Temples and statues were erected in his honour and for the next 300 years, the worship of Antinous the God spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Antinous became a multi faceted deity. To some he was the God of eternal youth, joy and male beauty. To others he became the God who symbolized eternal life.
He was called upon to protect the youth of the world and to bless sporting and hunting competitions.
Because of his unique status as having been born as a mortal man and becoming a god through his death and resurrection, some turned to him as a mediator between mankind and the Gods.
The growing popularity of the worship of Antinous coincided with the growing popularity of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The similarities beween the Christian and the Antinioan religions are striking, so it should come as no surprise that the two faiths came into competition with each other.
When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the persecution of the followers of Antinous was especially fierce.
Nevertheless, the worship of Antinous continued longer than that of any other pagan god of Rome and his cult is reviving among many gay pagans of today.
All in all not bad for a boy who was born of humble origins, became the lover of the most powerful man in the world and died tragically and mysteriously at the age of twenty.
Hadrian never really got over the loss of Antinous and continued to mourn his lover until his own death eight years later.
It was his almost insane grief for Antinous which led to a series of blunders during his final years and turned the people and the Senate of Rome against him.
He spent his remaining years at his villa in Tivoli surrounded by statues of Antinous.
In the year 2003, while carrying out excavations at Hadrian's villa, archaeologists uncovered a vast temple complex dedicated to Antinous.
The new star in the heavens which appeared after Antinous's death is a cluster of stars in the constellation of Aquila the Eagle, between Sagittarius and Capricorn.
The constellation was named after Antinous and was classified as a constellation in its' own right until the middle of the 19th century when Victorian astronomers considered it inapproriate to have a constellation named after the gay lover of a Roman Emperor and incorporated it into the stars of Aquila.
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Gay pagans all over the world are today rediscovering Antinous and are making him relevant in their own lives.
To recognise and honour Antinous today means celebrating and acknowledging a uniquely gay spirituality and the devine spark in each and every one of us.