ABSTRACT
When Octavian's victory at Actium had brought to an end the long turmoil of the civil wars, and the Augustan peace ensued, Rome became not only more resplendent with her many new marble buildings, but a much more cosmopolitan city than before. [1] Many scholars and teachers were among those who now flocked to it from all parts of the Mediterranean world. [2] Their presence, together with the increased availability of books in the new public libraries, combined to make it one of the leading centres of learning. Until 38 B.C., when Asinius Pollio established the first public library in Rome, [3] books had existed only in private collections, such as those of Lucullus and Cicero, but under Augustus (who carried out a plan envisaged by Julius Caesar) [4] the splendid Greek and Latin libraries adjoining the temple of Apollo on the Palatine, and that at the Colonnade of Octavia, provided ample resources for study and research. [5] But many who had leisure had little interest in learning. In a general atmosphere of prosperity and expansion, the building trade was a hive of industry, engaged not only on public works, but on the construction and decoration of luxurious private villas for the rich, whether in the country or at attractive spots on the coast. The chariot-races in the Circus, the gladiatorial shows, the stage productions, and the baths were more lavish and magnificent than ever, whilst unimpeded sea-transport and the increase of foreign trade brought in luxury goods from far afield. Jewellery, furnishings and furniture, purple dyes, perfumes, exotic foods, spices, silk sent from Cos or along the caravan routes from the Seres of the Far East — all this, and much more, could now tempt those who had money to spend it. [6] The result was that such words as thrift and industry were often qualified by the epithet antiqua — ‘old-fashioned’ — and it was mostly in places well removed from the capital that the stricter way of life survived. Tacitus spoke of ‘an Italy still austere and tenacious of ancient custom’ in Nero's day, [7] and noted that the emperor Vespasian (who was a native of the Sabine country) was an outstanding example of old-style parsimony. [8]
