The year is now 2 BC. Octavian, which is Julius Caesar’s adopted heir, had been building his forum which is nearly completed. He is now the first official emperor of the Roman empire. Many people are thrilled about the forum being completed because everyone knows he is such a successful leader. After the knowledge of Augustus’s victory against Brutus and Cassius at the Battles of Phillipi made it back to the empire, Augustus was quickly recognized as a strong military leader. In 27 BC, following the years after the battles, Augustus was given his title by the Roman Senate. Ever since then, the people of the empire have been very happy with the way he is ruling. In history class, we learned that the reign of Augustus was known as the “Pax Romana” or Roman Peace. Now traveling back to the time period, I can see why this period was known as peaceful.

After talking with a civilian, I learned that the lengthy civil wars had led to moral destruction of Rome. Many temples across the empire had fallen and people had lost faith in the gods. Augustus himself set a plan in place for the renewal and repair of temples across the empire. I can tell this plan has been successful because I see people walking into a temple right now who must be going in to offer worship to the gods.

While walking along the paths of the empire today, I found a coin on the ground with Augustus on it. It reminded me of when he announced that there would be improvements to the economy which included a poll tax and a land tax. These two taxes are used to fund the imperial system. This promoted trade throughout the empire and prosperity among the people. Which reminds me that I should stop recording my travels for the day and head to the market to trade somebody the coin I found for some fruit.