Toward the end of his life, Augustine of Hippo wrote two letters (10* and 24*) to legal experts in which he reacted to recent attempts by slave-traders to sell 120 Roman North Africans «overseas» as slaves. Prompted by the fact that members of his clergy had offered them refuge in the episcopal compound at Hippo, Augustine sought to clarify the actual personal legal status of these men, women, and children. Were they slaves, coloni, or illegally captured free Roman citizens? What were their actual temporal, legal, personal conditions? Such concerns surrounding the condicio hominum temporalis, brought to light as a result of selling human beings, and their relevance and ramifications for Augustine’s thoughts and actions, especially with regard to the sin to which we are sold per originem of the First Man, are the focus of my remarks.
Wczesny monastycyzm w relacji do władzy biskupiej i papieskiej