NEW TESTAMENT TIMES
empire, his personal influence, which was everywhere turned to the encouragement of culture and in the end made the Augustan age the symbol of the highest Roman culture, was brought to bear on Herod through encouragement and suggestion.
In the matter of libraries, the coming transfers from Oriental and Greek to Roman influence had already been symbolized by the transfer to Rome by Sulla before 78 B.C. of the library of Aristotle. Plans for great public libraries too had been made by Julius Caesar, but it was only under Augustus that the Roman public libraries began and the golden era of ancient libraries set in. The first Roman public library, founded by Pollio soon after 39 B.C., belongs, it is alleged, "among the acts of generosity which Augustus suggested to others" (Clarke p. 12). Before 20 B.C. Augustus had himself founded two public libraries at least, one founded in 28, one
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