Cirrus@Austlit

'Do we rely on having—or expect to ‘have’—a spirit even if we don’t believe they exist? I think of Emperor Hadrian’s address to his spirit or soul just before death, and wonder if it was a case of self-denial or self-delusion or maybe absolute certainty for all the crimes of power in the world of the living? Hadrian might have been lauded by some in his time as a beacon of wisdom and justice—a builder of things—but power is power and an empire is an empire.' (Introduction)