1. Introduction

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the rise of Augustus and his decision to rebuild the city once he had established control over the Roman state in the late 30s and early 20s BC. In particular, we think about his reasons for rebuilding the city, before looking at where exactly the building works took place, and thinking about what Augustus himself said about his building programme in the Res Gestae.

All digital modelling and 3D images are (c) Dr Matthew Nicholls, University of Reading. 2015. All rights reserved.

Course

Before the Emperor Augustus died in 14 AD, he boasted that he had found Rome a city of brick, but left it a city of marble. In this course, Professor Matthew Nicholls (University of Reading) explores Augustus’ rebuilding of the city of Rome through his award-winning digital model of the city. After a brief introduction to Augustus’ rise to power and his building programme as a whole, we turn to individual monuments, including the Ara Pacis, The Forum Romanum, The Forum Augustum, The Mausoleum of Augustus, and the various leisure and entertainment buildings that were constructed in the Campus Martius.

All digital modelling and 3D images are (c) Prof. Matthew Nicholls, University of Reading. 2015. All rights reserved.

To continue exploring the architecture and history of Rome with Prof. Matthew Nicholls, a free online course is now available on Futurelearn.

Lecturer

Matthew Nicholls is a visiting professor of classics at the University of Reading and Senior Tutor at St John's College, Oxford, specialising in the political and social history of the Romans, and the way the built environments of Rome and cities around the empire expressed their values and priorities. In 2014, Matthew was presented with a Guardian Teaching Award for his 'Virtual Rome' project, a digital model of the city of Rome, showing the city as it appeared in c. AD 315.