his work that remains visible in the 21st century. The work ranged from the restoration of public buildings and spaces to the city's physical defence. Boso reported how, for example, "in the church of St Peter [Adrian] richly restored the roof of St. Processo which he found collapsed", while in the Lateran, he "caused to be made a very necessary and extremely large cistern". Due to the peripatetic nature of his pontificate he also built a large number of summer palaces across the patrimony, including at Segni, Ferentino, Alatri, Anagni and Rieti. Much of this fortification and building work—particularly in the vicinity of Rome—was for the protection of pilgrims, the safety of whom Adrian was both spiritually and physically reliable for. Although his pontificate was a relatively short one—four years, six months and 28 days—he spent nearly half that time outside of Rome, either in the enclave of Benevento or journeying around the Papal States and patrimony. Particularly in the early years of the reign, his travels reflected the political context, consisting of "short bursts" as he sought to either meet or avoid the Emperor or William of Sicily as the situation required. Personal philosophy and religious views The Pope was conscious, comments Sayers, "of the crushing responsibilities" of his office, telling John of Salisbury that he felt his Papal tiara to be "splendid because it burned with fire". He was also highly conscious of the historicity of the Petrine tradition; as much as any of his predecessors, says Duggan, Adrian upheld the "unifying and an co-ordinating role of the Papal office", and regularly expressed himself on how he viewed his position as that akin to being a steward: He also recognised his own smallness within that tradition, telling John of Salisbury that "the Lord has long since placed me between the hammer and the anvil, and now he must support the burden he has placed upon me, for I cannot carry it". This explains his use of the epithet Servus servorum Dei, comments Duggan: more than purely rhetorical, it amalgamated his concept of "stewardship, duty and usefulness" in three words. Adrian was keen to emphasise the superiority of the Western Church over that of the East, and lost no opportunity to tell members of that body so. Adrian described his approach to relations with his political rivals in a letter to the Archbishop of Thessaloniki. St Peter's authority was