“I have supposed, and in my better moments think so still, that it would be possible [through arts and knowledge] to participate in the existence of everyone; such sympathy would be one of the least revocable kinds of immortality.”

The ideals of sympathy and shared human experience are introduced early as Hadrian’s defining philosophies. Questions of legacy and immortality run throughout the novel, particularly as Hadrian contemplates what he has contributed to the empire and how much of what he has made will outlive him.

“I strive to retrace my life to find in it some plan, following a vein of lead, or of gold, or the course of some subterranean stream, but such devices are only tricks of perspective in the memory.”

Hadrian’s reflections in the first part of the book address the process of Constructing Memory and Legacy as he reflects on how to find a narrative throughline for his life. He uses images of mining and navigation to represent the work of self-examination.

“It is in Latin that I have administered the empire; my epitaph will be carved in Latin on the walls of my mausoleum beside the Tiber; but it is in Greek that I shall have thought and lived.”

In reflecting on his life and character, Hadrian tries to reconcile his position of eminence in the Roman world with the way he identifies with Greek culture. Throughout the novel, Rome is ascribed the virtues of discipline and governance, while Greece is attributed the domains of philosophy, art, and beauty.