Guilt

Guilt is a theme of the novel. Hadrian travels with the ghosts of his past which weigh him down with guilt. He feels guilty for running away from home when he was fifteen and calling his father a coward. He wishes he could take that back and to know what plans his father had for his life. Hadrian feels guilt and shame over his time as a soldier and for his life in Calis. He does not want anyone to know what he did there. He hopes that Arcadius did not find out when he sent his man to deliver the letter about Hadrian’s father’s death.

On his journey’s north, Hadrian is again assaulted by guilt when he is unable to save Vivian from being murdered. He feels it is his fault because he promised that he would protect her. His guilt is...