To What Extent Was Augustine's The City Of God Shaped By His North African Background?

Augustine was writing in a high political context. The Christian Roman Empire was wrestling with its Pagan past; Christianity was still trying to establish itself 'in the milieu of Neo-Platonist thought', re asserted by Plotinius and by the revival of stoicism (Dyson 2005, 8). The City of God is a product of this narrative. It was also the product of a lifetime of scholarship. The task was enormous, and the members of Augustine's Church counted on him to defend their Father against the pagan attacks made upon him: 'I do not forget your promise; I insist on it, and I ask for the completion of works which will be unbelievably useful to the Church, especially at this time' (Augustine, Letters 131-134, 136). The champion of Catholicism would need to draw on every experience. He would deploy a host of pagan writers to deconstruct the pagan past. He would use his encounter with Manichaeism and familiarity with Neo-Platonism to construct his Christian theology. Both messages of which would be dressed in style.

The City of God was mainly compounded from pagan rationalism, Manichean mysticism, Neo-Platonism and of course Catholicism. An emotional narrative also underpinned it. This discussion will not include Neo-Platonism, as for the purpose of this paper it is only a secondary consideration. It will treat The City of God as not only a defence of the Christian faith, but also as the articulation of Augustine's entire intellectual life. It is a bold claim and to argue the point this essay will be divided into three parts. First it will consider Augustine's early pagan education: it will explore the importance of Cicero and Virgil in developing Augustine's literary style, and Cicero as a reference for the Roman republic. Secondly the essay will consider Augustine's notion of evil with particular regard to Manichaeism. Lastly it will consider to a lesser extent Augustine's emotional narrative; the conflicts with his mother arising from his association with Manichaeism, her death at Rome, the guilt he sustained from his friends death after mocking him about his quick baptism and their contribution to Augustine's view of history, contained within The City of God.

In Carthage Augustine learnt the art of exposition. His education was pagan: Virgil, Cicero, and Sallust were the authors he studied in detail (Brown 1967, 36). Cicero taught Augustine a number of things: the eloquence, the vivacity and the rhetoric that was instrumental to the formation of The City of God; it was Cicero's The Horentsius that created a 'unbelievable fire' in Augustine's heart to desire the 'deathless qualities of wisdom' (Augustine, Confessions III.IV). The lasting influence of Cicero on Augustine's work can be found in De Doctrina Christiana (May 2002, 488). It was one of Augustine's later works completed alongside The City of God; it illustrates that Augustine learnt from Cicero the 'aim of the orator' and that 'the hearer must be pleased in order to secure his attention, so he must be persuaded in order to move him to action' (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine IV.XII). The City of God is argued in this way: it deliberately presents the mutual resemblance of pagan philosophy and Christian faith, which was not a new strategy, but firmly embedded in the apologetic tradition (Boeft 1979, 245). Virgil was as important to the construction of The City of God. It was from Virgil that Augustine learnt to pour over the text with a magnifying glass, to appreciate every turn of phrase, to make every word count; that was the secret of rhetoric, that was how Augustine would voice the Christian message: with style and conviction (Brown, 1967, 37). The City of God is speckled with word play: 'The grace of God could not have commended itself in more gracious form that it did' (Augustine De Civitate Dei X.XXIX); 'earth for her four qualities ought to have four names, yet not to make four gods' (Augustine De Civitate Dei VII.XXIV) poetical sarcasm: 'Behold unto what patrons the Romans rejoiced to commit the protection of their city! Oh, too, too piteous error!'(Saint Augustine De Civitate Dei I.III) and repetition: 'Let Jupiter. let him be Diespiter.let him be Jugatinus' (Augustine De Civitate Dei IV.XI). The list goes on. The point is that it was Augustine's pagan education in North Africa that gave him the canon by which to judge all things; the ability to elegantly articulate an argument and the rhetorical tools to compose his finest and most politically significant work: The City of God (O'Meara 1954, 40).

Augustine would often turn to Cicero for a definition of the Roman republic. In Book II he mounts his argument about the moral gulf between paganism and Christianity using Cicero's account of the decay of manners in the last days of the republic: 'now shall they hear that is not true that Sallust saith, that their commonwealth is only become vile and wicked, but that as Cicero saith, it is absolutely gone, it is lost and nothing of it remains' (Augustine De Civitate Dei II.XXI). Book XIX builds on this example. Augustine interrogates the definition of the Republic and cleverly employs Cicero's definition to argue that the Roman republic did not exist. The final theme of book XIX is the nature of the populus and of the res publica in which a populus is organized (a brief explanation will follow). On Cicero's definition of a republic Augustine proves that there never existed a res publica at Rome. For Cicero, the res publica was a 'union of a number of men associated by the two bonds of common acknowledgement of right and common pursuit of interest '(Barker 1945, XXX). The integral part of this definition is justice. Augustine transcends Cicero's legal term Jus with vera justia. Augustine departs from Cicero by maintaining that true justice, or true righteousness (he uses them interchangeably) is a virtue, which gives to each his due- 'this must include the giving of his due to God' (Barker 1945, XXX). On this hypothesis Augustus maintains if justice is essential to the existence of a populace, and that populace do not practise 'true' justice, as they do not observe the true god, then there never existed a populus at Rome.

Such was the influence of Cicero. This link cannot be pressed too far. While Augustine employs Cicero for an account of the Roman republic, one cannot entirely pair Cicero with Augustine's background. In other words, the historian would do well to understand Augustine's intellectual development outside of the geographical parameters: to trace Augustine's thought alongside his journeys in Europe and Italy results in an incomplete treatment. It cannot be assumed that it was in Carthage that Augustine came across De Republica or more simply, that his North African background shaped Books II and XIX. It can be said however, that Augustine first latched onto Ciceronian thought in Africa; that from this point he would never do away with pagan literature, instead he would try hard to weave it into his theological narrative; it can be said however, that The City of God is a hallmark of that effort.

Another theme in The City of God is 'evil'. Augustine's perpetual occupation with evil formed, perhaps the deepest strain of his adherence to Manichaeism. Books XI and XII develop a striking homology with Manichaeism, which should hardly surprise the reader, considering that Augustine's engagement with Manichaeism lasted no less than ten years (Augustine Confessions V.VI). Augustine had been wrestling with the concept of evil throughout his life. He would recount how the problem had persisted from his youth: 'I was trying to find the origin of evil, but I was quite blind to the origin of evil in my own method of research. What is evil? What is the root or seed from which it grew?' (Augustine Confessions VII.V). It was in Manichaeism that Augustine thought he had found the answer. It was a heretical denomination of Christianity built on a dualist doctrine: in the beginning the world was divided into the kingdom of Light and Darkness or, if preferred the kingdom of God (good) and the kingdom of Evil (Lancel 1999, 33). They were convinced that evil could not come from a good God, but that it came from an invasion of the good- the Kingdom of Light'- 'by a hostile force of evil, equal in power, eternal, totally separate- the 'Kingdom of Darkness' (Brown 1967,47). Importantly it was a drastic doctrine and Augustine was only too familiar with the 'drastic'. His African background was characterized by a drastic culture of wild dances, drunkenness and dreams; he grew up in place where people believed they shared the world with demons (Brown 1967, 33). This influence cannot be overstated. Augustine's riddle with evil was there at the beginning. It was out there-in Thagaste and Carthage. Above all it would provide the later inspiration for Books XI and XII.

It is in Book XI and XII that Augustine first deals with the two cities. The binary formulations of Manichaeism had a lasting effect. In Book XI Augustine begins by proving that the universe and time began together (Figgis 1921, 14). The City of God begins with the creation of light and the other with the sin of Satan: Civitas Dei and Civitas Terrana respectively. As stated above Manichaeism depicted the world in a similar 'light', and the Manichaean theme was incorporated into Augustine's theology. But it had a twist. In Book XI Augustine criticizes the hardheaded rationalism of Manichaeism as it fostered a method of enquiry that was simply not sustainable: We could never know everything. We did not need to. For Augustine, entire knowledge was not possible or desirable; after all he had spent his life in search for it. The old sage would write with aloof wisdom: 'but what that light was and how it ran a course to make morning and night is out of our sense to judge, nor can we understand it, which nevertheless we must not question but believe' (Augustine De Civitate Dei XI.VII). In Book XII Augustine would again turn Manichaeism on its head arguing that Gods enemies opposed him by will not by nature 'for evil cannot hurt God, but corruptible natures only' (Augustine De Civitate Dei XII.III) as opposed to the Manichaean belief in an ongoing conflict against Gods Kingdom waged by the Prince of Darkness (Lancell 1999, 33). Concerning those points two things may be said. First, Augustine's account of evil in The City of God can be read as the last round of a long drama. From a young age he had ruminated on the matter; in Carthage he wandered off into Manichaeism in an attempt to understand it; in Milan, he would find that Plato would bring him a step closer but it was back in Africa, as a bishop, that Augustine could reflect. It was in The City of God that he finally triumphed over his demon. Accordingly the influence of his background does not bear repeating. Second, Augustine had also, as above with Cicero constructed his own theory. What other factors contributed to this change? To what extent did experiences outside of Augustine's North African background shape The City of God? Those questions cannot be answered here, but his departure from Cicero and Manichaeism illustrate an individuality that shows The City of God was also shaped by other experiences outside of Africa.

The last part of this essay will consider how Augustine's emotional narrative shaped The City of God. To discuss Monica first, The City of God may have been shaped by Augustine's oedipal conflict with his mother; the division between the two cities and the format of the work-destructive/constructive- resemble Augustine's relationship with Monica. As in The City of God, there was also in Africa a Jerusalem and Babylon: Monica and Manichaeism. His destructive experience was in Carthage in the 'unrighteous' city of flesh-The civitate terrana. He would return to Monica's heavenly city unwelcomed. 'When he came back to Thagaste a Manichee, she refused to have him in her house'(O'Meara 1954,34). In Carthage he had fallen from the heavenly city, and like Adam fallen from Eden owing to external temptations: pagan rites, circuses, sex and Manichaeism had seduced him. He had wandered into Babylon and met the whores. During the second part of his life he returned to Jerusalem: 'In Milan I found your devoted servant the bishop Ambrose.unknown to me, it was you who led me to him, so that I might knowingly be led by him to you' (Book V 13). At the time of Augustine's arrival, Milan (new Christian city) and Rome (old pagan city) were in spiritual warfare with one another (Ferrari 1972, 201). After Augustine's conversion to Christianity, he would of made many vicious enemies in Rome, not least of all because Symmachus-a pagan had sent him to Milan. The point is that Rome was marked out as site for the prolonged attack on paganism in The City of God. Above all else however, Augustine would select it as this site because of one single tragedy- the death of his mother. It was just outside of Rome that Monica died, as such the 'tainting evil of Rome had been palpably demonstrated' (Ferrari 1972, 204). In sum Monica shaped The City of God in two ways: Augustine's betrayal of his mothers Christianity had direct parallels with his work and considering Augustine's reflective nature, of which he shows us so much of in The Confessions, one would be hard put to argue that such parallels were coincidental. Secondly, Monica's death near Rome may have set it out as a site that Augustine would regard with particular disfavour. Though this link is tentative. Irrespective of the significance Leo Ferrari ascribes to it, it was above all else the capital of the former pagan empire of the world.

It is lastly necessary to turn to the other personal experience that shaped Augustine's work. After the death of 'Amicus', Augustine recounted: 'All that we had done together was now a grim ordeal without him' (Augustine Confessions IV .IV). He plunged into hysteria of grief at which point his soul became divided. Book XV 'Of the two contrary courses taken by the human race from the beginning' deals with the narrative of Cain and Abel that, on closer consideration, is somewhat a confessional mode from Augustine. Garry Wills notes that it 'is appropriate for Augustine to recall the story Cain whose inordinate grief God rebukes (Wills 1999, 32) this was because like Cain, Augustine had done an act of wickedness and after doing so became overcame with grief. God would offer no refuge, as he had cast out Cain, Augustine would banish himself and return to his 'heretical friends in what was for him, at this stage in life, the city Earthly par excellence' (Wills 1999,32). Thus Augustine had played the role of Cain to Amicus, and in the same way Cain's Earthly City was founded in a state of perpetual warfare, Augustine would wrestle with an inner dialogue and became 'restrained within my own unhappy territory unable to live there or get out' (Augustine Testimony IV.XII cited from Wills 1999, 32).

In many ways The City of God crystallizes Augustine's North African background. The influences are all there. Cicero and Virgil equipped Augustine with the magisterial rhetoric necessary to express his message and for others to receive it. A critique on the Roman republic, key to the composition of The City of God, would have proved difficult without Cicero, as would have other concepts. Augustine had harboured the concept of evil from a young age and his time in Carthage with the Manicheans gave him a better understanding. Books XI and XII were shaped from Augustine's engagement with the heretical offshoot. Written toward the end of his life, Augustine had been on a long journey, he had wept much more since the tears he shed over the Aeneid, and two deaths in particular would stain his heart: Monica and Amicus. However abstractly, we can see glimpses of them in The City of God. Though they probably did not shape it. Collectively, his North African background had a significant impact on The City of God. As a reflective thinker he carried his past with him and as this essay has shown it is not difficult to spot the signs.

Bibliography

Primary Sources Augustine. The City of God Vol.1, translated by J.Healey (Everyman's Library) Aldine Press 1967. Augustine. The City of God Vol.2, translated by J.Healey (Everyman's Library) Aldine Press 1967. Augustine. Confessions, translated by R. S Pine-Coffin (Penguin Classics) Harmondsworth: Penguin Books 1961 Augustine. On the Christian Doctrine, translated by Rev. Dodds (T&T Clark) T&T Clark Publications 1873 Augustine. Letters 131-164, translated by Sister. Parsons (Fathers of the Church) Fordham: Fathers of the Church 1953

Secondary Sources Armstrong.H.1966. St Augustine and Christian Platonism. Villanova University Press Brown.P.1967. Augustine of Hippo. Faber&Faber Callahan. J. 1967. Augustine and the Greek Philosophers.Villanova University Press Figgs.J.1921. The Political Aspects of S.Augustine's 'City of God'. Longmans Green Lancel.S. 1999. St Augustine. SCM Press May.J.2002. Brill's Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric. Koninklijke Brill O'Meara.J. 1954. The Young Augustine. Longman Portaile.E.1960. A Guide to the Thought of Saint Augustine. Greenwood Press Wills.G. 1999. Saint Augustine.Penguin