Background to Augustine's "City of God"Author(s): Leo C. FerrariSource: The Classical Journal, Vol. 67, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1972), pp. 198-208Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and SouthStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3296593 .Accessed: 27/09/2011 00:45

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BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE'S "CITY OF GOD"

N THE YEAR 410 of the present era, the Roman empire was stunned by the news

of the fall of Rome to the hordes of in- vading barbarians. The pagan mind in- terpreted this singular disaster as the climax to a long series of misfortunes which seemed to have followed upon the Christian take- over of the empire. This ascendancy of Christianity had begun officially in 313 with the Edict of Milan, which signaled the end to almost three centuries of persecutions and the beginning of a growth in imperial indulgence for the newly emergent religion.

On the other hand, it appeared that the gods of the pagan cults did not long with- hold their wrath from the empire which had betrayed them by courting the favors of the new religion. Consequently (or so it seemed), the long-dominant Roman em- pire began first to weaken, then actually to crumble. This crumbling became mani- fest in the year 376, with the crossing of the Danube by the Visigoths; an event which soon proved to be merely the first of many such infiltrations within the borders of the empire. By 406 the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that barbarian invasions of Gaul forced the Roman gar- rison to withdraw from Britain. The in- vaders had reached as far as Spain by 409 and the next year was to witness the famous sacking of Rome.

The crumbling of the empire was cause enough for concern, but the forces of pagan- ism had even more immediate cause for

anxiety in the reversals which their own fortunes had suffered as a result of the rise of the newly emergent Christian re- ligion. Their troubles dated back to the fateful year of 312 when Constantine de- feated his pagan rival Maxentius, in the battle of the Mulvian Ridge. As Eusebius has it, Constantine saw a vision of a flam- ing cross in the sky and was assured that if he fought under the standard of the cross in the forthcoming battle, he would defeat Maxentius.1 Constantine's subsequent victory therefore acquired the added sig- nificance that the cross of Christianity had finally vanquished the forces of paganism, as represented by Maxentius.

In the following year, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which soon proved to be but the first of many imperial conces- sions to Christianity. Its privileged position was rendered more secure in 322 with the victory of Constantine over Licinius, the pagan Emperor of the East. Imperial pa- tronage of the Christian religion was mani- fested in an historical manner in 325, when Constantine, as sole emperor of both East and West, presided over the Council of Nicaea.

Imperial espousal of Christianity was con- tinued by Constantine's three sons and became an established tradition with sub- sequent emperors. One notable exception occurred with Julian the Apostate, who

The author wishes to acknowledge his indebt- edness to the Canada Council and (subse- quently) to the Deutscher Akademischer Aus- tauschdienst.

SEusebius: The life of Constantine, ch. 28. This is to be found in the English translation in A select library of Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church, second series, vol. I (New York 1904). The amazing episode is described on p. 490.

BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE S CITY OF GOD" 199

during his brief reign (361-363), made an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the new imperial policy and restore the pagan re- ligions to their former primacy. After this brief interruption, the tides of imperial favor continued to run strongly to the advantage of Christianity, with a conse- quent deterioration in the strength of the older pagan cults.

It was above all the reign of Gratianus (367-383) which transformed imperial dis- dain for paganism into more effective means for hastening its demise. When Gratianus refused to accept the traditional title of Pontifex Maximus in 375, the pagan cults found themselves in the supremely embar- rassing position of being publicly repudi- ated by the emperor himself, who ex officio was also their high priest. Injury was added to insult in 382, when Gratianus terminated all state support for paganism. Deprived both of imperial patronage and of access to public funds, the long dominant pagan cults were reduced to fighting for mere survival.

But behind the imperial throne a grey eminence was masterminding the relentless extinction of paganism. Saint Ambrose (c. 337-397), who as Bishop of Milan exerted this powerful influence on the formulation of imperial policy, was no mere ecclesiastic.2 His father, as prefect of Gaul, had ruled most of the Western empire outside of Italy. Ambrose himself had begun a spectacular career as a lawyer in the courts of the praetorian prefect. By virtue of family connections and innate ability, he soon rose to consular rank as governor of the provinces of Liguria and Aemilia. In this capacity, he came to Milan about the year 370. There, in 374, a series

of strange events resulted in his exchanging the governorship for the r6le of Bishop of Milan.

By a singularly fortunate coincidence, Milan of the fourth century was also the site of the imperial court. Moreover, Am- brose was on terms of such intimate friend- ship with the emperor Valentinian I that he became the guardian of his two sons, Gratianus and the future Valentinian II. And Gratianus it was who inflicted the above-mentioned fatal blows upon pagan- ism.

But, as Bishop of Milan, Ambrose also represented a power which was mightier than even that of the emperor himself. In 385-386 he successfully resisted the at- tempts of the empress Justina (the mother of Valentinian II) to have the Basilica of Milan converted to the use of the heretical Arians.3 Later too, an emperor among emperors came under Ambrose's censure in a most memorable encounter. The epi- sode involved no less a figure than The- odosius the Great, who, so it seems, had impulsively released his soldiers upon the defenseless citizens of Thessalonica. For this criminal carnage, Ambrose insisted that he do public penance. So, in 390 the whole empire was witness to the well-nigh incredible spectacle of the emperor, The- odosius the Great, prostrating himself in public before the Bishop of Milan.

Such in brief (and with some anticipa- tion of future events), was the power of the Ambrose whom the young and am- bitious Augustine encountered when he came to Milan in the autumn of 384 to fill the post of public rhetor. Yet this youthful orator was at that time an ad- herent of the pagan, but still influential, Manichees. And he it was who was des- tined to write the immortal City of God. The twists of history are strange. At the same time, it is interesting to note that the humbling of Theodosius occupies a sig- nificant place in Augustine's great work. It is the last argument in his opening and

2 See The life of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, written by his amanuensis, Paulinus, and dedi- cated to the blessed Augustine. This is found in English, in The Western fathers (p. 149- 188) by F.R. Hoare (New York 1954). Also, according to Hoare (op. cit., p. 147), the most authoritative English biography of Ambrose, is that of Dr. F. Homes Dudden: The life and times of St. Ambrose (2 vols.), (Oxford 1935). 3 Confessions IX.vii.

200 LEO C. FERRARI

lengthy attack upon the temporal benefits of paganism in the City of God. Even Theodosius the Great had submitted to the authority of the Church, as Augustine him- self recounts: "Being laid hold of by the

discipline of the Church, [Theodosius] did

penance in such a way that the sight of his imperial loftiness prostrated made the

people who were interceding for him weep more than the consciousness of offence had made them fear it when enraged."'4

The reasoning behind this citation was as ominous for paganism as it was implicit. Clearly the pagan sects had no future in the new context. If the reader had not been persuaded by all the previous arguments of Augustine in the work from which the above text is cited, there remained the ulti- mate and incontestable fact of imperial sub- mission to the power of the Church.

Such was the magnitude of the influence exercised by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, whose effect upon the personal development of the youthful Augustine was no less im-

portant for the future of western Christian- ity. But the young Augustine might well never have reached Milan, had it not been for the patronage of another less remem- bered person named Quintus Aurelius Symmachus (c. 340- c. 402), who also chanced to be one of Ambrose's worst enemies.

For some time prior to Augustine's fate- ful arrival in Milan in 384, the same Symmachus had been deeply involved in an

all-important struggle, which (curiously enough) concerned one of the furnishings of the senate house in Rome. The item in question was the famous Altar of Victories. It also happened to be the national shrine of paganism and from the early days of the empire had occupied the position of honor in the senate. It was, however, another of those mainstays of paganism which were casually abolished during the reign of

Gratianus. The pagan segment of the nobility were understandably outraged. Headed by the same Symmachus, they sought relentlessly the return of the Altar of Victories to the senate and (it was hoped) of all that it represented.

Conservative though these nobles were in matters of religion, they could obtain no concessions from the emperor. Indeed, as the affair progressed, it became increasingly obvious that not one inch would be con- ceded to even the most moderate of pagan practices. The actual source of this intransi- gence was discovered to be none other than Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. Time and again he blocked the road to redress with obdu- rate persistence, notwithstanding the fact that he and Symmachus were related. In- deed, Ambrose intervened with force to prevent the second attempt at replacing the Altar of Victories. A third unsuccessful attempt was made by Symmachus in the winter of 389-390, when he went in person to Milan to plead with the emperor.

The protracted dispute over the Altar of Victories seemed to shift in favor of the pagan faction with the murder of the youthful Valentinian II by Arbogast and the installation of Eugenius as emperor in 392. The last mentioned promised redress to the pagan faction, beginning with the restoration of the Altar of Victories to its traditional place of honor in the Senate House. In protest against the impending restoration, Ambrose steadfastly refused to live in the same city as the new emperor.

The god of Ambrose seemed to express his will unmistakably with the violent death of Eugenius before the restoration could take place. He was killed in an encounter with the forces of one, Theodosius, in the year 394. And, as providence would have it, this Theodosius was the very same who had done public penance before Ambrose four years earlier. Doubtless this chance connection had ominous implications for the pagan cause.

Within twenty years of this final and ignominious defeat of the pagan faction,

4 City of God V.xxvi. Citations for this work are from the Dods translation in vol. II of The Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church, first series (New York 1903).

BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE S CITY OF GOD"1 201

Augustine was to begin writing his City of God. It is interesting to consider the effect of the events just described upon this work. Actually, the magnum opus of Augustine concerns not one city, but two. It treats of the Heavenly City on the one hand, and of the Earthly City on the other. The former is ruled by Christ, while the ruler of the latter is Satan. The two Cities are at war with each other and, according to Augustine, will eventually claim all mem- bers of the human race. Most will find themselves in the City of Satan (or Hell), while the select few will enjoy eternal leisure in the Heavenly City.5

What is significant is that the dispute over the Altar of Victories also centered upon two cities at spiritual warfare with each other. That shrine had been removed from the Senate House in Rome, the same city which from time immemorable had welcomed and nurtured a great diversity of pagan cults. It was around the same ancient city that the forces of paganism clustered during the all-important con- troversy over the Altar of Victories. In op- position to this bastion of paganism stood the comparatively new city of Milan (dating from the fourth century B.c.), from which the unassailable power of Ambrose op- erated, bringing ignominy and defeat upon the pagan cause.

Possibly this enmity and tension between the two cities of Rome and Milan was a contemporaneous episode from which grew the first ideas for Augustine's City of God, with its own two conflicting cities. Certainly, adverting to the events of

Augustine's age helps explain why the pro- longed attack upon paganism, in the first ten books of that work, concentrates pri- marily upon the paganism of Rome. This city had become the guardian of innumer- able pagan cults, as Augustine explains: "Who can number the deities to whom the guardianship of Rome was entrusted? In- digenous and imported, both of heaven, earth, hell, seas, fountains, rivers; and, as Varro says, gods certain and uncertain, male and female: for as among animals, so among all kinds of gods are there these distinctions."6

So much then for the Altar of Victories and the involvement of Symmachus in this all-important struggle. The same Sym- machus recommended a young and then unknown orator named Aurelius Augustinus to the post of public rhetor at Milan, with his duties to begin in the autumn of 384. The appointment was doubly surprising. The youthful Augustine was not merely a newcomer to the ranks of educated society in Rome; he was also a mere colonial from North Africa. As to why he rated a refer- ence by so eminent a person as Symmachus, the prefect of Rome, and to so important a post as public orator of Milan, thereby also hangs a tale.

Born (A.D. 354) of obscure parentage in the North African town of Tagaste (near the site of present-day Souk Ahras), Augustine was eventually educated to rhetoric, though not without considerable sacrifice on the part of his parents. In the year 374, while studying at Carthage, he forsook the Christian religion, in which his mother had raised him, for the pagan sect known as the Manichees. This was a most unfortunate change, as the events of Gratianus' reign were soon to prove. Barely eight years later, with the removal of all forms of imperial patronage, Manicheeism was to become merely another of the many pagan sects vainly seeking to vent their frustrated fury on the newly emergent Christianity. Meanwhile, Augustine's knowl-

5 For the final ends of the two cities, see City of God, books XXI and XXII. That most will find themselves in Hell: "Non quia omnes qui in Adam moriuntur, membra erunt Christi (ex illis enim multo plures secunda in aeternum morte plectentur)" (De civitate Dei XIII. xxiii.3). Latin explications are from the Gaume text in the Opera omnia (Paris 1838). For the genesis of the two-cities theme see A. Lauras, "Deux cit6s; Jerusalem et Babylone. Formation et 6volution d'un theme central du 'De civitate Dei'," Ciudad de Dios 167 (1954) vol. I, 117-151. ' City of God I.xii.

202 LEO C. FERRARI

edge of the Manichean religion was to provide yet another source of inspiration for his City of God, for Manicheeism was a dualistic religion, teaching the existence of a City of Light and of a City of Dark, both of which were in conflict in the present world.7

On the other hand, Augustine's conver- sion to Manicheeism did have certain short-range benefits. The Manichean reli- gion was particularly popular among orators, a profession which Augustine had also espoused. Moreover, the sect enjoyed strong and secret membership at Rome.8 It was thither too, by a fortunate coinci- dence, that the young Augustine ventured abroad in search of an illustrious career already promised him by his scholarly achievements at Carthage.9

Augustine arrived in Rome in 383, just after the removal of state support for

paganism. He could not but have heard of the all-powerful Ambrose, who, operating from Milan, was masterminding the im-

perial execution of paganism. Doubtless the ambitious young orator had more than one reason for going to Milan. It is a tribute to Augustine's persuasive personal- ity and his influential pagan connections, that, within a year of arriving in Rome, he was nominated to the prestigious posi- tion of public orator in the imperial city of Milan. He relates the surprising achieve- ment in his Confessions: "When, therefore, they of Milan had sent to Rome to the

prefect of the city, to provide them with a teacher of rhetoric for their city, and to

despatch him at the public expense, I made interest through those identical persons, drunk with Manichean vanities, to be freed from whom I was going away,-n either of

us, however, being aware of it,-that Sym- machus, the then prefect, having proved me

by proposing a subject, would send me. And to Milan I came, unto Ambrose the

Bishop, known to the whole world as among the best of men."'10

Augustine's appointment is all the more

interesting in view of the preceding catas-

trophes which had befallen the pagan cause, beginning with the emperor's rejection of the title of Pontifex Maximus in 375 and

leading up to the removal of both state financial support and of the Altar of Victories in 382. Relations between Rome, the traditional center of paganism, and

Milan, the source of the new religious policy, were indeed strained when the

young Augustine made his bid to become

public orator at the latter city. It can be appreciated that for Sym-

machus too, the choice of a public orator for Milan was a decision of critical impor- tance. The right man could go a long way towards rallying the disarrayed paganism

I The Manichaean influence upon Augustine's City of God is treated at some length in Lope Cilleruelo's "La oculta presencia del maniqu6- ismo en la Ciudad de Dios," in La Ciudad de Dios 167 (1954) 475-509. For an illuminating explanation of Manicheeism in Augustine's North Africa, the reader is referred to W.H.C. Frend's "The Gnostic-Manichaean tradition in Roman North Africa," in Journal of ecclesi- astical history IV.i (1953) 13-26. Since Augus- tine lived as a Manichee for nine years, this source of influence comes within the scope of the present article, which is concerned with the circumstances surrounding the writing of the City of God. For this same reason, great as was Augustine's indebtedness to such figures as Plato, Vergil and Cicero in the same work, this subject does not fall within the scope of the present article. Another recent publication on Manicheeism in Augustine's environment is F. Decret, Aspects du manichdisme dans l'Afrique romaine. Les controverses de Fort- unatus, Faustus et Felix avec saint Augustin (Paris 1970).

8 "Plures enim eos Roma occultat"-Libri tredecim confessionumn (Gaume ed.) V.x.19. Manicheeism was above all a religion of the intellectuals and Augustine, as a professional orator, was eminently qualified for member- ship in the higher echelon. See E. de Stoop, Essai sur la diffuson du manicheisme dans l'empire romain (Gand 1909), p. 6-7.

'Confessions III.iii.6.

"o Confessions V.xiii.23. English citations for this work are from the Pilkington translation in vol. I of The Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church, first series (New York 1902).

BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE'S cCITY OF GOD" 203

there. By enlisting the support of influ- ential sympathizers with the pagan cause, as well as by the tactful use of his rhetorical gifts, the next orator at Milan could quite conceivably bring public opinion around to demanding redress for the many insults and injuries which paganism had endured in the recent past. For reasons best known to Symmachus, the ambitious young orator re- cently arrived from North Africa won out over all contenders. And so the eloquent Augustine was duly installed as public orator of Milan; but more importantly, as a potential benefactor for the pagan cause.

As far as Ambrose was concerned, the arrival of this pagan orator from Rome was hardly cause for celebration. On the contrary, the eloquence and influence of the youthful Augustine could only prove to be deleterious to the Christian cause. Moved no less by charity than by experi- enced diplomacy, Ambrose received the orator with appropriate courtesy. This, in- terpreted as kindness, all too easily dis- armed the new appointee. Augustine re- counts the meeting: "That man of God received me like a father, and looked with a benevolent and episcopal kindness on my change of abode. I began to love him.... as a man friendly to myself."11

Brilliant as he was, apparently it never entered Augustine's head that Ambrose, under his friendly exterior, could have taken umbrage at the fact that Augustine was a member of the pestilent sect of the Manichees. More than ten years after the events, when writing his Confessions, he was at a loss to explain why the venerable Ambrose would prefer to read a book in silence than to converse with the young Augustine who had called on him.12

Surprisingly enough, the young potential benefactor for the pagan cause in Milan

was converted to the Christian religion. Augustine was baptized by Ambrose him- self in the year 387-a mere three years after his arrival in Milan.

As far as the pagan nobility in Rome was concerned, this outcome of all the help they had afforded Augustine was enough to brand the young orator from North Africa as an opportunist and a traitor of the deepest dye. It would hardly be a rash statement to say that his conver- sion to the Christian cause would have made Augustine many vicious enemies at Rome. The epistles he received from that city after 387 would have made very in- teresting reading, but unfortunately they are not extant. In any case, it is credible that the same faction which obtained Augustine's employment in Milan, also pos- sessed the means of terminating his ap- pointment when it no longer served their

purposes. Such an impending dismissal could well have been an important factor in precipitating his sudden resignation.13

11Confessions V.xiii.23. 12 Confessions VI.iii.3. Contrast with the ex-

planation that Ambrose felt too inferior to talk to Augustine, as found in Honoratus Tescari's "Quid causae fuerit, cur Ambrosius cum Augus- tino colloqui noluerit," Latinitas III (1955) 83- 86.

13 This possibility proves most illuminating when reading Augustine's own account of his resignation in Confessions IX.ii. With capti- vating rhetorical polish, he describes how he had decided "but gently to withdraw the ser- vice of my tongue from the talker's trade" (sed leniter subtrahere ministerium linguae meae nundinis loquacitatis [in codice Be- nigniano, mundanis loquacitatibus]). This leniter involved waiting a few days until the coming Vacation of the Vintage (et opportune jam paucissimi dies superant ad vindemiales ferias). But had it got abroad that he was contemplating turning on the pagan faction in Rome and going over to the side of their enemies, the Christians, the summary termi- nation of his appointment was a real possi- bility. His impending public conversion would then have appeared in a much less edifying light, which would have made Augustine more of a refugee from the ire of the pagan faction. On the other hand, if Augustine struck first, then his conversion appeared to be the result of his own decision, rather than the result of adversity. The need for secrecy was para- mount. He records: "to no men-except our own friends-was it known. For we had de- termined among ourselves not to let it get abroad to any." This calculating strategy may well have had another inherent defect. If the

204 LEO C. FERRARI

The above events associated with the Rome that Augustine knew, help explain the r6le which he assigns to it in his City of God. Rome is nothing less than the con-

temporary counterpart of the biblical Baby- lon-it is a contaminating source of sin and deceit.14 For Augustine personally, the

worst was yet to come. He was destined to experience the evil power of Rome in a most devastating manner. It would ap- pear that this singular tragedy instigated the incredibly black picture of Rome and its paganism which he painted in the City of God. It is a dark picture indeed, un- relieved as it is by any promising glimmer of goodness.15 The crushing blow from which his vilifications of Rome would seem to issue, is contained in events subsequent to his conversion.

Following upon the relinquishing of his

employment in Milan and his baptism by Ambrose, Augustine and his companions decided to return to North Africa. The

travelling party included his own mother

Monnica, the one woman to whom Augus- tine attributed all that he was.16 They had

just passed through Rome and reached Tiberian Ostia, a mere fifteen miles south- west of that imperial city, when Monnica fell ill and died. It was the year 387. The

catastrophic event is described with touch-

coup were brought off, then Augustine emerged as a treacherous turncoat. But against this too, circumstances had provided a plausible defense: "Furthermore, this very summer, from too great literary labour, my lungs began to be weak, and with difficulty to draw deep breaths." This then would provide the pagan faction with a prima facie excuse for his resig- nation, which would, too, soften the blow of the prime reason and leave him the less open to charges of treachery. He had good reason to be glad of his ill-health: "I even began to rejoice that I had this excuse ready,-and that not a feigned one." There remained also to deal with the charges on the other side, from the Christians who would accuse him of con- tinuing in the service of the pagan faction which had brought him his appointment, after his inner conversion to Christianity. Augustine deals with this in his own way: "Some of Thy servants, my brethren, may perchance say that I sinned in this, in that having once fully, and from my heart, entered on Thy warfare, I per- mitted myself to sit a single hour in the seat of falsehood. I will not contend."

14 The City of God is sprinkled with allusions to Rome as another Babylon. Augustine's atti- tude to that city is expressed succinctly in the following passage: "To be brief, the city of Rome was founded, like another Babylon, and as it were the daughter of the former Babylon" (City of God XVIII.xxii). Sometimes his atti- tude to Rome is one of vehement contempt: "Why allege to me the mere names and words of 'glory' and 'victory'? Tear off the disguise of wild delusion, and look at the naked deeds: Weigh them naked, judge them naked" (op. cit. III.xiv). At other times he displays gloat- ing gratification over the misfortunes which have befallen that city and the empire it headed. He writes of the invasion of Italy (218-203 B.c.) by the Carthaginian, Harnnibal: "[he] inundated Italy like a torrent (torrentis modo Italiae faucibus irruente), how bloody were the wars, and how continuous the engage- ments, that were fought! How often were the Romans vanquished! How many towns went over to the enemy, and how many were taken and subdued! What fearful battles there were, and how often did the defeat of the Romans

shed lustre on the arms of Hannibal!" (op. cit. III.xix). I" As long ago as 1925, a Jesuit priest, writing of Augustine's searing attack upon Roman paganism in the City of God, testified: "My own mind is intimately convinced that the pagan world has found in God a more merciful and considerate judge than it would have had in his great servant, Augustine of Hippo" (St. Augustine's City of God; a view of the con- tents, by Joseph Rickaby, S.J., [London 1925], p. 82).

10 "Mater nostra [Monnica], cujus meriti credo esse omne quod vivo," (De beata vita 6). The pages of the Confessions offer many tender testimonies to the great devotion which existed between mother and son. The following are indicative of the many allusions on this theme: "But, like all mothers-though even more than others,-she loved to have me with her" (op. cit. V.viii.15), and "For I cannot sufficiently express the love she had for me, nor how she now travailed for me in the spirit with a far keener anguish than when she bore me in the flesh" (op. cit. V.ix.16). Finally, the virtues of Monnica receive extensive treat- ment, and, as it were, after the manner of an epilogue to the biographical section of the Confessions, in the ninth book (viii-xiii).

BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE'S 'CITY OF GOD" 205

ing simplicity and enigmatical allusions by Augustine himself: "And when we were at the Tiberian Ostia my mother died. Much I omit, having much to hasten. Receive my confessions and thanksgivings, O my God, for innumerable things concerning which I am silent."17

Nothing could have exceeded the devas- tating impact of this tragic event upon Au- gustine. By the death of Monnica, the very tainting evil of Rome had been palpably demonstrated in an ultimate and irreversible manner. This was the same Rome which four years previously had lured him abroad in search of worldly fame. He had lied to his very own mother and stolen away in the darkness of night, leaving her grief-stricken and abandoned in the morrow.18 Later too, Symmachus, the very prefect of Rome itself, had entrusted Augustine with the impor- tant rank of public orator at Milan. By his subsequent conversion to Christianity Augustine had betrayed the mission which was committed to him. And now, as if by way of price upon the whole evil bargain, the same Rome had claimed his very own mother.

It appears that for about a year after the events just described, the stunned Augustine wandered around that city of Rome. In this condition, he inevitably would have been exposed to the taunts of erstwhile benefactors, now transformed by some demoniacal influence into vicious enemies. And so the salt was rubbed into the wound of his grief.

In the autumn of 388, after five eventful years in Italy, Augustine returned to North Africa and to his home town of Tagaste, where he founded a monastery. The so- journ abroad had seen him converted to the Christian faith, a transformation for which his mother had in effect, given her own life. There remained by consequence, a large debt to be settled. His subsequent

rise to eminence in the Church would have pleased no one more than his mother. In 389 he was ordained presbyter in neigh- boring Hippo Regius. Thereafter, his power and influence in the Church of North Africa grew and finally resulted in his con- secration as Bishop of Hippo Regius in 396. From there he was a distant witness to the decline in the empire's fortunes, a deterioration ushered in by the dawning of the fifth century and one which climaxed in the fall of Rome itself. This calamity inspired the writing of the City of God and some consideration will now be given to the developments which led up to the catastrophe.

As previously mentioned, in 376 the Visigoths, or West Goths, crossed the Danube and settled in the Roman province of Moesia, with the approval of the Roman emperor. Two years later, these new Teutonic settlers were the source of dis- turbances which erupted into the battle of Adrianople, when the victorious Goths van- quished the Roman army with the death of the emperor Valens. Under his successor, Theodosius the Great, tensions were eased and many of the Visigoths became foederati of the empire. But with the death of Theodosius in 395, the Goths revoked their role of allies and, led by their king, Alaric, became the source of new disturbances which were settled neither by territorial concessions, nor by monetary "gifts."

Alaric plundered Greece, then during 401-403 turned on Italy itself. After ravag- ing the northern sections, he was with difficulty repelled by the Roman general, Stilicho. In 408 Alaric returned, crossed the Julian Alps and reached the walls of Rome itself, but was eventually bought off by a large ransom.

Since Alaric's first visit to Italy in 401- 403, the fortunes of the empire had greatly deteriorated. The success of Alaric's first campaign in Italy had done much to en- courage similar ventures by other bar- barians. As a result, masses of Vandals,

1 Confessions IX.viii.17. "8 Confessions V.viii.15.

206 LEO C. FERRARI

Suevi and Alani invaded Gaul and Spain, which were virtually lost to the empire.

In 409 Alaric instigated a second siege of Rome and succeeded in setting up his own puppet emperor. He returned again in 410 and set about a military conquest of the city. There followed the famous fall of Rome, which inspired Augustine's monu- mental City of God. The event was pos- sessed of a singular significance for the newly emergent Christian religion, as Augustine himself recounts: "Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God and prompted me to under- take the defence of the City of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants."19

As far as the pagan faction was con- cemed, the last straw in the whole catas- trophe was the fact that Alaric himself was a Christian, even if belonging to the dissi- dent sect of the Arians. But to the pagan mind, Christians were Christians, notwith- standing internal differences about fine points of doctrine, such as the divine nature of Christ called into question by the Arians.

That Alaric was a Christian, even though an Arian, probably accounts for the com- paratively mild raping and pillaging which apparently followed the fall of Rome.20 On the other hand, it also brings to light yet another motive behind the writing of the City of God. Augustine was not merely trying to exonerate Christianity from being the cause of the fall of Rome, as the pagans would have it. He also had to account for the grinding irony of the fact that the great Alaric was himself a Christian. To this end

he devotes some of the earlier chapters of his work.21

The actual writing of the City of God did not begin immediately after the fall of Rome in 410. Augustine's first reaction seems to have been preserved in the ser- mon, On the destruction of the City, pre- sumably composed hot in the wake of the catastrophe.

The first adumbrations of the City of God as it is known today, appear in the course of correspondence with a certain Marcellinus. Indeed, the opening words of Augustine's masterpiece testify to the prior influence of the same Marcellinus: "The glorious city of God is my theme in this work, which you, my dearest son Marcel- linus, suggested, and which is due to you by my promise."22

Shortly before Augustine's entering upon the composition of the City of God, the same Marcellinus had written in 412 asking Augustine's guidance in reconciling Chris- tian principles with the exigencies of secular duties. Towards the end of the letter Marcellinus observes: "Very many great calamities have befallen the common- wealth under the government of emperors observing, for the most part, the Christian religion. Wherefore, as your Grace con- descends along with me to acknowledge, it is important that all these difficulties be met by a full, thorough and luminous reply (since the welcome answer of your Holi- ness will doubtless be put into many hands).'"23 And Marcellinus had good rea-

19 Retractions ii.43. 2o City of God I.i-vii. Cf. Rickaby, op. cit.,

p. 7.

21 It had never been witnessed that the vic- tors spared those who fled to the pagan temples (City of God I.ii & vi), but this happened in the case of the sacking of Rome, so that "who- ever does not see that this is to be attributed to the name of Christ, and to the Christian temper [of Alaric], is blind; whoever sees this, and gives no praise, is ungrateful; whoever hinders anyone from praising it, is mad" (op. cit. I.vii). The reason, Augustine attributes to God's clemency (ibid. xxxiv).

"• City of God, preface. " Letter CXXXVI.2-3. This is to be found

in vol. I of The Nicene and post-Nicene fa- thers, already mentioned (n.4).

BACKGROUND TO AUGUSTINE'S 'CITY OF GOD" 207

son to be concerned about reconciling Christian principles with secular duties, for he was himself both a Christian and a tribune of the imperial forces.

Augustine's epistle in reply contains (among other things) the initial adumbra- tion of the first ten books of the City of God.24 First, he establishes the corrupt condition of the empire prior to the Chris- tian era, using the authority of none other than Sallust (86-34 B.c.), whom he graces with the title of "most noble historian" (nobilissimus historicus). It is an interest- ing irony that the life of Sallust was marred by charges of immorality and political cor- ruption.

Having established the decadence of the later Roman empire on the authority of Sallust, Augustine goes on to explain how only the arrival of Christianity on the scene saved the empire, which was sinking into a quagmire of the very worst morals and all lack of traditional restraints (in ista enim colluvie morum pessimorum et veteris perditae disciplinae). The reason for the deterioration, according to Augustine, was that the Roman empire worshipped false gods, while the improvement instigated by the ascendancy of Christianity was due to the fact that they worshipped the one, true God who alone could dispense prosperity.25

But the Marcellinus to whom this epistle was addressed, was soon to come to a sudden end. The Church in North Africa was disturbed by an influential and dissi- dent sect known as the Donatists, who were attempting to be more Catholic than the Catholics. The then-reigning emperor, Honorius, ordered a conference of the bishops of the Donatists and the Catholics, with a view to repairing the civic discord. Physical violence was a common byproduct of the schism as a result of the rampant

Circumcellions, who were allied to the Donatist cause. The conference ordered by the emperor duly took place in the summer of 411.

As fate would have it, the meeting was presided over by the same Marcellinus, whose verdict was definitely in favor of the Catholics. Marcellinus too, was charged with supervising the subsequent imperial directives to suppress the Donatists. The thoroughness with which he attended to his duties further recommended him to the designs of the Donatists.

An opportunity for vengeance soon pre- sented itself (paradoxically enough) in the person of Count Marinus. This ambassador came to Africa in 413 with an imperial commission to seek out and destroy a group of conspirators who had plotted a power seizure. Apparently this event gave the Donatists their longed-for opportunity to dispose of Marcellinus. He was incrimi- nated and summarily beheaded in Septem- ber 413.

In this same year, Augustine began writ- ing his City of God. It was a gigantic task which was to occupy him, on and off, for the next thirteen years and extended to about half a million words. With some justification therefore, one author has humorously described the City of God as "Saint Augustine's scrapbook."26 This wit- ticism may well contain more truth than it first suggests.

The fact that the work occupied him for thirteen years demonstrates what enduring significance Augustine attached to the fall of Rome in 410. Certainly the tragedy pos- sessed historical dimensions. Further, to Augustine was granted the inestimable honor of drawing out the grand moral from the downfall of that city which had long been the traditional seat of paganism in the empire. On the other hand, considering the previously described events which con- cerned Augustine personally, this prolonged preoccupation becomes all the more under- standable. He was therefore further dedi-

" Letter CXXXVIII. 5 Letter CXXXVIII, ch. iv.18 (ad finem).

The Latin explication is from the Gaume text (ch. iii.17). The theme of temporal prosperity and God's providence is of course, dealt with at length in the first five books of the City of God. 26 Rickaby, op. cit., p. 1.

208 LEO C. FERRARI

cated to the task by his own very personal and poignant associations with that city. If he had never seen Rome, his mother might still be alive. But, on the other hand, she was waiting for her devoted son in Heaven. So the City of God opens with the pro- longed attack upon the paganism of Rome and closes with a lengthy consideration of the joys of the Heavenly City.27

The work itself consists of twenty-two books, of which the first ten are dedicated to a prolonged attack upon paganism, with five books discounting its temporal advan- tages and five refuting its claims to be beneficial for the afterlife. The remaining twelve books are devoted to a consideration of the two cities-the one of Satan, char- acterized by love of self; and the other of Christ, wherein all love God. These two cities are treated, first from their origins, then from their aspect of their progress in this world and finally with respect to their different ends. These three aspects each occupy four books, making a total of twelve.

Regarding the actual progress of the writing of the City of God, it appears from a remark (book V, chapter 26), that the first three books were originally published as one volume, pending further progress on the work. By 415, the books had grown to five (letter 169). Eleven books were completed in 416, and fourteen in 420. The

eighteenth book appears to have been finished shortly before 425. This left only a comparatively short amount of time for the completion of the remaining four books by 426.28

The previous considerations show how wrong it would be to attempt to identify, in any way, Augustine's City of God with the city of Rome, notwithstanding the long association of Roman Catholicism with this city. Rather is Augustine's City of God to be identified with the City of the Scriptures, as he himself explains: "This city of God we speak of is the same to which testimony is borne by that Scripture [i.e., Psalms 48 and 87] which excells all the writings of all nations by its divine authority, and has brought under its influence all kinds of minds, and this not by a casual intellectual movement, but obviously by an express providential arrangement. For there it is written, 'Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 City of God.' "29

Augustine's City of God was destined to shine forth to later times across the great abyss of the dark ages. He completed his giant undertaking in 426. The Vandals had crossed from Spain into Africa and by 430 they were storming the gates of Hippo Regius itself. Within the walls Augustine lay dying. Half a millennium of widespread devastation and destruction closed in upon Europe, as hordes of barbarian invaders flooded in through the crumbling bound- aries of the empire. When, from the ashes, the pioneering architects were to begin building anew what was to become the western Christendom of the middle ages, it was from Augustine's City of God that their guiding principles were derived.

LEO C. FERRARI St. Thomas University &

University of New Brunswick

27 The former aspect is dealt with at length in the first ten books, while the last book (XXII), dwells upon the eternal happiness of the saints in Heaven. Towards the end of the work, one senses too, a certain painful nostalgia over the sufferings of boyhood; a nostalgia which is woven here and there into Augustine's considerations. As he had done previously in the Confessions (I.ix-xviii), he bemoans the punishment of children, particularly for not learning (City of God XXI.xiv and XXII.xxii). Likewise he laments the sins of boyhood (op. cit. XXI.xvi [twice]) in a manner reminiscent of Confessions II (passim). These and similar allusions in the closing books of the City of God suggest that the author has a feeling of homecoming as he draws to the end of his lengthy labor on the work.

"8 The sources of the first ten books of Augus- tine's De civitate Dei, by S. Angus (Princeton, 1906), p. 60-61 and Rickaby, op. cit., p. 1.

29 City of God XI.i.