Note 102 — Below is a copy of the deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subjected the whole world to the dominion of the Roman people, and of the amounts which he expended upon the commonwealth and the Roman people, as engraved upon two brazen columns which are set up at Rome.1
Reading edition
Julius Cæsar dedicated this forum Sept. 24 or 25, 708. Cf. Dio, XLIII, 22; App. B. C., III, 28; C. I. L. I, p. 402 and 397. Pliny, Hist. Nat., XXXV, 12, 156, mentions its completion by Augustus.
Augustus uses the word profligata here for “unfinished,” a use which was common enough but not elegant, and is severely criticised by Gellius, XV, 5. The word really means wretched rather than unfinished. That Augustus was not a purist this inscription testifies, and Suetonius also tells us, Aug., 87 and 88, how peculiar he was in diction and orthography.
The basilica which was unfinished at the death of Augustus he refrains from naming while it was not yet dedicated. But we know from Suetonius, Aug. 29, and Dio, LVI, 27, that it was built in honor of his grandchildren, Gaius and Lucius.