Antinous was born in the town of Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Greek province of Bithynia on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. His birth was definitely in November and most probably on the 27th. The year of his birth is not known, but at the time of his death in 132, he was described as "ephebe" and "meirkakion," two words meant to convey a boy is his late teens or a young man of around twenty. From this we can postulate that Antinous was born in either 110, 111, or 112. His parentage is unknown, as no details of his family have remained extant. It is thought that his parents may have originally been mentioned in the epitaph on the obelisk that Hadrian erected for the boy after his death, but the section where such mention is thought to have been contained is agonizingly chipped off the stone.
Little is known as to how Antinous came to be in the house of Hadrian. It is thought that he was taken from Claudiopolis during one of Hadrian's tours of the provinces in 123, when the boy was around eleven or twelve. Whether he was taken by force or went willingly is open to speculation, but that he later became the Emperor's favorite seems to preclude his ever being a slave since Hadrian was known to accept social boundaries. The fact that many busts where made of an Antinous aged around thirteen would indicate that he was a member of the Emperor's circle soon after leaving his home. It is thought that he was taken to Rome as a page and perhaps entered into the imperial paedagogium. The paedagogium may have, in part, served as a harem of boys, but its official role was that of a polishing school designed to train the boys to become palace or civil servants. It is impossible to say exactly when Hadrian became enamored of Antinous but it is thought to have been sometime between the Emperor's return to Italy in 125 and his next trip to Greece in 128, on which tour Antinous accompanied him as favorite.
It is important when discussing the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous to give acknowledgement to the system of pederasty that existed their time. It was primarily a Hellenic institution and that Hadrian should have felt drawn to it is not at all unusual given his love of all things Greek. In the old Grecian way, the love of a man for a boy was considered to be the purest form of love. Love for a woman, ancient philosophers held, was a waste for a woman was an inferior being and lust felt for a woman was a dirty thing only necessary for procreation. But a boy was equal in all ways save age and hence worthy of adoration. The boy in such couples, known as the "eromenos," would generally be entering puberty when the relationship began and would leave it when he began to show facial hair in his late teens or early twenties. Any male who preferred the submissive role in relationships after this point was refereed to as pathetic. The older man in the relationship, referred to as "erastes," was usually between the ages of twenty and forty, for as was proverbially stated, "to be a lover when old is the worst of misfortunes." (Obviously, Hadrian did not follow this advice.) In return for the respect, devotion, and sexual satisfaction offered by the eromenos, the erastes would provide the boy with training in mind, body, morals, customs, and responsibilities as well as devoted affection. As the boy's family would most likely never have given him more than passing attentions, the affections of his erastes were seen as healthy and good for the child. That spiritual love should also have a physical component was seen as obvious and proper in most circles and hence few thought anything at all wrong or even odd about the system of pederasty. In deed, so much poetry and art was dedicated to it that even men who never took eromenoi and who seemed to have actually preferred the attentions of a woman often wrote verses praising boys anyway, just so that they would be accepted by their peers.
Antinous was the perfect eromenos for Hadrian. He was accounted beautiful by all that beheld him, was said to have great intelligence and a sharp wit, and was a great hunter and athlete. Hadrian was a man who took much pleasure in art, his villa was filled with pieces collected on his travels, and would surely have been pleased by the appearance of Antinous, who even in life is said must have resembled the statues of beauty that he is still known for. One of Hadrian's well-publicized passions was for the hunt. It is well known that under Plotina's guidance, Hadrian had become well learned and developed an appreciation for intelligent conversation such as Antinous could be expected to provide. And, of course, Antinous was a Greek. He was young enough and from a stature of enough distance from that of Hadrian that the Emperor could easily feel the superior in the relationship, but Antinous was also extraordinary enough to maintain Hadrian's attention for a period of several years.
