Two Thousand years ago -- This landmark leader left a "city of clay" as a "City of Marble" as his legacy for World History

from ANCIENT HISTORY ENCYCLOPEDIA online article: The era of Augustus’ reign was a golden age in every respect. The peace which Augustus restored and kept (the Pax Romana) caused the economy, the arts and agriculture to flourish. An ambitious building program was initiated in which Augustus completed the plans made by Julius Caesar and then continued on with his own grand designs. In his famous inscription Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of the Divine Augustus) he claims to have restored or built 82 temples in one year. The famous public baths of Rome were constructed under Augustus by his second-in-command, Agrippa, and the poet Virgil composed his epic, the Aeneid. Augustus took great personal concern in the arts and was a personal patron of many artists. He passed many sweeping reforms as well as laws to maintain stability in marriage and to raise the birth rate in Rome, making adultery illegal, offering tax incentives to families with over three children and penalties for childless marriages. So strictly did Augustus himself adhere to his laws that he banished his own daughter, Julia, and his grand-daughter, for adultery. Augustus died at Nola in 14 CE. His official last words were, “I found Rome a city of clay but left it a city of marble” which aptly describes Augustus’ achievements during his reign as emperor. According to his wife Livia and his adopted son Tiberius, however, his last words were actually, “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” Augustus’ body was brought back to Rome in state and, on the day of the funeral, all businesses in Rome closed out of respect for the emperor. He was succeeded by Tiberius who he had adopted in 4 BCE and who read the eulogy (along with his own son, Drusus) at Augustus’ famously grand funeral. The emperor’s body was cremated and his ashes interred in his mausoleum. Augustus’ death was mourned as the loss of a great ruler of immense talent and vision. and he was proclaimed a god among the host of the Roman pantheon. http://www.ancient.eu.com/augustus/