Augustus

=== Building projects ===
{{Further|Vitruvius|De architectura}}
[[File:RomaAraPacisDecorazioneVegetale.jpg|thumb|Close up on the sculpted detail of the {{Lang|la|[[Ara Pacis]]|italic=no}} (Altar of Peace), 13&nbsp;BC to 9 BC]]

On his deathbed, Augustus boasted "I found a Rome of bricks; I leave to you one of marble." Although there is some truth in the literal meaning of this, Cassius Dio asserts that it was a metaphor for the Empire's strength.<ref name="dio 56.30.3">Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/56*.html#30 56.30.3]</ref> [[Marble]] could be found in buildings of Rome before Augustus, but it was not extensively used as a building material until the reign of Augustus.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=34}}

Although this did not apply to the [[Suburra|Subura]] slums, which were still as rickety and fire-prone as ever, he did leave a mark on the monumental topography of the centre and of the [[Campus Martius]], with the {{Lang|la|[[Ara Pacis]]|italic=no}} (Altar of Peace) and monumental sundial, whose central [[gnomon]] was an [[obelisks of Rome|obelisk]] taken from Egypt.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=122}} The [[relief]] sculptures decorating the {{Lang|la|Ara Pacis|italic=no}} visually augmented the written record of Augustus's triumphs in the ''Res Gestae''. Its reliefs depicted the imperial pageants of the [[praetor]]ians, the Vestals, and the citizenry of Rome.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=32}}

He also built the [[Temple of Caesar]], the [[Temple of Jupiter Tonans]], the [[Temple of Apollo Palatinus]] and the [[Baths of Agrippa]], and the [[Forum of Augustus]] with its [[Temple of Mars Ultor]].{{sfn|Res Gestae Divi Augusti}} Other projects were either encouraged by him, such as the [[Theatre of Balbus]], and Agrippa's construction of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], or funded by him in the name of others, often relations (e.g. [[Porticus Octaviae|Portico of Octavia]], [[Theatre of Marcellus]]). Even his [[Mausoleum of Augustus]] was built before his death to house members of his family.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|pages=118–121}} To celebrate his victory at the Battle of Actium, the [[Arch of Augustus, Rome|Arch of Augustus]] was built in 29&nbsp;BC near the entrance of the [[Temple of Castor and Pollux]], and widened in 19&nbsp;BC to include a triple-arch design.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=34}}

[[File:Vienne - Temple d'Auguste et de Livie -1.jpg|thumb|The [[Temple of Augustus and Livia]] in [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], late 1st century BC]]
After the death of Agrippa in 12&nbsp;BC, a solution had to be found in maintaining Rome's water supply system. This came about because it was overseen by Agrippa when he served as aedile, and was even funded by him afterwards when he was a private citizen paying at his own expense. In that year, Augustus arranged a system where the Senate designated three of its members as prime commissioners in charge of the water supply and to ensure that Rome's aqueducts did not fall into disrepair.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=79}}

In the late Augustan era, the commission of five senators called the ''curatores locorum publicorum iudicandorum'' (translated as "Supervisors of Public Property") was put in charge of maintaining public buildings and temples of the state cult.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=79}} Augustus created the senatorial group of the ''curatores viarum'' (translated as "Supervisors for Roads") for the upkeep of roads; this senatorial commission worked with local officials and contractors to organize regular repairs.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=81}}

The [[Corinthian order]] of architectural style originating from ancient Greece was the dominant architectural style in the age of Augustus and the imperial phase of Rome. Suetonius once commented that Rome was unworthy of its status as an imperial capital, yet Augustus and Agrippa set out to dismantle this sentiment by transforming the appearance of Rome upon the classical Greek model.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=34}}

====Residences====

The official residence of Augustus was the ''[[Domus Augusti]]'' on the Palatine which he made into a palace after buying it in 41/40 BC.{{sfn|Suetonius||loc=''Augustus'' 72}} He had other residences such as the ''[[Gardens of Maecenas|horti maecenati]]'' in Rome where Augustus preferred to stay whenever he became ill and which Maecenas left to him in his will in 8 BC.  The great villa of [[Vedius Pollio]] at [[Posilipo]] near Naples was beqeathed (probably forced) to him in 15 BC.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=Book LIV 23}}

Augustus built the [[Palazzo a Mare]] palace on [[Capri]].<ref>Ring, Trudy; Salkin, Robert M.; Boda, Sharon La (1 January 1996). International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe. Taylor & Francis. pp. 121–. {{ISBN|978-1-884964-02-2}}. Retrieved 5 July 2012.</ref> He also built the immense [[Villa Giulia (Naples)|Villa Giulia]] on the island of [[Ventotene]] as a summer residence early in his reign. The family home of Augustus was probably the villa at [[Somma Vesuviana]], [[Nola]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJAcZ8CWVMA | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211027/AJAcZ8CWVMA| archive-date=27 October 2021|title=Villa where Augustus probably died is unearthed |date=16 November 2016 |medium=Documentary |work=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=9 April 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This was the location where he died and where his father also died.<ref>Tacitus, [[Annals (Tacitus)|The Annals]] 1.5</ref>