Julio-Claudian Emperors

Reforms

Augustus also undertook a variety of reforms and acts that benefited the common people of Rome. Most notably, he undertook a vast series of building projects that both gave employment and beautified the city. In the Res Gestae, his own account of his career, he stated that he found Rome a city of wood and left it a city of marble.

He ensured water supply to most Roman houses, building or completing aqueducts and a sewage system. He built or renovated many temples. He created a fire department. He ensured at long last a steady supply of wheat to the city and removed the constant fear of famine. And he gave magnificent games, many of which were free to the poor.

These and similar acts endeared him to the common people, even as other acts won him the allegiance of the upper classes.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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