somehow managed to display remarkable patience after arriving and as he was reintroduced to the boys one-by-one. The Princeps’ composed fortitude allowed him to afford each very pretty 13 year-old a polite greeting, whilst carefully, and secretly most enthusiastically, subjecting their gorgeous facades and frames to discreet delighted scrutiny.

Nevertheless, Hadrian let his normal diplomatic politeness slip a little when he was finally brought before Antinous. This reaction was perhaps prompted by initially experiencing the same feeling that had overwhelmed the Emperor when he had first seen the disarmingly smiling boy, unmatched in pulchritude, three years previously in distant Claudiopolis. The Princeps again became light-headed, almost to the point of swooning.

The Antinous who now stood in front of Hadrian had, in the Emperor’s eyes, and like the many summer flowers in the surrounding garden, blossomed magnificently. Here, in the Imperial view, was a truly heavenly youngster, who encapsulated, in one perfect form, the best virtues of all of the divine Greek boys and youths of ancient Hellenic myth, such as Adonis, Ganymede, Hyacinthus and Narcissus.

Hadrian did not hear his chamberlain, reading from a scrolled list, introduce the new page as “Antinous of Claudiopolis”. In any case, unlike the previous 13 year-olds the Emperor had been reunited with, the Princeps had remembered this particular boy’s name and origin.

Hadrian therefore caused both chamberlain and boy some confusion when he suggested “You must be Antinous of Claudiopolis!” However, the Imperial official and page, who thought that the Emperor had already being informed about the young newcomer’s appellation and home city, knew better than to comment, putting the Princeps’ verbal confusion down to perhaps a surfeit of sun or wine. Neither considered an acute overdose of sexually inspired veneration to be the root cause.

Hadrian now proceeded with a further action that had not been indulged when he had been reintroduced to the other boys. The taller Emperor gently lifted Antinous’s chin to gain a better appreciation of the young divine facial visage of the boy and peer down into the 13 year-old’s sensuous blue eyes, which the Princeps immediately likened to the nearby shimmering pools of his villa.

Unfortunately, Hadrian did not have much time to reflect on this recognition, as his own face reddened and his body shook, whilst he almost doubled-up at the waist. The adjacent chamberlain immediately panicked, believing that the Emperor was suffering a seizure. However, Antinous, seeing the Princeps grasp his covered manly groin, correctly guessed the cause of the Imperial discomfort. After all, the boy could recall not only the incident behind a curtain in the palace of the provincial Governor of Bithynia, three years previously, but also his own embarrassing orgasm, when Paraetonius had teased him earlier on this very day in the nearby baths. The 13 year-old therefore discreetly whispered his prognosis into one of the distraught court official’s ears.

The chamberlain, spying the stain that had seeped through to the front of Hadrian’s tunic, calmed and also now decided to act with quiet discretion. He gently led his Emperor away from the scene, whilst happily observing the most powerful man in the world gradually recovering from his previously unprecedented, in terms of both timing and intensity, climax, achieved whilst scrutinising the most beautiful boy under the heavens.

Shortly afterwards, Antinous was escorted by Paraetonius to the boy’s new quarters, which were located within the pleasant facilities provided for high-profile servants. The young Bithynian was at first displeased to discover that he was not to share his two-bed chamber with one of his friends amongst the latest arrivals, especially after he noticed that Alexamenos and Corinthus would be roommates. However, this attitude was quickly dispelled when he entered his new accommodation.

There, waiting to greet Antinous with open arms, was the still exceedingly handsome 15 year-old Mastor.

(Villa Hadriana, Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], Latium, Italia, 3 months later, September, 126 AD)

With one exception, all of the beautiful new 13 year-old pages, including Alexamenos, Corinthus and Marianus, had by now lost their anal virginity, as well as having succumbed to oral impregnation by Imperial seed, some very frequently. However, Hadrian had not only not touched Antinous but also appeared to be keeping his distance from the boy, who was not allowed to perform any intimate service for the Emperor.

One educational subject at the Paedagogium for which the pupils were age segregated, probably unnecessarily, concerned sex, and homosexual practices in particular. From about spring in their last school year, a specialist tutor, actually a former boy prostitute, taught the older, soon-to-be-graduate, scholars how to act proficiently as the younger partners in the undoubted intimate pederastic relationship that would comprise part of their imminent Imperial roles. The classes were the only ones in which puerile giggling, often indicating embarrassment as much as anything else, was tolerated.

Topics included recognising the discreet sign that Hadrian would issue to disclose that he wanted a certain page to remain alone with him for the night. How to look especially alluring, through regularly adopting certain body poses, facial expressions and eye and lip movements, was also covered. So too was how to make their dancing particularly exotic, with special concentration afforded to the gradual erotic shedding of the various minuscule components of their subligacula.

Naturally, various approaches to sexual foreplay were additionally debated, with tips as to what might be appropriate when, plus instruction in the skills needed to ensure that Hadrian thoroughly enjoyed ultimate coitus. Large ivory phalluses were used to demonstrate the licking, sucking and swallowing techniques required for efficient fellatio. Also discussed were the several possible positions to be adopted in readiness for sodomy, with the choice dependent upon the Imperial mood of the time. Mentioned too were the associated copulatory bodily movements for the so-called passive partner to adopt to ensure that the active, and undoubtedly eagerly rampant, Emperor attained supreme ecstasy through his penetration of young boyish innards.

Despite clear and profuse embarrassment, all imminent graduates of the Paedagogium had to practise, in front of the others and often whilst naked, the various sexual techniques taught. However, no real phallus intruded, and no anal penetration occurred, until the lessons were concluded with outsiders providing explicit practical demonstrations, which left nothing to the imagination.

The tutor concerned used his contacts in Rome’s massive sex industry, which was responsible for operating many brothels catering for all tastes, as well as the operation of huge numbers of street prostitutes, both female and male, to recruit relevant performers. For reality, the libidinous man, with impressively big and virile penis, who was supposed to represent Hadrian, even possessed a beard, whilst the very pretty boys involved were also all 13 years old.

One of the boy prostitutes actually feigned the disciplined endurance of intense pain by moaning in restrained tones, whilst exhibiting relevant but subdued facial and bodily anguish, when supposedly being deflowered for the first time. This particular demonstration was designed to illustrate to the watching pupils not only what they would probably experience, when they eventually lost their own anal virginity to the Emperor, but also the need to endure the associated distress bravely and with a minimum of fuss.

Naturally, all of the young pupils appreciated that the 13 year-old sexual artiste was only acting as, being a whore, his rear orifice should be pliably accustomed to the current intrusion, even by the large implement possessed by the adult thespian. However, this recognition on the part of the young spectators, that they were viewing a theatrical performance rather than a true loss of anal virginity, did little to assuage them of their concerns about what they would endure when it was their turn to re-enact the scene in the Imperial bed.

The various sex acts demonstrated by these expert artistes were frequently frozen at particular instances of time so that the tutor could emphasise points, about the techniques being shown, to his usually dumbstruck, blushing pupils. The latter, even though most had secretly indulged in similar real activities, except for sodomy, in the Paedagogium with friends, invariably displayed several symptoms of agitation at being spectators of such homosexual lewdness. Beads of sweat on young foreheads and palms often accompanied boyish dry throats and noticeable bulges in the groin areas of their tunics. After class had finished, most were additionally desperate for relief, either through their own efforts or the help of their school paramours.

At Hadrian’s country estate, the eunuchs of the new pages were responsible for privately, discreetly and diplomatically checking the efficiency of their charges in relation to erotic matters, as well as introducing them to the delights of enemas, as an integral part of the boys’ pre-duty daily ablutions. As usual, the gelded slaves, Paraetonius included, were happy to discover that the training standards of the Imperial Paedagogium in Rome were not slipping.

Also as usual, the only unknown factors were the new pages’ supposedly unpractised oral abilities and reactions to anal pain. The former included the need to display apparent happy enthusiasm, as opposed to overt hesitant disgust, whenever required to swallow semen, clean a soiled penis, dribbling with extraneous sperm, and entertain, with lips and tongues, a manly body. Such capabilities could really only be assessed literally ‘on-the-job’, although the Emperor was thankfully readily forgiving of a boy’s early incompetence in such matters.

Despite such preparation and being, in the opinion of all neutral observers, the loveliest of the magnificent new intake of young Imperial servants, Antinous was amazingly initially employed on mundane non-sexual duties, involving no direct contact with Hadrian. These chores generally entailed the boy standing discreetly alone, at a substantial distance from the Emperor, until ordered to convey minor domestic messages, passed to him second-hand via court officials, to various parts of the country palace. The tasks regularly took him away for lengthy spells from the Imperial presence, as replies often had to be awaited for long periods. The young Bithynian was not only perplexed by the relative inattention afforded to him by the Princeps, which increasingly seemed like insulting neglect, but also, it has to be admitted despite his normally faultless persona, upset at, and jealous of, the contrasting, much more intimate approach awarded to the other pages.

Antinous initially kept such feelings to himself until one day, after two months of such apparent Imperial disdain, he could stand no more and broke down in the arms of the now 16 year-old Mastor. The latter had been providing his roommate with regular sexual solace for the past sixth of a year.

Antinous tearfully confessed to Mastor his upset and jealously at being excluded from Hadrian’s closest circle, which now comprised all of the other new pages, as well as some of the more established Imperial favourites. The young Germanian had until recently been included in this set but he appreciated that his inexorable growth into manhood had meant that he was beginning to lose many of his charms, at least as far as the Emperor’s particular tastes were concerned.

Mastor was still occasionally bedded by Hadrian, who normally liked variety, but he knew that he was rapidly becoming peripheral to Imperial sexual needs. The young Germanian accepted such a change philosophically because he believed that the development was inevitable for all pages as they aged. However, he was to discover that there was to be one exception to this rule.

Mastor consoled himself, for his loss of Hadrian’s sexual favour, by thinking of the new rewarding career upon which he should soon be embarking, after probable final discharge from direct service for the Emperor. However, the young Germanian also possessed lingering aspirations that he might not have to go too far away, for he hoped that a place might be found for him amongst the wider Imperial entourage, where official vacancies had arisen through retirements and deaths.

Mastor’s main motivation for wanting to remain in Hadrian’s wider circle had nothing to do with affection for the Emperor, although he did like the man, who had been a kind master to do him, even displaying great gentleness and consideration during lovemaking. Nor did the young Germanian’s reasons involve a desire to secure a particularly influential, as well as lucrative, post. He simply wanted to keep as close as possible, if necessary only platonically, to his beloved Antinous, whom he had missed intensely over the previous couple of years.

Mastor knew that he would never in his lifetime be able to find another boy as gorgeous, in terms of both character and attractiveness, as Antinous. He also did not mind transferring the divine young beauty’s sexual favours to Hadrian, as long as he could maintain a watchful presence on the periphery of the magnificent young Bithynian’s life.

Mastor’s selfless attitude was reinforced by awareness that the gods had already been more than gracious in granting him a little share of Antinous’ copious delights. In fact, he frequently thanked, in his regular prayers, the deities of the Roman, Greek and Germanian pantheons for this highly generous sacred largesse.

Mastor had been aware that something was troubling Antinous, and that Hadrian had incongruously not yet taken the marvellous boy to bed or otherwise made much proper use of the new young Imperial page. However, perhaps because he had been blinded by the delight of largely having the 13 year-old to himself at nights, for mutual indulgence of masturbation, fellatio and interfemoral intercourse, the young Germanian had never connected the two until now.

Mastor comforted Antinous by both placing the wondrous 13 year-old in his strong 16 year-old arms and promising to discover what lay behind Hadrian’s unprecedented attitude. It was the latter that most encouraged the young Bithynian to terminate his tears and instead now reach under a tunic to explore for an always eager Germanian cock.

(Villa Hadriana, Tibur [modern-day Tivoli], Latium, Italia, 2 days later, September, 126 AD)

The evening was cloudless and warm. A full moon and a galaxy of stars aided the many lit braziers and oil lamps, the latter perched on top of ornate metal stands, to illuminate the scene. The lights of residences in the valley below could be seen, and Rome itself sparkled in the far distance.

Hadrian was lying on a couch, having dined, without guests, from the copious array of rich food and wine that had been laid in three, many faceted, courses on the table before him by his attendant pages, who included Alexamenos, Corinthus and Marianus. The latter had been secretly very pleased to see Antinous excluded from the Emperor’s favour.

The lovely garden setting, with splendid panoramic view, was adjacent to a large pool, on top of which floated many colourful water lilies. Tall streams of water were cast into the air by several nearby ornate fountains, one of which deliberately hid from view a few musicians, who were sitting cross-legged on the ground and using their flutes, lyres and cymbals to provide tasteful background melodies. However, the discreet nature of their presence also indicated that Hadrian intended to have at least one of his boys dance for him.

As the hour became late, Hadrian, golden wine goblet in his hand, made the discreet signal that indicated not only his choice of boy for the night but also his dismissal of the others. It was Corinthus who then ran to the room shared by Antinous and Mastor to announce that the moment the plotters had been eagerly awaiting had arrived. The young Corinthian did so by declaring “It’s Alexamenos!”

Meanwhile, the very pretty Alexamenos, now alone with Hadrian, apart from the hidden musicians, and attired only in his minuscule subligaculum, had begun his erotic dance. The Emperor, own hidden cock rigid, was at first transfixed by the delightful display of beautiful boyhood slowly and skilfully gyrating before him, until, as had become common of late, he glanced away to look at the flames of a brazier.

As usual, Hadrian’s eyes did not see, in the flames, remembrance of the gorgeous shape of the particular boy currently dancing for him. The Emperor instead saw, entertaining him, Antinous, dressed only in his own slight loincloth.

Such a vision had haunted Hadrian almost nightly for the last two months. However, the Emperor had been too frightened to turn the dream into reality. The Princeps was simply awed by Antinous, whose presence in the world of mankind, he reckoned, had to be as a result of divine error.

Hadrian was now of the firm belief that Antinous belonged to the gods and not to him. Therefore, how could he, whom he appreciated was a mere mortal, despite attempts of flatterers to suggest otherwise, take the young divine form to satisfy his own lusts? The Emperor simply could not perpetrate such sacrilege but, whilst his troubled, infatuated mind tried to decide what else to do with the young divinity, he also realised that he might not be able to resist the temptation if the boy was too close him. The Princeps’ recent neglect of the young Bithynian had resulted from this dilemma.

Hadrian’s disturbed emotions could eventually take no more of the vision dancing for him in the flames and so the Emperor cast his eyes back to the sight of reality, in the pleasant form of Alexamenos. The Princeps’ golden wine goblet then fell to the flagged floor. However, the temporary disturbance, caused by the noise of the fallen cup, caused neither the proficient young erotic dancer nor the musicians to falter.

Hadrian rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Surely, he initially thought, the vision from the flames had somehow been retained in his mind and the face of the boy he now saw dancing would change back soon to that of Alexamenos from the even more resplendent visage now present.

Hadrian finally stopped rubbing his eyes, which became enlarged instead, when he subsequently observed the boy dancer, who was performing his slow erotic movements perfectly, in line with the harmonies pervading the scene, reach for the rear detachable flap of his subligaculum. The artiste, of unprecedented beauty and competence, then tidily removed and cast the tiny white and purple square cover onto the ground.

Hadrian’s unblinking eyes now gazed in wonder as the boy turned slowly and he saw the perfect pink mounds of lustrous, uncovered young buttocks gyrate gently in front of him, in the mix of silvery moonlight and flickering golden illumination provided by the nearby braziers and lamps. A little later, as the enchanting music and dancing progressed remorselessly, the discarding of the front loincloth flap meant that the 13 year-old now danced only in his sparse, tight under-thong, which bulged with the obvious fulsome shape of excited young genitalia.

As the music gradually reached towards a crescendo, Hadrian could feel his own boiling covered groin rapidly advance to a similar climax. This was finally attained when, at the clearly appropriate musical moment, the young dancer pulled a bow to allow his last cover to be shed to reveal magnificent, completely smooth, previously private parts, crowned by a now vertical erection, oozing some precum.

Nevertheless, the sudden display of such tremendous virile young attributes did not abash the young dancer, whose erotic movements instead became even more gracefully energetic until the harmonies he was following reached their tumultuous conclusion. Then, as the now naked boy assumed, via a spectacular leap, his final position, in which he stood with his legs wide apart and his arms similarly positioned above him, his 13 year-old cock erupted as if it was another fountain. However, instead of water, the hard, throbbing penile ornament expelled copious white fluid onto the stomach, groin and legs of the owner, as well as onto the ground below.

As the most beautiful boy in the world somehow retained, despite his own unexpected orgasm, this position in front of the most powerful man, he experienced a number of emotions. These feelings included exhaustion, evidenced by the gleaming sweat on his exquisite head and naked body and, exemplified by the rapid undulations of his slender stomach, heavy breathing. They additionally comprised fear, at how Hadrian might react, and embarrassment, at the unintended ejaculation, which had adorned his sublime nude form with the most semen the 13 year-old had ever expelled, since he had begun the practice two months earlier. However, his most overwhelming sensation was one of unprecedented excitement, at both his recent dancing, which he had truly and unexpectedly, given his earlier bashful and disdaining attitude to such performances, found exhilarating, and the associated daring.

As promised, Mastor had discovered the reason for Hadrian’s neglect of Antinous, and quickly too. A similarly aged 16 year-old friend amongst the older pages, who still occasionally shared the Imperial bed because he had not advanced towards manhood as swiftly as the young Germanian, had been told the background by the Emperor himself during post-coitus pillow talk. This was a time when, as all his catamites knew, the Princeps would sometimes confide his innermost thoughts, albeit whilst using the boys more as confidential sounding boards than advisors.

The page concerned thought little of the information, having little to do with the newcomer, Antinous, even if the boy was a roommate and probable lover of his friend, Mastor, until the latter began his discreet enquiries. The clever young Germanian then came up with the idea of trying to substitute the young Bithynian for either of the 13 year-old’s own close chums, Alexamenos and Corinthus, when one of the pair next danced alone for the Emperor.

Mastor, whose astute intellect would serve Hadrian and his successor well in future years, unselfishly wanted to help Antinous in his desire to end his exclusion from the Emperor’s inner circle, despite the fact that this meant ending the young Germanian’s own exclusivity in respect of the wondrous boy. He also believed that, given the Princeps’ clear admiration and infatuation for the young Bithynian, the plan should work.

All involved realised that there was a chance that Mastor’s scheme might not only fail but also backfire and lead to punishments for playing a trick on their Imperial master. However, as Antinous was prepared to take the gamble, so were his friends, including Alexamenos, who, along with the young Bithynian, risked most because of his direct participation.

Alexamenos had so far never really managed to repay Antinous for taking a beating for him almost three years earlier. Accordingly, for the young Philippian, who was now far less timid than when he had first arrived in Italia, the present conspiracy represented an ideal opportunity to return the young Bithynian’s favour.

In the event, the worries of the quartet of lovely boys, that Hadrian might react negatively to the perfectly executed, subtle substitution of Antinous for Alexamenos as the Imperial dancer, happily proved unfounded. The Emperor even forgave the further staining of his tunic, as he once more climaxed whilst viewing the unmatched beauty of the 13 year-old from Bithynia.

Hadrian’s thankfully generous attitude was immediately evident when, after an initial deathly silent pause, on the conclusion of the music and dance, and after recovering from his recent shock and orgasm, the Emperor stood up from his couch and approached the now motionless naked boy.

Hadrian had become a highly successful Emperor, arguably the best Rome ever had, because he possessed many excellent character traits. These included astute perception. The Princeps had therefore speedily appreciated the likely background to the intrepid replacement of his boy for the night.

The guilty Hadrian realised that, by apparently previously ignoring the gorgeous young creature now in front of him, he must have so distressed him that the youngster had felt compelled to undertake a clearly desperate but nevertheless successfully bold action to gain attention. To the Emperor, it also now seemed obvious, from the copious spermatic evidence present on the young Bithynian’s sublime naked body, that the new page wanted his Imperial master as much as the 50 year-old man desired the 13 year-old boy.

The suddenly tearful and overtly emotional Hadrian rushed to the young Bithynian, who was still standing in a nude spreadeagled pose. As the previously speechless Emperor advanced, now totally dismissive of any godly claims to the naked boy, he exclaimed “Antinous, venio; ego te amo!” [“Antinous, I am coming; I love you!”].

Depite the now soiled nature of Antinous’ dazzling body, Hadrian then swept the highly surprised but also delighted boy off his feet and carried his prize to the Imperial bedroom, whilst constantly reaffirming “Antinous, ego te amo!”

(Part 3b – Athens)

‘I am not charmed by needless things

Taught in the school of art,

But by the dusty grime of a youth

Fresh from the palaestra

And by the glow given to

His supple limbs by the gloss

Of oil. My love is sweetest when

He is unadorned.’

- Strato (2nd century Greek poet)

(Telesterion, Eleusis, Roman Province of Achaea, Greece, two years later, summer DCCCLXXXI A.V.C. [128 AD])

Hadrian and Antinous walked in formal procession up the long aisle, which divided the thousands of fellow worshippers into two almost equal groups, towards the distant great altar of Demeter. They were in the cavernous ‘Telesterion’, or ‘Hall of Mysteries’, of Eleusis, which was located about fifteen Roman miles to the west of the Emperor’s favourite city of Athens.

Hadrian was to demonstrate his fondness for Athens by visiting the ancient city three times during his reign of 21 years. During this time, the Emperor gave the metropolis a library, a Pantheon, which is a temple dedicated to all the gods and which was similar to the one he had commissioned for Rome, an ambitious aqueduct to improve the poor water supply and a grand new gymnasium. However, the Princeps’ motivation for the latter project was partly influenced by the delight he took at watching his beloved Antinous at exercise, in the naked Greek style and in the performance of which the beautiful boy exhibited particular proficiency in the pentathlon.

Ever since the day that Antinous had seduced Hadrian in the Emperor’s villa at Tibur, there had only really been one boy in the previously pederastically promiscuous Princeps’ life, as well as bed. However, all but one of the other Imperial pages bore no hostility towards the development. The young Bithynian had ensured that they were used and treated as well as they had always been, apart from no longer being required for sexual service, which all were more than happy to forego to pursue their own affairs.

Even Mastor bore so resentment at losing Antinous as his roommate, after the boy had been reallocated to Hadrian’s personal quarters and eagerly waiting arms. The unselfish young Germanian gratefully realised had he had already enjoyed the share of the boy’s unparalleled charms allocated to him by the gods. He therefore sought and obtained compensation through the very amenable delights of the page now assigned to the young Bithynian’s vacated bed.

As Mastor did so, he knew that Antinous had been responsible for the selection. The young Germanian had once confided in his former paramour, during the honest post-sex talk in which they frequently engaged, that he was attracted to this particular page.

At the time, Mastor had been hit on the head by the pillow of Antinous, who was jokingly feigning outrage at the revelation. However, later, when the page concerned arrived to share his quarters with him, as the replacement for the young Bithynian, the young Germanian immediately appreciated who was behind the pleasant development.

The one furtive exception to the general acceptance that only one boy would feature for now in the Imperial bed and bosom was, of course, Marianus. He still secretly harboured deeply entrenched hatred for, and jealousy of, Antinous, as well as continued hopes for the satisfaction of his vengeful desires. However, so well was this attitude disguised that the young target of such venom continued to treat the young Roman as a lonely friend, who was perhaps unworthily usually shunned by the other pages.

In fact, as Antinous knew, the other boys’ prevailing attitude occurred because they disliked Marianus’ disdainful aloofness towards them, something that the young Bithynian had tried to correct through diplomatically proffering sage advice to the young Roman. Unfortunately, the latter had not only ignored such wise counsel but also surreptitiously despised the provider even more for giving it.

Antinous forgave Marianus for being unable to change his character, putting the situation down to deeply ingrained misplaced pride. The young Bithnyian instead naively believed that maintaining an amicable relationship with the young Roman might help to soften the boy’s unfortunate attitude over time.

Meanwhile, Antinous often went out of his way not only to check on Marianus’ continued welfare but also to spend some quality time with the similarly aged boy. The young Roman responded with outward grateful friendliness, whilst simultaneously nurturing his resentments and biding his moment to oversee the young Bithynian come to harm.

Hadrian’s fondness for Athens and Greece was further exemplified by his regular wearing, on appropriate state occasions, of a splendid cuirass, or breastplate, decorated with a relief, depicting the goddess Athena being triumphantly crowned by victories whilst standing on the back of the Wolf of Rome, herself suckling Romulus and Remus. In return for the Emperor’s support and largesse, his favoured Hellenic cities, known as the ‘Panhellenion’, instituted his worship by rededicating temples in his honour. The Princeps was also initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries.

At some time around the 7th century BC, Athens gained control of one of the most important cult sites in Greece, Eleusis. The city was eventually linked to this conquest, which was located about fifteen Roman miles to the west, by a sacred way, leading directly to the sanctuary of the goddess, Demeter, who was the principal Hellenic fertility deity, responsible for good crops.

Unlike those of the other gods, Demeter’s rites were secret and held at night. Her cult building at Eleusis, the ‘Telesterion’, or ‘Hall of Mysteries’, was therefore not like other temples.

The building was a huge closed hall, capable of accommodating thousands of celebrants, who faced death if they revealed the secret rites that took place within to anyone who was not an initiate. Such an extreme sanction was a reflection of the importance afforded to the rituals for ensuring good harvests.

Pausanias, a 2nd century AD Greek travel writer, declared [1.38.6] “They say that the Rarian Plain [at Eleusis] was the first to be sown and the first to bear crops, and therefore it is the custom to take the sacrificial barley and to make cakes for the sacrifices out of its produce. Here, they show the threshing floor of Triptolemos [handsome young herald of Demeter] and the altar, but my dream forbad me to describe what is within the wall of the sanctuary; and surely it is clear that the uninitiated may not lawfully hear of those things, the sight of which is denied them.”

In fact, Hadrian, given his status, had been unprecedentedly forewarned about the prime central rites, especially those involved in the initiation, in case he took offence at them. However, the Emperor had deliberately not passed the information onto Antinous, who, at Imperial insistence, was also to be introduced to the mysteries. In common with the now frequent fun-filled teases that man and boy played on each other, he wanted to observe the young Bithynian’s reaction.

Antinous’ response was a scarlet face shortly after the ornately draped beautiful High Priestess of Demeter came before the now 15 year-old, as he stood alongside Hadrian, immediately before the massively impressive altar of the goddess in the Telesterion. The woman placed her ‘cista’ on the frescoed floor in front of the boy. She had approached, balancing on her head, apparently precariously but actually expertly, this large round silver container, which was decorated with reliefs depicting symbols of the goddess, such as wheat and poppies, and contained secret cult objects.

The High Priestess at first uttered some loud incantations before the sacred altar, with her ceremonial melodic chants echoing round the vast temple, which was crowded with thousands of Athenian worshippers, who were present to see Hadrian and his young lover initiated. She then knelt before Antinous, raised the front of the boy’s tunic, retaining the uplifted hem in place by tucking it under his waist-cord, and pulled the relevant bow to allow his subligaculum to fall to the ground.

Antinous immediately blushed but indulged in no other reaction because Hadrian had intriguingly told him not to resist whatever happened to him during his introduction to the Eleusinian mysteries. The boy’s facial hue then became even redder when he felt the High Priestess’ lips engulf his cock, which, as a result, did not retain its initial state of flaccidity for long.

The beautiful woman instead quickly brought Antinous’ genitalia, which were still completely hairless, apart from a small golden crown of pubic hair, neatly trimmed during daily morning ablutions by Paraetonius, to fulsome excited erection. As this unexpected penile action proceeded, the scarlet-faced boy was grateful that the huge crown of watchers could see little because he had his back to them.

Having judged that she had brought Antinous both to full hardness and close to climax, the High Priestess next produced a small round leather ring, which had been one of several of different sizes within her cista. She had estimated the circumference of the object, which was embossed with a tiny replica of a cob of wheat, to be similar to that of the boy’s uncut rampant penis. The woman then carefully slipped the little adornment over the 15 year-old’s cockhead and copious foreskin, before sliding the circlet to the middle of the young Bithynian’s throbbing shaft, which was now almost the same colour as his face.

The beautiful High Priestess next extracted from her cista a small silver dish, which was embossed with a sheaf of wheat. She positioned the bowl so that the silver container was ready to capture Antinous’ ejaculate, before beginning to masturbate the gorgeous boy by means of gently agitating the little leather penile attachment. The eventual white creamy product of her manual attentions would later be mixed with a similar emission from the god, Hadrian, both to denote their mutual love and for use in a subsequent fertility ritual.

Antinous gripped the sides of his tunic, the resplendent quality of which now suggested that he was more a prince than a page in the Imperial court, as his loins began to boil and he was brought rapidly towards orgasm. The immaculate but abashed boy could not then prevent himself from uttering a loud ecstatic groan, the sound of which reverberated round the cavernous temple, correctly indicating to the thousands of witnesses that the wondrous vibrating 15 year-old body was spurting seed into the High Priestess’ waiting silver dish.

After Antinous eventually recovered from being subjected to this highly surprising and embarrassing rite, and his unadorned and now soft cock, considerately cleaned of extraneous sperm by the sacred woman, had been restored within a reattached and re-hidden subligaculum, he looked at the adjacent Hadrian. The now 50 year-old Emperor was displaying a wicked grin, as the Imperial face returned the glance. However, this smile quickly disappeared, to be replaced by a similar smirk on his 15 year-old lover’s visage, when the Princeps felt his own tunic being lifted by the High Priestess.

(Provincial Governor’s Palace, Athens, Roman Province of Achaea, Greece, next day)

Hadrian watched entranced as the naked Antinous displayed his excellent aquatic capabilities by happily frolicking with friends in the large pool, located in the secluded garden of the Provincial Governor’s Athenian palace. The Emperor had been so entranced by his new relationship with the wondrous boy that he had previously neglected his desire for travel, spending the remainder of DCCCLXXIX and all of DCCCLXXX [126 and 127 AD respectively] in either Rome or nearby Tibur. However, the Princeps had not been totally preoccupied by the young Bithynian’s wondrous form for the whole of this time.

Displaying a sagacity beyond his tender years, Antinous had diplomatically insisted that the clearly infatuated Hadrian did not neglect Imperial affairs. The result was a most productive couple of years, wherein the Emperor secured major improvements to the administration and infrastructure of Italia. However, when the time arose to continue his work in the wider Empire, the Princeps had set off in the spring of DCCCLXXXI [128 AD] for Athens, accompanied this time by the 15 year-old from Bithynia, who was now his exclusive lover, as well as his usual wider court entourage.

During Hadrian’s two years in Latium, Antinous’ physique had only blossomed even more, with his 15 year-old shape somehow improving on the supposed perfection displayed previously. The boy’s body was still immaculately proportioned and impeccably smooth, apart from the sparse golden hair growth that had appeared above the long slender cock, topping the sublime low-hanging twin ball sac orbs, which comprised his delightful sexual organs.

Paraetonius kept this hirsute growth in neat, careful, daily check, whilst constantly looking out for similar developments elsewhere, because the Emperor disliked too much body hair on his boys. However, the eunuch had so far only needed to use his sharp cutter and shaver sparingly on his young charge’s pubes in order to meet the Imperial taste for relatively depilated tidiness in the region.

Hadrian had not only thoroughly appreciated Antinous’ nightly presence in the Imperial bed for the last two years. The Emperor also welcomed the presence at other times of such a capable, clever, gregarious, humorous and lively boy.

Antinous was proficient and wise beyond his years, friendly and considerate to all, continuously full of amusing anecdotes, of both fact and fable, and often jokingly but pleasantly mischievous, as well as copiously energetic and able in respect of many other pastimes. Hadrian always felt as if he too were young again whenever he was in the company of the divine boy.

In fact, Hadrian discovered that, despite the 35 years that separated them in age, he had never revelled in someone’s company as much as he did whenever he was with Antinous. The boy even began to delight the Emperor by exhibiting not only genuine companionable interest but also skill in one of the Princeps’ other main passions, hunting.

Remarkably, the boy appeared, at least in Hadrian’s enthralled eyes but without ever saying so, to display feelings of reciprocal enjoyment of his Imperial company, although the Emperor was wise enough to appreciate that he might be deluding himself in respect of this perception. After all, the young Bithynian, whom the Princeps realised was very honest, had not yet reciprocated the most powerful man in the world’s regular passionate proclamations of “Antinous, ego te amo!”

Hadrian now saw Antinous’ literally dazzling naked form, glistening magnificently in the sunlight, emerge from the nearby pool and begin to run towards him. The phenomenal boy was laughing, having thoroughly enjoyed his swimming session with Alexamenos and Corinthus, who continued to frolic in the cooling water. However, as the young Bithynian advanced towards his Imperial master, something, in the sight of the bearded grinning Emperor waiting for him, whilst seated on a comfortable chair, made his laughter cease.

Antinous, still sporting a sublime head crowned by long silky blonde hair, could never subsequently explain, even to himself, why he chose this moment both to shout what now uttered loudly from his rosy lips and to realise for the first time that what he was saying was true. The boy noisily exclaimed, surprising not only himself but also the person to whom the words were directed, “Hadrianus, venio; ego te amo” [“Hadrian, I am coming; I love you!”]

As the boy’s perfect naked form came close to Hadrian, the Emperor, shocked at the 15 year-old’s sudden announcement, asked, with clear incredulity, “Antinous, do you mean it? Do you truly love me?” However, the young Bithynian, after staring intensely for a few moments at the Princeps, whilst water still ran down and dripped off his exquisite body, did not answer the question directly.

Antinous instead enquired “Do you remember, Sire, the ribbons of eastern silk that you recently bought for my hair?” Hadrian, mystified, nodded positively. “Well,” the boy replied, whilst now displaying his disarming smile, tinged with a hint of mischief, “look at that window up there, whilst I fetch one!”

Hadrian followed Antinous’ pointed finger, at the end of the boy’s now extended lithe right arm, to verify the open window in question, before then watching the 15 year-old’s lustrously gorgeous rear curvature depart rapidly towards the central accommodation block of the gubernatorial palace. This large ornate rectangular building, several storeys high, was crowned with a precipitous dome, which culminated in a tall thin metal spire, reaching up towards the heavens.

Antinous disappeared into the palace before reappearing shortly afterwards at the assigned window, which was on the building’s uppermost floor. Hadrian was at first intrigued at the fact that the boy possessed a ribbon, in Imperial purple, clenched between his teeth. However, the Emperor’s attitude quickly changed to absolute horror when he then saw his beloved scramble onto the window-ledge before reaching up to grab the edge of the steeply reclining roof. A fall now by the 15 year-old, onto the paved ground far below, would certainly be fatal.

Hadrian’s initial intended reaction was to shout an order for Antinous to stop but he quickly realised that this response might only endanger the boy more by startling or disconcerting him. The Emperor therefore just watched in grim terrified silence, as the 15 year-old’s feet left the window-ledge, so that only the grasp of his hands prevented his suspended, naked and still damp body from falling.

Antinous appeared to struggle in this exceedingly dangerous position for a while, which seemed to the watching appalled Hadrian to be an eternity, before the boy managed to haul himself upwards and onto the roof. The naked young Bithynian then climbed his precarious way up the steep slope towards the even more precipitous dome, dampness causing his feet to slip a couple of times, and the Emperor’s heart to miss several beats, as he did so. The petrified and speechless Princeps then recognised the sudden appearance at his manly side of two other very handsome nude 15 year-olds, in the exceedingly pleasant shape of the equally incredulous and alarmed Alexamenos and Corinthus.

Meanwhile, Antinous began his perilous ascension of the bronze-clad dome, which was very hot underfoot because of the overhead sun in the virtually cloudless sky above. Nevertheless, the intrepid boy somehow continued his climb, whilst realising that a slip could mean death.

Hadrian, Alexamenos and Corinthus suffered several more heart-stopping moments, as Antinous’ highly dangerous ascent continued, amidst a few more almost fatal stumbles, before the brave boy’s hand finally grasped the metal spire. However, the sun had made the alloy so hot that the 15 year-old almost let go again. The resultant bodily instability of the gorgeous young Bithynian, which clearly revealed immense peril, made the Emperor so light-headed that he began to swoon a little until supported by the alert young nudes at his side.

With the efficient assistance of Alexamenos and Corinthus, Hadrian eventually recovered to refocus his deeply worried eyes on the distant roof. The Emperor was just in time to observe Antinous, now standing on the apex of the dome, with one leg wrapped round the spire for support, remove the ribbon from his rosy lips. The boy then tied the purple material to the furthermost reachable point of the finial, the hot metal of which was almost burning his sublime form.

The purple ribbon began to flutter in the light summer breeze, as if it were a tiny banner. In fact, the watching Hadrian knew that the material did indeed represent a pennant, one which magnificently signalled a boy’s love, a devotion now so deep that the 15 year-old concerned was happy to risk his life simply to reply to a question.

Hadrian had disbelievingly asked the boy “Antinous, do you mean it? Do you truly love me?”

The little purple banner, now triumphantly fluttering in the light breeze far above Hadrian’s head, having achieved its paramount placement by virtue of an extremely hazardous adventure undertaken by an immensely beautiful and brave boy from Bithynia, had been the truthful answer.

(To be concluded in part 4 – ‘Egypt & Immortality’)

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