The emperor [Hadrian] found himself caught in a swell of intense grief. He halted his tour for a year and set about commemorating Antinous's life - which he did not do quietly. Hadrian commissioned a city to be built in Antinous's honour, named a star and a lotus flower after him, and took the extraordinary step of declaring him a diety, an act reserved only for the emperor and his family. Ultimately, Hadrian created a cult around Antinous, which over the years flourished across the empire; there is archaeological evidence of public and private worship, and more than 28 temples to Hadrian's lost love.
Dan Jones, Queer Heroes of Myth and Legend: A Celebration of Gay Gods, Sapphic Saints and Queerness Through the Ages