Rome Walks: The Gay Side of Roman History

Rome is a city living beneath the shadow of the Vatican. While most tour companies shy away from ruffling feathers in this Catholic epicenter, one tour company has taken a somewhat bold step in offering a historical walk centered around the love between the Roman Empire’s most admired emperor, Hadrian and his young Greek lover Antinous.

While traveling together through Egypt grief struck when Antinous drowned in the waters of the Nile. Upon his lovers death, Hadrian mourned him by requesting he be deified into a God, an aspect of Roman society saved solely for the Emperors themselves. Hadrian named cities after Antinous, minted coins with his image incised into the precious metals and decorated the empire with statues of a man said to be so aesthetically pleasing he drove the emperor to a lifetime of sorrow.

Rome Walks’ Antinous’ Rome: For the Love of Hadrian begins at the Castel Sant’Angelo formerly the Mausoleum of Hadrian, built in the years following Antinous’ death when the forlorn emperor was forced to confront his own mortality. After a visit to a sculpture gallery full of stunning representations of the human form, including a stop at Hadrian’s most celebrated structure, the Pantheon- seeing Rome through the eyes of a welcoming and fun history expert creates a new approach to art and homosexuality in the Eternal City.

Even with the Catholic Church’s prominent presence in the Eternal City there’s so much gay in Rome it seeps from the cracks of every dilapidated ruin and protrudes from the doors of every museum. Rome has grown extremely progressive and it’s lovely to see a company such as Rome Walks embrace it.

Email Rome Walks at create@romewalks to book this tour with them or for other tips, tours and suggestions to visiting Italy.

Guest Blogger: LeAnne J. Smith