Antinous, a beautiful Bithynian youth, the favorite of the emperor Hadrian, accompanied that prince on his journey through Egypt, and was drowned in the Nile A. D. 132. According to Dion Cassius, he drowned himself under the following circumstances: The oracle at Besa had informed the emperor that a great danger which was threatening him could only be averted by the immolation of the person whom he loved most fondly. The youth, hearing this, threw himself into the Nile as a voluntary sacrifice. To perpetuate his memory, Hadrian built near Besa the magnificent city of Antino-opolis or Antinoe in Middle Egypt, and caused a newly observed star to be called by his name. Antinous was deified, mysteries in his honor were celebrated at Mantinea, and statues of him erected throughout the Roman world.