He twice thought of restoring the republic; first immediately after the overthrow of Antony, remembering that his rival had often made the charge that it was his fault that it was not restored ; and again in the weariness of a lingering iilness, when he went so far as to summon the magistrates and the senate to his house, and submit an account of the general condition of the empire.* Reflecting, however, that as he himself would not be free from danger if he should retire, so too it would be hazardous to trust the State to the control of more than one, he continued to keep it in his hands; and it is not easy to say whether his intentions or their results were the better.? His good intentions he not only expressed from time to time, but put them on record as well in an edict in the following words. « May it be my privilege to establish the State in a firm and secure position, and reap from that act the fruit that I desire; but only if I may be called the author of the best possible government, and bear with me the hope when I die that the foundations which I have laid for the State will remain unshaken.” And he realized his hope by making every effort to prevent any dissatisfaction with the new régime. Since the city was not adorned as the dignity empire demanded, and was exposed to of the flood and fire, he so beautified it that he could justly boast that he had found it built of brick? and left it in marble. He made it safe too for the future, so far as human foresight could provide for this.