Sabina

Wife of Hadrian

The marriage between Sabina and Hadrian does not seem to have been a particularly happy one. She had been married to him at the age of twelve in A. D. 100. Hadrian was openly homosexual, and Sabina did not seem to possess the ability to overlook her husband's sexual practices, as most of the imperial women of the period found it expedient to do. She played the part of the dutiful wife, though, even accompanying Hadrian and his lover boy Antinous on their famous tour of Egypt.

As it is well known that the Romans were quite as fond of scandal as we are today, rumors began to circulate that Hadrian had poisoned Sabina because she was resentful of his ongoing homosexual relationships. These accusations do not make sense, however, because Hadrian was a sick old man at the time of Sabina's death and it is hardly probable that he would murder her at this late date after thirty - six years of marriage. Sabina died in A. D. 137, about a year before the death of Hadrian. Hadrian had her consecrated after her death.

Go to next article: on Faustina the Elder
Go back to previous article: on Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni
Return to Roman Women Table of Contents