Augustine, City of God*
'Explicui tuos libros; neque enim tam languidi aut inertes erant, ut me aliud quam se curare paterentur: iniecerunt manum, ereptumque aliis solicitudinum causis suis vinculis illigarunt ..., ut ego anceps sim quid in illis magis mirer, sacerdotii perfectionem, philosophiae dogmata, historiae plenam notitiam, an facundiae iucunditatem. ... Et usus es validissimo exemplo recentis calamitatis, quo licet firmissime causam muniveris, tamen si utrumvis licuisset, id tibi nolueram suffragari. Sed quando orta inde fuerat convincendorum stultitiae querela, necesse fuit inde argumenta veritatis accersere.' (ep. 154.2, Macedonius ad A. [413/4])
These are the words of the first reviewer of the first installment of ciu.[[1]] Vicar of Africa in the delicate year 413-414, after the uprising of Heraclian and the purge that followed, Macedonius was the ideal reader for the 'magnum opus et arduum,' poised between empire and church: he first wrote to A. (ep. 152) asking the bishop's views on the delicate matter of episcopal intervention in the affairs of state. A. wrote back at length (ep. 153), passing along a copy of the first three books of ciu.
It is good to heed the first reviewer's praises (for the happy combination of erudition and argument, doctrine and eloquence), and his regret (that the work dilates on the late catastrophe). His views give a useful perspective from which to consider the events of 410, and their echoes in Africa. That will lead naturally to a consideration of the contents and sources of the work as we have it; but first it will be useful to review the external facts as we have them for the composition and transmission of the work.
I. Dates of composition
The composition of ciu. occupied A. for at least a decad ...