FROM BRICKS TO MARBLE: TO WHAT EXTENT DID CAESAR AUGUSTUS REALLY TRANSFORM ROME?

The paper focuses on Caesar Augustus' famous statement: “I found at Rome of bricks, and left it of marble” and analyses the extent of which this claim can be considered as being really true. It approaches the question in a thematic way, firstly by providing a background description of the conditions of Rome when Augustus came to power. This analysis is fundamental in order to see how Rome was transformed under the first emperor's empire. The investigation then mainly focuses on the development of the city, according to sources from Augustus' autobiography, “Res Gestae” as well as different author's accounts, such as Suetonius' “De Vita Caesarum, Divi Augustus”, excerpts from Horace and Strabo. Augustus concentrated most of his projects in Rome's two central hills, the Capitoline and Palatine and also around the forum. Around this area Augustus built buildings, which recalled his military victories, a mausoleum for himself and his family and many new temples. Not only did he commission new buildings, but also kept in good repair the aqueducts, which supplied water to the city. Finally, the investigation will be reaching the conclusion that it is to a great extent that Augustus transformed Rome.