I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.

I found Rome built of bricks; I leave her clothed in marble.

At the age of nineteen, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army by means of which I restored liberty4 to the republic, which had been oppressed by the tyranny of a faction.

You cheer my heart, who build as if Rome would be eternal.

Have I have played my part well in the comedy of life? If so, clap your hands and dismiss me from the stage with applause.

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.