HADRIAN IN ALEXANDRIA

IN May of 131 Hadrian returned to Alexandria, where he inspected the many construction projects he began earlier and finalized the administrative reforms he made, setting everything in order.

It was during Hadrian's final stay in Egypt that he organized and delineated the details of the new religion of Antinous.  He appointed priests and set forth the liturgy and theology of the new faith.  

The artist who sculpted the original bust of Antinous while he was still alive, known as the "Antinoos Haupttypus," was summoned to bring his sketches and make copies of Antinous images to be distributed all over the Empire.  

The first Antinous coins were struck which were the prototype for all coins to follow.  

It was at this time that the Lion Hunt poem was presented to Hadrian by Pancrates, for which he was rewarded a lifetime position in the Musaeum.  

The original reason Hadrian may have visited Egypt was to settle the issue of the new Apis Bull which had been born and which various cities were vying to possess for the religious prestige and immense wealth from pilgrimage that the bull would bring.  

Hadrian's decision is not recorded, but it may have been that he presented the Apis Bull to the Serapeum of Alexandria, as a life-size Apis bull sculpture was found in the catacombs dating from Hadrian's reign.  

Alexandria had a thriving Cult of Mithras that was associated with the Apis Bull, and which 200 years later became one of the issues that set off deadly riots in the 3rd Century when the Christians pillaged a hidden Mithraeum and paraded the sacred images through the city, causing a riot among the pagans that ultimately led to the destruction of the Serapeum by order of Emperor Theodosius.

Shortly afterward, Hypatia was murdered by Christians in a church that had once been the temple of the divine Caesars. The cult of the bull which had brought Hadrian to Egypt in the first place therefore had a part to play in the ultimate destruction of the last pagan te temples.

Before leaving, Hadrian complained of the ingratitude of the city after all he had done, which included bestowing the Apis Cult upon them, and yet they spoke ill of him and Antinous.  

The boat-shaped sarcophagus of Antinous was placed on a ship, the new priests were sent out carrying statues and coins to every corner of the world, and Hadrian made his final departure from Alexandria.