The prose writers who lived at this period were Livy, Sallust, and
Nepos.

LIVY is the best of these. He was a native of Patavium (Padua), a man
of rhetorical training, who spent most of his time in Rome. The
historical value of his work cannot be overestimated, on account of
the scarcity, and in many cases the utter lack, of other historical
documents on the times of which he wrote. His style is spirited, and
always interesting. His accuracy, however, is not to be compared with
that of Caesar. Only thirty-five out of the one hundred and forty-two
books that he wrote are preserved.

NEPOS was a prolific writer, but only a portion of one of his works,
_De Viris Illustribus_, has come down to us; it is neither
accurate nor interesting, and of little value.

SALLUST left two historical productions, one on the conspiracy of
Catiline, the other on the war with Jugurtha. His style is rhetorical.
He excels in delineating character, but he is often so concise as to
be obscure.

GAIUS ASINIUS POLLIO was a statesman and orator of marked attainments
of this time. He was strongly attached to the old republican
institutions, a man of great independence of character, and a poet of
no mean merit, as his contemporaries testify. Unfortunately, none of
his writings are preserved.

The age of Augustus is also noted for the architectural improvements
in Rome. Augustus is said to have found a city of stone, and left one
of marble. He himself built twelve temples, and repaired eighty-two