Tellus Stabilita, 122-149 Summary

Hadrian travels throughout the Empire, spending twelve of his twenty reigning years abroad. He builds a ship with all the amenities he needs for to reign effectively. He longs for speed in travel and variety of experience, and compares himself to Pythagoras and Plato, who saw the entire world before they died. With him he takes the priggish Phlegon, his trusted secretary. He also grants Suetonius access to Rome's confidential libraries for his biography of the Caesars.

Hadrian travels from provincial town to provincial town developing centers of industry and trade. He loves the layout of a well-designed town and considers it a commune with the earth, refining what is already there. He speaks to Marcus about his work on these cities, how it connects him at once to the past and to the future. More than that, these...