Augustine's City of God

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard O'Daly
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Wide Scope ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Theory Of History

The City of God, written in the aftermath of the Gothic sack of Rome in AD 410, is the most influential of Augustine’s works. It has played a decisive role in the formation of the culture of the Christian West. Gerard O’Daly’s book remains the most comprehensive modern guide to it in any language. The City of God has a wide scope, including cosmology, psychology, political thought, anti-pagan polemic, Christian apologetic, theory of history, biblical interpretation, and apocalyptic themes. This book, therefore, is about a single literary masterpiece, yet at the same time it surveys Augustine’s developing views through the whole range of his thought. It provides a running commentary on each part of the work. Further chapters elucidate the early fifth-century political, social, historical, and literary background, the works’s sources, and its place in Augustine’s writings. This new and extensively revised edition takes into account the abundant work, in Augustine studies and in research on late antiquity generally, in the twenty years since its first publication, while retaining the book’s focus on Augustine as writer and thinker in the Latin tradition, active at a time of rapid Christianization in a radically changing Roman Empire. It includes chapter-by-chapter suggestions for further reading, an extensive summary of the work’s contents, and a brief bibliographical guide to research on its reception. All Greek and Latin texts are translated. The book is aimed at readers of Augustine, and at the same time at a wider readership among students of late antiquity, theologians, philosophers, medievalists, Renaissance scholars, and historians of art and iconography.

The Date and Circumstances of Olympiodorus of Thebes

Traditio ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gillett
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
Political Narrative ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Western Half

Olympiodorus of Thebes is an important figure for the history of late antiquity. The few details of his life preserved as anecdotes in hisHistorygive glimpses of a career which embraced the skills of poet, philosopher, and diplomat. A native of Egypt, he had influence at the imperial court of Constantinople, among the sophists of Athens, and even outside the borders of the empire. HisHistory(more correctly, his “materials for history”) is lost, surviving only as fragments in the narratives of Zosimus, Sozomen, and Philostorgius, and in the rich summary given by the ninth-century Byzantine patriarch Photius. These remains comprise the most substantial narrative sources for events in the western Roman Empire in the early fifth century. Besides its value as a source, theHistoryis important as a monument to the vitality of the belief in the unity of the Roman Empire under the Theodosian dynasty. Olympiodorus wrote in Greek, and knowledge of his work is attested only in Constantinople, yet his political narrative, from 407 to 425, concerns only events in the western half of the empire. To understand the significance of these facts, it is necessary to set the composition of Olympiodorus's work in its proper context. Clarifying the date of publication is the first step toward this goal. Internal and external evidence suggests that the work was written in 440 or soon after, more than a decade later than the date of composition usually accepted. Taken with thematic emphases evident in the structure of theHistory, this revised dating explains why an eastern writer should have written a detailed account of western events in the early part of the century. Olympiodorus's account is a characteristic product of the highly literate class of eastern imperial civil servants, and of their genuine preoccupation with the relationship between the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire at a time when both were threatened by the rise of the new Carthaginian power of the Vandals.

Leadership for the Christian Empire: Emperors and Bishops in theEcclesiastical Historyof Philostorgius

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 684-717
Author(s):  
Anna Lankina
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Ecclesiastical History ◽  
Theory Of History ◽  
The Relationship

The fifth-centuryEcclesiastical Historyof Philostorgius is an unusual example of a surviving minority source. Although scholars have mined his work for raw data on events between 320 and 425c.e., in contrast to other contemporary ecclesiastical historians, Philostorgius has received little attention. His work has suffered derision, being seen as nothing more than “Arian” polemic and thus as more partisan than its pro-Nicene counterparts. This essay analyzes Philostorgius's role as one of many competitive voices participating in the composition of historical works for the elite readership of Constantinople in the fifth century. Philostorgius'sEcclesiastical Historyconstituted an integral part of the historiography of late antiquity and early Christianity. His representation of the relationship between bishops and emperors reveals a distinctive theory of history which informs his entire work.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 168-178
Author(s):  
Mattias P. Gassman
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Civic Space ◽  
Theological Vision

Fourth-century writers dealt with traditional religion and its shifting place in Roman society with the help of myth, philosophy, and observation of cultic practice. These were not mere ‘antiquarian’ endeavours but resources that fleshed out a picture of traditional religion whose frame was set by each author’s social situation and theological convictions. The diversity of the resultant texts precludes a grand narrative of pagan evolution, or even of the formation of a new conception of ‘paganism’ or of ‘religion’. Nevertheless, the long arc of polemical discourse from Diocletian to Valentinian II testifies to the importance of the changing legal and political context that framed each author’s approach to pagan cult. It also makes clear the abiding differences that separated Christians from pagans, despite shared civic space and social ties. Much the same remained true, after decades of anti-pagan legislation, in Augustine’s early-fifth-century North Africa, where devout Christians struggled (sometimes violently) with influential pagans. Faced by the fall of Rome, Augustine produced City of God, whose only ancient Latin rival for breadth and theological vision is Lactantius’ Divine Institutes. Traditional religion was a still-potent reality in a Roman Empire that was no longer definitely pagan but not yet definitively Christian.

Imperiumand the City of God: Augustine on Church and Empire

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 46-70
Author(s):  
Gillian Clark
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Roman Africa ◽  
Heavenly City ◽  
The City

In early fifth-century Roman Africa, Augustine faced pagan opponents who thought that the Roman empire was at risk because Christian emperors banned the worship of its gods, and that Christian ethics were no way to run an empire. He also faced Christian opponents who held that theirs was the true Church, and that the Roman empire was the oppressive power of Babylon. For Augustine, Church and empire consist of people. Everyone belongs either to the heavenly city, the community of all who love God even to disregard of themselves, or to the earthly city, the community of all who love themselves even to disregard of God. The two cities are intermixed until the final judgement shows that some who share Christian sacraments belong to the earthly city, and some officers of empire belong to the heavenly city. Empire manifests the earthly city's desire to dominate, butimperium, the acknowledged right to give orders, is necessary to avoid permanent conflict. Empire, like everything else, is given or permitted by God, for purposes we do not know.

Long-Distance Trade and the Rural Population of Northern Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 882-915
Author(s):  
Frans Theuws
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Time

There are good reasons to consider northern Gaul a peripheral area of the Roman Empire in late antiquity (300–450). Its landscape of villas had to a large extent disappeared, and its towns had shrunk to insignificance. The emperor in Trier upheld a façade of well-being for the town and its immediate hinterland, but that façade likewise crumbled when he departed. Toward the mid-fifth century, no one would have believed the prophecy that by the mid-eighth century, all of Gaul would be part of an empire with its center in this northern periphery. What happened? By the mid-sixth century, northern Gaul seems to have experienced astonishing economic development. This change can be deduced from the flourishing vici (rural centers) in the Meuse Valley as well as from the wealth present in rural communities. Their cemeteries, which are now known in the thousands, were filled with objects from regional workshops and workshops at the other end of the former Roman Empire and beyond. The rural population’s demand for nonlocal products must have developed very quickly due to changing ritual repertoires and demographic growth revealed in evidence for the colonization of many areas and the creation of many new cemeteries. While the big question regarding which agents were responsible for this economic growth and recovery has been discussed for a long time, the importance of the rural population’s demand in a quantitative sense has not been considered a critical factor. In this chapter, I suggest that it was indeed critical.

The Fort of Iatrus in Moesia Secunda: Observations on the Late Roman Defensive System on the Lower Danube (Fourth–Sixth Centuries ad)

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERDA VON BÜLOW
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Byzantine Period

The seven years of excavation on Dichin (Bulgaria) have made a significant contribution to our understanding of the fifth century AD, a period that is still regarded as a ‘dark age’. The fort of Iatrus was situated in the province of Moesia Secunda, where Dichin is also located. Founded at the beginning of the fourth century, the fort was several times destroyed and then rebuilt over the 300 years of its existence until it was finally abandoned c.AD 600. What is not clear is whether Iatrus' role as a part of the Roman frontier (limes) on the lower Danube belongs to the final period in the history of the Roman Empire or whether it belongs to the early development of the Byzantine State. This chapter examines whether the archaeological discoveries at Iatrus, combined with the fragmentary literary sources for the fort, suggest a gradual transition or a radical break between Late Antiquity and the early Byzantine period.

The Transformation of Cities in Late Antiquity within the Provinces of Macedonia and Epirus

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-P. SODINI
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
General Situation ◽  
Local Production ◽  
The Third ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
The City

The provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, although divided into distinct regions by their mountains, were important for the Roman Empire, particularly because they were crossed by the via Egnatia which snaked its way eastwards, serving as the vital link between Rome and Constantinople at a time when insecurity was increasing along the Danubian frontier. From the middle of the third century, cities in this part of the Empire were under threat and their fortifications were reinforced in the fifth (Thessalonika) and sixth centuries (Byllis under Justininian). There was prosperity in the fourth century and beginning of the fifth. During the fifth century, the houses of Philippi were partly transformed into workshops. The sixth century was difficult and the second half was especially bleak. However, contacts between east and west were still maintained, along with local production. From 540–550, however, barbarian invasions and plague worsened the general situation. Graves appeared inside the city walls. Archaeology (Slav pottery and fibulae) and texts (Miracula Sancti Demetrii) all demonstrate how hard times were from the 580s to the 630s.

The Holy Man in the Courts of Rome

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-211
Author(s):  
Maria E. Doerfler
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
Holy Man

Scholars of Late Antiquity have long recognized that bishops played an influential role in the formation and execution of Roman law. Such was the case even in the Syrian realm, traditionally considered the exotic hinterland of the Roman Empire. Fifth- and sixth-century sources, such as the Syro-Roman Lawbook, early exemplars of canon legislation, and homilies and hagiographic narratives, point to a considerable preoccupation with matters of law and justice for Syrian clergy. This article examines a particularly well-attested slice of this data surrounding Rabbula, the fifth-century bishop of Edessa. Rabbula's background in imperial administration and his post-conversion pursuit of asceticism make him in many ways the prototypical late ancient bishop, combining monastic charisma with civic acumen. A collection of rules for clergy and ascetics attributed to him focuses closely upon priests' and bishops' function in the Roman legal system, their collaboration with Roman magistrates, and the ways in which clerical judicial processes reflected and sought to distinguish themselves from their magisterial analogues. Drawing upon the evidence of the Rules and roughly contemporaneous texts addressing legal practice in Edessa suggests that, Syria's reputation as sui generis notwithstanding, in their judicial capacity Syrian clergy bore striking resemblances to their Western counterparts.

The Transition to Late Antiquity on the Lower Danube: the City, a Fort and the Countryside

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. POULTER
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Roman Villa ◽  
A Site ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

After excavations carried out on the site of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Bulgaria, the results were used to reconstruct the city's physical and economic character from its foundation under Trajan down to the end of the sixth century. The incentive for the subsequent programme, ‘The Transition to Late Antiquity’, was the discovery that the city was replaced by a very different Nicopolis, both in layout and economy, during the fifth century. A site-specific survey method was developed to explore the countryside. The survey discovered that the Roman villa economy collapsed late in the fourth century. The excavations on the site of the late Roman fort at Dichin provided an unexpected but invaluable insight into the regional economy and military situation on the lower Danube in the fifth and sixth centuries. The results of both these two research projects are summarized and an explanation proposed as to how and why there was such a radical break between the Roman Empire and its early Byzantine successor on the lower Danube.

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