a homosexual lover , Antinous , whose drowning in the river Nile on the very day Egyptians were celebrating the death in a similar manner of the god Osiris remains one of ancient history 's great unsolved mysteries . The range of exhibits and their rarity means that this exhibition is going to be extremely well-attended . Visitors will , for example , be the first members of the public anywhere to see a huge head of the emperor that was dug up recently at Sagalassos in central Turkey and would have once crowned a statue that was over five metres high . `` A year ago , this was still lying buried in the ground , '' says Opper . `` It `` s proof that Roman history is n't done and dusted ; that we are still able to rethink the past and evaluate it . '' The exhibition brings together 180 objects , from 31 sources in 11 different countries . `` It has n't been an easy thing to do , '' adds Opper . `` Many of these objects leave huge gaps in their home collection and many are extremely delicate . This is n't
-LRB- CNN Traveller -RRB- -- When the Roman Emperor Hadrian came to power in 117AD he inherited an empire that was overstretched militarily and creaking at the seams . A massive bust of Hadrian 's head unearthed only last year is part of the exhibition at the British Museum . One of his first acts was to pull the troops out of Mesopotamia , modern-day Iraq , a fact that is sure to resonate with visitors to the British Museum `` s superb exhibition `` Hadrian : Empire and Conflict '' which opens on 24 July under the imposing classical dome of the Reading Room . Curator Torsten Opper says : `` No matter what our take is on the conflict in Iraq today , we can relate to Hadrian 's decision . Maybe 10 or 15 years ago , it would n't have mattered so much . Now it does . '' Hadrian was born in Rome to a noble family whose origins lay in Spain . One of the greatest of Rome 's emperors , he consolidated imperial power , was a patron of architecture and travelled extensively across his lands . Though married , he also took