 The long and triumphant reign of the first emperor, Augustus, began a golden age of peace and prosperity.Italy remained the metropole of the empire, and as the homeland of the Romans and the territory of the capital, maintained a special status which made it "not a province, but the "Domina" (ruler) of the provinces".More than two centuries of stability followed, during which Italy was referred to as the "rectrix mundi" (queen of the world) and "omnium terrarum parens" (motherland of all lands).