[Sidenote: The condition of society.] During the last century of the republic Rome had grown from a powerful Italian city to be the mistress of the world, and this growth of power had been accompanied by many changes. The wealth of the governing classes had increased enormously. Greek art and Greek literature had become familiar in the form of original works and of Roman imitations, and with the increase of wealth and luxury the growth of immorality went hand in hand. The early profligacy of Cæsar and Sallust, and the love of Catullus for a married woman have already been mentioned. These were not isolated cases, but merely examples of what was only too common. In fact, the man whose life was pure was an exception in the latter days of the republic. Nor were the women of the wealthier classes better than the men. The Roman matron, who was betrothed at twelve and married at fourteen years of age, naturally found herself in many instances united to a man with whom she had no sympathy, and whose distasteful society she gladly exchanged for that of a clandestine lover. Divorces were numerous, and were accompanied with little disgrace. When Augustus established his power, he brought about many reforms in the government of the city and the provinces and caused laws to be passed to ensure the sanctity of marriage and of family life, but his success in stemming the tide of immorality was slight. To be sure, the life of his chosen friends and of the court circle in general was pure, and even perhaps puritanical; but the spirit of the times was so corrupt that even his own family did not escape. The immorality of his daughter Julia became at last so notorious that she was banished from Rome and ended her life in exile. Her daughter Julia resembled her in character and met with a similar fate. In the later years of Augustus banishments for moral reasons were numerous, but it was impossible to bring order into the life of a society in which immorality had ceased to be disgraceful.