This fifth volume in The Centers of Civilization Series is intended to serve at least three purposes: to account historically for that great flowering which occurred in the Augustan Age; to describe the city in its physical and cultural development as it reached its peak: and to make the rediscovery of ancient Rome an easier process for those who today wander among the majestic ruins which remain in the midst of a modern city.

Rome was the center of the many forms of human achievement, the total of which we call Roman civilization. Many of these came into being and were developed in the city itself; others were adopted and modified in accordance with Roman needs and the Roman spirit. As Rome expanded her political hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world, she brought with her certain fundamental elements of her culture, on which, indeed, the European civilization of today still rests.

The author sets forth succinctly the reasons for the particular stamp which Rome gave her creations and borrowings, and how the city itself played its great role as a fountain-head of culture. He deals in highly interesting terms, with Rome's great achievements in law, art, architecture, literature, and administration. And as these aspects of Roman achievement appear, the life of the people, the appearance of Roman society, and the physical development of the city are kept before the reader. The effect is of being transported into a vital and flourishing metropolis, the greatest in the ancient world.