When discussing the greatest empires in the history of the world, the Roman Empire will always be included. At its peak the Roman empire was made up of almost all of modern day Europe, and it was considered to be one of the mightiest empires in history. There was no single factor that contributed to the success of the Roman Empire. It is rather a success founded upon military strength, cultural prosperity, and political policies. Augustus and Marcus Aurelius are two of the Emperors of Rome who truly valued what it meant to be Roman, and lead Rome in a way that they felt was right. The last words of Emperor Augustus were, “Behold, I found Rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble.” During his 40-years reign, Augustus almost doubled the size of the Roman Empire, adding new territories in Europe and Asia Minor. Instead of following Caesar’s example of the Roman Republic, he created the Roman Empire, ruled by an emperor holding power for life. The reign of Augustus was one of the most important because he laid the model that the other emperors would follow. Augustus was responsible for new military ideas, a new money currency, the network of …show more content…
Augustus felt he knew the best way to insure a better Rome, so he passed many reforms insuring that the citizens of Rome would return to their ways of conservatism. Appalled by the moral deterioration of the people, he created laws that would better stabilize marriage and help and restore the “old religion” of Rome. (“The Roman Empire.”) He showed no mercy to those who didn’t follow his laws, he had his daughter and grand-daughter banished for committing adultery. Augustus used religion as a tool to protect his superiority and promote his political agenda. He was the most powerful man on Earth, but he wanted a piece of heaven too. He became determined that his people would see him as their spiritual leader too.