The Memoirs of Hadrian #3

138 AD, the Emperor Hadrian, on the eve of his death, takes refuge in his villa far from his Court’s schemers in Tibur. Elixa, a young, shameless Greek slave whom he protects, prepares his bath. Antony, his secretary, is summoned to correct and complete his memoirs. Several situations disrupt the story’s apparent linearity. Antony wants to marry Elixa, Hadrian wishes to end his suffering … The complementary pairs Hadrien-Plotine, Hadrien-Elixa, or the antagonistic pairs Elixa-Antoine, Hadrien-Antoine… create intense dramatic situations. The play evokes the 2nd century A.D. which to quote Yourcenar: “interests me because it was, … the century of the last free men… we are perhaps already far away from that time”.