"I found Rome built of clay: I leave it to you in marble."- (Everitt xxxvi).
I have heard this quote from Augustus Caesar before and it is actually in a document I give to my students. However, Anthony Everitt explains that "He was referring not simply to his redevelopment of the city, but also to the strength of the empire" (Everitt xxxvi). I always assumed the term referred only to his building projects. However, this sentence is more powerful in that Rome was in a tumultuous time of civil wars and that Augustus put Rome in a stable place.
I have heard this quote from Augustus Caesar before and it is actually in a document I give to my students. However, Anthony Everitt explains that "He was referring not simply to his redevelopment of the city, but also to the strength of the empire" (Everitt xxxvi). I always assumed the term referred only to his building projects. However, this sentence is more powerful in that Rome was in a tumultuous time of civil wars and that Augustus put Rome in a stable place.