Vi̇ta Augusti̇ni̇

SANCTI AUGDSTINI VITA
iCRIPTA A POSSIDIO EPISCOPO

IC-NRLF
B IDfl 7E3
-iv w-r-FTi iv.-.vj.oj^ /EXT, INTRODUCTION,
NOTES, AND AN ENGLISH VERSION
T. \\
A >
FRKSENTEO TO THE
PRINCF.TON UNIVERSITY
IN" CAN!)
OF DOCTOP OF PHIJ.OSOPHY
UNIVKKSITY PRKS:
PRINCP^TON
LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD
:
OXFORD UNIVElisfTY PRE88

1919
EXCHANGE
SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
SCRIPTA A POSSIDIO EPISCOPO
EDITED WITH REVISED TEXT, INTRODUCTION,

ERRATA.
p. 24, 1.
7, For substitution read substitutions.
p. 32, 1. 8, col. 2, Insert u88 66 .
v -62 v .
p. 32, 1. 21, col. 3, Insert 5i
p. 38, 1.
25, For Inspirante 60, 23, read Inspirante. . .
.60, 23.
p. 42, 1.
33, For 24 medullis read 21 medullis.
p. 44, next to last line For congitando read cogitando.

p. 50, 1.
31, For pententes read petentes
p. 64, 1. 26, For 2 multa read i multa
p. loo, 1. 28, For 7 Et erat read i Et erat.
p. 102, 1. 27, For dicideret read dccideret.
p. in, next to last line, For his read this.
p. 134, last line, For Virg. read Verg.

p. 142, 1.
31, For disinit read desinit.
p. 142, L 33, For tracatus read tractatus.
p. 152, 1.
14, For participal read participial.
p. 158, 1.n, For consessive read concessive.

p. 164, Omit note on dicebant quia.
EDITED WITH REVISED TEXT, INTRODUCTION,

BY
HERBERT T. WEISKOTTEN
A DISSERTATION
PRESENTED TO THE
FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE
OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON
LONDON HUMPHREY MILFOBD
:
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1919
7 mo
Accepted by the Department of Classics, 1918.
Published 1919.
Printed in the United States of America.

PREFACE
I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to Dean
A. F. West for his constant help and guidance in the prepara-

tion of this edition. It was begun at his suggestion and has
been continually under his direction. I am further indebted to
Professor J. H. Westcott for assistance on certain law terms,
to Professor Duane Reed Stuart for his thorough criticisms,
especially of the text, and also to Professor P. van den Ven
and Dr. R. J. Deferrari for valuable suggestions in the recon-
struction of the text. Owing to war conditions abroad it was
impracticable to examine the MSS. of the Vita in the libraries
where they are deposited. Accordingly ten of the older MSS.
in the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Vatican were se-
cured in photostatic copies, under the supervision of M. Henri
Omont, Conservateur des Manuscrits, and of the late Director
Jesse Benedict Carter and Professor Albert W. Van Buren
of the American Academy in Rome. Thanks are also due to
Mr. Gordon W. Thayer, Librarian of the J. G. White Collec-
tion, Cleveland Public Library, for providing me with notices
of certain MSS. of the Vita from catalogues otherwise un-
available. The map was prepared by my friend Dr. W. E.
map in Volume VIII of the Cor-
Cockfield on the basis of the
pus Inscriptionum Latinarum.
H. T. W.
Princeton, New Jersey,
June n, 1918.
415626
CONTENTS
1. Introduction 7
Sources for the Life of Augustine 7
Early Life 7
Family 8
Friends 10
The Monastery 1 1
Life of Possidius 12
His Intimacy with Augustine 17
Augustine's references to Possidius 18
His peculiar Fitness for his Task 18
His Reliability 19
His appreciation of Augustine 20
Date of Composition of the Vita 21
Style 22
Manuscripts 23
Editions 32
The Text 34
2. Abbreviations in the apparatus criticus 37
3. Latin Text and Translation 38
4. Notes 147
5. Select Bibliography 169
6. Index to Latin Text 170
7. Index to Notes 172

INTRODUCTION
Our knowledge of the life of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo,
is derived from two main sources ( i ) Augustine's own Con-
:
fessiones, covering the period up to the time of his conversion

in 387 and setting forth chiefly the history of
Sources for the his spiritual development, and (2) the Vita
Life of Augustine
Augustini of Possidius, covering the time from
Augustine's conversion to his death in 430 and
containing a record of his daily life and activities. Outside
of these two main sources many references also occur in his
other writings, chiefly in the Epistles.
Aurelius Augustinus was born at Tagaste in Numidia on
1
November about seven years after Chrysostom and
13, 354,
fourteen after Jerome and Ambrose. After spending a free
and careless boyhood at Tagaste, he pursued
Early Life the usual course of grammar and rhetoric at
Madaura and Carthage and afterward taught
for a short time in his native town. In 374 he returned to
Carthage and taught rhetoric for nine years. During this
period he became deeply interested in Manichaeanism, merely as
an auditor, however, and not as one of the electi. It was here
he met the famous Manichaean teacher Faustus from whom
he expected much, but soon found that, despite his gorgeous
rhetoric, he was unable to answer any searching questions.
Dissatisfied with his life at Carthage and seeking a larger
career, he went to Rome. Moreover he had heard that the
students of Rome were better behaved than those at Carthage.
1
Prosper, in his Chronicon, states that Augustine died August 28,
430; Possidius says it was in the third month of the siege of Hippo,
and also that he died at the age of seventy-six. Augustine himself
gives the day of his birth: Idibus Novembris mihi natalis dies erat:
De Beata Vita i 6.
8 INTRODUCTION
Among the latter were those known as eversores, who went

about in groups, broke into classes, overthrew the benches and
provoked disorder in general. So in spite of the tearful en-
treaties of his mother Monica, he evaded her and by night
secretly took ship for Italy. However, when he arrived in
Rome he soon discovered that while his students kept better
order, they had a custom which was to prove most annoying
to him. For after they had attended his classes a while they
would go off to another teacher and leave their fees unpaid.
Accordingly when the way was opened for him to teach in
Milan he went there without delay.
By this time he had abandoned Manichaeanism and was
taken for a short time with the scepticism of the New Acad-
emy. In Milan he soon became engrossed in studying Neo-
Platonism and also came under the influence of Ambrose,
Bishop of that city. After a memorable moral and intellectual
struggle he was converted to the Christian faith and baptized
by Ambrose at Easter 387. He then returned to Tagaste,
travelling with his mother who died on the way at Ostia. On
arriving at Tagaste he lived in seclusion till he was made pres-
byter in the church at Hippo in 391. At this point the narra-
tive of Possidius begins.
Augustine's father Patricius was a man of curial rank in

rather humble circumstances. He was of a somewhat coarse
and sensual temper, given to occasional fits of anger, but gen-
erally easy-going. He was anxious that his
Famtly son distinguish himself as a lawyer and
s hould
even borrowed money to enable him to study

at Carthage. Aside from this, however, Patricius seems to
have paid heed to his welfare and training. He had not
little
been a Christian up to the time of his son's departure for

Carthage, but through the influence of his wife Monica be-
came a catechumen about the year 370 and was baptized short-
ly before his death in the following year.
Monica, the mother of Augustine, is forever revered in
Christian history. Augustine was not ignorant of her religion,
INTRODUCTION 9
for she had trained him in his childhood, 2 but it soon slipped
from his memory when he went away to school. From this
time to his conversion in 387, while he was trying one phil-
osophy after another, Monica did not cease to hope and pray
that her son would yet become a Christian, though she was at
one time unwilling to have him with her in the house because
of his outspoken contempt for the Christian faith. 3 He says
that she wept more bitterly over his spiritual death than other
mothers over the bodily death of their children. 4 When, in
spite of her entreaties, he stole away and took ship for Italy,
she would not leave him but followed all the way to Milan,
where she constantly attended the sermons of the statesman-
bishop Ambrose. With Augustine's conversion her mission on
earth was ended 5 and she saw nothing of his later far-reaching
influence, for she died at Ostia in the fall of that same year.
6
Augustine's tribute to his mother is one of the most perfect
and touching in literature.
Augustine was not the only child. He had a brother, Navi-
7 8
gius and one sister referred to in his letter to the nuns.
9
Possidius also mentions her. Though her name is not known,
tradition gives it as Perpetua. 10 Whether Augustine had any
other brothers or sisters is not certain. His natural son Ade-
odatus, born about 372, gave promise of marked ability, but
died in his youth. 11 He was baptized with his father in 387.
The names of several other relatives outside the circle of his
immediate family appear in his writings. In the De Beata
2
Religionis verissimae semina mihi a pueritia salubriter insita: De
Duabus Animabus i I.
3
Conf. Ill xi 19.
4
Conf. Ill xi 19.
Conf. IX x 26.
5
Conf. IX ix-x.
s
7 De Beata Vita i 6 and Conf. IX xi 27.

Ep. CCXI 4.
8
9
Vita XXVI.
10
Bollandistes, Vies des Saints V 306.
11
Conf. IX vi 14.
io INTRODUCTION
Vita 6 he speaks of two cousins, Lastidianus and Rusticus,
i
whotook part in the discussions at Cassiciacum and in Serm.

CCCLVI 3 he mentions, without naming him, a nephew who
was a subdiaconus. Ep. LII is written to another cousin,
Severinus, urging him to leave the Donatists and return to the
Catholic Church. Besides these Possidius writes of fratris
sui filiae in Chapter XXVI a phrase which also seems to
prove that Augustine had only one brother.
In speaking of Augustine's friends we mean only the most
intimate. They are to be found in two groups, the earlier at
the Villa of Cassiciacum, near Milan, to which Augustine and
his friends retired during the months imme-
Friends and the
diately preceding his baptism, later
group at Hippo. Chief 'among these friends

was his fellow-townsman and life-long companion Alypius,
who accompanied him through the years of uncertainty at
Carthage and Milan and faithfully reflected each of Augus-

tine's changes of faith. After living with Augustine in the
monastery at Hippo for several years, he became bishop of his
native town Tagaste. The group at Cassiciacum was small
and most intimate, consisting of Monica, who not infrequently
took part in the debate, Adeodatus, Navigius, Alypius, the two
cousins Lastidianus and Rusticus mentioned above, and two
12
pupils, Trygetius and Licentius, a son of his former patron
13
Romanianus. They spent the time studying and discussing
questions of religion and philosophy. The other circle of
friends which calls for special mention is found in the monas-
tery at Hippo. Here Possidius and others 14 first appear in
Augustine's life. Their intimate manner of life is described
Contra Academicos I i 4; De Beata Vita i 6; De Ordine I ii 5.

12
13
Nebridius, another close friend, does not seem to have been at
Cassiciacum, though associated with Augustine both in Carthage and
Milan. He died a Christian not long after Augustine's baptism (Conf.
IX iii 6).
14 See also Chap. XI,
Severus, Evodius, Profuturus and Urbanus.
note i.
INTRODUCTION 11
15
by Possidius and even more satisfactorily in two of Augus-
tine's sermons. 16
This monastery which had its beginning at Tagaste and was
later established at Hippo when Augustine became presbyter
there, was the first one in North Africa and the parent of the
other North African monasteries. Possidius
states
17
that the bishops who went out from
this monastery at Hippo followed their mas-
ter's example and established other monaster-
ies in their episcopal sees. Augustine's original purpose had
been merely to withdraw from the world with a few friends
and have time for undisturbed meditation and prayer. He
pursued this kind of life for almost three years at Tagaste
(388-391) until he was forcibly ordained presbyter at Hippo.
After that he continued his purpose, but adapting it to cir-
cumstances, made the monastery rather a school for the train-
ing of the clergy. His conception of the kind of life the clergy
should lead is clearly set forth in two of his sermons. 18 He
also established a monastery for women over which his sister
19
presided, and after her death in 423 wrote them a letter to
settle their differences and to guide them in the conduct of life.
In reviewing the life of Possidius, 20 the first fact to be noted
is that,apart from his relations with Augustine, he is practi-
cally unknown. He first appears as one of the group of inti-
mate friends whom Augustine gathered around him in the
monastery at Hippo and is mentioned only once after Augus-
15
Vita XXII-XXVI.
^Sermm. CCCLV, CCCLVI.
" Vita XL
is Sermm. CCCLV and CCCLVI.
"Ep. CCXL
20 His
name, Possidius, is not to be confounded with Possidonius, a
bishop who appears at some of the councils and who, in conjunction
with Possidius, signed the letter addressed by the Council of Milevum
to Pope Innocent I (Ep. CLXXVI). Manuscript evidence proves that
Possidius, not Possidonius, is the name of Augustine's biographer.
12 INTRODUCTION
21
tine's death. Possidius himself states at the
Li
, ,
very close of the Vita that he had lived with
Possidius Augustine on terms of intimate friendship for
"almost forty years." Augustine was made
22
Presbyter at Hippo in 391 and "soon after" established his
monastery. As this was thirty-nine years before Augustine's
death, Possidius must have become connected with the monas-
tery at the very beginning or soon after. Where he came
from and how he came to enter the monastery must remain
matters of conjecture, but it seems fair to suppose that he
came from Hippo or the immediate neighborhood.
The date of Possidius's birth, also, may be arrived at only
approximately. As he wasliving still his and performing
23
episcopal duties seven years after the death of Augustine,
who lived to be seventy-six, 24 he was in all likelihood younger
than his teacher and friend. When he entered the monastery,
therefore, he was probably not over thirty, as Augustine was
then thirty-five. Moreover he was probably at least twenty, in
view of the fact that he soon became Augustine's intimate
friend. This would accordingly fix the date of his birth
somewhere between the years 360 and 370.
In 397, probably within a short time after the death of
Megalius, Bishop of Calama and Primate of Numidia, Pos-
sidius succeeded to this episcopate, though not to the primacy,
as that was an office of seniority, not of locality, in the Afri-
can Church. From this time till his activities were tempor-
arily checked by the invasion of the Vandals, he seems to
have led a not unusual life for a North African bishop of the
fifth century, journeying to the various parts of his diocese,
attending councils and defending the Church against the at-
tacks of heretics.
About the year 403 Possidius made two attempts to arrange
21
Prosper, Chronicon, PL 51, 597 (PL = Patrologia Latina).
22 Vita V.
23
Prosper, Chronicon, PL 51, 597.
2* Vita XXXI.
INTRODUCTION 13
a public discussion with Crispinus, the Donatist bishop of Ca-

lama, which the latter each time avoided. few days after A
the second refusal, while Possidius was travelling through his
diocese, another Crispinus, a Donatist presbyter and perhaps
a relative of the bishop Crispinus, attacked him, setting fire to
the house in which he took refuge. As the bishop Crispinus
did not even reprove his presbyter for this unprovoked attack,
the Catholics took the matter into court and Crispinus, the
bishop, was fined. Through the intervention of Possidius
this fine was not exacted. Nevertheless Crispinus was not sat-
isfied and carried his appeal to the Emperor Honorius. There-
upon, as Augustine had likewise narrowly escaped an ambus-
cade laid for him by the Donatists not long before, a council
which met at Carthage in 404 decided to appeal to the Emper-
or for protection. 25 In 405, accordingly, Honorius issued an
26
edict renewing the laws of Theodosius against heretics, di-
recting furthermore that Crispinus should be fined ten pounds
of gold and that the judge and court should suffer the same
penalty for not having collected the fine before. This fine,
however, through the intercession of Possidius, was likewise
remitted. 27
In 407 Possidius and Augustine, with five other bishops,
were appointed as a committee to decide some ecclesiastical
28
question, but no further record has been preserved. In the
following year, during a riot brought about by the celebrations
of the pagans, Possidius narrowly escaped with his life. On
November 15, 407, Honorius had made the public celebration
of heathen rites and On June i, 408, how-
festivals illegal.
29
ever, which was the pagan feast-day, as Augustine relates, 30

in violation of this law the pagans of Calama performed their
rites and marched past the Christian church. As no one inter-
25 Mansi III 794.

26 Cod. Theod. XVI 5, 38.
27 Vita XII; Contra Cresconium III xlvi 50; Ep. CV 4.
28 Mansi III 806.
- 29 Cod. Theod. XVI 5, 41.
3
Ep. XCI8.
14 INTRODUCTION
fered and as the insult could not be tolerated, the clergy at-
tempted to stop the celebration, but were driven back into the
church and assailed with stones. Possidius did not allow this
to pass unnoticed and carried the case before the proper
authorities who promised to exact the penalty imposed by the
law. About June
9, however, before anything had been done,
the pagans again attacked the church with stones. On the
following day, accordingly, Possidius and his people took the
matter to court but were refused admittance. A few hours
later the church was a third time besieged, and not being sat-
isfied with the damage they could do with stones, the pagans
tried to burn the buildings together with the people in them.
One man was killed and Possidius escaped only by hiding in
a narrow crevice while the pagans roamed about in search of
him. According to Augustine they were much disappointed,
since their chief desire was to do away with the bishop. The
uproar was finally quieted by a stranger who seemed to have

gained some influence with them. Through his efforts the
captives were set free and much plunder returned. Augustine
himself journeyed to Calama to comfort the people and to
admonish and, if possible, convert the pagans, but evidently
success. An edict
81
without much issued by Honorius in No-
vember of the same year, directing that the images and altars
of the pagans be destroyed and their temples be confiscated for
public use, was no doubt provoked by this disturbance.
To period belong Possidius's two journeys to Italy.
this
Though only one is generally mentioned, there were evidently

two. The first was occasioned by the recent pagan uprising 32
and took place after July 408 and before March 27, 409.
This date is made clear by a letter of Augustine in which he
says that on March 27 he received an answer to a letter he
had written about eight months before, when Possidius had
Cod. Theod. XVI 10, 19.

32 the words of Augustine cum ex
Compare :
ipso audieritis quam
triftis eum causa compulerit: Ep. XCV I.
INTRODUCTION 15
not yet embarked on his voyage. 33 From this letter it would

also appear that Possidius was expected to return shortly, for
Augustine suggests that possibly the citizens of Calama had
heard a rumor that Possidius had obtained authority to punish
them more severely (severius) 34 though no such report had
,
as yet reached him.

The other visit to the imperial court was on an embassy ap-
35
pointed by a council which met at Carthage on July i, 4io.
The purpose of this embassy was to secure the renewal of the
laws against the Donatists which had been temporarily sus-
36
pended. Possidius and his colleagues seem to have accomp-
lished their purpose, for in August 410 Honorius issued a de-
37
cree warning heretics and pagans not to hold public meetings
and declaring confiscation of property or even death as the
penalty for violation of the law.
At the great Collatio of 41 1 between the Catholics and Do-
natists assembled at Carthage by order of the Emperor, Pos-
sidius played a rather prominent part. Two hundred and
eighty-six Catholic bishops were present. From this number
seven were chosen to carry on the discussion, among whom
were Augustine, Possidius and Alypius, 38 although the debate
was carried on almost entirely by Augustine. Possidius ap-
33 Nam ego rescripseram, cum adhuc nobiscum neque navigas-
esset,
set sanctus frater et coepiscopus meus Possidius. Has autem quas mei
causa illl dignatus es reddere, accepi in kal. April, post menses ferme
octo, quam scripseram: Ep. CIV I.
34 More severely, no doubt, than they hadalready been punished by
the edict of Honorius in the preceding November.
35 Mansi III 810.
There seems to be some confusion as to this date.
In the Acts of the Councils it is given as Honorii VIII et Theodosii
IV. However, to agree with the Fasti Consular es (ed. W. Liebenam,
pp. 41-42) it ought to read Honorii VIII et Theodosii III, and this
could apply to either 409 or 410. Accordingly 410 has been adopted as
being the more probable. This date is also given in the margin of
Mansi's edition, though 409 is given in the index.
se Cod. Theod. XVI 5, 47.
37 Cod. Theod. XVI 5, 51,
38 Mansi IV 8.
16 INTRODUCTION
39
pears at two other councils. At that of Milevum in 4i6 he
40
joined with other bishops in signing a letter, written prob-
ably by Augustine, to Innocent I, calling attention to the new-
born Pelagian heresy and requesting that it be suppressed.
Shortly afterwards, together with his old friends of the mon-
astery at Hippo, Augustine, Alypius, Evodius and one out-
41
sider, Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, he signed another letter
to Innocent, urging that this same heresy be formally de-
nounced. The other council, though it is scarcely to be dig-
nified by so important a name, was that held at Caesarea in
418, to which the Donatist bishop Emeritus was invited. 42
When the Vandals invaded Africa in 428, Calama was one
of the many towns which fell into their hands. Possidius took
refuge with Augustine at Hippo, one of the three cities which
still maintained their independence. There he witnessed the
death of Augustine in 430 and remained till the siege of Hippo
was abandoned by the Vandals in 431. 48 By or before the
time an agreement was reached in 435 between the Roman
Emperor and the Arian Geiseric, Possidius no doubt returned
to his former charge, where he probably remained unmolested
as long as he performed his duties quietly and did not attract
the attention of the Arian authorities. In 437, however, when
Geiseric endeavored to substitute Arianism for the Catholic
faith, Possidius and several other bishops were driven from
their sees because they refused to yield to the demands of the
Vandal ruler. 44 This is the last we hear of Possidius. He
may have gone to Italy, but there is no evidence to that effect.
He is honored by the Catholic Church on May 17.
Were it not for Possidius's own statement in the last para-
graph of the Vita, we should probably not recognize so readily
39 Mansi IV 335.
*Ep. CLXXVI.
*Ep. CLXXVn.
42 De Gestis cum Emerito PL
43, 697 ; Vita XIV.
43 Vita XXVIII.
44
Prosper, Chronic on, PL 51, 597.
INTRODUCTION 17
the intimacy which existed between the two bishops. Among

45
Augustine's letters there is only one ad-
dressed to Possidius and that is merely an
His j ntimacy
answer to a question on discipline, such as with Augustine
might have been written to any stranger who
had asked for advice. It was written in great haste and there
is nothing in it to indicate any particular friendship. How-
ever, he spent much time in company with Augustine. For the
first five or six years of their acquaintance he lived in that
intimacy of daily companionship which makes or breaks a

friendship as nothing else can, dwelling in the same house,
eating at the same table, sharing in the same duties and ex-
periencing the same trials and temptations. On one occasion
he tells of a conversation at the table, then of a convert who
came to see Augustine and, nobis coram, declared his former
guilt and asked for their prayers. Again, we hear of Augus-

tine's righteous indignation when some friends who were visit-
46
ing disregarded his prohibition of gossip. There are many
instances of this intimate nature.
After Possidius left the monastery at Hippo to take up his
duties as bishop of Calama he was by no means separated
from his friend. Calama was only about forty miles distant
from Hippo and the two bishops found many opportunities of
seeing each other. Now they are attending the same council,
or are together on a special committee, or are side by side in a
debate with the heretics, or Possidius is visiting Augustine.
Finally, when Calama was taken by the Vandals, Possidius
withdrew to Hippo and was with Augustine all through his
last illness and at the time of his death. None of the other
members of that monastery, save Alypius only, is associated
with Augustine as frequently as is Possidius.
Besides the above-mentioned letter addressed to Possidius
and those cited in this account of Possidius's life, there are
several other references to him in Augustine's writings, Prob-
45
Ep. CCXLV. The date of this letter is uncertain.
4 Vita XV, XXII.
i8 INTRODUCTION
ably the most significant of these is found in

References to &P- CI, addressed to a certain Bishop Memor,
Possidius inwhich Augustine discloses his affection for
him "no small image of
Possidius by calling
my own self" : Nimis autem ingratum ac ferreum fuit, ut te
qui nos sic amas, hie sanctus frater et collega noster Possidius,
in quo nostram non parvam praescntiam reperies, vei non dis-
ceret, vel sine litteris nostris disceret. Est enim per nostrum
ministerium non litteris illis, quas variarum serui libidinum
liberates vacant, sed dominico pane nutritiis, quantus ei potuit
per nostras angustias dispensari. This is Augustine's fullest

reference to Possidius and as it agrees so well with Possidius's
own statements it serves to confirm our faith in him. An-
other letter written about this same time, while not so perti-
nent, still deserves notice. It begins in this manner Cum vos
:
fratres nostri coniunctissimi nobis, quos nobiscum desiderati

desiderare et salutati resalutare consuestis, assidue vident, non
1
tarn augentur bona nostra, quam consolantur mala.*" Though
Augustine may here be speaking in general terms, yet he
means Possidius in particular, for he at once proceeds to name
him as the person he has in mind. The other references to
Possidius are of less importance and need only to be indicated.
He concludes Ep. CXXXVII to Volusianus with a greeting
from Possidius who is evidently visiting him, and in the De
CivitateDei XXII viii he speaks of a cure supposed to have
been effected by a relic which the bishop of Calama had
brought to that city.
Because of this prolonged and intimate friendship, Possidius
was peculiarly fitted for the task he undertook. He had ob-
served Augustine's daily life continuously for at least five years.
He had seen him in the various phases of his work as teacher
and administrator: instructing the people or
His peculiar the clergy or managing the funds of the
Fitness for , . f A . , . . .
his Task church, or caring for the poor and the widows
or judging the disputes of his parishioners.
Ep. XCV.
INTRODUCTION 19
He had seen him faithful in his secular responsibilities, yet

escaping them whenever possible and eagerly turning his at-
tention to spiritual matters. He knew his habits of dress and
food and had shared in his strict monastic asceticism. Later,
himself a bishop, Possidius had seen Augustine as a leader
among his fellow-bishops at the councils and as the Church's
ablest defender against heresies. He was constantly in touch
with his great master and friend and at no time throughout the
thirty-eight or thirty-nine years of their acquaintance did
anything occur to weaken their attachment. With the ex-
ception of the first four chapters of the Vita, which deal briefly
with the period before their acquaintance, the account he gives
is based entirely on his own observation things he had him-
self witnessed and experienced.
As a result we have a plain biography of fact, not of fiction.
Possidius does not recount mere gossip or hearsay. Nowhere
throughout the Vita do phrases occur indicating second-hand
information. One thing that must immedi-
ately commend it as worthy of belief is the His
absence of such miraculous tales as abound in Reliability
Paulinus's Vita Ambrosii. Even Augustine
was not free from this credulity, as may be seen in the list of
remarkable cures related toward the end of the De Civitate
Dei. Possidius, however, was not given to recounting mar-
velous stories. Apart from ,a somewhat general reference to
"certain energumens" from whom "demons departed by reason
of Augustine's intercession in prayer," he relates, without af-
fectation or extravagance, only one specific miracle performed
by Augustine the cure of a sick man by the laying on of

hands. Moreover, wherever Possidius's statements can be
checked by the writings of Augustine or the Acts of Councils,
48
they are always fully corroborated. To this there is no ex-
49
ception. Yet in one respect he is careless: he does not al-
48 Instances will be found in the Notes.
49 In view of these facts it is a surprise to come upon such a state-
ment as the following : "No Vandal writer ever arose to give a second
20 INTRODUCTION
ways mention the sources of his few non-biblical quotations,

but is apt to refer to the writers as cuiusdam sapientis or
quidam poeta.
Though he only partly realized Augustine's true greatness
and his increasing importance to the Church, he did recognize
in him a devout Christian, a profound and eager student, a de-
voted and watchful shepherd, a mighty oppo-
His Appreciation nent * nere tics an(i a daily example in his
of Augustine He sees the present and lo-
domestic life.
cal greatness, but has less conception of the

lasting and widening influence which a mind and personality
like Augustine's were destined to exert for ages to come. He
sees that Augustine's arguments and reasoning have established
the faith and brought peace to the Church, but that centuries
later theologians and philosophers should still base many of
their doctrines upon the writings of his friend is far outside
the range of his imagination for his nature, like his style, was
;
essentially prosaic. Yet he did believe that posterity ought not

to forget Augustine, and therefore wrote the Vita and com-
piled the Indiculus, a catalogue of Augustine's works, to
help those who would keep his memory alive.
The Vita, though not a regular chronological narrative, falls
naturally into four parts:

I-V Introductory
VI-XVIII Activities against heresies
XIX-XXVII Daily life at home and in the church
XXVIII-XXXI Last days and death.
In this arrangement the Vita closely resembles the literary
form which had become traditional in the Alexandrian biog-
account of the war, and there is much in the statements of Victor and
Possidius to show the need of caution in accepting their facts as lit-
erally true" Holme, The Extinction of Christian Churches in
(L. R.
North Africa, This writer presents no evidence whatsoever to
p. 88).
sustain his disparagement of Possidius, though he does so in the case
of Victor Vitensis, whose unrestrained statements must, of course, be
accepted with reserve.
50 See Chapter XVIII, note 6.
INTRODUCTION 21
raphy and which is best illustrated in the Lives of Suetonius. 51

Possidius's acquaintance with this literary form evidently came
not directly from classical sources but through his knowledge
of the Lives of former Christian biographers. 52 Chief among
these was undoubtedly Jerome, who acknowledges his indebt-
edness to Suetonius. 53 This form of biography lays principal
stress on personal traits. Hence while Augustine's own writ-
ings are indispensable in forming an estimate of his far-reach-
ing powers as a theologian, philosopher and preacher, were it
not for the intimate revelations of every-day life presented by
Possidius, our picture of his personality would be incomplete.
The date generally given for the composition of the Vita is
432. From Possidius's words it is clear that it must have
been written after July 431, when the siege of Hippo was
abandoned by the Vandals, for he says he was in Hippo dur-
54
ing the whole time of the siege. Further-
more, his use of quondam in the same chapter ^ ate f
, r \ j-> / Composition
(quondam Bomfacius) seems to presuppose Of t ^e y ita
the death of Boniface, which occurred about
432. The terminus ad quern is the destruction of Carthage in
439, for Possidius states that when he wrote Carthage still
remained uncaptured. 55 While the probabilities favor 432 or
soon after as the date of the composition of the Vita, the evi-
dence for this is not complete and the nearest certain ap-
proximation attainable is 432-439. No evidence derived from
the date of the burning of Hippo, which is unknown, or from
the presumed escape of the church library from the conflagra-
tion can be deduced to help in fixing the date of the Vita more
closely. The Indiculus must, of course, have been made up
from the books in the library at Hippo and might very prob-
51
Leo, F., Die Griechische-Rb'mische Biographic, pp. 11-16.
52 See his Praefatio, p. 38.
53
Roth, C. L., Suetonius, p. 287.
54
quam urbem ferme quatuoirdecim mensibus conclusam obsederunt
. . . in eademque omni eius obsidionis temp ore fuimus: Vita XXVIII.
55
Vita XXVIII.
22 INTRODUCTION
ably have been compiled during the siege in 431 and later af-
fixed to the Vita.
The Vita, as already suggested, is a plain recital of facts
and incidents which give a clear insight into Augustine's daily
and private, based on the writer's personal and
life in public
intimate knowledge. That Possidius was a man of moder-

ate education appears readily. His style is
s *y le
wholly unadorned. It is the work of a plain
man and
untrained writer. This appears im-
mediately in the striking contrast between the style of Pos-
sidius and that of the letter of Augustine, wonderful both in
thought and style, which he embodies in Chapter XXX. The

letterreads so smoothly and the argument is so clearly ex-
pressed that the scribes found little trouble in understanding
it. This contrast with the diction of Possidius is further
brought out by the very noticeable decrease in the variations
and difficulties which this letter presents in all the MSS. The
style of Possidius also differs radically from that of Augustine
in that lacks vivacity, versatility and copiousness.
it The form
is somewhat stiff and the expression, while always marked by
candor and often by naive beauty, frequently lacks fluency.
The sentences are frequently abrupt and loosely connected.
They are bald, unrhetorical and often wanting in animation.
While his style in some degree resembles that of Suetonius
this is evidently due to the example of Christian biography
and not to the direct influence of Suetonius, as there appears
to be no evidence that Possidius had any acquaintance with his
writings. Possidius is both naive and commonplace in his

manner. His sentences show neither balance nor finish and
are sometimes marred by awkward parenthetical statements or
curious doubling of expression. Except in the Preface, no
serious attempt at literary finish is made. There is no philos-
ophizing or play of the imagination neither is there any pad-

;
ding or moralizing. Though the sentences are not long and

involved, yet they are frequently awkward and the thought is
not always clearly expressed. It is a simple matter-of-fact ac-
INTRODUCTION 23
count without embellishment, and is not weighed down with a

mass of fable and fiction. Possidius shows self-restraint and
modesty, with a touching sincerity and devotion to his leader.
The work abounds in biblical references and quotations which
are apt and reveal a considerable acquaintance with the Scrip-
56
tures. Outside the Scriptures he quotes only three books,
the Vita Ambrosii of Paulinus, the De Mortalitate of Cyprian
and the Confessiones of Augustine a very limited circle and
two or three unidentified commonplaces. With the Confes-
siones he was quite familiar. He quotes no secular writer.
His one aim was to reveal Augustine as man and bishop in his
daily life, work and character. Of this he has given a faith-
ful, if incomplete picture, one of absorbing interest and at
times of unaffected beauty.
His Latinity is that of his own time, as used by a man of
only fair ability and education. His vocabulary, arrangement
and style are thus restricted by his own limitations. It is un-
rhetorical narrative Latin of the fifth century. Characteristics
of still later Latin also begin to appear.
The text of this edition of the Vita is based on a collation
of ten of the earlier MSS., five from France and five from
Italy, in photostatic copy. Of these, four of the latter and at
least one of the former have been examined
Manuscripts for previous editions. A
description of each
of these ten MSS. follows 57 :
A Bibliotheque de Chartres 112. Membraneus. I25ff. 220 x

170 millim., saec. IX-X. i. S. Augustini Vita scripta a
Possidio episcopo. 58
56 Some of these are direct
quotations from the Vulgate others are ;
taken from some pre- Vulgate versions. Many of them are apparently
loose quotations from memory.
57 With the
exception of A, the descriptions of the MSS. are taken
from the Bollandist Catalogus Codicum Hagiographicorum Latino-rum
for the Vatican and for the Bibliotheque Nationale.
58 Wehave no means of determining what exact title, if any, was
given by Possidius to his Life of Augustine. The titles, as given in
the ten MSS. consulted, vary greatly. The one most common element
24 INTRODUCTION
As one of the earliest copies giving the complete text
with fewer and less serious errors than any other, it is
clearly the best of the ten MSS. It is carefully written
in an excellent hand and presents only occasional er-
rors. The observable errors in A
are confined to 35
instances of haplography, its characteristic fault, 25 er-
roneous substitution of single letters, perhaps 5 impos-
sible readings, and some easily detected and insignifi-
cant other slips here and there. They are all noted in
the apparatus criticus. 59 This MS. seems to be quoted
once, but inaccurately, by the Benedictine editors under
in them is the initial Sancti Augustini Vila, followed by some sort of

reference to Possidius as the author, who is characterized as bishop
in every instance but one where his name appears. I have taken as a
provisional title Sancti Augustini Vita scripta a Possidio Episcopo, the
heading given in A.
In all the MSS. consulted the body of the text is continuous, even in
the fragmentary MSS., without any division into chapters, and con-
sequently without any chapter titles. In a few cases there are con-
secutive Roman numerals entered at the side of the text at irregular
intervals, but not continuing beyond the earlier part of the text. It
is of course possible that these may have been intended by one or
another scribe to indicate chapter divisions, but as they do not agree

with each other nor extend through the body of the text nor cor-
respond to the natural literary divisions, they may be disregarded as
insignificant.
69 Some examples of these faults are altusque for alitusque Chap-
ter I, tnanente for manentes and the omission of ac perficere IX, cir-
celliones for circumcelliones X, episcopum for episcopi cum XIII, the
omission of loquacitate collatione XVII, the omission of impium
. . .
. .ministerium and quando

, necessarium .
7; cogitandi atque
. . XXX
orandi for cogitanti atque oranti III, multum aurarium for mule- . . .
tain aurariam and commendatio for condemnatio XII, bibebant

. . .
for vivebant XV, sectae for rectae XVIII, reticebantur for recitaban-
tur XXIV, lucis for locis, evolatos for evolutos, fama contubescerent
for fame contabescerent and regionum for regiorum XXVIII, absit for
obsit XXX 10; intellexit for intercessit XII, heresi se for recessisse
XVII, memorare for memor erat XXIII, orantibus for videntibus
XXVII, ad locum uncti for ad loca munita XXX 2.
INTRODUCTION 25
the name it nowhere appears in the

Carnotensis, yet
list of MSS. which
they have consulted. 60
B Vatican, Codex Reginae Sueciae 1025. Membraneus, foli-
m
orum 211 x
0,222), paginis bipartitis exaratus
(o ,273
v v
saec. XL(Fol. I37 -i56 ) Vita S. Augustini ep. con-
8.
scripta a Possidio ep. =

BHL. 785, 786.
This MS. is complete and in general agrees with A,
though it contains numerous errors and occasional read-
ings taken from the second or variant group of MSS.
Omissions and corrections are frequent. It is one of
the MSS. used by Salinas.
C Vatican, Codex Reginae Sueciae 541. Membraneus, foli-
"Y"Y"
orum m x
179, signata olim I I (o ,378 0,274), pa-
I.A.
ginis, bipartitis exaratus variis manibus saec. XII. 63.

(Fol. 158-166) Vita S. Augustini ep. 785. = BHL.
The main representative of the second or variant group.
It is neatly written and errors are rather less numerous
than in B. However it substitutes not a few readings
of its own which are not found in the other MSS. The
text is complete. Also used by Salinas.
D Bibliotheque Nationale, Codex signatus num. 2076. Olim
coenobii Dervensis, deinde Petri Pithoei, deinde Thua-
neus, deinde Colbertinus 1237, postea Regius .C. 3775.3.3.
m
Foliorum 144, med. (o ,285 x 0,23), columnis binis
exaratus saec. X. 3. (Fol. 106^-130) Vita beati Augus-
tinia beatissimo Possidio edita Calamensi episcopo.
In close agreement with C. There are many correc-
tions, usually to the readings peculiar to C. It is com-
plete.
E Bibliotheque Nationale, Codex signatus num. 13220. Olim
Francisci de Harlay archiepiscopi Rotomagensis, deinde
coenobii sancti Martialis Lemovicensis, postea San-
m
Germ., Harlay 369. Foliorum 211, min. (fere o ,i75 x
0,44), lineis plenis, exaratus diversis manibus saec. X.
60 Salinas p. 65, Migne 32, 49 note 2.
26 INTRODUCTION
9. (Fol. 96^134*) Vita Sancti Augustini episcopi Hip-

ponensis, a beato Possidio edita Calamensi episcopo.
Very carefully written. The few errors are generally
corrected. It contains many interlinear explanatory
words entered in a later hand above the corresponding
word in the text. The conclusion of the Vita is miss-
ing. Though this MS. was once at St. Germain, it can-
not be the MS. quoted by the Benedictine editors as
Germanensis, for the readings do not agree.
F Bibliotheque Nationale, Codex signatus num. 11748. Olim
sancti Mauri Fossatensis 38, deinde San-Germ., prius
m
1060, recentius 487. Foliorum 155, med. (o ,36 x 0,27),
V V
columnis binis, exaratus saec. X. 9. (Fol. 20 -35 ) Vita
beati Augttstini.
Very inaccurate in case endings. The text is complete.

It is quoted in the Benedictine edition under the name
Fossatensis and is called vetitstissimus. 01
G Bibliotheque Nationale, Codex signatus num. 10863. Olim
coenobii "Luxovinensis" (fol. i), deinde Suppl. lat.
m
1445. Foliorum 99, min. (o ,2i x 0,14), lineis plenis,
exaratus saec. IX. I. (Fol. 24-52) Vita sancti Augus-
tini auctore Possidio.
Likewise inaccurate in case endings. The first nine and
a half chapters are missing and a portion of Augustine's
62
letter is omitted.
H Vatican, Codex 1190 (olim2i7i). Membraneus, foliorum
m
A 181-264 (o ,38o x 0,282), paginis bi-
et sign. 1-179,
partitis exaratus variis manibus saec. XII. 36. (Fol.

T
88 -97) Ada S. Augustini ep. BHL. 785.
Fragmentary. Used by Salinas.
m
/ Vatican, Codex 1191. Membraneus, foliorum 205 (o ,430
x 0,308), paginis bipartitis exaratus saec. XII extr.
61
Migne 32, 55 note 6.
62 The MSS. EFG on the whole agree rather with CD than with AB,
though somewhat unsteadily.
INTRODUCTION 27
V
70. (Fol. I98-203 ) Vita S. Augustini ep. edlta a Pos-
sidio ep. =
BHL. 785.
Still more fragmentary. Used by Salinas.
K Bibliotheca Vallicellana, Tomus I. Membraneus, foliorum
m
Aet sign. 1-336 (o ,565 x 0,360), paginis bipartitis ex-
aratus saec. XI/XII. 92. (Fol. 250-2547) Natale S.

Augustini ep. = BHL. 785.
Closely related to H. Fragmentary. It also breaks off
abruptly in Chapter XXIV.
LMNOP Five MSS. used by the Benedictine editors: duo
Floriacenses, Germanensis, Vedastinus, Cisterciensis.
Q Brussels, Bollandist Museum, P.MS 5.
Belongs to the AB group, being related very closely to B.
The order MSS. E-K represents no particular classi-
of the
fication, except that G-K are more or less fragmentary. The
readings from the MSS. L-Q, as given in the Benedictine edi-
tion and the Acta Sanctorum, are indicated in the apparatus
criticus, though the former are very few and generally unim-
portant. However, when the Benedictine editors quote their

MSS. as codex unus or codex alter, as they usually do, thereby
making it impossible to identify the MS. from which the vari-
ant is taken, the reading has been omitted. The variants given
from Q are important.
In addition to the manuscripts enumerated and described
above, readings in crucial places from seventeen manu-
scripts in the Bibliotheque Nationale were obtained through
the courtesy of M. Omont, Conservateur des Manuscrits.
The readings thus obtained closely confirm the consensus
of the other manuscripts used as against the readings
introduced by previous editors. They do not, however, aid
in determining more
clearly the relative value of the body of
manuscripts used as the basis for this edition. These seven-
teen manuscripts are marked in the general list of manu-
scripts on page 30 by the letters abcdefghijklmnopqr.
In determining the relative value of the various MSS. one
fact must be kept in mind, namely that the texts of the lives
28 INTRODUCTION
of saints did not receive the same consideration as those of
classical writers. Lives of saints were very common and were
freely multiplied. Scribes were less careful with them than
with either the Scriptures or classical writings for which a
greater amount of regard was felt; for the former be-
cause of their inspired nature and for the latter because of
their rarity and antiquity. Hence there was less restraint in
copying the texts of these Lives. Accordingly there are more

individual differences in such MSS., and the family groups
are not as clearly defined. Moreover since the MSS. of any
one Life are so much more numerous than for most classical
texts in the present case probably two hundred or more
definite relationship is clearly more on the
difficult to establish
basis of only a part of the extant MSS. of a given Life.

Thus in the case of the ten MSS. of the Vita Augustini ex-
amined for each MS. is in some degree independent
this edition,
of the others. Under such conditions, therefore, the choice of
the best MS. or group of MSS., may be made by a process of
elimination. In a comparison of the ten MSS. with a view to
this choice GHJK may be omitted as they are quite fragmen-
tary. Of the other six MSS. the crucial readings of A and B
frequently agree in opposition to all the others, thus showing

a certain relationship between these two. For instance in the
Praefatio AB read videar fraudare, whereas CDFHK
read
fraudare iridear; AB autem, CDEFHK enim. In Chapter I A
and B both read carthaginensi which is, of course, an error for
tagastensi. In this same chapter AB read assistens as against

astans in CDEFHJK. Other instances of this agreement
between A and B may easily be found in the apparatus criticus.
C, on the other hand, contains many readings found in none
of the other nine MSS., except only in the corrections made
in D by a second hand. Thus in Chapter VIII for the reading
sed consacerdos found in the other MSS. CD* have quam
consacerdos; in Chapter IX for Quae cum audissfnt . . .
comperta, CD* have quae vir beatus comperta; at the end of

Chapter XV while the other MSS. vary between vivat, vivit
INTRODUCTION 29
and vitat, CD* alone agree on victitat; in Chapter XIX CD*

read quanta magis instead of nedum or necdum found in the
other MSS. However C also contains variant readings which
are found in other MSS. and which seem to indicate that C
belongs to a different family than AB. MSS. E and F agree
sometimes with AB and sometimes with C. As their read-
ings are found in AB or C they may be disregarded as not
outstanding representatives of either group. The final choice,
therefore, as to the best available source for the original text
among these ten MSS. lies between and C. AB
is more free A
from errors than any of the other nine MSS. and is also one
of the earliest. Moreover since C contains many readings not
found in the other MSS. it cannot be regarded as a pure text,
for if it were, it is highly improbable that none of the other
nine MSS., except only D*, should contain any trace what-
soever of these readings, many of which differ radically from
the readings in the other MSS. 63 The reading of CD* in
Chapter XIX cited above is probably an alteration to the Vul-

gate reading. Such alterations are not infrequent in C and
are a further illustration of the liberties which the writer of
C took with the text. For these reasons the MSS. AB, of
which A is the better representative, 64 seem to furnish a text
which resembles the archetype more closely than any of the
other MSS. CDEFGHJK. Accordingly A has been adopted
as the main basis of the text and followed rather closely.
Its variantreadings are fully noted in the apparatus criticus.
A partial list of MSS. of the Vita, as complete as could be
made from available sources, is herewith given.
63 These variants in C are so numerous that they could not all be

included in the apparatus criticus. They are therefore given only
when they have some direct bearing on readings in other MSS.
64 The choice of A in
preference to B as the purer representative of
the AB
family follows naturally after a comparison of the two MSS.
Evidence, if necessary, may be found in the apparatus criticus.
INTRODUCTION
List of Manuscripts
PLACE OF DEPOSIT CATALOGUE FOLIOS OF TEXT DATE

Austria-Hungary NUMBER
Heiligenkreuz: Monastery. 13 168*- 176* XII
Lilienfeld: Monastery. 60 177*-185 XIII
Melk: Monastery. M6 333-345 XV
Vienna: Hofbibl. 474 226-255* (256-265'' Ind) 65X1
Vienna: Hofbibl. 1052 38*-62 XII
Belgium
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 64 163M66 (fr) XI
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 1734 1-29 XIV
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 2342-51 (1) 25*-52 XV
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 7482 98M01 (fr) XIII
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 7487-91 90-97* (fr) XIII
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 8675-89 30-49 XII
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 9636-37 18*-33* XI
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. 11550-55 123M34 XIII
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. D.Phil. 324, 327(1)45-64 (Ind) XII
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. D. Phil. 4627 43*-66* XI
Brussels: Bibl. Reg. D. Phil. 8391 79-93* (93*-94 Ind) XI
Mons: Bibl. Pub. 26, 210, 8402 142-156* XIII
Namur: Bibl. Pub. 2 XIV
France
Angers: Bibl. d'Angers 802 (718) 50-68 (68*-73* Ind) XI
Angers: Bibl. d'Angers 806 (722) 116M26* XII
Auxerre: Bibl. d'Auxerre 28 (28) 4-20 XI
Cambrai: Bibl. de Cambrai 864 (767 II) 188-202 (202*-203* Ind) XI
Cambrai: Bibl. de Cambrai 855 (760) 101M07*, 113-125 (fr) XIII
Chalons-sur-Marne Bibl. de 70 (78) 114-133 XI
Chalons-sur-Marne
A Chartres: de Chartres 112 (60)
Bibl. 1-42* (42*-61 Ind) IX-X
Chartres: de Chartres 500 (190)
Bibl. 162-167* (fr) XII
Chartres: Bibl. de Chartres 501 (192) 141M52 (fr) XII
<Dijon: Bibl. de Dijon 638-642 (383) Tom31-37 (fr) Xl-XII
IV
Douai: de Douai
Bibl. 151 Tom II 98-99* (fr) XIII
Douai: de Douai
Bibl. 837 113M16* (fr) XII
Douai: Bibl. de Douai 867 52^-72 (72-73 Ind) XII
'Grenoble: Bibl. de Grenoble 1174 92M09 (109*-113* Ind) XII
Le Mans: Bibl. du Mans 227 129-138 (138-140 Ind) XI-XII
Paris: Bibl. de St. Genevieve694 1-8 (fr) XVII
Paris: Bibl. de St. Genevieve2613 75 (fr) XVni
Paris: Bibl. de Mazarine 1714 (570) 3*-16 XIII
D Paris: Bibl. Nat. 2076 106M30 (130-137* Ind) X
Paris: Bibl. Nat. 3809 A 53-54 (fr) XV
a Paris: Bibl. Nat. 3820 96-102* (fr) XIV
b Paris: Bibl. Nat. 5270 45*-62 XIII
c Paris: Bibl. Nat. 5276 120-136T (136M37* Ind)XIV
d Paris: Bibl. Nat. 5278 177-187* (om. ep.) XIII
e Paris: Bibl. Nat. 5293 6-21 (21-24 Ind) XII
65 Ind = Indiculus, fr = fragmentary.
INTRODUCTION
CATALOGUE
PLACE OF DEPOSIT
/ Paris: Bibl. Nat.
g Paris: Bibl. Nat.
h Paris: Babl. Nat.
; Paris: Bibl. Nat.
G Paris: Bibl. Nat.
F Paris: Bibl. Nat.
k Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
/ Paris: Bibl. Nat.
w Paris: Bibl. Nat.
n Paris: Bibl. Nat.
E Paris: Bibl. Nat.
o Paris: Bibl. Nat.
p Paris: Bibl. Nat.
g Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
r Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Paris: Bibl. Nat.
Rouen: Bibl. Pub.
Rouen: Bibl. Pub.
Germany
Bamberg: K. Oeffent. Bibl.
Berlin: Kgl. Bibl.
Erlangen: K. Univ. Bibl.
Leipzig: Stadtbibl.
Munich: Kgl. Bibl.
Munich: Kgl. Bibl.
Munich: Kgl. Bibl.
Munich: Kgl. Bibl.
Minister Univ. Bibl.
:
Miinster: Univ. Bibl.

Trier: Stadtbibl.
Great Britain
Dublin: Trinity College
Durham: Cathedral
London: Brit. Mus.
London: Brit. Mus.
London: Brit. Mus.
Italy
MJlan: Bibl. Ambros.
Milan : Bibl. Ambros.
Milan : Bibl. Ambros.
Milan: Bibl. Ambros.
Milan: Bibl. Ambros.
Mbnte Cassino
32 INTRODUCTION
CATALOGUE
PLACE OF DEPOSIT NUMBER FOLIOS OF TEXT DATE
Naples: Bibl. Nat. XV AA 15 Tom 111205-205*. 209-209* (fr) XIII
Rome: Bibl. Angelica 1269 240-266 (Ind) XIII
Rome: Lateran A80 72-84* XI
Rome: Sanctae Mariae MaiorisB 108-114 (fr) XIII
K Rome: Bibl. Vallicellana Tom I 250-254* (fr) XI-XII
Rome: Bibl. Vallicellana Tom XXV 287*-289* (fr) XI-XII
Rome: Vatican 214-219 XV
H Rome: Vatican 1190 88*-97 (fr) XII
/ Rome: Vatican 1191 198-203* (fr) XII
Rome: Vatican 1271 350-351* (fr) XII
Rome: Vatican Pal. 225 32-66* (Ind) XV
C Rome: Vatican Cod. Reg. Sueciae 158-166 XII
541
B Rome: Vatican Cod. Reg. Sueciael37*-150* (150M56* Ind) XI
1025
Switzerland
St. Gall: Stiftsbibl. 571 50-178 (1-48 Ind) IX
St. Gall: Stiftsbibl. 577 451-498 (498- ? Ind) IX-X
Bern: Stadtbibl. A8 '
6* (praef. only) XII
Engelbcrg: Benedictine 2 (62*-66 Ind) XII
Monastery
The earlier editions of the Vita Augustini in the fifteenth

and sixteenth centuries were not printed separately but were
regularly included in volumes containing works of Augustine.
They are catalogued in part in the Bibliotheca Hagiographica
Latina 785 and in the British Museum Catalogue under Pos-
sidius. The most important older edition not printed sepa-
rately but included with the works of Augustine is in the Bene-
dictine edition printed at Paris, 1679- I7OO. 67
Itwas based on previous editions and, if we
may judge from the readings given, on a very
66 This is one of the MSS. used
by Salinas. However it is not the
Vita proper, but consists in extracts from the Vita with later addi-
tions. It is the form of the Vita described as follows under BHL
792: VITA ET TRANSLATIONES. Inc. Bb. Augustinus ex provin-
cia Africae civitate Thagastensi honestis et christianis parentibus pro-
genitus fuit. Des. lure igitur in apostolica est collocatus ecclesia quia
pro apostolica. . .
67 This edition was

reprinted at Antwerp 1700-1703, Venice 1729-
1734, Bassano 1807, Paris 1836-1839 and by Migne, Petit-Montrouge
1841-1849 and again at Paris in 1865 as part of the Patrologia Latina.
INTRODUCTION 33
cursory examination of six MSS., FLMNOP. It appears to

have made but few alterations in the traditional printed text.
Some criticism of the Benedictine and earlier editions is found
in the edition by Salinas, printed at Rome in 1731, pp. V-
VIII. 68
This edition by Salinas is the first separate edition of the
Vita. It is based on an examination of certain earlier editions,
chiefly the Benedictine, and MSS. BCHJ and Vatican MS.

n88 69 at first hand. The edition is divided into two parts, the
first containing the text of the Vita with critical and explana-
tory notes and the second a dissertation by Salinas De Vita et

Rebus Gestis S. Possidii. His scanty citations of readings from
the small group of MSS. he used, as tested by an examination
of photostatic copies, are generally accurate, but several er-
rors occur. He gives no classification or estimate of their
relative value,though he seems to have a preference for C,
His on the whole, differs very little from that of the
text,
Benedictine edition. His choice or change of readings, when
explained at all, is based not on manuscript evidence, but
rather on extraneous suggestions, generally of a historical
nature.
The explanatory notes in the edition of Salinas are not
very frequent. Nevertheless they give full and even superflu-
ous information, consisting largely of quotations from Augus-
tine, the Acts of Councils and other illustrations from church
history. The main fault of the notes is that they are often
burdened with unnecessary matter and are not proportioned to
the importance of the subject explained. Salinas also added
the chapter headings, which do not appear in the earlier edi-
tions. These have been retained in the present edition as pro-
viding convenient summaries of each chapter.
68 S.
Aurelii Augustini Hipponesis Episcopi Vita auctore S. Possidio
Calamensi Episcopo .
opera et studio D. Joannis Salinas, Romae
. .
1731. A copy of this rare book was procured for the Library of Prince-
ton University by the late Director Jesse Benedict Carter of the Ameri-
can Academy at Rome.
69 See note
66, p. 32.
34 INTRODUCTION
The work of Salinas, however, has a distinct value. Apart
from the earlier Benedictine edition, it is the first edition which
attempts to be critical. Its general review of the text, though
not made by scientific method, represents a certain advance
over anything done before, and the information in the notes
is usually reliable.
There are three other editions which deserve brief notice.
The Migne edition (1865) is merely a reprint of the Benedic-
tine edition with a comparison of Salinas and the addition of
his critical notes. The text in the Acta Sanctorum (Paris,
1866) a reprint of the text of Salinas with variant readings
is
from Q. There is also an edition by Hurter in Sanctorum

Patrum Opuscula Selecta, Innsbruck 1895. The source of the
text not evident, as it agrees neither with the Benedictine
is
nor Salinas edition, but seems to result from a capricious al-

teration of both. It abounds in errors of omission, transposi-
tions and even has insertions which appear nowhere else, either
in the ten MSS. used or in the editions. However it contains
some valuable comments and a few selections from the critical
notes of Salinas.
The textus receptus evidently dates back to the early edi-
tions, at least to the Louvain edition of 1564. Many liberties
have been taken in altering the text, chiefly to fit the rules of
classical grammar or to make it read more
The Text smoothly. Instances are the substitution of
the accusative for the ablative, in ipsas mon-
tium silvas ct ccwernas petrarum et speluncas confugientes:
XXVIII; the subjunctive for the indicative, praedicaret: IX;

the imperfect for the pluperfect subjunctive, dene garet: XIV;
a change to a more suitable conjunction, sed for et: XIV;
petitus iret for petitum ire: XXVII, to avoid an abrupt change
of construction; astantem for assistentem: XXVII, for no rea-
son at all apparently; the unnecessary insertion of debeo:
Praef., to complete the sentence the omission of nam and in-
;
sertion of autem: XXXI, and the substitution of the ablative

absolute for the accusative, eisque compertis for eaque com-
INTRODUCTION 35
perta: IX, because the parenthetical remarks were somewhat

obscured; oppropinquaret for propinquaret: IV, and elevata
for levata: V;the substitution of spectaret for speraret: IV,
evidently because the common meaning of spero did not fit;

factus ergo for factusque: V; iuste for iniusti: XIII; latebras
for latera: XV; probata for prolata: XVII; JMO.S for suis:
XXV; inobediensve for inobediensque: XXVIII; the insertion
of quod after credo: XV; the addition, by Salinas, of conver-
sus ad Deum: II, and verbum Dei: V; the numerous substitu-
tions of Us for his which appears consistently in all the MSS. 70
In some of these instances the readings of the editions perhaps
may find support in MSS. not available for this edition, but
the changes are altogether too numerous and too nice to be
anything but an attempt at wholesale text-improvement. This

text was unquestioningly adopted by later editions, without so
much as an indication of the manuscript readings at many such
places. Nevertheless, despite the alterations made by editors,
the main body of the text is clear in all the manuscripts con-
sulted, and the area of disputable readings, significant or in-
significant, is only about eight hundred words out of a total
of over twelve thousand.
In basing the text on AB, the best group of the MSS. A-K,
itbecomes clear that while there are no difficulties in the form
of lacunae or corrupt passages of extended length, there are
many readings, principally of individual words, which need
exact determination. All these readings have been minutely
examined and tested by the weight of the manuscript evidence
available and a comparison of the usage of Possidius in other
instances. Such alterations in the text as have been made
without manuscript authority in previous editions have been
Compare, for example, the unanimous evidence of the MSS. as

70
opposed to the editions on p. 44. Further instances of this sort of text

correction where the evidence of the MSS, is unanimously opposed to the
editions, are recorded in the apparatus criticus. In some other cases
when the MSS. vary, the editions nevetheless present some individual
readings unsupported by any of the MSS.
36 INTRODUCTION
largely subjective and have tended to obscure the lan-
guage and style of Possidius. The purpose of this edition is
to present a revision of previous editions in the light of fuller

evidence from a larger number of MSS. and to arrive at a
text which reproduces as nearly as possible what Possidius
wrote, rather than what he should have written. While the
result is a text written in a manner somewhat more uncouth,
abrupt and awkward than is found in the editions where the
text abounds in smooth corrections of editors, it is nevertheless
evidently the truer text.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IN THE APPARATUS
CRITICUS
A Chartres 112.
B Vatican 1025.
C Vatican 541.
D Paris 2076.
E Paris 13220.
F Paris 11748.
G Paris 10863.
H Vatican 1190.
/ Vatican 1191.
K Vallicellana I.
L Floriacensis I
M Floriacensis II
N Germanensis Benedictine MSS.
Vedastinus
P Cisterciensis
Q P. MS Acta Sanctorum)
5 (in
a-r 17 supplementary MSS., see page 30.
Sal. Salinas.
Ben. Benedictine.
ML Migne.
edd. Salinas, Benedictine, Migne.
Second hand or change by first hand.
1 Words followed by a single square bracket are ex-
tracts from the text adopted in this edition.
Readings Noted in the Apparatus Criticus.

The readings noted are the variant readings, with no cita-
tions from the MSS. supporting the text, except where there
is considerable confusion in the MSS. and where readings of
the supplementary MSS. &-r are given.
37
PRAEFATIO
Inspirante rerum omnium factore et gubernatore Deo, mei
5 memor propositi, quo per gratiam Salvatoris, omnipotent! ac
divinae Trinitati per fidem servire decrevi, et antea in vita
laicorum, et nunc in officio episcoporum studens ex qualicunque
accepto ingenio et sermone aedificationi prodesse sanctae ac
verae Christi Domini Catholicae Ecclesiae, de vita et moribus
10 praedestinati et suo tempore praesentati sacerdotis optimi
Augustini, quae in eodem vidi, ab eoque audivi, minime reti-

cere. Id enim etiam ante nos factitatum fuisse a religiosissi-
mis sanctae matris Ecclesiae Catholicae viris legimus et com-
perimus, qui divino afflati Spiritu, sermone proprio atque stilo,
15 et auribus et oculis scire volentium, dicendo et scribendo simi-
lia, studiosorum notitiae intulerunt, quales quantique viri ex
communi Dominica gratia in rebus humanis
usque et vivere et
in finem obitus perseverare meruerunt. Idcirco ipse quoque
dispensatorum omnium minimus, fide non ficta, qua Domino
20 dominantium omnibusque bonis serviendum et placendum est
fidelibus,de praedicti venerabilis viri et exortu et procursu et
debito fine, 1 quae per eum didici et expertus sum, quampluri-
mis annis eius inhaerens caritati, ut Dominus donaverit ex-
plicandum suscepi. Verum summam quaeso maiestatem, quo
4 Inspirante 40,honorificum est om. Jj, Inspirante 60, 23

15
faciebant om. G omnipotentis CDF*H, omnipotentiae
5 KQ
6 trinitatis CQ, per fidem trinitatis DF, per fidem trinitati edd 8 aedi-
ficationis CFHKNP 9 ac H
Sal II minime reticere] ABDE
FHKQbdgr, reticebo D*, disposui minime reticeri C, minime reticere
disposui minime reticere statui hlq, minime reticere delegi m, minime
e,
minime audeo reticere o, minime puto reticenda c, reti-
reticere volui np,
cere nolui k, minime reticere debeo fortasse ex coniectura edd. debeo
38
LIFE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE
WRITTEN BY THE BISHOP POSSIDIUS
PREFACE
Inspired by God, theMaker and Ruler of all, and mindful
of my purpose wherein through the grace of the Saviour I
resolved faithfully to serve the omnipotent and divine Trin-
ity, both formerly as a layman and now as a bishop, I am
eager with whatever ability and eloquence I possess, to aid in

the edification of the holy and true Catholic Church of Christ
the Lord, and so [have resolved] not to keep silent concern-
ing the life and character of the most noble Bishop Augustine,
predestined long ago and presented in his own time the
things that I have seen in him and heard from him. I have
read and observed that this very thing was often done in
times past by most devout men of the holy Catholic Mother
Church. Inspired by the divine Spirit, yet using their own
speech and style, they spoke and wrote like histories for the
ears and eyes of those who wished to learn, and thus brought
to the notice of the studious the great men who were counted
worthy by the Lord's free grace both to live amid human af-
fairs and to persevere to the end of their course. Therefore
in that faith unfeigned whereby all righteous and faithful
souls must serve and please the Lord of Lords, I also, the
least of all His stewards, have determined, with the Lord's
help, to set forth the origin, career and end of this venerable
man as I have learned them from him and observed them
through so many years of loving fellowship. But I beseech
out em super fluum est quia reticere similiter ac servire ex decrevi pendet
17 domini CDEF edd., per communis domini gratiam OL vel M. Q
exhibet dominica.
39
40 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
munus huiusmodi a me arreptum ita geram et peragam, ut nee

Patris luminum 2 offendam veritatem, nee bonorum Ecclesiae
filiorum ulla ex parte videar fraudare caritatem. Nee attin-
gam ea omnia insinuare, quae idem beatissimus Augustinus in
5
suis Confessionum libris de semetipso, qualis ante perceptam
gratiam fuerit qualisque iam sumpta viveret, designavit. Hoc
autem facere voluit, ut ait Apostolus, ne de se quisquam homi-
rum supra quam se esse noverat, aut de se auditum fuisset,
crederet vel putaret, 3 humilitatis sanctae more utique [suo]
10 nihilo fallens, sed laudem non suam, sed sui Domini de propria
liberatione ac munere quaerens, ex his videlicet quae iam
perceperat, et fraternas preces poscens de his quae accipere

cupiebat. Sacramentum igitur regis, ut angelica auctoritate
prolatum est, bonum est abscondere: opera autem Domini
1 5 revelare et confiteri, honorificum est*
CAPUT I
Augustini ortus, conversio et baptismus

Ex 1
provincia ergo Africana civitate Tagastensi, de numero
curialium parentibus honestis et Christianis progenitus erat,
20 alitusque ac nutritus eorum cura et diligentia impensisque,
secularibus litteris eruditus apprime, omnibus videlicet disci-
plinis imbutus, quas liberales vocant.
2
et grammaticam Nam
prius in sua civitate, et rhetoricam in Africae capite Cartha-
gine postea docuit. Consequenti etiam tempore trans mare in
25 urbe Roma, et apud Mediolanum, ubi tune imperatoris Valen-
tiniani minoris comitatus fuerat constitutus. In qua urbe tune
3 fraudare videar CDFHK edd., videar errasse E 7 autem] enim

CDEFHK edd Q
exhibet autem 8 noverat auderet de se credere
vel putare /, se credere vel putare q g humilitatis sanctae more utique
[suo] nihilo fallens] A, humilitatis sanctae more utique nihil fallens
BQbcego (nihilo n, memores &), humilitatis sanctae memoriae utique ni-
hilo fallens E, humilitatis sanctae more ut iam e nihilo fallens r, humil-
itatis sanctae memoriae ut iam nihilo fallens H, humilitatis sanctae me-
moriae ut a me nihilo fallens F, humilitate sanctae memoriae uti a me
nihilo fallens K, humilitatis sanctae memoria utque nihil fallens CD*
(memoria utens; utque Sal. in commentario ex errore), humilitatis sanc-
ta memoria utique nihila fallens h (sancte m), humilitatis sancte me-
LIFE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE -
41
the divine Majesty that by His aid Imay carry out and com-
plete this task, which
have undertaken, without sinning
I
against the truth of the Father of Lights or seeming in any

way to disappoint the loving expectation of good sons of the
Church. It is not purpose to touch on all those things
my
which the blessed Augustine noted about himself in his books
of the Confessions, telling what his life was before receiving
the divine grace and what is- became on his conversion. For it
was his purpose that, in the words of the Apostle, "no man
should believe or think him to be above that which he knew
him to be or heard of him." Therefore in his practice of holy
humility he deceived no one and sought not his own praise for
those things he had already received, but the glory of his
Lord because of the blessing of his own deliverance, and de-
sired the prayers of his brethren for the things which he
hoped to obtain. For, as declared by the angel, though "It is

good to hide the secret of a king: yet it is honorable to reveal
and confess the works of God."
CHAPTER I
Augustine's birth, conversion and baptism
Augustine was born in the African province, in the city of

Tagaste of honorable Christian parents of curial rank and
was nurtured and trained under their care and attention. At
their expense he was educated chiefly in secular literature,
that is, was trained in all the disciplines which are called liberal.
For he first taught grammar in his own town and then rhetoric
at Carthage, the capitol of Africa. Subsequently [he taught]
across the sea in the city of Rome and at Milan where the Em-
peror Valentinian the Younger had then established his court.
morie utique nihil fallens p, humilitate sancta uti et timore utique non
fallens d, humilitatis fallens om. Iq, humilitatis sanctae more utens
et iam nullum fallens edd n iis edd 12 iis edd 18 Ex pro-
vincia] incipit J africae HJK, africa A carthaginensi ABJ, trai-
estensi C 19 fuit A*D*E* 20 altusque A 21 adprimate A
23 sua om. A.
episcopatum administrabat acceptissimus Deo, et in optimis

sacerdos Ambrosius. 3 Huius interea verbi
viris praeclarissimus
Dei praedicatoris frequentissimis in ecclesia disputationibus
assistens in populo, intendebat suspensus 4 atque affixus.
'
Ve-
'
5 rum aliquando Manichaeorum

5
apud Carthaginem adolescens
fuerat errore seductus, et ideo ceteris suspensior aderat, ne
quid vel pro ipsa vel contra ipsam haeresim diceretur. Et
provenit Dei liberatoris dementia sui sacerdotis cor pertrac-'
tantis, ut contra ilium errorem incidentes legis solverentur,
10 quaestiones, atque ita edoctus sensim atque paulatim haeresis'
ilia miseratione divina eius ex animo expulsa est: protinusque
in fide catholica confirmatus, proficiendi in religione eidem
amoris ardor innatus est, quo propinquantibus diebus sanctis
Paschae, salutis aquam perciperet. Et factum est divina
15 praestante opitulatione, ut per ilium tantum ac talem antistitem
Ambrosium et doctrinam salutarem Ecclesiae Catholicae et
divina perciperet sacramenta.
CAPUT II
Relictis omnibus suscipit propositum serviendi Deo, iam annis

20 maior triginta
spem omnem quam habe-

1
Moxque ex intimis cordis medullis
bat in seculo dereliquit, iam non uxorem, non filios carnis, non
2
divitias, non honores seculi quaerens sed Deo cum suis servire
:
statuit, et in illo, et ex illo pusillo grege esse studens, quern

25 Dominus alloquitur, dicens: Nolite timer e pusillus grex, quo-
niam complatuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum. Vendite
quae possidetis, et date eleemosynam: facite vobis sacculos non
vet eras centes, thesaurum non deficientem in coelis, 3 et cetera.
Et illud quod dicit iterum Dominus, idem vir sanctus facere
4 astans CDEFHJK edd 8 praevenit BD* edd. Q exhibet pro-

venit CDEFHJK edd
ii pulsa est protinusque] -j-ipse edd 13
natus B*CD, iniectus Q sanctae BK 15 talem ac tantum edd
17 divinum sacramentum BQ 24 medullis] -f-conversus K, -fconver-
sus ad Deum Sal, om. Qabcdeghjklmnopqr
LIFE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE 43
At that time the bishopric in this city was administered by

Ambrose, a priest most acceptable to God and eminent among
the best of men. As he stood among the people in the church
he used to eager suspense to the frequent sermons
listen in
of this preacher of the Word of God. Now
at one time, while
still a youth at Carthage, he had been carried away by the
error of the Manichaeans and therefore was more eager than

others to hear whether anything would be said for or against
this heresy. And by the mercy of God the Deliverer who
touched the heart of His bishop, it came to pass that the ques-
tions of the Law bearing on that error were solved, and so
little by little Augustine was led on by the divine compassion
until the heresy was driven from his soul. Straightway, es-
tablished in the Catholic faith, an ardent desire was awakened
in him to perfect himself in religion, and so with the coming
of the holy days of Easter he received the water of baptism.
And thus it happened that by divine grace he received through
the great and illustrious prelate Ambrose the salutary doc-
trine of the Catholic Church and the divine Sacraments.
CHAPTER II
When more than thirty years of age he leaves all and takes
up his profession of serving God
And soon from his inmost heart he relinquished all earthly
desires, no longer seeking wife, children of the flesh, riches or
worldly honors. But he determined to serve God with His
saints, desiring to be in and of that little flock to which the
Lord spoke, saying, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fa-
ther's good pleasure you the kingdom. Sell that ye
to give
have and give alms provide yourselves bags which wax not
;
old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not," and so on.

And that which the Lord spoke on another occasion this holy
cupiens Si iris esse perfectus, vende omnia quae habes, et da

:
pauperibus, et habebis thesaunun in coelis, et veni sequere me.*

Et super fidei fundamentum
aedificare desiderans, non ligna,
fenum sed aurum, argentum et lapides pretiosos. 5
et stipulam,
5 Et erat tune annis maior triginta, 6 sola superstite matre, 7

sibique adhaerente, et de suscepto eius proposito serviendi Deo
amplius quam de carnis nepotibus exsultante.
8
Nam iam eius
9
pater antea defunctus erat. Renunciavit etiam scholasticis
quos rhetor docebat, ut sibi magistrum alium providerent, eo
10
10 quod servire ipse Deo decrevisset.
CAPUT III
Secessus Augustini
Ac placuit ei percepta gratia cum aliis civibus et amicis suis

Deo pariter servientibus ad Africam et propriam domum
15 agrosque remeare. Ad quos veniens, et in quibus constitutus
ferme triennio, 1 et a se iam alienatis, cum his qui eidem ad-
haerebant Deo
vivebat, ieiuniis, orationibus, bonis operibus, in
lege Domini meditans die ac nocte. 2 Et de his quae sibi Deus
cogitanti atque oranti intellecta revelabat, et praesentes et ab-

20 sentes sermonibus ac libris Contigit forte eodem
docebat.
3
tempore, ut quidam ex his, quos dicunt agentes in rebus, apud
4
Hipponem-regium constitutus, bene Chfistianus Deumque
timens, comperta eius bona fama atque doctrina, desideraret
atque optaret eum videre, promittens se posse mundi huius
25 omnes contemnere cupiditates atque illecebras, aliquando ex si
eius ore Dei verbum audire meruisset. Quod cum ad se fideli

fuisset relatione delatum, liberari animam cupiens ab huius
4 om.
et (2) ABHK
7 iam om. CDEFHJ edd., nam eius pater iam
K 9 rhetoricam CD*F edd. Q exhibet rhetor. Cf. Aug. Conf. V
vii 13 quas tune iam rhetor Carthaginis adulescentes docebam
: 10 deo
ipse DEFHJK edd., ipse om. C'
16 alienatis] ACEFHabcreghklmno
pqr, alienatus DJ , alienatis curis K, alienatis pristinis vitiis B, alienatis
curis secularibus edd his]ABCDEFHJKabcdeghjklmnopqr, iis edd
17 bonisque C*J edd., et bonis 18 iis edd K 19 cogitandi atque
orandi A, congitando atque orando A*, cogitante atque orante B 21 iis
edd 27 liberare D*J edd. Q exhibet liberari.
man sought to do: "If thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou
hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come and follow me." He also desired to build
on the foundation of faith, not on wood, hay and stubble,
but on gold, silver and precious stones. He was now more
than thirty years of age, his mother alone surviving and cling-
ing to him, exulting more in his determination to serve God
than in the hope of offspring after the flesh. His father had
already died before this time. He also gave notice to his
pupils in rhetoric to secure another teacher, as he had resolved
to serve God.
CHAPTER III
The retirement of Augustine
When he had received the grace of God, he determined, with

others of his neighbors and friends who served God with him,
to return to Africa to his own home and lands to which he
came and in which he was settled for almost three years. He
now gave up these possessions and began to live with those
who had also consecrated themselves to God, in fastings and
prayers and good works, meditating day and night in the Law of
the Lord. And the things which God revealed to him through
prayer and meditation, he taught both those present and ab-
sent in his sermons and books. Now it happened at this time
that one of those whom they call "agents in affairs" who lived
at Hippo Regius, a good Christian who feared God, heard of
his good fame and learning. He earnestly sought to see him,
declaring that he was ready to reject all the passions and al-
lurements of this world he were but counted worthy to
if
hear the Word of God from When this was brought

his lips.
Jo Augustine by trustworthy report, he longed to rescue that
vitae periculis morteque aeterna, ad memoratam ultro atque

confestim venit civitatem, et hominem visum allocutus fre-
quentius atque exhortatus est, quantum Deus donabat, ut quod
Deo voverat reddidisset. Ac se ille de die in diem facturum
5 pollicebatur, neetamen in eius tune hoc implevit praesentia.

Sed vacare utique et inane esse 5 non potuit, quod per tale vas
nmndum in honore, utile Domino ad omne opus bonum para-
6
turn, in omni loco divina gerebat providentia.
CAPUT IV
10 Capitur ad presbyterii gradum
Eodem itaque tempore in ecclesia Hipponensi Catholica
Valerius 1 sanctus episcopatum gerebat. Qui cum flagitante
ecclesiastica necessitate, de providendo et ordinando presby-
tero civitati plebem Dei alloqueretur et exhortaretur, iam
15 scientes Catholici sancti Augustini propositum et doctrinam,
manu iniecta (quoniam et idem in populo securus et ignarus
2
quid futurum esset astabat; solebat autem laicus, ut nobis

dicebat, ab eis tantum ecclesiis, quae non haberent episcopos,
suam abstinere praesentiam) eum ergo tenuerunt et, ut in
;
20 talibus consuetum est, episcopo ordinandum intulerunt, omni-

bus id uno consensu et desiderio fieri perficique petentibus,
magnoque studio et clamore flagitantibus, ubertim eo flente:
nonnullis quidem lacrimas eius, ut nobis ipse retulit, tune
superbe interpretantibus, et tamquam eum consolantibus ac
25 dicentibus, quia et locus presbyterii, licet ipse maiore dignus
esset, propinquaret tamen episcopatui ; cum ille homo Dei, ut
4 redderet E*J Sal. Q exhibet reddidisset ac] haec CDFQ, hac

*
E, hoc 6 vacare] ADEFHJKejknopr, vacari Bdgm, vacuum
A*CE*Qch, om. Iq 7 mundum]-het, Domino]+et CF edd 17 lai-
cus] vicos A 25 maiora DFHK, maiori BCD*EJ. Cf. graviora
[pati] dignos: DCD. V xxiii, codd. discrepantibus, pleris exhibentibus
graviora dignos, graviore dignos vel graviori dignos id erant digni ;
:
DCD. XXI xviii, codd. omnes, ed. Hoffmann 26 appropinquaret edd.

Q exhibet propinquaret.
soul from the dangers of this life and from eternal death.
So of his own accord he went in haste to that famous city and
when he had seen the man he spoke to him frequently and
exhorted him that in so far as God had blessed him he should
pay to God what he had vowed. Day after day he promised
to do so, but did not fulfil this while Augustine was present.
And yet surely in this case that could not have proved vain
and ineffectual which divine Providence was everywhere ac-
complishing by means of this vessel purged unto honor, meet
for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work.
CHAPTER IV
He is seized for the office of presbyter
Now at this time the holy Valerius was bishop in the Catho-
lic church at Hippo. But owing to the increasing demands of
duty he addressed the people of God and ex-
ecclesiastical
horted them to provide and ordain a presbyter for the city.
The Catholics, already acquainted with the life and teaching
of the holy Augustine, laid hands on him for he was stand-
ing there among the people secure and unaware of what was
about to happen. For while a layman he was careful, as he
told us, to withhold his presence solely from those churches
which had no bishops. So they laid hands on him and, as is
the custom in such cases, brought him to the bishop to be
ordained, for all with common consent desired that this should
be done and accomplished ancf they demanded it with great
;
zeal and clamor, while he wept freely. But some, as he him-

self later told us, at the time ascribed his tears to wounded
pride and by way of consolation told him that while he was
worthy of greater honor the office of presbyter was but little
inferior to the bishopric. But the man of God, as he told us,
nobis retulit, maiori consideratione intelligent et gemeret,

quam multa et magna suae vitae pericula de regimine et gu-
bernatione ecclesiae impendere iam ac provenire speraret, atque
ideo fleret. 3 Et eorum ut voluerunt completum est deside-
5 rium. 4
CAPUT V
Monasterium instituit
Factusque presbyter
1
monasterium 2 intra ecclesiammox
instituit, et cum Dei servis vivere coepit secundum modum et
10 regulam sub sanctis apostolis constitutam. 3 Maxime ut nemo
quidquam proprium in ilia societate haberet, sed eis essent
omnia communia, et distribuerentur unicuique sicut opus erat, 4
quod iam ipse prior fecerat, dum de transmarinis ad sua reme-
asset. Sanctus vero Valerius ordinator
eius, ut erat vir pius
15 et Deum timens, exsultabat et Deo gratias agebat. Preces
quas frequentissime fudisset suas exauditas a Domino fuisse
narrabat, ut sibi divinitus homo concederetur talis, qui posset
verbo Dei et doctrina salubri Ecclesiam Domini aedificare: cui
rei se homo natura Graecus, minusque Latina lingua et litteris
20 instructus, minus utilem pervidebat. Eidem presbytero po-
testatem dedit se coram in ecclesia Evangelium praedicandi, ac
frequentissime tractandi, contra usum quidem et consuetudinem
Af ricanarum ecclesiarum. 5 Unde etiam eum nonnulli episcopi
detrahebant. Sed ille vir venerabilis ac providus, in orientali-
25 bus ecclesiis id ex more fieri sciens et certus, et utilitati ec-
clesiae consulens, obtrectantium non curabat linguas, dum-
modo factitaretur a presbytero, quod a se episcopo impleri
3 speraret] ABCDEFHJKabcdejmnopqr, sperasset h, spectaret edd

8 factus ergo cdd 10 substantiis ab apostolis 12 distribueretur A
BCDEHJ edd., distribuerent K, distribueret F 13 remeassent A,
remearet C 16 fudisset] -|-deo B, gratias agebat, suas exauditas a
domino fuisse preces, quas se frequentissime fudisse narrabat DEHJK
edd., quibtts consentit C preces ante a domino transferens, et F narratur
pro narrabat exhibens 20 et eidem CD*EJK edd., et idem DF
21 securam A, se curam ecclesiae B, coram se CDFH edd., se om. E
23 eum om. BDEFHK, add. D*, ei / edd., ei etiam C
understood with greater comprehension and mourned as he

apprehended the many imminent dangers which threatened his
life in the direction and government of the church, and for this
reason he wept, But their desire was accomplished as they
wished.
CHAPTER V
He establishes a monastery
Soon had been made presbyter he established a
after he
monastery within the church and began to live with the ser-
vants of God according to the manner and rule instituted by
the holy apostles. The principal rule of this society was that
no one should possess anything of his own, but that all things
should be held in common and be distributed to each one as
he had need, as Augustine had formerly done after he returned
to his native home from across the sea. But the holy Valerius
who ordained him, a good man fearing God, rejoiced and
gave thanks to God. He said the Lord had heard the prayers
which he had unceasingly poured forth that divine Providence
would grant him such a man, who by his salutary teaching of
the Word of God could edify the Church of the Lord. For
Valerius, a Greek by birth and less versed in the Latin lan-
guage and literature, saw that he himself was less useful for
this end. Therefore he gave his presbyter the right of
preaching the Gospel in his presence in the church and very
frequently of holding public discussions contrary to the prac-
tice and custom of the African churches. On this account
some bishops found But the venerable and
fault with him.
prudent man knew was the custom in the Eastern

well that this
churches and considered only the welfare of the Church and
took no notice of the words of his detractors, if only his pres-
byter might do that which he saw could not be accomplished
minime posse cernebat. Unde accensa et ardens levata super

candelabrum lucerna, omnibus qui in domo erant lucebat. 6 Et
postea currente et volante huiusmodi fama, bono praecedente
exemplo, accepta ab episcopis potestate, presbyteri nonnulli
5 coram episcopis populis tractare coeperunt.
CAPUT VI
Conflictus Augustini cum Fortunato Manichaeo
Sane in ilia tune Hipponensi urbe Manichaeorum pestilentia
quam plurimos vel cives vel peregrines et infecerat et pene-
10 traverat, et decipiente eiusdem haeresis quodam
seducente
1
presbytero nomine Fortunato, ibidem conversante atque man-
ente. Interea Hipponenses cives vel peregrini Christian! tarn
Catholici quam etiam Donatistae adeunt presbyterum, ac de-
poscunt, ut ilium hominem Manichaeorum presbyterum, quern
15 doctum credebant, videret, et cum eodem de Lege tractaret.
Quod idem, ut scriptum est, paratus ad confessionem omni
poscenti se rationem de fide et spe quae in Deum est, potens-
2
8
que exhortari in doctrina sana, et contradicentes redarguere,
minime renuit. Sed utrum etiam ille hoc fieri vellet, sciscitatus
20 est. At illi confestim ad ilium Fortunatum id detulerunt,
petentes, exhortantes ac flagitantes, quod id minime recusaret.
Sane quoniam idem Fortunatus iam apud Carthaginem sanc-
tum noverat Augustinum adhuc in eodem secum errore con-
stitutum, cum eodem congredi pavitabat. Verumtamen suo-
25 rum maxime instantia coactus ac verecundatus, promisit in
comminus se esse venturum, certamenque disputandi subitu-
rum. Unde condicto die et loco convenerunt in unum, concur-
I elevata cdd 5 coeperunt] -fverbum dei edd., ont. Qabcdeghjklmn

opqr 12 vel] et edd 13 adeunt]+augustinum BEH
16 confes-
sionem] responsionem CDEFJ edd 17 deo HK, domino / 20 ip-
sum CDEFHJK edd 21 pententes]-f et CDEFHK edd. ac flagi-
tantes om. HK.
by himself as bishop. Wherefore burning and shining

this
light was placed upon a candlestick and gave light to all who
were in the house. And had rapidly
after the report of this
spread by reason of the good example which preceded it, some

other presbyters by permission of their bishops began to
preach to the people in their presence.
CHAPTER VI
The conflict of Augustine with Fortunatus, a Manichaean
Now in the city of Hippo at this time the plague of the
Manichaeans had infected and permeated very many, both
citizens and strangers, who were seduced and deceived by a
certain presbyter of that heresy, Fortunatus by name, who
lived and dwelt there. Meanwhile the Christians of Hippo,
whether citizens or strangers, Catholics and even Donatists,
came to the presbyter Augustine and demanded that he should
meet this presbyter of the Manichaeans, whom they regarded
as a learned man, and argue with him about the Law. This
he in no wise refused; for, as it is written, he was "ready to
give an answer to every man that asked him a reason of the
hope and faith that is toward God, and was able by sound doc-
trine both to exhort and refute the gainsayers." But he sought
to learn whether Fortunatus were willing that this should take
place. So they at once reported the matter to Fortunatus ask-

ing, urging and even demanding that he should on no account
refuse. But since Fortunatus had previously known the holy
Augustine at Carthage when he was still involved with himself

in this same error, he was afraid to meet him. Nevertheless
he was greatly urged and shamed by the insistency of his fol-
lowers and promised that he would meet him face to face and
enter the contest of debate. So they met at an appointed time
rentibus quam plurimis studiosis turbisque curiosis, et apertis

4
notarii tabulis, disputatio est coepta et primo, et secundo finita
est die. In qua ille Manichaeus praeceptor, ut se gestorum

continet fides, 5 nee Catholicam assertionem potuit vacuare, nee
5
Manichaeorum sectam subnixam veritate valuit comprobare:
sed responsione deficiens ultima, collaturum se cum suis
maioribus ea, quae refellere non potuit, prosecutus est; et si
sibi forte de his satis minime fecissent, suae animae consultu-
rum atque ita ab omnibus, apud quos magnus et doctus vide-

:
10 batur, nihil valuisse in suae sectae assertione iudicatus est.

Qua ille confusione affectus, et sequenti tempore de Hipponen-
si civitate prof ectus, ad earn amplius non remeavit : ac sic per
memoratum Dei hominem omnium cordibus, vel qui aderant,
vel qui absentes ilia quae gesta sunt cognoverant, error ille
15 ablatus, Catholica est intimata ac retenta sincera religio.
CAPUT VII
Libri et tractatus Augustini contra fidei hostes ab ipsis etiam
haereticis ingenti ardore excepti
Et docebat ac praedicabat ille privatim et publice, in domo

20 verbum cum omni fiducia adversus Afri-
et in ecclesia salutis
canas haereses, maximeque contra Donatistas, Manichaeos et
1
paganos, libris con feeds et repentinis sermonibus, ineffabiliter
admirantibus Christianis et collaudantibus, et hoc ipsum ubi
poterant non tacentibus, et diffamantibus. Atque, Dei dono,
2 notariorum E cdd., notariis HK est] et BJ, om. CDEFK edd.,

disputatione coepta H
et primo] et om. CDEFHJK edd prima et
secunda / 3 se om. edd 4 evacuare JK 5 subnexam vcritati B,
veritate subnixam CDEFJ subnixa H, veritatem sub-
edd., veritate
nixam K6 ultime H, ultimam F, ultimo Ben. Mi 12 ac sic 54,
ii manifestata est om. J 20 omni om. A 23 collaetantibus edd
24 et] sed CD*K edd sicque adiuvante domino edd., sicque dono
dei pax in africa (africana perperam Sal.) ecclesia orta est apud
quam multo tempore C. Q exhibet atque dei dono.
and where many who were interested and crowds of

place,
When the reporters' books had
the curious quickly gathered.
was begun on the first day and
been opened, the discussion
ended on the second. In this discussion the Manichaean
teacher, as the evidence of the record proves, could neither
refute the Catholic argument, nor could he prove that the sect
of the Manichaeans was founded on truth. But failing in his
finalanswer, he declared that he would refer to his superiors
the arguments which he had been unable to refute, and if per-
chance they should not satisfy him on these matters, he would
consult the welfare of his own soul. Thereupon all who had
formerly regarded him as great and learned now judged that
he had accomplished nothing in the defence of his own sect.
Overwhelmed with confusion he left the city of Hippo soon
afterand returned to it no more. Thus this error was re-
moved by that memorable man of God from the hearts of all
those present or those absent who learned what had been done ;
and the Catholic faith was declared and upheld as the true
religion.
CHAPTER VII
The books and treatises of Augustine against the enemies of
the faith are eagerly received even by the
heretics themselves
In private and in public, athome and in the church, Augus-

tine taught and preached the Word of salvation with all con-
fidence against the African heresies, especially against the
Donatists, Manichaeans and pagans both in his finished books
and extemporaneous sermons, the Christians, who did not keep
silent but spread it abroad wherever they could, being filled
with unspeakable joy and praise. And so, with God's help, the
levare in Africa Ecclesia Catholica exorsa est caput quae

multo tempore illis convalescentibus haereticis, praecipueque
i
ebaptizante Donati parte, maiore multitudine Afrorum, se-
ducta et pressa et oppressa iacebat. Et hos eius libros atque
5 tractatus mirabili Dei gratia procedentes ac profluentes, in-
structos rationis copia atque auctoritate sanctarum Scriptura-
rum, ipsi quoque haeretici concurrentes, cum Catholicis ingenti
ardore audiebant, et quisquis, ut voluit et potuit, notarios adhi-
2
bentes, ea quae dicebantur excepta describentes. Et inde iam
IO per totum Africae corpus praeclara doctrina odorque suavissi-
mus Christi 3 diffusa et manifestata 4 est, congaudente quoque id
comperta Ecclesia Dei transmarina. Quoniam sicut patitur
unum membrum, compatiuntur omnia membra ita cum glori- :
ficatur unum membrum, congaudent omnia membra. 5
15 CAPUT VIII
Designatur episcopus vivo Valerio et a Megalio primate

ordinatur
Ille vero beatus senex Valerius ceteris ex hoc amplius ex-

sultans, et Deo gratias agens de concesso sibi speciali beneficio,
20 metuere coepit, ut est humanus animus, ne ab alia ecclesia
sacerdote privata, ad episcopatum quaereretur, et sibi aufer-
retur: nam et id provenisset, nisi hoc idem episcopus cognito,
ad locum secretum eum transire curasset, atque occultatum a
quaerentibus minime inveniri fecisset. Unde amplius formi-
25 dans idem venerabilis senex, et sciens se corpore et aetate in-
2 illic edd., ont. C 3 maiorem multitudinem edd. Q exhibet maiore
multitudine 4 seducta pressa et oppressa CD*, seducta et oppressa
K edd., et pressa eras. E. Q exhibet et pressa sive edd 8 adhibens
CD*, adhibens etiam edd. Q exhibet adhibentes 9 descripsit CD*
edd., descripserunt Q 11 diffusa et manifestata] ABCDFHJKQdg
(manifesta cr), diffusus et manifestatus Eaehlopq edd. (manifestos
fe), diffusus est et manifestus wi, diffusus est n 50, 12 ac sic....
II manifestata est om. J congaudentes A, congaudete B, congaudet J,
congaudebat C comperta] BCQbcegj, id comperto
id ADEFHK
hkmopr (id om. hoc comperto /, eo comperto n edd., id comper-
rf),
tum Iq 12 sicut] +dum BCDEHJK edd 13 ita]+etiam edd
22 nisi]-fet edd
Catholic Church in Africa began to lift its head, having for

a long time lain prostrate, seduced, oppressed and overpow-
ered, while the heretics were gaining strength, especially the
rebaptizing Donatist party which comprised a large multitude
of the Africans. Even the heretics themselves gathered to-
gether and with the Catholics listened most eagerly to these
books and treatises which issued and flowed forth by the won-
derful grace of God, filled with abundance of reason and the
authority of Holy Scripture; each one also who would or
could bringing reporters and taking down what was said. And
thence throughout all Africa, the glorious doctrine and most
sweet savor of Christ was spread abroad and made manifest,
while the Church of God across the sea heard of it and also
rejoiced. For as when one member suffers, all the members
suffer with it, so when one member is honored, all the mem-
bers rejoice with it.
CHAPTER VIII
He is chosen bishop while Valerius is still living, and is or-
dained by the primate Megalius
But the blessed and aged Valerius rejoiced more than oth-
ers on this account and gave thanks to God for the special
blessing bestowed upon him. He began to fear, however, for
such is human nature, that Augustine would be sought for the
episcopal office and be taken from him by some other church
which lacked a bishop. And this would have happened, had
not the bishop himself, since he knew of it, taken care that he
should remove to a secret place, and had thus hidden him so
that he could not be found by those who sought him. But
since the venerable old man still feared this and realized that
he was aged and very infirm, he communicated by a secret let-
firmissimum, egit secretis litteris apud primatem episcoporum
Carthaginensem/ allegans imbecillitatem corporis sui aetatisque

gravitatem, et obsecrans ut Hipponensi ecclesiae ordinaretur
episcopus, quod suae cathedrae non tarn succederet, sed con-
5 sacerdos accederet Augustinus. Et quae optavit et rogavit
satagens rescripto impetravit. Et postea petito ad visitandum
el adveniente ad ecclesiam Hipponensem tune primate Numi-
diae Megalio Calamensi episcopo, 2 Valerio antistite, episcopis
qui forte tune aderant, et clericis omnibus Hipponensibus, et
10 universae plebi inopinatam cunctis suam insinuavit voluntatem:
omnibusque audientibus gratulantibus, atque id fieri perficique
ingenti desiderio clamantibus, episcopatum suscipere contra
morem Ecclesiae 8 suo vivente episcopo presbyter recusabat.
Dumque illi fieri solere ab omnibus suaderetur, atque id ignaro
15 transmarinis et Africanis
Ecclesiae exemplis provocaretur,
compulsus atque coactus succubuit et maioris loci ordinationem
suscepit. Quod in se postea fieri non debuisse, ut vivo episco-

po suo ordinaretur, et dixit et scripsit, propter concilii uni-
versalis vetitum, quod iam ordinatus edidicit: nee quod sibi
4
20 factum esse doluit, aliis fieri voluit. Unde etiam sategit, ut
5
conciliis constituereturepiscoporum, ab ordinatoribus debere
ordinandis vel ordinatis omnium statuta sacerdotum in noti-
tiam esse deferenda atque ita factum est.
4 quo CD*EFJK edd., qui DH sed] quam CD* 8 episcopo]+

et edd Valerius antistes CD*EH edd. Q exhibet valeric antistite
10 insinuante BJQ, insinuat CDEFHK, insinuat tune edd n
audien-
tibus]-|-et UK edd 15 probaretur BCD*EFHJKedd 16 succu-
buit] -|-et episcopatus curam edd. om
Q 17 Quod 60, 23 facie-
bant om. J suo episcopo CDEFHK edd 19 didicit BCDFK edd
20 sategit] DEFH edd., satis egit K, satagit ABC. satagit videtur
scripsisse Possidius sicut testantur codd. ABC. Dubitanter sategit
scvipsi codd. alias secutus 21 deberi E edd 23 atque.... est cum
sententia sequenti edd
ter with the Bishop of Carthage, the episcopal Primate, men-

tioning the weakness of his body and the burden of his years,
and beseeching that Augustine might be ordained bishop of the
church of Hippo, because he would not in that case then suc-
ceed to his office, but would be associated with him as coad-
jutor-bishop. And what he thus sought and desired he ob-

tained in a satisfactory answer. Later on, accordingly, when
Megalius, Bishop of Calama, and at that time primate of
Numidia, had come at his request to visit the church at Hippo,
unexpectedly to all the bishop Valerius made his desire known
to the bishops who happened at that time to be present, and
to all the clergy of Hippo and to all the people. But while all
who heard rejoiced and clamored most elageriy that this
should be done and accomplished, the presbyter refused to
accept the episcopate contrary to the custom of the Church,
since his bishop was still living. However, when they had con-
vinced him that this was generally done and had appealed to
examples from the churches across the sea as well as in
Africa, though he had been ignorant of it before, under com-
pulsion and constraint he yielded and accepted the ordination
to the higher office. Later he both said and wrote that this
should not have been done in his case, namely to ordain him
while his bishop was still living, because of the prohibition of
the Ecumenical Council of which he learned after his ordi-
nation for that which he regretted to have
;
had done in his case
he did not wish to have done to others. Therefore he en-
deavored to have decreed by the councils of the bishops
it
that the rules governing all the priests should be made known
by the ordaining bishops to those about to be ordained and

to those already ordained. And so it was done.
CAPUT IX
Pugnat cum Donatistis
Et episcopus multo instantius ac ferventius maiore auctori-
tate, non adhuc in una tantum regione, sed ubicunque rogatus
5 venisset, verbum salutis aeternae alacriter ac gnaviter pullu-

lante atque crescente Domini Ecclesia praedicabat, paratus
semper poscentibus, reddere rationem de fide et spe, quae in
Deum est.
1
Et eius dicta atque excepta, maxime Donatistae 2
in eadem Hipponensi vel vicina manentes civitate, ad suos
10 deferebant episcopos. Quae cum audissent et contra forte
aliquid dicerent, aut a suis refellebantur, aut eadem responsa
ad sanctum Augustinum deferebantur, eaque comperta pati-
enter et leniter (et ut scriptum est, cum timore et tremore
salutem hominum operabatur: 8 ostendens quam nihil refellere
15 illi voluerint ac valuerint, quamque verum manifestumque sit,
quod Ecclesiae Dei fides tenet ac didicit) et haec diebus ac
noctibus ab eodem
iugiter agebantur. Nam et epistolas pri-
vatas ad quosque eiusdem erroris episcopos, eminentes scili-
cet, et laicos dedit, ratione reddita admonens atque exhortans,
20 ut vel ab ilia se pravitate corrigerent vel certe ad disputationem
venirent. At illi causa diffidentiae ne quidem unquam rescri-
bere voluerunt, sed irati furiosa loquebantur, atque seductorem
deceptorem animarum Augustinum esse, et privatim et
et
publice conclamabant et ut lupum occidendum esse in defen-

;
25 sionem gregis sui, dicebant et tractabant: omniaque peccata a

Deo indubitanter esse credendum posse dimitti his, qui hoc
facere ac perficere potuissent, nee Deum timebant, nee homini-
bus erubescentes. Et ut eorum causae diffidentia cunctis in-
3 ut CDEF edd., at H 6 praedicaret edd. Q exhibet praedicabat

8 deo CHK 9 manente A 10 episcopos deferebant DEFHK,
episcopos referebant D*, referebant episcopos C Quae. .. .comperta]
quae vir beatus comperta CD* 12 ad] aut A eaque comperta]
ABDEFHKQbcrghjlmnqr, et quae comperta p, quae comperta k, eoque
comperto ae, eisque compertis o edd 13 ac leniter CDEFHK edd
14 omnium FK edd. QL vel M
exhibent hominum referre illi
B DEFHK, auferre C, illi refellere edd 16 dicit BDEF, docet CH

edd 18 et eminentes scilicet laicos edd. Q exhibet scilicet et
CHAPTER IX
He contends with the Donatists
As bishop he preached the Word of eternal salvation much

more earnestlyand fervently and with greater authority, no
longer in one district only, but wherever he went in answer to
requests, ready always to give an answer to every man that
asked of him a reason of the faith and hope which is toward
God. And the Church of the Lord flourished and grew rapidly
and strongly. The Donatists in particular, who lived in Hippo
and the neighboring towns, brought his addresses and writings
to their bishops. And if, when they had heard these, they
perchance made any reply, they were either refuted by their
own followers or else their replies were brought to the holy
Augustine; and when he had reviewed them patiently and
calmly (and, as it is written, he worked out the salvation of
men with fear and trembling, showing how they would and
could refute nothing and how true and manifest is that doc-
trine which the Church of God holds and has understood) on ;
these things he labored continually by day and by night. He

even wrote private letters to prominent bishops of this error
and to laymen, urging and exhorting them by the arguments
which he offered that they should either abandon the error
or at least enter into a discussion with him. In their distrust
they were never willing even to answer him in writing, but
in anger spoke furiously, privately and publicly declaring that
Augustine was a seducer and deceiver of souls. They said
and preached that the wolf must be killed in defence of their
flock, and neither fearing God nor ashamed before men, they
taught the people to believe that whoever should be able to do

this would undoubtedly have all his sins forgiven of God.
Meanwhile Augustine sought to make known to all their lack
21 causae diffidentia EH Sal. Mi 23 atque deceptorem H, om. K,

deceptoremque edd et privatim] et om. A 26 iis edd. Q exhibet
his 27 ac perficere om. A timentes CDEFHK edd 28 rever-
entes BQ causa diffidentiae BH
notesceret elaboravit, et publicis gestis conventi, non sunt ausi

conferre.
CAPUT X
Circumcellionum furor
5
Habebant etiam iidem Donatistae per suas pene omnes ec-
clesias inauditum hominum genus perversum ac violentum,
velut sub professione continentium ambulantes, qui Circum-
1
celliones dicebantur. Et erant in ingenti numero et turbis per
omnes fere Africanas regiones constituti. Qui malis imbuti
10 doctoribus audacia superba et temeritate illicita, nee suis, nee
alienis aliquando parcebant, contra ius fasque in causis inter-
cedentes hominibus: et nisi obedissent, damnis gravissimis et
caedibus afficiebantur, armati diversis telis, bacchantes per
agros villasque usque ad sanguinis effusionem accedere non
15 metuentes. Sed dum verbum Dei sedulo praedicaretur, et cum
his qui oderant pacem, pacis ratio haberetur, illi loquentem
debellabant gratis. Et cum adversus eorum dogma veritas
innotesceret, qui volebant et poterant, sese inde vel eripiebant
vel subducebant, et paci atque unitati Ecclesiae cum suis qui-
20 bus poterant cohaerebant. Unde illi sui erroris minui congre-
gationes videntes, atque augmentis Ecclesiae invidentes, ac-
censi exardescebant ira gravissima, et intolerabiles persecu-
tiones unitati Ecclesiae compactis faciebant ipsisque Catholicis
:
sacerdotibus et ministris aggressiones diurnas atque nocturnas,

25 direptionesque rerum omnium inferebant. Nam et multos Dei
7 circellionesABQ 9 pene CDEFK edd. Q exhibet fere in n

causis interdicentes Sal., incautis interdicentes Ben. Mi 13 affici-
ebant Ben. Mi 16 loquentes CDEFHK 17 et quam A, et qua B,
cumque edd 19 unitati] BCDEFHK edd., pax Ecclesiae atque unitas
paulo post scribit Possidius in capitulo undecimo, sanitati A
20 con-
gregationes minui edd 23 compacti B edd., cum pactis C facie-
bant] incipit G 56, 17 Quod faciebant om, J sacerdotibus
catholicis G edd., iustis catholicisque sacerdotibus H
of confidence in their own cause, and when they met in public

conferences they did not dare to debate with him.
CHAPTER X
The madness of the Circumcellions
These Donatists had in nearly all their churches an unusual

kind of men, perverse and violent, going about under a pro-
fession of continency, who were called Circumcellions. They
were very numerous and formed themselves into bands
throughout almost all the regions of Africa. Inspired by evil
teachers, in their insolent boldness and lawless temerity they
never spared either their own or strangers, and in violation of
right and justice deprived men of their civil rights and un-;
less menobeyed, they were visited with the severest losses and
injuries, when armed with every kind of weapon, the Circum-
cellions madly overran the farms and estates and did not even
hesitate to shed humanblood. But while the Word of God
was diligently preached,whenever any plan of peace was sug-
gested to those who hated peace, they freely assailed whoever
talked of it. And when, despite their teachings, the truth be-
came known, those who would and could do so either openly
tore themselves away from them or secretly withdrew and to-
gether with as many of their friends as they could obtain, ad-

hered to the peace and unity of the Church. As a result, see-
ing that the congregations of their error were growing smaller,
and being envious of the growth of the Church, these heretics
were inflamed and burned with fiercest wrath and with the
help of their confederates
began intolerable persecutions
against the unity of the Church. They made daily and nightly
attacks even upon the Catholic priests and ministers and
robbed them of all their possessions; and they crippled many
servos caedibus debilitaverunt. Aliquibus etiam calcem cum

2
aceto in oculos miserunt, aliosque occiderunt. Unde etiam
suis iidem Donatistae rebaptizatores in odium veniebant.
CAPUT XI
5 Profectus Ecclesiae per Augustinum
Proficiente porro doctrina divina, sub sancto et cum sancto
Augustino in monasterio Deo servientes, ecclesiae Hipponensi

clerici ordinari coeperunt. Ac deinde innotescente et clares-
cente de die in diem Ecclesiae Catholicae praedicationis veri-
10 tate, sanctorumque servorum Dei proposito, continentia et
paupertate profunda, ex monasterio quod per ilium memora-
bilem virum et esse et crescere coeperat, magno desiderio pos-
cere atque accipere episcopos et clericos pax Ecclesiae atque
unitas et coepit primo, et postea consecuta est. ferme Nam
1
15 decem erant quos ipse nobis sanctos ac venerabiles viros con-
tinentes et doctos beatissimus Augustinus diversis ecclesiis,
nonnullis quoque eminentioribus, rogatus dedit. Similiterque
et ipsi exsanctorum proposito venientes, Domini ecclesiis
illo
propagatis, et monasteria instituerunt, et studio crescente aedi-

20 ficationis verbi Dei, ceteris ecclesiis promotes fratres ad sus-
cipiendum sacerdotium praestiterunt. Unde per multos et in
multis salubris fidei, spei et caritatis Ecclesiae innotescente
doctrina, non solum per omnes Africae partes, verum etiam in
transmarinis, et libros editos atque in Graecum sermonem
2
25 translates, ab illo uno homine et per ilium multis, favente Deo,
6 proficientes BH
7 servientes] -f-et BH
9 ecclesia catholica P
10 continentiae continente paupertatem profundam P
CFG, 12 coe-
perit A 14 consequenda est A 15 erant om. BCDEFGHJK
edd
quos] episcopos CD* nobis] novi BGHK
edd., novus (?) eras. D
16 doctissimos CDEF edd beatus CDF edd continentes augus-
tinus om. HK 18 illorum CDEFK
Ben. Mi. Q exhibet illo 24 per
libros edd 25 multos BDGHK, a multis CF
of the servants of God by tortures. They also threw lime

mixed with vinegar in the eyes of some and others they
murdered. Wherefore these rebaptizing Donatists came to
be hated even by their own.
CHAPTER XI
Progress of the Church through Augustine
Now as the divine teachings prospered, the clergy in the
church at Hippo who had served God under and with the
holy Augustine in the monastery began to be ordained. And
the truth taught by the Catholic Church, the manner of life
of the holy servants of God, their continence and abject pov-
erty became more known and celebrated day by day. Then
the Church, for the sake of its peace and unity, first began to
demand with great eagerness bishops and clergy from the
monastery which had begun to exist and grow through the
efforts of that memorable man, and later obtained them. And
there were about ten men, holy and venerable, continent and
learned, whom the most blessed Augustine furnished in an-
swer to our request to various churches, some of them quite
prominent. And likewise these too who came from that fel-
lowship of holy men increased the churches of the Lord, and
also established monasteries, and as their zeal for the spread-
ing of the Word of God grew, they furnished other churches

with their brethren whom they promoted to the priesthood.^
Therefore the teaching of the salutary faith, hope and love of
the Church became known through many and to many, not
only throughout all parts of Africa, but even in the churches
across the sea, through the books which were edited and
translated into the Greek tongue. Thus by that one man, and
through him to many, by the grace of God it was all brought
cuncta innotescere meruerunt. Atque hinc, ut scriptum est,

peccator videns irascebatur, dentibus suis fremebat, et tabesce-
bat 3 servi autem tui, ut dictum est, cum his qui oderant pacem,
:
4
erant pacifici, et cum loquerentur, debellabantur gratis ab eis.
5 CAPUT XII
Augustinus paratas sibi insidias errore duc[a]toris devitat
Aliquotiens vero etiam vias armati iidem Circumcelliones

famulo Dei Augustino obsederunt, dum forte iret rogatus ad
visitandas, instruendas et exhortandas Catholicas plebes, quod
10 ipsum frequentissime faciebat. Et aliquando contigit ut illi
1
succenturiati hactenus perderent captionem: evenit enim Dei
quidem providentia, sed ducatoris 2 hominis errore, ut per aliam
viam cum suis comitibus sacerdos quo tendebat venisset, atque
3
per hunc postea cognovit errorem manus impias abisse, et
1 5 cum omnibus liberatori Deo gratias egit. Et omnino suo more
illi nee laicis nee clericis pepercerunt, sicut publica contestantur
gesta.
Inter ea silendum non est
quod ad laudem Dei per illius tarn
studium domusque Dei zelum 4 adversus
egregii in Ecclesia viri
20 praedictos rebaptizatores Donatistas gestum et perfectum est.
Cum forte unus ex his, 5 quos de suo monasterio et clero8 epis-
copos Ecclesiae propagaverat, ad suam curam pertinentem
Calamensis ecclesiae dioecesim visitaret, et quae didicerat
pro pace Ecclesiae contra illam haeresim praedicaret, factum
25 est, ut medio itinere eorum insidias incurrisset, et pervasum
2 multa CDHK
edd., multam F, cunctos B 2 frendebat GffK edd.
Q exhibet fremebat 3 tui] dei CEF edd. Q exhibet tui iis edd
8 contra famulum dei augustinum CDEJ edd. (augustino F). Q ex-

hibet famulo dei augustino 9 id ipsum H, ipsud K, etiam BG, ipse
CDEFJ edd 12 seductoris BCDFK, sed ductoris Sal 14 hunc]+
quemDEFGHJK edd abisse] evenisse B, evasisse C, evasisset
DEFGHJK edd 15 cum] -fin B edd egisset BDEFGHJK edd.,
egisse C omnino] sed C, et om. 7 edd
et 16 illi]-f furentes C
Sal 1 8 Inter ea 72, 10 proposueram om. HK, Inter ea 84, 2
veritate om. J 21 iis edd
to public knowledge. And so, as it is written, the wicked man

saw and was grieved he gnashed with his teeth and melted
it ;
away. But Thy servants, as it is said, were for peace with

those who hated peace and whenever they spoke they were
willingly overcome by them.
CHAPTER XII
By the error of his guide Augustine escapes an ambuscade
laid for him
But several times these Circumcellions, fully armed, beset

the roads even against Augustine, the servant of God, when, as
it chanced, he went on request to visit, instruct and exhort
the Catholic people, as he frequently did. Now it once hap-
pened that although they were out in full force, they yet failed
to capture him. For through the error of his guide and yet,
in fact,by the providence of God, it happened that the bishop
with his companions came to his destination by a different road,
and he learned later that through this error he had escaped
their impious hands, and together with he gave thanks to
all
God, the Deliverer. And they, according to their custom,

spared neither laymen nor clergy, as the public records witness.
In this connection we must not pass over in silence the
things which were done and accomplished to the glory of God
by the ardor of that man, so distinguished in the Church, and
in his zeal for thehouse of God, against the rebaptizing Do-
natists mentioned above. When, on one occasion, one of the
bishops he had furnished to the Church from his monastery
and clergy visited the diocese of the church of Calama which
was under his care and, for the peace of the Church, had
preached against the heresy such things as he had learned, it

happened that in the midst of his journey he fell into their
cum omnibus illi comitantibus, sublatis illis animalibus et rebus,

iniuriis et caede eum gravissima affecissent. De qua re ne
pacis amplius Ecclesiae provectus impediretur, defensor Ec-
clesiae inter legesnon siluit. 7 Et praeceptus est Crispinus, 8
5 qui hisdem Donatistis in Calamensi civitate et regione episco-
pus fuit, praedicatus scilicet multi temporis et doctus, ad
mulctam teneri aurariam publicis legibus contra haereticos con-
stitutam. Qui resultans legibus praesentatus cum apud pro-
consulem se negaret haereticum, oborta est necessitas, ut illi
10 recedente Ecclesiae defensore, 9 a Catholico episcopo resistere-

tur et convinceretur eum esse, quod se f uisse negaverat
quon- ;
iam ab eodem dissimularetur, forte Catholicus episcopus ab

si
ignorantibus haereticus crederetur, illo se quod erat negante,

10
atque ita ex hac desidia infirmis scandalum nasceretur. Et
15 memorabili Augustino antistite omnimodis instante, ad contro-
versiam ambo illi Calamenses episcopi venerunt, et de ipsa
11
diversa communione secum egerunt, magna
tertio conflictum
populorum Christianorum multitudine causae exitum et apud

Carthaginem et per totam Africam exspectante, atque ille est
12
20 Crispinus proconsulari et libellari sententia pronunciatus
haereticus. Pro quo ille apud cognitorem Catholicus episcopus
intercessit,ne auraria mulcta 13 exigeretur, et ei est beneficium
impetratum. Unde cum ingratus ad piissimum principem
provocasset, ab imperatore relatione debitum est responsum
25 solutum, et consequenter praeceptum, nullo prorsus loco haere-
ticos Donatistas esse debere, et eos ad vim legum omnium
contra haereticos latarum ubique teneri debere. Ex quo et
i illis om. BG edd 3 profectus CG, ecclesiae amplius impediretur

profectus edd 5 hisdem E, ab hisdem C, isdem DG, ab isdem D*,
isdem donatista B, eisdem edd 6 praedicator BQ scilicet] -j-et
BCDEFG edd edoctus BCD* 7 multum. .aurarium A, multam . .
DP 19 ille est Crispinus] ABDEFGbcdfghjkmnop,

est tr. post pro-
nunciatus Clq, ante pronunciatus edd., est om. er 20 libellari] ADE
Fefhjno edd., liberali BCGbcdgklmpq, proconsularis et libellaris sen-
tentiam r 22 intellexit A multa ADEFG
24 et ab DEF edd
relation! DEFG edd., et imperatorem relatione B 25 consequenter]
ABDEFbdefghjkmnpr, -\-est C, consecutum G, consecutum est edd.,
et consequens preceptum o, solitum et consequentem preceptum c, ex
consequent! precepto Iq
ambuscade, and although he escaped with all his companions,

the animals and baggage were taken from them and they left
him grievously injured and wounded. Wherefore, in order
that the progress of the peace of the Church might not be
further hindered, the defender of the Church was not silent
before the law. And
Crispinus, who was bishop of the Do-
natists in the city and region of Calama, for some time well
known and also a learned man, was admonished that he was
liable to the fine of gold fixed by the civil laws against heretics.
When he protested against the laws and was brought before
the proconsul, he denied that he was a heretic. Then it be-
came necessary, when the defender of the Church withdrew,
that he should be opposed by a Catholic bishop and be con-
victed of being what he denied he was; for if he had suc-
ceeded in his dissimulation, the ignorant perhaps would have
believed that the heretic was a Catholic bishop, since he de-
nied being what he was, and so a stumbling-block might have
been placed in the way of the weak because of this neglect.
And since the illustrious Bishop Augustine firmly insisted on
it, both the bishops of Calama met for discussion and for the
third time theymet in conflict concerning their different com-
munions, while a great multitude of Christians at Carthage
and throughout all Africa awaited the result of the case; and
Crispinus was pronounced a heretic by proconsular and libel-
lary sentence. But the Catholic bishop interceded with the
judge in his behalf that the fine of gold should not be exacted,
and the favor was obtained for him. But when he ungrate-
fully appealed to the most clement Prince, a final answer from
the Emperor was due to his appeal, and accordingly the order
was issued that the Donatist heretics should have no rights
in any place and that they should everywhere be held to the
full force of all the laws enacted against heretics. By this
14
iudex et officium, et idem Crispinus quod minime fuerit ex-
actus, praecepti sunt denas auri libras fisci iuribus inferre.
Sed protinus opera data est per Catholicos episcopos, prae-
cipue per sanctae memoriae Augustinum, ut ilia omnium con-
5 demnatio principis dimitteretur indulgentia. Et Domino adiu-
vante perfectum est. Qua diligentia et sancto studio multum
crevit Ecclesia.
CAPUT XIII
Pax Ecclesiae per Augustinum

IO Et de his omnibus pro pace Ecclesiae gestis, Augustino
Dominus et hie palmam dedit, et apud se iustitiae coronam 1
servavit: ac magis magisque, iuvante Christo, de die in diem
2
augebatur et multiplicabatur pacis unitas, Ecclesiae Dei fra-
ternitas. Et id maxime factum est post collationem, quae ab
15 universis episcopis Catholicis apud Carthaginem cum eisdem
Donatistarum episcopis postmodum facta est, id iubente glori-
osissimo et religiosissimo Imperatore Honorio, 3 propter quod
perficiendum etiam a suo latere tribunum et notarium Mar-
cellinum 4 ad Africam iudicem miserat. In qua controversia
2O illi omnimodis confutati, atque de errore a Catholicis convicti,
sententia cognitoris notati sunt, et post eorum appellationem
piissimi regis responso iniusti inter haereticos condemnati

sunt. Ex qua ratione solito amplius eorum episcopi cum suis
clericis et plebibus communicaverunt, et pacem tenentes Catho-
25 licam, multas eorum persecutiones usque ad membrorum am-
putationem et internecionem pertulerunt. Et totum illud bo-
4 commendatio A 12 reservavit CDEF edd 13 unitas]-|-et

DE*G edd ecclesiae dei fraternitas om. C 16 id iuvante DG, iu-
vante CD* 18 etiam om. BQ 19 ad] in Sal 22 iuste edd. Q
exhibet iniusti 23 episcopi cum] episcopum A
order also, the judge and the officers of his court and Crispi-
nus himself, though he had not previously been compelled
to pay, were all enjoined to pay ten pounds of gold to the
credit of the treasury. Immediately every effort was made by
the Catholic bishops, and especially by Augustine of holy
memory, that this condemnation of all should be withdrawn
through the indulgence of the Emperor. With the aid of the
Lord thiswas accomplished. Through this vigilance and holy
zeal the Church increased greatly.
CHAPTER XIII
Peace of the Church through Augustine
For all these labors for the peace of the Church the Lord
gave the palm to Augustine in this life and reserved with Him-
self the crown of righteousness for him. And more and more
by the aid of Christ, the unity of peace, that is, the fraternity
of the Church of God, grew and multiplied from day to day.
This was especially advanced after the conference which was
held a little later at Carthage by all the Catholic bishops with
these same bishops of the Donatists at the command of the
most glorious and devout Emperor Honorius, who, in order
to bring this about, had sent the tribune and notary Marcel-
linus from his own court to Africa as judge. In this confer-
ence they were completely silenced, and being convicted of
error by the Catholics, were reprimanded by sentence of the
judge. After their appeal these unrighteous men were con-
demned as heretics by the rescript of the most pious Ruler.
For this reason their bishops, more than before, together with
their clergy and people, enjoyed our communion, maintained
the Catholic peace and endured many persecutions even to the
loss of life and limb. And this good was begun and com-
num, ut dixi, per sanctum ilium hominem consentientibus nos-

tris coepiscopis et pariter satagentibus, et coeptum et perfec-
tum est.
CAPUT XIV
5 Emeritus episcopus Donatista superatus
Porro autem quoniam post illam quae cum Donatistis facta
1
est collationem, non defuerunt qui dicerent permissos non
fuisse eosdem episcopos apud potestatem, quae causam audivit,
dicere omnia pro suis partibus, quoniam Catholicae communi-
10 onis cognitor suae favebat Ecclesiae: licet hoc deficientes et
victi ad excusationem iactarent, quandoquidem et ante con-
troversiam iidem haeretici Catholicae communionis eundem
esse noverant, et dum
ab eodem convenirentur publicis gestis,
quo ad emulationem occurrerent, et se facturos prosecuti sunt.
15 Poterant utique suspectum eum habentes, recusare congressum.
Tamen omnipotentis Dei praestitit auxilium, ut postea in Cae-
2
sariensi Mauritaniae civitate constitutus venerabilis memoriae
Augustinus, quo eum venire cum
eius coepiscopis sedis
aliis
apostolicae litterae compulerunt, ob terminandas videlicet alias

20 Ecclesiae necessitates: hac ergo occasione provenit, ut Emeri-
tum 8 eiusdem Donatistarum episcopum, quern suae sectae
loci
praecipuum habuerunt defensorem, videret et

in ilia collatione
cum eodem publice in ecclesia populo astante diversae com-
munionis ex hoc ipso disputaret et provocaret gestis ecclesias-
25 ticis ut quod forte, sicut dicebant, prosequi potuit in collatione,
:
et permissus non erat, in praesenti sine alicuius potestatis pro-

hibitione aut impotentia, securus dicere minime dubitaret: et
in sua civitate suis omnibus praesentibus civibus fiducialiter
i BQ
nostris om. quo episcopis E, episcopis CDFG edd 7 col-
latio G consolationem F, ccmsolatio B
edd., 13 cum edd. Q exhibet
dum convincerentur BCD* 14 quod ad collationem CDEFG edd.,
quae ad collationem B et se]+esse CDF, et esse E, et G, se esse
edd 15 congressu A 19 compulerant edd. Q exhibet compulerunt
26 sed edd. Q exhibet et 27 potentia BCDEFG edd
pleted, as I said, by that holy man, while our fellow-bishops

consented and were equally pleased.
CHAPTER XIV
Emeritus, a Donatist bishop, overcome
Yet after the conference which was held with the Donatists,
there were not lacking those who declared that these bishops
had not been permitted speak fully and freely for their
to
sect before the magistrate who heard the case, since the judge,
who was of Catholic communion, favored his own Church.
But is was only after they had failed and were defeated that
they offered this excuse, since these heretics knew before the
discussion was held that he was of the Catholic communion,
and when they were summoned by him to the public debate
for the purpose of discussion, they agreed to do it. Surely, if
they had held him under suspicion, they could have refused to
attend. Nevertheless the help of Almighty God revealed it-
self, for Augustine of venerable
memory stopped a while later
Caesarea in Mauretania to which letters from the
in the city of
Apostolic See constrained him to go with others of his fellow-

bishops, evidently for the purpose of settling further difficulties
of the Church. Thus it happened on this occasion that he met
Emeritus, the Donatist bishop of that place, whom they re-
garded as the chief defender of their sect at the conference,
and held a discussion with him publicly in the church, while
the people of the different communions were present. He
challenged them by the ecclesiastical records in order that
whatever perchance, as they said, Emeritus might have been
able to offer in the conference and had not been permitted to
offer, he might now not hesitate to say with security and without
the interference or violence of any magistrate, and should not
refuse to defend his own communion with all confidence in his
propriam defendere communionem non denegasset. Ille nee

hac hortatione, nee suorum parentum et civium instanti peti-
tione id facere voluit, qui ei pollicebantur se ad eius redituros
communionem, etiam cum discrimine patrimoniorum salutis-
5 que suae temporalis, si modo Catholicam superaret assertionem.

At ille amplius dicere illis gestis nihil voluit, nee valuit, nisi
tantum: "lam ilia gesta continent, quae apud Carthaginem
inter episcopos sunt confecta, utrum vicerimus an victi fueri-
mus." 4 Et alio loco dum a notario ut responderet admonere-
10 tur, ait, et cum reticeret,
5
factaque eius cunctis manifestata
diffidentia, Ecclesiae Dei augmenta ac firmamenta provenerunt.
Quisquis ergo diligentiam et operam beatissimae memoriae
Augustini pro Ecclesiae Dei statu cognoscere plenius voluerit,
etiam ilia percurrat gesta: et inveniet quae vel qualia protul-
15 erit, quibus ilium doctum, eloquentem, et praedicatum homi-
nem provocarit hortatusque fuerit, ut pro suae defensione
partis quod vellet ediceret, illumque victum cognoscet.
CAPUT XV
Digressione concionantis conversus negotiator
20 nomine Firmus
Scio item non solus ipse, verum etiam alii fratres et con-
servi, qui nobiscum tune intra Hipponensem ecclesiam cum
eodem sancto viro vivebant, nobis ad mensam constitutis eum
dixisse: "Advertistis hodie in ecclesia meum sermonem, eius-
25 que initium et finem contra meam consuetudinem processisse,
quoniam non earn rem terminatam explicuerim quam propo-
i denegaret edd.Q exhibet denegasset neque CDEF

edd. 2
oratione BDQ7 iam illa]-f-inquit edd quae om. BCDEFG
edd
8 sunt om. BCDEFG
edd 9 dum a notario ut responderet admoner-
etur, ait, et cum reticeret, factaque eius cunctis] DEbgnp, respondere
h, admoneretur ut responderet m, admonetur c, nihil ait B, tacuit C,
dum Fk, facta AGe, facta qua eis r, manifesta Ce, et reticeret facta
eius cunctis o, dum a notario alio ut responderet admoneretur et cum
reticeret eius cunctis manifestata est diffidentia d, admoneretur omnino
reticuit sic eius cunctis /;, alio loco cum reticeret et dum a notario
ut responderet admoneretur ait Fac. Qua eius cunctis Iq, admoneretur
own city and in the presence of

his fellow-townsmen. Not-
all
withstanding this
encouragement and the urgent entreaty of his
parents and townsmen, he was not willing to do so, although
they promised him that they would return to his communion
even at the risk of their property and temporal welfare, if
only he would overthrow the Catholic argument. But he was
neither willing nor able to add anything more to these records
except only to say "Those records of what was done by the
:
bishops at Carthage contain the proof of whether we were

victors or vanquished." At another time, when urged by a
reporter to answer, he spoke, and then when he was silent his
position became evident to all through his embarrassment,
while the growing strength of the Church of God was revealed.
Whoever, therefore, wishes to learn more about the diligence
and labor of Augustine, of most blessed memory, for the wel-
fare of the Church of God, let him run through these records.
He will find what sort of arguments he produced to provoke
and persuade that learned, eloquent and illustrious man to state
whatever he wished in defence of his sect; and he will learn
that Emeritus was defeated.
CHAPTER XV
A merchant, Firmus by name, converted by a digression in
Augustine's sermon
I know also, and not I only but also my brethren and fel-
low-servants who wereat that time living together with the
holy man in the church at Hippo, that when we were seated

at the table he said: "Did you take notice of my sermon in
the church to-day, that both the beginning and end worked
out contrary to my usual custom ? For I did not explain to its
conclusion the subject which I had propounded but left it in
et reticeret, eius cunctis manifestata edd 23 bibebant A nobis]

-[-pariter CG edd., nobiscum DBF 26 explicui BCDEF
sueram, sed pendentem reliquerim." Cui respondimus: "Ita

nos in tempore miratos fuisse scimus et recognoscimus." At
ille: "Credo, ait, forte aliquem errantem in populo Dominus
1
per nostram oblivionem et errorem doceri et curari voluerit:
5 in cuius manu sumus et nos et sermones nostri. Nam cum
propositae quaestionis latera pertractarem, in aliud sermonis
excursu perrexi, atque ita non clausa vel explicata quaestione,
disputationem terminavi magis adversus Manichaeorum er-
rorem, unde nihil dicere decreveram disputans, quam de his
10 quae asserere proposueram." Et post haec, nisi fallor, ecce
alia die vel post biduum venit 2
quidam Firmus nomine, nego-
tiator, et intra monasterium sedenti sancto Augustino nobis
coram, ad pedes genibus provolutus sese iactavit lacrimas
fundens, et rogans ut pro suis delictis sacerdos cum sanctis
15 Dominum precaretur, confitens quod Manichaeorum sectam
secutus fuisset, et in ea quamplurimis annis vixisset, et pro-
pterea pecuniam multam ipsis Manichaeis vel eis, quos dicunt
incassum erogasset: ac se in ecclesia Dei misericordia
electos,
fuisse tractatibus nuper correctum atque Catholicum
eius
20 factum.
Quod et ipse venerabilis Augustinus, et nos qui tune
aderamus, ab eodem diligenter inquirentes ex qua re potissi-
mum illo tractatu sibi fuerit satisfactum, et referente nobisque
omnibus sermonis seriem recognoscentibus, profundum consil-
ium Dei pro salute animarum admirantes et stupentes, glori-
25 ficavimus sanctum eius nomen et benediximus 3 qui cum volue- :
rit, et unde voluerit, et quomodo voluerit, et per scientes et

4
per nescientes salutem operatur animarum. Et ex eo ille
3 credo ait forte] ABCDEFGQbcefghjhnnopqr, ait aliquem dk, ait

quod forte edd 5 sunt BCDEFG 6 latera] ABCDEFGQ
edd
bcdefgjklmnopqr, latebras edd 7 conclusa BCDEFG edd 8 ad-
versum G edd 9 us edd 64, 18 Inter ea....io proposueram om.
HK 12 sedente B edd 13 pedes]-feius CE edd 15 deprecaretur
K edd 22 in illo D* edd., in illo potissimum tractatu C eo refer-
ente B, referente illo CH, referente eo edd
suspense." To which we replied, "Yes, we know it and re-

member that we wondered at it at the time." Then he said,
"I suppose that perhaps the Lord wished some wanderer
among the people to be taught and healed by our forgetfulness
and error; for in His hands are we and all our utterances.
For while I was investigating the margins of the question pro-
posed, by a digression of speech I passed over to something
else and so, without finishing or explaining the question, I
ended my discourse by attacking the error of the Manichaeans,
about which I had intended to say nothing in my discussion,
rather than by speaking about those things which I had in-
tended to explain." And after this, unless I am mistaken, lo,
on the next day or the day after, there came a certain mer-
chant, Firmus by name, to the holy Augustine, who was seated
in the monastery, and in our presence fell down on his knees
and prostrated himself at his feet, shedding tears and asking
that the priest and his holy companions intercede with the
Lord for his sins. For he confessed that he had followed the
sect of the Manichaeans, had lived in it for many years and
so had paid out much money in vain to the Manichaeans, or
rather to those whom they call the Elect; but recently by the
mercy of God he had been in the church and was converted
and made a Catholic by Augustine's sermons. And when the
venerable Augustine and we who were with him at the time
inquired diligently of the man by what thing in the sermon he
had been especially satisfied, he told us and we all recalled the
course of the sermon. Wondering and marvelling at the pro-
found plan of God for the salvation of souls, we glorified and
blessed His holy Name; for when He wishes and by whom
He wishes and in whatever way He wishes, by those who know
and those who do not know, He works the salvation of souls.
And from that time on this man held fast to the manner of
homo proposito servorum Dei adhaerens, negotiations dimisit

actionem, et proficiens in Ecclesiae membris, in alia regione
ad presbyterii quoque Dei voluntate petitus et coactus accessit
officium, tenens atque custodiens propositi sanctitatem: et
5 forte adhuc usque in rebus humanis vivat trans mare consti-
tutus.
CAPUT XVI
Manichaeorum exsecrandae turpitudines detectae
Apud Carthaginem quoque, dum per quendam domus regiae

1
IO procuratorem nomine Ursum, fidei Catholicae hominem, ad
quosdam Manichaeorum, quos electos vel electas dicunt, prae-
sentes perveniretur, atque ad ecclesiam ab eodem deducerentur
2
et perducerentur ab episcopis, ad tabulas auditi sunt. Inter
quos etiam sanctae memoriae Augustinus fuit, qui prae ceteris
15 illam exsecrabilem sectam noverat, et eorum prodens eiusmodi
damnabiles blasphemias ex locis librorum, quos illi accipiunt
Manichaei, usque ad confessionem earundem blasphemiarum
eos perduxit: et quae illi suo maiore malo indigna et turpia
facere consueverunt, feminarum illarum velut electarum pro-
20 ditione, illis gestis declaratum est.
ecclesiasticis Atque ita
pastorum diligentia dominico gregi et augmentum accessit, et
adversus fures atque latrones defensio competens procurata est.
Cum quodam etiam Felice 3 de numero eorum quos electos
dicunt Manichaei, publice in Hipponensi ecclesia notariis ex-
25 cipientibus disputavit populo astante: et post secundam vel
tertiam collationem ille Manichaeus frustrata 4 vanitate et er-
5 vivit BGHK edd., vitat DF, victitat CD* 9 Apud 88, 14

feceram om. HK 15 illam om. BQ 18 quae] -{-inter se BCDEFG
edd maiore] more BCEFG edd., mere D
lifeof the servants of God, gave up his business as merchant

and progressing among the members of the church, by the will
of God he was called and constrained in another region to
enter the office of presbyter, wherein he maintained and perse-
vered in his sanctity of life. And perhaps he is still in active
life across the sea.
CHAPTER XVI
The accursed and shameful practices of the Manichaeans
laid bare
At Carthage also when a certain procurator of the royal

house, Ursus by name, and a man of the Catholic faith, had
come into an assembly of certain Manichaeans whom they call
Elect, both men and women, and when they had been led away
by him to the church and were examined by the bishops, they
were given a hearing with formal record. Among these bishops
was also Augustine, of holy memory, who knew the accursed
sect better than the others did, and. by disclosing their damnable
blasphemies from places in the books which the Manichaeans
accept he even brought them to a confession of the same. The
base and unworthy things they practiced to their own great
harm are revealed in the ecclesiastical records through the
disclosures of those women Elect indeed. And so by the
watchfulness of the shepherds an increase was made in the
Lord's flock and strong defence was maintained against the
thieves and robbers.
With a certain Felix, also a member of those whom the
Manichaeans call Elect, Augustine argued in public in the
church at Hippo while the people were present and the re-
porters took down the record. After the second or third meet-
ing the emptiness and error of the sect were exposed and that
rore ipsius sectae, ad nostram conversus est fidem atque Ec-

clesiam, sicut eadem relecta docere poterit scriptura.
5
CAPUT XVII
Pascentius comes Arianus in collatione revincitur
5 Praeterea cum quodam etiam Pascentio 1 comite domus regiae

2
Ariano, qui per auctoritatem suae personae fisci vehementis-
simus exactor, fidem Catholicam atrociter ac iugiter oppugna-
bat, et quamplurimos sacerdotes Dei simpliciores fide viventes,
dicacitate et potestate exagitabat et perturbabat, interpositis
10 honoratis et nobilibus viris, apud Carthaginem ab illo provo-
catus, coram contulit. Sed idem haereticus tabulas atque
stilum, quod magister noster et ante congressum, et in con-
gressu instantissime fieri omni modo re-

volebat, ne adessent
cusavit. Et dum id pernegasset, dicens quod legum metu pub-
15 licarum periclitari talibus scriptis nollet, atque interpositis
Augustinus episcopus, cum suis qui aderant con-
adplicaret, et
sacerdotibus videretur ut absque ilia scriptura privatim dis-
putarent, collationem suscepit: praedicens, ut postmodum
contigit, quod post solutum conventum esse cuiquam posset
20 liberum forte dicere, nullo scripturae documento, se dixisse
quod forte non dixerit, vel non dixisse quod dixerit. Et mis-
cuit cum eodem sermonem, atque asseruit quid crederet, et ab
illo teneret, audivit, et vera ratione atque auctoritate Scriptura-
rum prolata docuit et ostendit nostrae fidei firmamenta: illius
25 autem asserta nulla veritate, nulla Scripturarum sanctarum
auctoritate suffulta docuit et frustravit. Et ut a se invicem
8 simpliciore simpliciori CD* edd

BEFG, 9 ac potestate edd
12 quas BQ, quo C
magis noster LM
13 recusabat BF* edd., recu-
sabit F 14 metu/ legum D, metuum legum F, metu legum edd 15
tabulis CDF edd 16 adplicare B, id placere CDEFG edd et om.
BCDEFG edd 17 videret EFG edd ulla CDEFG edd 24 pro-
bata edd. Q exhibet prolata
Manichaean was converted to our faith and Church, as these

writings will show if they are consulted.
CHAPTER XVII
Pascentius, an Arian Count, is refuted in public debate
Moreover there was also a certain Pascentius, a Count of

the royal house and an Arian, who was a most energetic col-
lector of the taxes. By reason of the authority of his posi-
tion he attacked the Catholic faith violently and persistently
and by and power tormented and annoyed many
his raillery
of the more simple priests of God who were living by faith.
Challenged by him, Augustine met him at Carthage in the
presence of honored and notable men. The heretic utterly re-
fused to have tablets and a pen at hand, as our teacher, both
before and in the meeting, urgently insisted should be done.
And since he refused this, saying that he was unwilling through
fear of the public laws to be exposed to danger by such rec-
ords, and appealed to the bystanders, the Bishop Augustine
took up the discussion, because it seemed best to his fellow-
bishops who were present that they should debate in private
and without written records. He prophesied, however, as af-
terwards happened, that since there was no record in writing,
after the conclusion of the conference anyone who wished
could freely say that he had said what perchance he had not
said or had not said what he had said. Augustine then joined
in debate with him, and after stating what he believed and
hearing from him what he held, by true reasoning and by
producing the authority of the Scriptures he explained and
proved the foundations of our faith. And the statements of
Pascentius, being supported neither by truth nor by the author-
ity of the Holy Scriptures, were explained and refuted. And
8o SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
partes digressae sunt, ille magis magisque iratus et furens,

mendacia multa pro sua falsa fide iactabat, victum esse a
seipso proclamans, multorum ore laudatum Augustinum. Quae
cum minime laterent, coactus est ad ipsum scribere Pascen-
5 tium, propter illius metum omissis nominibus conferentium,
et in eis litteris quidquid inter partes dictum vel gestum fuerat
fideliter intimavit, ad ea si negarentur probanda magnam tes-
tium habens copiam, clarissimos scilicet atque honorabiles, qui
tune aderant, viros. Atque ille ad duo sibi directa scripta,
10 unum vix reddidit rescriptum, in quo magis iniuriam facere,
quam suae sectae rationem valuit declarare. Quod volentibus
et valentibus legerecomprobatur.
Cumipsorum quoque Arianorum episcopo quodam Maxi-
mino 8 cum Gothis ad Africam veniente, apud Hipponem quam
15 pluribus volentibus, petentibus et praeclaris interpositis viris
4
contulit, et quid singulae asseruerint partes, scriptum est.
Quae si studiosi diligenter legere curaverint, procul dubio in-
dagabunt, vel quid callida et irrationabilis haeresis ad seducen-

dum et decipiendum profiteatur vel quid Ecclesia Catholica de
20 divina teneat et praedicet Trinitate. Sed quoniam ille haere-
ticus de Hippone rediens ad Carthaginem, de sua multa in
collatione loquacitate victorem se de ipsa collatione recessisse
iactavit, et mentitus est (qui utique non facile a divinae legis
ignaris examinari et diiudicari posset) a venerabili Augustino

25 sequent! temporis, stilo et illius totius collationis de singulis
obiectis et responsis facta est recapitulatio : et quam nihil ille
2 fide sua falsa DF edd., sua fide falsa E na volentibus et a

valentibus edd 15 plurimis D*F edd. Q exhibet pluribus et pe-
tentibus DEF, atque petentibus edd et om. CDEF 17 iudicabunt
BD 21 de sua in collatione om. CD* 22 loquacitate collatione
om. AB recessisse] heresi se A 23 quae CDEFG edd 24 pos-
sent CDEF edd., possint G vcnerabili]-f viro BEkp edd 25 ?e-
quenti temporis] ABCDEFGbcdghknpr, sequenti tempore efj, sequentis
temporis Imoq edd. Ad sensum implendum puncto out aliud huiusmodi
verbum inter sequenti et temporis desideratum
from each other, he became more and

as the parties separated
more angry and enraged and threw out many lies in defense
of his false faith, declaring that Augustine, though praised by
the voice of many, had really been defeated by him. Since
this could not be kept from public notice, Augustine was com-
pelled to write to Pascentius himself, omitting, because of the

latter's fear, the names of those who had attended the con-
ference. In these letters he faithfully set forth everything
which had been said and done by both parties; and to prove
these things, if they should be denied, he had ready a great
multitude of witnesses, illustrious and honorable men, who
had been present on that occasion. In answer to two letters
directed to him, Pascentius returned but one meager reply in
which he managed to offer insults rather than to declare the
opinion of his sect. This is acknowledged by those who are
able and willing to read [the letter] .
With a bishop of these Arians, a certain Maximinus, who

came to Africa with the Goths, he held a conference at Hippo,
since many men desired and requested it and were
illustrious
also present. And what each party asserted is recorded. If
the studious will take the trouble to read the records carefully,
they will surely discover what this crafty and unreasonable
heresy professes in order to seduce and deceive and what the
Catholic Church maintains and teaches regarding the divine
Trinity. But when the heretic returned from Hippo to Car-
thage and because of his great loquacity in the conference as-
serted that he had returned victorious from the debate and
lied (and as, of course, he could not be easily examined and
judged by those who were ignorant of the divine Law), the
venerable Augustine at a later time with his own pen made a
recapitulation of the separate charges and answers of the en-
tire conference. And although Maximinus was unable to offer
obiectis referre potuerit, nihilominus demonstratum est, ad-

ditis supplementis, quae in tempore collationis angusto inferri
et scribiminime potuerunt. Id enim egerat nequitia hominis,
ut sua novissima prosecutione multum longissima, totum quod
5 remanserat diei spatium occuparet.
CAPUT XVIII
Pelagianistae novi haeretici expugnati et condemnati

1
Adversus Pelagianistas quoque novos nostrorum temporum
haereticos et disputatores callidos, arte magis subtili et noxia
10 scribentes, et ubicunque poterant publice et per domes loquen-
2
tes, per annos ferme decem elaboravit, librorum multa condens
et edens, et in ecclesia populis ex eodem errore frequentissime
disputans. Et quoniam iidem perversi sedi apostolicae per

suam ambitionem eandem perfidiam persuadere conabantur,
15 instantissime etiam conciliis Africanis sanctorum episcoporum
gestum est,ut sancto papae urbis, et prius venerabili Innocen-
3 4
tio, et postea sancto Zosimo eius successor! persuaderetur,
quam ilia secta a fide Catholica et abominanda et damnanda
fuisset. At tantae sedis antistites, suis diversis temporibus
illi
20 eosdem notantes, atque a membris Ecclesiae praecidentes, datis

litteris ad Africanas Occidentis et ad Orientis partis ecclesias,
eos anathematizandos et devitandos ab omnibus Catholicis cen-
suerunt. Et tale de illis Ecclesiae Dei Catholicae prolatum
iudicium, etiam piissimus Imperator Honorius audiens ac se-
25 quens, suis eos legibus damnatos inter haereticos haberi debere
constituit. Unde nonnulli ex eis ad sanctae matris Ecclesiae
gremium, unde resiluerant, redierunt et adhuc alii redeunt, in-
2 angusto ]-|-cuncta CDEFG edd *

augusto ABD*E, augustino
4 multo CDEFG edd. Q exhibet multum n elaborabat B, labor-
avit C edd 12 et (2) om. A 21 litteris] +et DEFG edd., et africanis
et occidentis partibus ecclesiis B, occidentes et orientes ecclesias G,
occidentis et orientis E
22 anathemandos edd. DF Q
exhibet ana-
thematizandos 25 damnandos et BQ
27 resiluerant] ABE*G,
resilierant CDEF* edd
any reply to the charges, nevertheless supplements were added

and the things which could not be introduced and written in
the short time of the conference were made clear; for the
craftiness of the man led him to occupy the entire part of the
day which remained with his last and by far his longest speech.
CHAPTER XVIII
Heretics of the new Pelagian sect overcome
and condemned
Against the Pelagians also, new heretics of our time and

who wrote with an art even more subtle and
skilful debaters,
noxious, and spoke whenever they could, in public and in

homes against these he labored for almost ten years, writing
and publishing many books and very frequently arguing in the
church with people of that error. When they perversely tried
through their flattery to persuade the Apostolic See of their
false doctrine, it was most positively resolved by [successive]
African councils of holy bishops first to convince the venerable
Innocent, the holy Pope of the city, and his successor, the holy
Zosimus, that this sect ought to be abominated and condemned
by the Catholic faith. And the bishops of that great See at
various times censured them and cut them off from the mem-
bership of the Church, and in letters sent to the African
churches of the West and to the churches of the East decreed
that they should be anathamatized and shunned by all Catho-
lics. When the most pious Emperor Honorius heard of this
judgment which had been passed upon them by the Catholic
Church of God, influenced by it, he in turn decreed that they
should be condemned by his laws and should be regarded as
heretics. Accordingly some of them returned to the bosom of
the holy mother Church from which they had withdrawn.
notescente et praevalescente adversus ilium detestabilem er-

rorem rectae fidei veritate.
Et erat ille memorabilis vir praecipuum dominici corporis
membrum, circa universalis Ecclesiae utilitates sollicitus sem-
5 per ac pervigil. Et illi divinitus donatum est, ut de suorum
laborum fructu, etiam in hac vita gaudere provenisset, prius
quidem in Hipponensi Ecclesiae regione, cui maxime praeside-
pace perfecta, deinde in aliis Africae partibus,
bat, imitate ac
sive per seipsum, sive per alios, et quos ipse dederat sacer-
10 dotes, pullulasse et multiplicatam fuisse Domini Ecclesiam
pervidens, illosque Manichaeos, Donatistas, Pelagianistas et
paganos ex magna parte defecisse, et Ecclesiae Dei sociatos
esse congaudens. Provectibus quoque et studiis favens erat,
5
bonorum omnium, indisciplinationes pie ac sancte
et exsultans
15 tolerans fratrum, ingemiscensque de iniquitatibus malorum,

sive eorum qui intra Ecclesiam, sive eorum qui extra Eccles-
iam sunt constituti, dominicis, ut dixi, lucris semper gaudens,
et damnis maerens.
Tanta autem ab eodem dictata et edita sunt, tantaque in ec-
20 clesia disputata, excepta atque emendata, vel adversus di-
versos haereticos, vel ex canonicis libris exposita ad aedifica-
tionem sanctorum Ecclesiae filiorum, ut ea omnia vix quisquam
studiosorum perlegere et nosse sufficiat. Verumtamen ne
veritatis verbi avidissimos in aliquo fraudare videamur, statui
25 Deo praestante in huius opusculi fine etiam eorundem librorum,
tractatuum et epistolarum Indiculum* adiungere quo lecto qui :
magis Dei veritatem quam temporales amant divitias, sibi quis-

que quod voluerit ad legendum eligat, et id ad describendum,
vel de bibliotheca Hipponensis ecclesiae petat, ubi emendatiora
2 sectae A, om. C 64, 18 Inter ea veritate om. J 4 utilitate

FG, utilitatem CDE edd 7 in hipponensi ecclesiae et regione B, in
hipponensis ecclesise et regione CD, et eras. D*, in hipponense ecclesiae
et regione F, in hipponensi ecclesia et regione edd 13 profectibus
BD*FG edd 14 ac sancte om. A 16 extra earn A 20 diversos
om. BF edd 21 haereticos]+conscripta edd 23 Verumtamen
90, 24 arbitrabatur om. J 25 finem DFG 27 sibi] sive CDFG
28 legendum]-f et cognoscendum CDEFG edd
And others are still returning as the truth of the right faith
shines forth and prevails against the detestable error.
The memorable man, a noble member of the Lord's body,
was ever solicitous and watchful for the advantage of the uni-
versal Church. To him it was divinely granted that from the
fruit of his labors he should find joy even in this life, first be-
cause unity and peace were established in the part of the
Church around Hippo over which he had special jurisdiction,
and then in the other parts of Africa, either by his own efforts
or by others, and through priests whom he himself had fur-
nished. Moreover, he found joy in seeing the Church of the
Lord increase and multiply and in seeing the Manichaeans,
Donatists, Pelagians and pagans for the most part diminishing
and becoming united with the Church of God. He also de-
lighted in the pursuit of his studies and rejoiced in all good.
In kindness he bore with the shortcomings of his brethren and
mourned over the iniquities of the wicked, whether of those
within the Church or of those without, always rejoicing, as I
said, in the Lord's gains and sorrowing over His losses.
And so many things were dictated and published by him
and so many things were discussed in the church, written down
and amended, whether against various heretics or expounded
from the canonical books for the edification of the holy sons
of the Church, that scarcely any student would be able to read
and know them all. However, lest we seem in any way to de-
prive those whoare very eager for the truth of his word, I
have determined, with the aid of God, to add also an Indiculus
of these books, homilies and epistles at the end of this little
work. When those who love the truth of God more than
temporal riches have read this, each may choose for himself
what he wishes to read. And in order to copy them let him
seek them either from the library of the church of Hippo,
exemplaria forte potuerint inveniri, vel unde valuerit inquirat,

et inventa describat et habeat, et petentiad describendum sine
invidia etiam ipse tribuat.
CAPUT XIX
5 In causis audiendis quomodo se gesserit Augustinus
Secundum Apostoli quoque sententiam, dicentis, Audet quis-

quam vestrum adversus alterum negotium habens iudicare ab
non apud sanctos? An nescitis quia sancti de mun-
iniquis, et
do iudicabunt? Et si in vobis iudicatur mundus, indigni estis
10 iudiciorum minimorumf Nescitis quoniam angelos iudicabi-
mus, nedum secularia? Secularia indicia si habueritis inter vos,
eos qui contemptibiles sunt in Ecclesia, hos collocate ad iudican-
dum. Ad reverentiam vobis loquor. Sic non est inter vos
quisquam sapiens qui possit inter fratrem suum iudicare, sed
15 f rater cum
fratre iudicio contendit, et hoc apud infideles* In-
terpellatus ergo a Christianis vel a cuiusque sectae hominibus
causas audiebat 2 diligenter ac pie: cuiusdam sententiam ante
oculos habens, dicens se malle inter incognitos, quam inter
amicos causas audire: eo quod de incognitis, pro quo arbitra
20 aequitate iudicaretur, amicum posset acquirere de amicis vero :
unum esset, contra quern sententia proferretur, perditurus. Et

eas aliquando usque ad horam refectionis, aliquando autem
tota die ieiunans, semper tamen noscebat et dirimebat, inten-
dens in eis Christianorum momenta animorum, quantum quis-
25 que vel in fide bonisque moribus proficeret, vel ab his deficeret.
i potuerunt E, poterunt edd. Q exhibet potuerint voluerit A vo

in rasura, valuerint F 7 iudicari DEFG edd 8 mundum CDEFG
edd 9 Et minimorum om. A, add. A* nobis A* iudicabitur
A*D sunt A*BG 10 quam BC, quia DF edd II nec-
dum BDG, quanto magis CD* SeculariaJ+igitur BCDEFG edd
12 ad iudicandum om. BN14 diiudicare DFG edd sed con-
tendit om. D, add. D* 15 iudicio om. BQ, diiudicatur CD* edd.,
iudicatur E, diiudicaret F 16 a christianis] a om. A 17 cuiusquam
A, cuiusque D, cuiuscunque D* 18 dicentis BCDEFG edd 22 in
horam BCEGQ, in hora D, usque horam F 25 iis edd
where the more perfect copies can probably be found, or search

wherever else he can, and when he has found them let him
copy and preserve them and also lend them willingly to anyone
who wishes to make copies.
CHAPTER XIX
Augustine as judge
According also to the teaching of the Apostle, who said:
"Dare any of you having a matter against another, go to law
before the unjust and not before the saints? Do ye not know
that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall
be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest mat-
ters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much
more things that pertain to this life? If ye have judgments
of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are
least in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there
is man among you ? no, not one that shall be able to
not a wise
judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with
brother, and that before the unbelievers." Accordingly when
he was importuned by Christians or by men of any sect, he
heard their cases carefully and dutifully, keeping before his
eyes the remark of a certain one, who said that he preferred to
hear cases between strangers rather than between friends for
;
of the strangers he could gain the one as a friend in whose

favor the case was justly decided, whereas he would lose the
one of his friends against whom judgment was passed. Though
they sometimes kept him even till meal-time and sometimes
he even had to fast all day, yet he always examined these cases
and passed judgment on them, considering in them the value
of Christian souls in how far each had increased or de-
creased in faith and good works. When opportunities occur-
Atque compertis rerum opportunitatibus, divinae Legis verita-

tem partes docebat, eamque illis inculcabat, et eas quo adipis-
cerentur aeternam vitam admonebat: nihil aliud quaerens ab
his quibus ad hoc vacabat, nisi tantum obedientiam et devoti-
5
onem Christianam, quae et Deo debetur et hominibus, pec-
cantes coram omnibus arguens, ut ceteri timorem haberent: 3
et faciebat hoc tamquam speculator a Domino constitutus do-
4
mus Israel, praedicans verbum atque instans opportune, im-
portune, arguens, hortans, increpans, in omni longanimitate et
5
10 doctrina, praecipueque operam dabat instruere eos, qui essent
idonei et alios docere. 6 Rogatus quoque a nonnullis in eorum
temporalibus causis, epistolas ad diversos dabat. Sed hanc
suam a melioribus rebus occupationem tamquam angariam7
deputabat, suavem semper habens de his quae Dei sunt, vel
15 allocutionem vel collocutionem fraternae ac domesticae famil-
iaritatis.
CAPUT XX
Pro reis quomodo intercesserit
Novimus quoque eum a suis carissimis litterarum interces-

20 sum apud seculi potestates postulatum non dedisse, dicentem
cuiusdam sapientis servandam esse sententiam, de quo scriptum
1
esset, quod multa suae famae contemplatione amicis non
praestitisset. Et illud nihilominus suum addens, quoniam
plerumque potestas quae petitur premit. Cum vero interce-
25 dendum esse rogatus videbat, tarn id honeste ac temperate
agebat, ut non solum onerosus ac molestus non videretur,
verum etiam mirabilis extitisset, nam dum exorta necessitate
3 vitam aeternam CDF edd vitam] +et docebat et CDEG, -j-edoce-

bat et D*F edd., -f et B 4 iis7 domui CDFG edd
edd 10 dans
CDE edd., habens B, operandas F 14 iis edd 24 petit BG, prae-
stat CDEF edd 26 ac] aut DF edd 27 extitit B, exsisteret CDEF
edd
red, he instructed both parties in the truth of the divine Law,

it upon them and
impressing reminding them of the way by
which they might obtain eternal life. He asked no other re-
ward from those for whom he spent his time in this way ex-
cept the Christian obedience and devotion which is due to God
and man, rebuking the sinner before all, that others also might
fear. He did this as one whom the Lord made "a watchman
unto the house of Israel," preaching the Word, instant in sea-
son, out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all
longsuffering and doctrine, and he took special pains to in-
struct those who were able to teach others. On request he also
wrote some concerning their temporal cases. But
letters to
this work which took him away from better things he regarded
as a kind of conscription, for his pleasure was always in the
things of God or in the exhortation or conversation of intimate
brotherly friendship.
CHAPTER XX
How he interceded for prisoners
We know also that when his most intimate friends asked
him for letters of intercession to the civil authorities he did
not give them, saying that it was wise to observe the rule of
a certain sage of whom it was written that out of great regard
for his own reputation he would not be responsible for his
friends. But he added the remark, which was however his own,
that this was a good rule because often the authority which
is petitioned afterward becomes oppressive. But if, when he
was asked for it, he perceived that intercession was necessary,
he did it with such sincerity and tact that not only did he not
appear irritating and annoying, but rather seemed admirable.
For when one case of necessity arose and in his usual manner
suo more apud quendam Africae vicarium, 2 Macedonium 3 no-

mine, pro supplici litteris interveniret, atque ille paruisset, hoc
more scriptum misit:* "Miro modo afficior sapientia tua, et
in illis
quae edidisti, quae interveniens pro sollicitis
et in his
5 mittere non gravaris. Nam ilia tantum habent acuminis, scien-

tiae, sanctitatis, ut nihil supra sit, et haec tantum verecundiae,
ut nisi faciam quod mandas, culpam penes me remanere non in
negotio esse diiudicem, domine merito venerabilis et suscipiende

pater. Non enim instas, quod plerique homines istius loci
10 faciunt, ut quodcunque sollicitus voluerit, extorqueas: sed quod
5
tibi a iudice tot curis obstricto petibile visum fuerit, admones
subserviente verecundia, quae maxima difficilium inter bonos

efficacia est.Proinde statim commendatum effectum desiderii
tribui. Nam sperandi viam ante feceram."
15 CAPUT XXI
Conciliis quo animo interesse soleret
Sanctorum concilia sacerdotum

per diversas provincias
celebrata cum
potuit frequentavit, non in eis quae sua sunt,
sed quae Jesu Christi quaerens j 1 ut vel fides sanctae Ecclesiae
20 Catholicae inviolata maneret, vel nonnulli sacerdotes et clerici,
sive per fas sive per nefas excommunicati, vel absolverentur
vel abiicerentur. In ordinandis vero sacerdotibus et clericis
consensum maiorum Christianorum et consuetudinem Ecclesiae
sequendum arbitrabatur.
2 hoc modo rescriptum BCDEFG edd 4 iis edd 5 Nam]-f-et

CDEFG edd 6 verecundiae A 7 ut] vel A 10 sollicitus]
+petitor CDEF edd volueris BGQ 13 commendatis BCDEFG
edd 14 patefeceram BCDEFG edd 76, 9 Apud feceram om.
HK 17 sancta A 23 maiorem BDE edd., maiorum F, non con-
sensum maiorum D*. E*OP exhibent maiorum 24 sequendam
CDEF edd., sequendo K 84, 23 Verumtamen arbitrabatur om. J
he interceded by letter with a Vicar of Africa, Macedonius

by name, on behalf of a suppliant, Macedonius granted the re-
quest and sent him an answer on this wise: "I am struck with
wonder at your wisdom, both in the books you have published
and in this letter which you have not found it too great a
burden to send me by way of intercession for those in distress.
For the former writings, my venerable lord and esteemed fa-
ther, possess a discernment, wisdom and holiness which leave
nothing to be desired, and the latter such modesty, that unless
I do as you request, I could not regard myself as remaining
free from blame in the matter. You do not insist, like most
men in your position, on extorting all that the suppliant asks.
But what seemed to you fair to ask of a judge occupied with
many cares, this you advise with a humble modesty which is
most efficacious in settling difficulties among good men. Con-
sequently I have not hesitated to grant your request as you
recommended and as I had given you reason to expect.'*
CHAPTER XXI
His frame of mind when attending councils
Whenever he was able, Augustine attended the councils of
the holy priests which were held throughout the various pro-
vinces, seeking in them not his own but the things of Jesus
Christ, that the faith of the holy Catholic Church might re-
main inviolate or that some priests and clergy who had been
justly or unjustly excommunicated might be either absolved
or rejected. In the ordination of priests and clergy he thought
that the agreement of the majority of Christians and the cus-
tom of the Church should be followed.
CAPUT XXII
In vestitu et victu qualis fuerit Augustinus
Vestes eius et calceamenta vel lectualia ex moderate et

competent! habitu erant, nee nitida nimium, nee abiecta pluri-
5 mum: quia his plerumque vel iactare se insolenter homines
solent, vel abiicere: ex utroque, non quae Jesu Christi, sed
1
quae sua sunt iidem quaerentes. At iste, ut dixi, medium
2
tenebat,neque in dexteram neque in sinistram declinans.
Mensa usus est frugali et parca, quae quidem inter olera et
10 legumina, etiam carnes aliquando propter hospites, vel quosque
infirmiores, semper autem vinum habebat, quia noverat et
docebat, ut Apostolus dicit, quod omnis creatura Dei bona sit,
quod cum gratiarum actione accipitur,
et nihil abiiciendum,
enim per verbum Dei et orationem* Et, ut idem
sanctificatur
4
15 Augustinus sanctus in suis Confessionum libris posuit, dicens:
"Non ego immunditiam obsonii timeo, sed immunditiam cupidi-
tatis. Scio Noe omne carnis genus quod cibo esset usui, man-
ducare permissum: Heliam cibo carnis refectum, loannem
mirabili abstinentia praeditum, animalibus hoc est locustis in
20 escam cedentibus, non fuisse pollutum. Et scio Esau lenticulae
concupiscentia deceptum, et David propter aquae desiderium
a seipso reprehensum, et Regem nostrum, non de carne, sed de
pane temptatum. Ideoque et populus in eremo, non quia carnes
sed quia escae desiderio adversus Deum mur-
desideravit,
25 muravit, meruit improbari." De vino autem sumendo Apostoli
exstat sententia ad Timotheum scribentis, ac dicentis: Noli
usque adhuc aquam bibere, sed vino modico utere propter sto-
machum et frequentes tuas infirmitates* Cochlearibus tantum
n bibebat BG, vino utebatur CD* 13 percipitur BCDEFGHJK

edd 14 Et ut
28 Infirmitates om. J 17 genus carnis DFHK
edd
19 animalibus hoc est om. HK 20 scio et DFHK
edd. Q exhibet
et scio 22 non de carne sed de pane temptatum] ABEGcegmno,
tentatum bhjr, pane esse temptatum edd., pane tantum temptatum d,
non de came temptatum sed de pane tantum CDFHKalq 23 Ideo-
que improbari om. E 24 desiderabat et murmurabat CD*F
contra HK edd dominum DEG 14 Et ut 28 infirmititates om. J
CHAPTER XXII
Augustine's use of food and clothing
His garments and foot-wear and even his bedclothing were
modest yet sufficient neither too fine nor yet too mean; for
in such things men are wont either to display themselves
proudly or else to degrade themselves, in either case seeking
not the things which are of Jesus Christ, but their own. But
Augustine, as I have said, held a middle course, turning neither
hand nor to the left. His table was frugal and spar-
to the right
ing, though indeed with the herbs and he also had meats
lentils
at times for the sake of his guests or forsome of the weaker

brethren but he always had wine because he knew and taught,
;
as the Apostle says, that "every creature of God is good and

nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving,
for it is sanctified through the Word of God and prayer."
And as Augustine himself has set down in his books of the
Confessions, saying: "I fear not the uncleanness of meat, but

the uncleanness of lust. I know that Noah was permitted to
eat every kind of flesh which was useful for food; that Elijah
was refreshed by eating flesh that John, who was gifted with
;
marvelous abstinence, was not defiled by the creatures, that

is the locusts, which became his food. I know also that Esau
was ensnared by his desire for a pottage of lentils, and that

David rebuked himself for his longing after water, and that
our King was tempted not with meat, but with bread. And so
likewise the people in the desert deserved to be condemned not
because they desired meat, but because in their desire for
food they murmured against God." As regards the use of
wine there is who wrote to Timo-
the injunction of the Apostle
thy, saying: "Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a
little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
argenteis utens, ceterum vasa quibus mensae inferebantur cibi

vel testea vel lignea vel marmorea f uerunt non tamen necessi- :
tatis inopia, sed proposito voluntatis. 6 Sed et hospitalitatem
semper exhibuit. Et in ipsa mensa magis lectionem vel dispu-

5 tationem, quam epulationem potationemque diligebat, et contra
pestilentiam humanae consuetudinis 7 in ea scriptum ita habebat :
Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam,

Hac mensa indignam noverit esse suam.
Et ideo omnem convivam a superfluis et noxiis fabulis sese
10 abstinere debere admonebat. Nam et quosdam suos familiaris-
simos coepiscopos illius scripturae oblitos, et contra earn lo-
quentes, tam aspere aliquando reprehendit commotus, ut diceret
aut delendos illos de mensa versus, aut se de media refectione
ad suum cubiculum surrecturum. Quod ego et alii qui illi men-
15 sae interfuimus, experti sumus.
CAPUT XXIII
In usu redituum ecclesiasticorum qualis
Compauperum vero semper memor erat, bisque inde eroga-

bat unde et sibi suisque omnibus secum habitantibus, hoc est,
20 vel ex reditibus possessionum Ecclesiae, vel etiam ex oblationi-
bus fidelium. Et dum forte, ut adsolet, de possessionibus
1
ipsis invidia clericis fieret, alloquebatur plebem Dei, malle se
ex collationibus magis plebis Dei vivere, quam illarum pos-
sessionum curam vel gubernationem pad, et paratum se esse
25 illis cedere, ut eo modo omnes Dei servi et ministri viverent,
i cetera D* edd 4 vel 96, 12 fidem desunt in D errore tabularum

phototypicarum 6 ita om. CEHJ 8 hac mensa] AE*, hanc men-
sam BCEFGHJK edd indigne C suam] ACE*H, sui BGQ, sua
F, sibi EJK edd 9 a om. A fabulis] -f-et detractionibus edd.
Q om 13 delendos] +esse BCEFHJK edd se de] e A 18 sem-
per om. A memorare A, memor erat A* eisque CEFGHJK edd
19 secum habitantibus om. HK
23 plebis.. .gubernationem om. F
.
25 illi A servi dei AH

His spoons only were silver, but the vessels in which food was
served were earthen, wooden or marble yet this was not from
;
the compulsion of necessity, but from the choice of his own

will. Healways showed hospitality. At the table he loved
reading and discussion rather than eating and drinking, and
against that pest of human custom he had this inscription on
his table :
Who injures the name of an absent friend

May not at this table as guest attend.
Thus he warned every guest to refrain from unnecessary and
harmful tales. And when some of his most intimate fellow-
bishops forgot that inscription and spoke without heeding it,
Augustine on one occasion became exasperated and so sternly
rebuked them as to declare that either those verses would
have to be removed from the table or he would leave in the
midst of the meal and retire to his chamber. Both I and the
others who were at the table experienced this.
CHAPTER XXIII
His use of the church revenues
He was ever mindful of his fellow-poor and for them he
spent from the same funds from which he spent for himself
and all who lived with him, that is, either from the revenues
from the possessions of the church or from the offerings of
the faithful. And when perchance, as was frequently the case,
jealousy arose among the clergy regarding these possessions,
Augustine addressed the people of God, saying that he pre-
ferred to live by the contributions of God's people rather than
be burdened with the care and direction of these possessions
and that he was ready to give them back to them so that all
the servants and ministers of God might live after the man-
quo in vetere Testamento 2 leguntur altari deservientes eodem

compartiri. Sed nunquam id laid suscipere voluerunt.
CAPUT XXIV
In re domestica qualis
5 Domus ecclesiae curam omnemque substantiam ad vices

1
valentioribus clericis delegabat et credebat. Nunquam clavem,

nunquam annulum in manu
habens, sed ab hisdem domus
praepositis cuncta et accepta et erogata notabantur. Quae an-
no completo eidem recitabantur, quo sciretur quantum ac-
IO ceptum, quantumque dispensatum fuerit, vel quid dispensan-
dum remanserit, et in multis titulis magis illius praepositi do-
mus fidem sequens, quam probatum manifestumque cognos-
cens. Domum, agrum seu villam nunquam emere voluit. Ve-
rum si forte ecclesiae a quoquam sponte tale aliquid vel do-
15 naretur, vel titulo legati dimitteretur, non respuebat, sed sus-
cipi iubebat. Nam
et aliquas eum hereditates recusasse novi-
2
mus, non quia pauperibus inutiles esse possent, sed quoniam
iustum et aequum esse videbat, ut a mortuorum vel filiis vel
magis possiderentur, quibus ea deficien-

parentibus vel affinibus
20 tes dimittere noluerunt. Quidam etiam ex honoratis Hippo-
riensium apud Carthaginem vivens ecclesiae Hipponensi pos-
sessionem donare voluit, et confectas tabulas sibi usufructu
eidem sanctae memoriae Augustino misit: cuius
retento, ultro
oblationem libenter accepit, congratulans ei quod aeternae
ille
25 suae memor esset salutis. Verum post aliquot [hos] annos no-
bis forte cum eodem in comminus constitutis, ecce ille donator
i deservientes] -}-de CEFJ edd 2 comparticipari CH edd 7

isdem AGHJ, eisdem edd 8 Quae recitabantur om. C 9 retice-
bantur A, recitabant F 10 fuisset et remansisset EJ edd 94, 4 vel
12 fidem desunt in D errore tabularum phototypicarum manifes-
tatumque edd 20 Quidam 98, 12 exiret om. J 23 ultro om. A
25 aliquos BG hos om. CDEFHK edd 26 in om. CDEF edd
ner of which we read in the Old Testament that they were

partakers of that altar which they served. But this the laity
were never willing to undertake.
CHAPTER XXIV
Household affairs
The care of the church building and all its property he as-
signed and entrusted in turn to the more capable clergy.
He never held the key nor wore his ring, but everything
which was received and spent was noted down by these over-
seers of the house. At the end of the year the accounts were
read to him that he might know how much had been received
and how much spent, or what still remained to be spent. In
many bills he preferred to rely on the fidelity of the overseer
of the house rather than to ascertain it by testing and proving
his accounts. A house or land or an estate he was never will-
ing to buy. But if perchance anything of the kind was given

to the church by someone of his own accord or if it was left
as a legacy, he did not refuse it, but ordered that it be ac-
cepted. But some legacies I know he refused, not because
they could not be used for the poor, but because it seemed just
and right that they should rather be in the possession of the
children or parents or relatives of the deceased, even though
the decedents had not willed to leave these things to them.
In fact one of the chief men of Hippo who was living at
Carthage wished to give his property to the church at Hippo.
Retaining only the interest for himself, he sent the tablets
duly attested to Augustine of holy memory, who gladly
accepted his offering and congratulated him because, he was
mindful of his eternal salvation. But some years after this,
when as it happened we were visiting in Augustine's house, lo,
litterasper suum filium mittens, rogavit ut illae donationum

tabulae suo redderentur filio, pauperibus vero erogandos di-
rexit solidos centum: quo ille sanctus cognito ingemuit homi-
nem eum de bono opere poenituisse,
vel finxisse donationem, vel
5 et quanta potuit Deo suggerente cordi eius cum dolore animi

ex eadem refragatione 3 dixit, in illius scilicet increpatione et
correptione. Et tabulas quas sponte miserat, nee desider-

ille
atas, nee exactas confestim reddidit, pecuniamque illam respuit,

atque rescriptis eundem sicut oportuit et arguit et corripuit,
10 admonens ut de sua simulatione vel iniquitate poenitentiae
humilitate Deo satisfaceret, ne cum tarn gravi delicto de seculo
exiret.
Frequentius quoque dicebat, magis securius et tutius ec-

clesiam legata a defunctis dimissa debere suscipere, quam
15 hereditates forte sollicitas et damnosas, ipsaque legata magis
offerenda esse quam exigenda. Commendata vero quaeque
ipse non suscipiebat, sed volentes suscipere clericos non pro-
hibebat. In his quoque quae ecclesia habebat et possidebat
intentus amore, vel implicatus non erat, sed maioribus magis
20 et spiritalibus suspensus et inhaerens rebus, aliquando seipsum
ad ilia temporalia ab aeternorum cogitatione relaxabat et de-
ponebat. Quibus ille dispositis et ordinatis, tamquam a rebus
mordacibus ac molestis, animi recursum ad interiora mentis et
superiora faciebat, quo vel de inveniendis divinis cogitaret, vel
25 de iam inventis aliquid dictaret, aut certe ex iam dictatis atque
transcriptis aliquid emendaret. Et id agebat in die laborans,
6 refragatione] ABDEFGHabcdeghjlmnoqr, res rogatione K, de

eadem defraudatione D* Sal., de eodem defraudatipne C increpa-
tionem et correptionem CE, increpationem et correctionem BDFG edd.,
increpatio correptionis K
10 iniquitate ]-|-cum edd 96, 20 Qui-
dam 12 exiret om. J 13 securius] hie desinit totius K A*DE
FG*, tutius D*E* 18 iis edd 19 magis et om. H, et om. CDF, magis
ac Mi 20 vix aliquando edd H 24 divinis] +rebus BCDEFGHJ
edd 25 dictis AB
this benefactor sent a letter by his son and asked that the
records of transfer be returned to his son, directing, however,
that a hundred pieces of gold should be given to the poor.
And when the holy man heard it he mourned that the man had
either pretended to make a gift or had repented of his good
work. In his grief of mind at this perversity he said what he
could, as God putit in his heart, for the man's admonition
and reproof. He
immediately returned the tablets which had
been sent voluntarily and not by request nor on compulsion.
The money he spurned, and as in duty bound, he wrote an
answer and censured and reproved the man, warning him to
make his peace with God in humble repentance for his false
pretences and wickedness, that he might not depart from this
life under the burden of so great a sin.
He also said frequently that the church might with greater
security and sa'fety accept legacies left by the dead rather than
gifts from the living which might cause anxiety and loss, and
furthermore that legacies themselves should be offered vol-
untarily rather than solicited. He accepted nothing which
was offered him in trust, but did not restrain any of the clergy
who wished to accept such gifts. He was
not intently con-
cerned nor entangled in the property which the church held
and possessed. Yet though following with inmost desire after
the greater spiritual things, he sometimes relaxed from his
contemplation of things eternal and turned to temporal affairs.

But when such things had been arranged and set in order,
then as though freed from consuming and annoying cares, his
soul rebounded to the more intimate and lofty thoughts of the
mind in which he either pondered on the discovery of divine
truth or dictatedsome of the things already discovered or else
emended some of the works which had been previously dic-
tated and then transcribed. This he accomplished by working
ioo SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
et in nocte lucubrans. Et erat tamquam ilia gloriosissima

Maria, typum gestans supernae Ecclesiae, de qua scriptum est,
quod sederet ad pedes Domini, atque intenta eius verbum
audiret: de qua soror conquesta, quod ab eadem circa multum
5 ministerium occupata non adiuvaretur, audivit: Martha Mar-
4
tha, meliorem partem Maria elegit, quae non auferetur ab ea.
Nam fabricarum novarum nunquam studium habuit, devi-
tans in eis implicationem sui animi, quern semper liberum
habere volebat ab omni molestia temporali. Non tamen ilia
10 volentes et aedificantes prohibebat, nisi tantum immoderatos.
Interea 5 dum ecclesiae pecunia deficeret, hoc ipsum populo
Christiano denunciabat, non se habere quod indigentibus ero-
garet. Nam et de vasis dominicis propter captivos et quam
plurimos indigentes, frangi et conflari iubebat, et indigentibus
15 dispensari. Quod non commemorassem, nisi contra carnalem

sensum quorundam fieri perviderem. Et hoc ipsum etiam
venerabilis memoriae Ambrosius in talibus necessitatibus in-
dubitanter esse faciendum, et dixit et scripsit. 6 Sed et de
7
neglecto a fidelibus gazophylacio et secretario, unde altari ne-
20 cessaria inferrentur, aliquando in ecclesia loquens admonebat,

8
quod etiam beatissimum Ambrosium se praesente in ecclesia
tractavisse, nobis aliquando retulerat.
CAPUT XXV
Disciplina domestica
25 Cum ipso semper clerici, una etiam domo ac mensa sumpti-

1
busque communibus alebantur et vestiebantur. Et ne quis-
i Et erat 10 immoderatos om. J religiosissima CDEFGH edd

5 Martha (2) om. AEH 6 elegit maria BCH edd ^ Et erat
10 immoderatos om. J 13 et plurimum CDF quam plurimos om. G,
.
,
nam et vasa dominica quam plurima frangi EJL vel M 20 inferun-

tur CDEF edd
LIFE OF SAINT AUGUSTI^t 4oi
all day and toiling at night. He was a type of the Church on

high, even as most glorious Mary, of whom it is written that
she sat at the feet of the Lord and listened intently to His
word; but when her sister who was cumbered about much
serving, complained because she received no help, she heard
the words: "Martha, Martha, Mary hath chosen that better
away from her."
part which shall not be taken
For new buildings he never had any desire, avoiding the
entanglement of his soul in these things, since he wished al-
ways to have it free from all temporal annoyance. Neverthe-
less he did not restrain those who desired or constructed them,
provided only they were not extravagant. Sometimes, when
the money of the church failed, he announced to the Christian
people that he had nothing to give to the poor. For the sake
of captives and of the many who were in need he even ordered
the holy vessels to be broken and melted down and to be dis-
tributed to the needy. I would not have mentioned this un-
less I knew that it was done contrary to the carnal judgment
of some. Ambrose, of venerable memory, also said and wrote

that in such extremities it should be done without any hesi-
tancy. Sometimes too when the treasury and also the consis-
tory, from which were supplied the things necessary for the
altar, had been neglected by the faithful, Augustine would
speak of it in the church and remind the people, even as he

once told us the blessed Ambrose had dealt with the subject
in the church when he was there.
CHAPTER XXV
Household discipline
At the same house and table together with him the clergy
were regularly fed and clothed at the common expense. That
H2 SANCT'I AUGUSTINI VITA
quam facili iuratione etiam ad periurium cecidisset, 2 et in ec-

3
clesiapopulo praedicabat, et suis instituerat, ne quis iuraret,
nee ad mensam quidem. Quod si prolapsus fecisset, unam de
statutis perdebat potionem: numerus enim erat suis secum
5 commorantibus et convivantibus poculorum praefixus. Indisci-
plinationes quoque et transgressiones suorum a regula recta et
honestate et arguebat et tolerabat quantum decebat et oporte-
bat in talibus praecipue docens, ne cuiusquam cor declinaretur
:
in verba maligna ad excusand[as] excusationes in peccatis.*

10 Et ut dum quisque offerret munus suum ad altare, et illic re-
cordatus fuerit quod frater suus habebat aliquid adversus il-
ium, relinquendum esse munus ad
altare, atque eundum quo
fratri reconciliaretur, et tune veniendum, et munus ad altare
offerendum. 5 Si vero ipse adversus fratrem suum aliquid
15 haberet, corripere eum debere in parte; et si eum audisset,

9
lucratus esset suum fratrem sin minus, adhibendum esse unum

:
aut duos. Quod si et ipsos contemneret, Ecclesiam adhiben-

dam. Si vero et huic non illi ut ethnicus et
obediret, esset
7
publicanus. Et illud addens, ut fratri peccanti et veniam
20 petenti, non septies, sed septuagies septies delictum relaxare-
8
tur, sicut quisque a Domino quotidie sibi postulat relaxari.
CAPUT XXVI
De convictu feminarum
Feminarum intra domum eius nulla unquam conversata est,

25 nulla mansit ne quidem germana soror, quae vidua Deo ser-
viens multo tempore usque in diem obitus sui praeposita an-
i decidisset BDFGH edd., dicideret CD*EJ 2 suos edd 3 fu-

isset H edd
7 honesta BCDGH
et om. C edd., honestate et otn.
E], recte et oneste F 8 declinaret CD*H 9 excusandas] CDFH
edd., excusandum ABEGJ 10 Et 21 relaxari om. J ut om.
CDF edd 11 fuisset CDEF edd haberet CDE edd., habet F,
habeat G 12 ad] ante D* edd eundem A 13 frater edd. re-
concilietur DFGH edd. eundum fratrem reconciliare CD* 14 Si....
19 publicanus om. H 15 in
partem A 20 laxaretur C, relaxetur
DEFGH edd 21 unusquisque BQ 10 Et 21 relaxari om. J
no one might lightly utter an oath and thus fall into condemna-
tion, he preached to the people in the church and instructed
the members of his own household that no one should utter
an oath not even at the table. And if anyone erred in this,
he lost one drink, according to the rules: for the number of
cups allowed each one of those who lived and ate with him
was fixed beforehand. The faults of omission and commis-
sion of which, in spite of this rule, his brethren were guilty,
he duly and properly censured or countenanced them as far
as was fitting and necessary in such cases particularly teach-
;
ing that no one should incline his heart to evil words or to

make excuses in sins. And when anyone offered his gift at
the altar and there remembered that his brother had aught
against him, he should leave his offering at the altar and go to
be reconciled to his brother and then come and offer his gift
at the altar. But if he had anything against his brother, he
should rebuke him in secret, and if he heard him he had gained
his brother, but if not, he should take with him one or two
others. If he held them also in contempt he should be brought
before the Church. If he did not obey her, he should be to
him as a heathen and a publican. This also he added, that
if a brother offend and ask forgiveness, not seven times, but
seventy times seven times, the offence should be forgiven him,
even as each one daily asks of the Lord that his own sins be
forgiven.
CHAPTER XXVI
On the companionship of women
No woman ever lived or stayed in Augustine's house, not
even his own sister, though she was a widow who had long
served God and lived in charge of His handmaidens even to
cillarum Dei vixit. fratris sui filiae, quae pariter Deo

Sed ne
1
serviebant: quas personas sanctorum episcoporum concilia in
exceptis posuerunt. Dicebat vero, quia 2 etsi de sorore et
neptibus secum commorantibus nulla nasci posset mala sus-
5 picio, tamen quoniam
illae personae sine aliis necessariis secum-
que manentibus feminis esse non possent, et quod ad eas etiam

3
aliae aforis intrarent, de his posse offendiculum aut scand-
alum infirmis 4 nasci, et illos qui cum episcopo vel quolibet
clerico forte manerent, ex illis omnibus feminarum personis
10 posse una commorantibus aut adventantibus, aut tentationibus
humanis perire, aut certe malis hominum suspicionibus pessime
diffamari: ob hoc ergo dicebat, nunquam feminas debere cum
servis Dei, etiam castissimis,una manere domo, ne (ut dic-
tum est) aliquod scandalum vel offendiculum tali exemplo
5
15 poneretur infirmis. Et si forte ab aliquibus feminis ut videre-
tur vel salutaretur, rogabatur, nunquam sine clericis testibus
ad eum intrabant, vel solus cum solis nunquam est locutus,
nee si secretorum aliquid interesset.
CAPUT XXVII
20 OfHcium erga destitutes et aegrotantes
In visitationibus vero modum tenebat ab Apostolo definitum,

ut non nisi viduas et pupillos in tribulationibus constitutes
1
visitaret. Et si forte ab aegrotantibus ob hoc peteretur, ut
pro eis in praesenti Dominum rogaret eisque manum impon-
25 eret, sine mora pergebat. Feminarum autem monasteria non
nisi urgentibus necessitatibus visitabat. Servandum quoque in
i nee EGJ edd., neque C -fpatrui su j filiae et edd. LMNOPQ

acdeghjlmnoqr om. patrui et 4 nullam A 5 sine om. A. 7
alii G, illi B, aliae etiam DF edd foris A, ex foribus E 8 infirmi-
oribus CDF edd. Q exhibet infirmis 9 maneret A 10 vel adven-
tantibus CEJ edd aut tentationibus. .. .suspicionibus om. F. aut....
certe om. J. certe om. CEH 12 ob no, 3 vobis om. J debere
feminas CDEFGH edd 13 castissimas BQ 14 aut DFH
edd vel
offendiculum om. C 15 infirmioribus CDF edd 16 umquam CDE
FGH edd 22 pupillas B, pupillos et viduas CDEF edd. (aut et G,
viduis //) constitutas BDG edd 23 visitabat CE 24 eisque
imponeret om. C manus edd
the dayi of her death. Nor did he admit his brother's daugh-
ters who were likewise serving God, although the councils of
holy bishops placed these persons among the exceptions. He
used to say that although no evil suspicion could arise from
the fact that his sister and nieces were living with him, yet
since they could not be without servants and other women
who would stay with them, and still others would come in
from without to visit them, because of these a stumbling-block
or an occasion to fall might be placed in the way of the weak.
He also said that because of the presence of all those women
who would live or come there, the men who happened to be
visiting the bishop or some one of the clergy might either per-
ishby human temptation or surely be most shamefully maligned
by the evil suspicions of men. On this account, therefore, he
said that women ought never to live in the same house with
the servants of God, even the most chaste, that no occasion to
fall, as has been said, nor a stumbling-block might be placed
way of the weak by such an example. And if perchance

in the
any women requested to see him or to salute him, they never

came in to him without some of the clergy as witnesses, nor
did he ever speak with them alone, not even if the matter was
one of secrecy.
CHAPTER XXVII
Service to the needy and sick
In his visitations he adhered to the rule set forth by the

Apostle and visited only the widows and orphans in their
afflictions. Yet whenever it happened that he was requested
by the sick to come in person and pray to the Lord for them
and lay his hand upon them, he went without delay. But the
monasteries of women he visited only in extreme emergencies.
io6 SANCTI AUGU.STINI VITA
vita et moribus hominis Dei referebat, quod institute sanctae

memoriae Ambrosii compererat, ut uxorem cuiquam nunquam
posceret, neque militare volentem ad hoc commendaret, neque
in sua patria petitum ire ad convivium: de singulis rebus
5 praesentens causas, scilicet ne dum inter se coniugati iurgar-

ent, ei maledicerent per quem coniuncti essent. Sed plane ad
hoc sibi iam consentientes petitum interesse debere sacerdotem,
ut vel eorum iam pacta vel placita firmarentur vel benediceren-
tur. Et ne militiae commendatus ac male agens eius culpa
IO suffragatori tribueretur. Et ne per frequentiam in propriis
conviviorum temperantiae amitteretur modus.
institutis
Indicaverat quoque nobis se praedicti beatae memoriae viri
in ultimo vitae constituti audisse sapientissimum et piissimum
responsum, et multum laudabat ac praedicabat. cum Nam

15 illevenerabilis ultima iaceret aegritudine, et a fidelibus honora-
tis lecto eius astantibus et videntibus eum ad Deum de seculo
migraturum, et ob hoc maerentibus tanti ac talis antistitis Ec-

clesiam posse privari verbi et sacramenti Dei dispensatione,
et rogaretur cum lacrimis, ut sibi a Domino vitae posceret
20 commeatum, eum illis dixisse: "Non sic vixi, ut me pudeat
inter vos vivere: sed nee mori timeo, quia bonum Dominum
habemus." 2 Et in his noster Augustinus senex elimata ac
librata admirabatur et laudabat verba. Ideo enim eum dix-
I in institute edd 4 petitum ire] ACDEFGacdeghmnor, apeti-

tum B, iret H,
petitus iret Iq edd. petitum ire in oratione obliqua quam-
vis hoc loco abruptum 5 praestans GH, reddens CDEF edd con-
iugati]4-casu H edd consentientibus edd. Q exhibet consen-
7 illis
tientes 8 pacta vel placita] ABcegjm, facta o, iam facta placita
CDEFGHadhlnqr, pacta et placita edd 10 in propriis conviviorum
institutis] Ae, improbis Bcgjm, in probis Q, constitutis o, institutus
GHa, conbibiorum constitutus r, conviviis institutus Iq in patriae
conviviorum institutus DF, in patria convitiorum institutus d, in patriae
conviviis constitutus CEhn edd 12 beati viri BQ
16 videntibus]
orantibus A, om. G de seculo ad deum edd. CDEFG
19 et om.
CE edd.
Furthermore he said that in the life and habits of a man of

God that rule ought to be observed which he had learned from
the practice of Ambrose of holy memory, namely, never to
seek a wife for another man, nor to urge anyone who desired
to go to war to do so, nor to accept an invitation to a feast in
his own community. He gave as his reasons for each of these
that if the husband and wife should [ever] happen to quarrel
with each other, they might revile him who had brought them
together; but clearly, if they themselves had previously agreed
to marry, the priest to whom they came ought to offer his
services so that that which had been agreed upon and was
pleasing to them should be confirmed or blessed in the second;
case in order that no one who had been recommended to mili-

tary service might blame the one who encouraged him if he
suffered any ill through his own fault and finally, lest by fre-
;
quent participation in the customs peculiar to feasts his vow of

temperance should be broken.
He also told us that he had heard of the very wise and
godly reply of an illustrious man of blessed memory at the
end of his life, and he warmly praised and extolled it. For
when the venerable man lay abed in his last illness and the chief
members of the church were standing around his couch, watch-
ing him as he was about to depart from this world to be with
God, they were overcome with grief at the thought that the
Church could be deprived of so great and glorious a prelate
and of his dispensation of the Word and Sacrament of God.
And when they begged him with tears that he should ask of the
Lord an extension of his life he said to them : "I have not so
lived that I should be ashamed to live among you, yet I do
not fear to die, for we have a Lord who is good." And our
Augustine, in his later days, used to admire and praise these
well-weighed words. For he said that we must understand
io8 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
isse intelligendum esse "nee mori timeo, quia bonum Dominum
habemus," ne crederetur praefidens de suis purgatissimis

moribus praemisisse, "non sic vixi ut me pudeat inter vos
vivere." Hoc enim dixerat ad illud quod homines de homine
5 nosse poterant; nam ad examen aequitatis divinae, de bono se
Domino magis confidere, cui etiam in oratione quotidiana dice-
bat: Dimitte nobis debita nostra*
Cuiusdam quoque coepiscopi et familiarissimi amici, in ex-
tremis vitae de talibus frequentissime referebat dictum: ad
10 quern cum visitandum iam morti propinquantem ventitasset,
et ille manu gestu se de seculo exiturum significant, atque a
se illi esset responsum, adhuc eum Ecclesiae necessarium vi-
vere posse, ilium ne putaretur huius vitae teneri cupiditate
respondisse "Si nunquam, bene
: si aliquando, quare non
;
15 modo?" Et talem sententiam mirabatur et laudabat hominem

protulisse, Deum quidem timentem, verumtamen in villa na-
tum et nutritum, sed non multa lectionis eruditum scientia.
Contra ilium scilicet sensum aegrotantis episcopi, de quo sanc-
tus in epistola sua, quam de mortalitate scripsit 4 martyr Cypri-

anus, ita retulit, dicens "Cum quidam de collegis et consacer-
5
2O :
dotibus nostris infirmitate defessus et de appropinquante morte

sollicitus, commeatum sibi precaretur, astitit deprecanti et iam
pene morienti iuvenis honore et maiestate venerabilis, statu
celsus et clarus aspectu, et quern assistentem sibi vix posset
25 humanus aspectus oculis carnalibus intueri, nisi quod talem
3 praesumpsisse CDEF edd., praesumisse H 5 ad] sciens CDEF

edd. Q
exhibet ad se]-f-dixit CDEF edd
6 quotidiana] -f-domin-
ica CDEFGH edd 8 familiarissimi] -f-sui CDEFGH edd n manus
CDEFGH edd., magnus B 14 ei respondisse CDEF edd 23 stat-
ura H
edd 24 astantem edd. Q exhibet assistentem
that Ambrose added this second saying "I do not fear to die,
for we have a Lord who is good" so that no one might be-
lieve that from overconfidence in the purity of his own life he
had first said, "I have not so lived that I should be ashamed
to liveamong you." Now this he had said in reference to that
which men can judge about a fellow-man; but as for his
judgment by the divine justice, he trusted rather in the Lord
who is good to whom he also said in the daily prayer "For-
:
give us our trespasses."

Moreover toward the end of his life Augustine very fre-
quently repeated in this same connection the words of a cer-
tain fellow-bishop and very intimate friend. For when he had
gone to visit him several times as he drew near to death and

he had indicated by a gesture of his hand that he was soon to
depart from this world, Augustine had said to him that he
might still be of great benefit to the Church if he lived. But
that no one should think he was captivated by a desire
for this life he had answered: "If I were never to die it
would be well but if I am ever to die, why not now ?" This
;
sentiment was much admired by Augustine and he praised him

who had given voice to it a man who feared God, indeed,
but who had been born and brought up in a small town and
was not much educated in the art of reading. Compare on the
other hand the attitude of a certain ailing bishop of whom the
holy martyr Cyprian speaks on this wise in his letter which he
wrote on Mortality, saying: "When a certain one of our col-
leagues and fellow-priests, wearied with infirmity and troubled
at the near approach of death, prayed for an extension of his
life, there stood by him as he prayed and was even now on the
point of death, a youth, venerable in glory and majesty, tall of

stature and with radiant countenance. And mortal eyes could
scarcely have endured to look upon him as he stood there,

i io SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
vLdere iam poterat de seculo recessurus. Atque ille non sine

quadam animi et vocis indignatione infremuit, et dixit: Pati
timetis, exire non vultis; quid faciam vobis?"
CAPUT XXVIII
5 Quae proxime ante mortem ab Augustino edita
Ante proximum vero diem obitus sui a se dictates et editos

recensuit libros, sive eos quos primo tempore suae conversionis
adhuc laicus, sive quos presbyter, sive quos episcopus dictav-
erat, et quaecunque in his recognovit aliter quam sese habet
io ecclesiastica regula a se fuisse dictata et scripta, cum adhuc
ecclesiasticum usum minus sciret minusque sapuisset, a semet-
ipso et reprehensa et correcta sunt. Unde etiam duo con-
scripsit volumina, quorum est titulus, De Recensione Libro-
rum. 1 Praereptos etiam sibi quosdam libros ante diligentiorem
15 emendationem a nonnullis fratribus conquerebatur, 2 licet eos
postmodum emendasset. Imperfecta etiam quaedam suorum
librorum praeventus morte dereliquit Quique prodesse omni-
bus volens, et valentibus multa librorum legere et non valenti-
bus, ex utroque divino Testamento veteri et novo praecepta
20 praemissa praefatione divina seu vetita ad vitae regulam per-
tinentia excerpsit, atque ex his unum codicem fecit: ut qui
vellet legeret, atque in eo vel quam obediens Deo inobediensque
esset, agnosceret: et hoc opus voluit Speculum appellari.
Verum brevi consequenti tempore divina voluntate et po-
25 testate provenit, ut manus ingens diversis telis armata et bellis
104, 12 ob 3 vobis om. / 6 edictos A 7 libros recensuit CEGJ

conversionis suae DFH edd n sapuisse A, saperet CD* 14 Prae-
reptos 116, 22 impetravit om. J 19 praecepta] post praefatione
BCDEFGH edd 22 inobediensve edd 23 appellare BDF. Q ex-
hibet appellari 25 bellis] velis A
LIFE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE in
had not he who was soon to depart from this world already had
power to behold such a being. And not without a certain in-

dignation of soul and voice the youth rebuked him and said:
'You fear to suffer, you do not wish to die ; what shall I do
with you?'"
CHAPTER XXVIII
The books published by Augustine just before his death
Shortly before the time of his death he revised the books

which he had dictated and edited, whether those which he had
dictated in the time immediately following his conversion
when he was stilla layman, or while he was a presbyter or a
bishop. And in those works which he had dictated or written
while he was as yet not so well acquainted with ecclesiastical
usage and had less understanding, whatsoever he found not
agreeing with the ecclesiastical rule, this he himself censured
and corrected. Thus he wrote two volumes whose title is On
the Revision of Books. And he sometimes complained that
certain books had been carried off by some of his brethren
before his careful revision, although he revised them later.
Some of his books, however, he left uncompleted at the time
of his death. Furthermore, in his desire to be of help to all,
both those who could read many books and those who could
not, he made excerpts from both the sacred Testaments, the
Old and the New, of the divine commandments and prohibi-
tions relating to the conduct of life,and with the addition of
a preface, made one volume of them. He who wishes may
read it and learn therefrom how obedient or disobedient he is
to God. This work he desired to have called The Mirror.
But a short time after his it came about, in accordance with
the divine will and command, that a great host of savage foes,
H2 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
exercitata, immanium hostium Vandalorum et Alanorum com-

mixtam secum habens Gothorum gentem, aliarumque diversa-
rum personas, ex Hispaniae partibus transmarinis navibus
Africae influxisset et irruisset: 3 universeque per loca Mauri-
5 taniarum etiam ad alias nostras transiens provincias et regiones,
omni saeviens atrocitate et crudelitate, cuncta quae potuit
spoliatione, caedibus diversisque tormentis, incendiis, aliisque
innumerabilibus et infandis malis depopulata est: nulli sexui,
nulli parcens aetati, nee ipsis Dei sacerdotibus vel ministris,
IO nee ipsisecclesiarum ornamentis seu instrumentis vel aedifi-
ciis. Et hanc ferocissimam hostium grassationem et vastation-
em, illeDei homo et factam fuisse et fieri, non ut ceteri homi-

num sentiebat et cogitabat: sed altius ac profundius ea con-
siderans, et his animarum praecipue vel pericula vel mortes
15 pervidens, solito amplius (quoniam, ut scriptum est, Qui ap-
ponit scientiam, apponit dolorem* et cor intelligens tinea ossi-
bus 5 ) fuerunt lacrimae panes die ac nocte, 6 amarissimamque
ei
et lugubrem prae ceteris suae senectutis iam pene extremam

ducebat ac tolerabat vitam. Videbat enim ille homo civitates
2O excidio perditas pariterque cives cum aedificiis villarum habi-
tatores alios nece exstinctos, alios effugatos 7 atque
hostili
disperses: ecclesias sacerdotibus ac ministris destitutas, vir-

ginesque sacras et quosque continentes ubique dissipates et in :
his alios tormentis defecisse, alios gladio interemptos esse,
25 alios in captivitate perdita animi et corporis integritate ac

fide, malo more et duro hostibus deservire; hymnos Dei et
laudes ex ecclesiis deperisse, aedificia ecclesiarum quampluri-
2 aliorumque A
4 universasque B, universaque CH edd., universae
provinciae quae E 6 crudelitate et atrocitate edd H 7 exspolia-
tione CDFGH edd 13 ac] et CDFGH edd 14 in his CDEFGH
edd 15 praevidens BCDEFGH edd 19 homo]-f dei BH
edd., eras.
G 20 cives om. BCDEFGH edd 26 fidei edd et duro] ac duro
H edd 27 ex] de DF edd., om. B
Vandals and Alans, with some of the Gothic tribe interspersed,

and various other peoples, armed with all kinds of weapons
and well trained in warfare, came by ship from the regions of
Spain across the sea and poured into Africa and overran it.
And everywhere through the regions of Mauretania, even
crossing over to other of our provinces and territories, raging
with cruelty and barbarity, they completely devastated every-
thing they could by their pillage, murder and varied tortures,
conflagrations and other innumerable and unspeakable crimes,
sparing neither sex nor age, nor even the priests or ministers
of God, nor yet the ornaments or vessels of the churches nor
even the buildings. Now the man of God did not believe and
think as other men did regarding the causes from which this
most fierce assault and devastation of the foe had arisen and
come to pass. But considering these matters more deeply and
profoundly and perceiving in them above all the dangers and
the death of souls (since, as it is written, "He that increas-
eth knowledge increaseth sorrow," and "An understanding
heart is a worm in the bones"), more than ever tears were his
meat day and night, as he passed through and endured those
days of his life, now
almost ended, which beyond all others
were the most bitter and mournful of his old age. For he saw
citiesoverthrown in destruction, and the resident citizens, to-
gether with the buildings on their lands, partly annihilated by
the enemy's slaughter and others driven into flight and dis-
persed. He saw churches stripped of priests and ministers,
and holy virgins and all the monastics scattered in every di-
rection. Here he saw some succumb to torture and others slain
by the sword, while still others in captivity, losing their in-

nocency and faith both in soul and body, received from their
foes the harsh and evil treatment of slaves. He saw the
hymns and praises of God perish from the churches the church
;
ii4 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
mis locis ignibus concremata, sollemnia quae Deo debentur de
propriis locis desisse sacrificia, et sacramenta divina vel non

quaeri, vel quaerenti qui tradat non facile reperiri: in ipsis
montium silvis, cavernis petrarum et speluncis confugientes,
5 vel ad quasque munitiones, alios f uisse expugnatos et intercep-

8
tos, alios ita necessariis sustentaculis
evolutos atque privates,
ut fame contabescerentipsosque ecclesiarum praepositos et
:
clericos, qui forte Dei beneficio vel eos non incurrerunt, vel
incurrentes evaserunt, rebus omnibus spoliatos atque nudatos
10 egentissimos mendicare, nee eis omnibus ad omnia quibus ful-
ciendi essent subveniri posse vix tres superstites ex innumera-
:
bilibus hoc est Carthaginensem, Hipponensem et

ecdesiis,
Cirtensem, quae Dei beneficio excisae non sunt, et earum per-
manent civitates, et divino et humano fultae praesidio; licet
15 post eius obitum urbs Hipponensis incolis destituta ab hosti-
bus fuerit concremata. 9 Et se inter haec mala cuiusdam sapi-
10
entis sententia consolabatur, dicentis: "Non erit magnus
magnum putans quod cadunt ligna et lapides, et moriuntur
mortales."
20 Haec ergo omnia ille, ut erat alte sapiens, quotidie ubertim
plangebat. Accrevitque maeroribus et lamentationibus eius, ut

etiam adhuc in suo statu consistentem ad eandem Hipponen-
sium-regiorum civitatem ab hisdem hostibus veniretur obsiden-
dam: quoniam in eius erat tune defensione constitutus comes
11
25 quondam Bonifacius cum Gothorum foederatorum exercitu,
quam urbem ferme quatuordecim mensibus conclusam obse-
derunt: nam et litus illi marinum interclusione abstulerunt.
Quo etiam ipsi nos de vicino cum aliis nostris coepiscopis con-
i de om. A 2 lucis A
dedisse A, deseruisse C, perisse H, des-
ivisse edd et om. BDF, edd
vel E, ac
3 ipsas silvas et caver-
nas speluncas edd. Q exhibet silvis et cet., cavernisque BC, et cav-
ernis DFH 5 interfectos CDFH
edd., interemptos E 6 evolatos
A 7 fama contubescerent A 8 incurrerant et evaserant CD*E edd
g exspoliatos BEGH
edd n
subvenire BDEFGH. essent subsidia
se invenire CD* 23 regionum ABDF, regionem iisdem edd CH
24 erat tune defensione] Ab, defensionem Bcegj, tune fuerat defensione
DFHadhlr, tune fuerat defensionem Go, tune defensione fuerat E edd.,
tune in eius defensionem fuerat C, constitutus fuerat comes m
buildings in many places consumed by fire; the regular ser-

vices which were due to God cease from their appointed
places ; the holy sacraments no longer desired, or if some one

did desire them, no one could easily be found to administer
them. When they gathered in flight amid the mountain for-
ests, in the caves and caverns of the rocks or in any other
kind of retreat, some were captured and put to death while
others were robbed and deprived of the necessary means of
sustenance so that they gradually perished of hunger. Even
the bishops of the churches and the clergy who, by the help
of God, did not chance to meet the foe or, if they did meet
them, escaped their hands, he saw despoiled and stripped of all
their goods and begging in abject poverty, nor could they all
be furnished with that by which they might be relieved. Of
the innumerable churches he saw only three survive, namely
those of Carthage, Hippo and Cirta, which by God's favor were
not demolished. These cities too still stand, protected by
human and divine aid, although after Augustine's death the
city of Hippo, abandoned by its inhabitants, was burned by the
enemy. Amid these calamities he was consoled by the thought
of a certain wise man who said: "He is not to be thought
great who thinks it strange that wood and stones should fall
and mortals die."
But Augustine, being exceeding wise, daily bewailed all these
events. And it increased his grief and sorrow that this same
enemy also came to besiege the city of the Hippo-Regians
which had so far maintained its position. With its defence at
this time the late Count Boniface had been entrusted with an
army of allied Goths. For almost fourteen months they shut

up and besieged the city; and they even cut off its sea-coast
by blockade. We ourselves with other of our fellow-bishops
from the neighboring regions took refuge in this city and re-
.... exercitu] ABDEFLMNOPQacegjlmno Ben. Mi., quidam CD*b,

foederatus h, exercitum GH, quidem . exercitum r, comes quidam
. . .
nomine Bonifacius cum Gothorum (quondam foederatus exercitu?) d,

comes quidam Bonifacius cum Gothorum quondam foederatus exercitu
Sal 27 ilia H, illi marinum in conclusione C, marina interclusione
EL vel M
n6 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
fugeramus, in eademque omni eius obsidionis tempore fuimus.

Unde nobiscum saepissime colloquebamur, et Dei tremenda
iudicia prae oculis nostris posita considerabamus, dicentes:
lustus es Domine, et rectum iudicium tuum. 12 Pariterque do-
5 lentes, gementes et flentes orabamus miserationum Patrem et
Dominum omnis consolationis,
13
ut in eadem nos tribulatione
sublevare dignaretur.
CAPUT XXIX
Morbus extremus Augustini
10 Et forte provenit ut una cum eodem ad mensam constituti,
et inde fabulantes, nobis diceret: "Noveritis me hoc tempore
nostrae calamitatis id Deum rogare, ut aut hanc civitatem ab
hostibus circumdatam liberare dignetur, aut si aliud ei videtur,
suos servos ad perferendam suam voluntatem fortes faciat,
15 aut certe ut sese de hoc seculo ad se accipiat." Quae ille dicens
nosque instruens, deinceps cum eodem et nobis et nostris om-
nibus, et ipsis qui in eadem civitate fuerant, a summo Deo
similiter
petebamus. Et ecce tertio illius obsidionis mense
decubuit febribus, et ultima exercebatur aegritudine. Nee
ilia
20 suum sane Dominus famulum fructu suae precis fraudavit.

Nam et sibiipsi et eidem
quod lacrimosis depoposcit
civitati
precibus, in
tempore impetravit. Novi quoque eundem et
presbyterum et episcopum, pro quibusdam energumenis pati-
entibus ut oraret rogatum, eumque in oratione lacrimas fund-
25 entem Deum rogasse, et daemones ab hominibus recessisse.
Itemque ad aegrotantem et lecto vacantem quendam cum suo
aegroto venisse, et rogavisse ut eidem manum imponeret, quo
i eius omni A 6 deum BDFGH edd 10 constitutis CD*E edd

famulantes D, fabulantibus C, confabulantibus E edd 15 ut sese
om. CD, add. D*, ut me edd 16 cum eodem et om. C nos et nos-
tri omnes et ipsi C edd., nos et nostri omnes ipsi E 17 fuerant civ-
itate CDEFGH edd ig febribus] -ffatigatus edd. abcdeghjlmnoqr
om. fatigatus no, 14 Praereptos 22 impetravit om. J
mained in it during the whole time of the siege. Consequent-

ly wevery frequently conversed together and meditated on
the awful judgments of God laid bare before our eyes, saying :
"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments."

And in our common grief, with groanings and tears, we be-
sought the Father of mercies and the Lord of all consolation
that He vouchsafe to sustain us in this tribulation.
CHAPTER XXIX
Augustine's last illness
And it chanced at one time while we were seated with him at
the table and were conversing together that he said to us "I :
would have you know that in this time of our misfortune I

ask this of God: either that He may be pleased to free this
citywhich is surrounded by the foe, or if something else seems
good in His sight, that He make His servants brave for en-
during His will, or at least that He may take me from this
world unto Himself." And when he had taught us these
words, together with him we all joined in a like petition to
God Most High, for ourselves and for all our fellow bishops
and for the others who were in this city. And lo, in the
thirdmonth of the siege he succumbed to fever and began to
suffer in his last illness. In truth the Lord did not deprive
His servant of the reward of his prayer. For what he asked
with tears and prayers for himself and the city he obtained in
due time. I know also that both while he was presbyter and
bishop, when asked to pray for certain demoniacs, he entreated
God in prayer with many tears and the demons departed from
the men. In like manner when he was sick and confined to his
bed there came a certain man with a sick relative and asked
him to lay his hand upon him that he might be healed. But
n8 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
sanus esse posset, respondisse, si aliquid in his posset, sibi hoc

utique primitus praestitisset : et ilium dixisse visitatum se fuisse
sibique per somnium dictum esse: "Vade ad Augustinum
episcopum, ut eidem manum
imponat, et salvus erit." Quod
5 dum comperisset, facere non distulit, et ilium infirmum con-
tinuo Dominus sanum ab eodem discedere fecit.
CAPUT XXX
Consilium an hostibus adventantibus ex ecclesiis episcopis
recedendum sit
IO Interea reticendum minime est, cum memorati impenderent

1
hostes, a sancto viro nostro coepiscopo Thiabensis ecclesiae
2
Honorato, litteris fuisse consultum, utrumnam illis adventanti-
bus ex ecclesiis episcopis vel clericis recedendum esset, necne.
3
Eique rescriptis insinuasse quid magis ab illis Romaniae ever-
4
15 soribus esset metuendum. Quam eius epistolam huic script-
urae inseri volui, est enim sacerdotum Dei, et ministrorum
moribus valde utilis et necessaria.
"Sancto fratri et coepiscopo Honorato Augustinus in Domino

salutem
5
20 i. Caritati tuae misso exemplo epistolae,quam fratri Quod-
putabam me hoc onere
6
vultdeo nostro coepiscopo scripsi,
caruisse,quod mihi imposuisti, quaerendo consilium quid in
his periculis, quae tempora nostra invenerunt, facere debeatis.
Quamvis enim epistolam illam breviter scripserim, nihil me

25 tamen praetermisisse arbitror, quod et respondenti dicere, et
i eumque respondisse CDEFHJ edd 2 illud A 10 Interea

140, 6 defecerunt om. J. Interea 140, n
quadraginta om. H n
viro] -j-quoque edd 13 ex om. AG 14 inserere eddCDFG 17
necessaria] -f-isto modo rescriptum est ad eundem ab eodem DF edd.
(hoc modo C) 18 patri A in domino om. AB
Augustine answered that if he had any power in such things

he would surely have applied it to himself first of all to which ;
the stranger replied that he had had a vision and that in his
dream these words had been addressed to him: "Go to the
bishop Augustine that he may lay his hand upon him, and he
shall be whole." Now when Augustine heard this he did not
delay to do it and immediately God caused the sick man to
depart from him healed.
CHAPTER XXX
Advice on the withdrawal of bishops from the churches at the
approach of a foe
And now must by no means pass over in silence the fact
I
that when the above-mentioned enemy was threatening us,

Augustine was consulted in letters by Honoratus, a holy man
and our fellow-bishop of the church at Thiabe, as to whether
or not the bishops or clergy should withdraw from the churches
at their approach. In his reply he pointed out what was more
to be feared from those destroyers of Romania. It is my de-
sire to have that letter of his included in this account, for it is
very useful, even necessary, for the proper conduct of the

priests and ministers of God.
"To our holy brother and fellow-bishop Honoratus, Augus-
tine sends greeting in the Lord.
i. thought the copy which was sent to your Grace of the
I
letter which I wrote our brother and fellow-bishop Quodvult-

deus would relieve me of this task which you have laid upon
me by asking my advice as to what you ought to do amid these
perils which have befallen our times. For although I wrote
that letter quickly, I nevertheless believe I omitted nothing
that would suffice me to say in answering and him to know
quaerenti audire sufficeret: quandoquidem dixi, nee eos esse

prohibendos, qui ad loca, si possunt, migrare munita deside-
rant; et ministerii nostri vincula, quibus nos Christi caritas
7
alligavit, ne deseramus ecclesias, quibus servire debemus, non
5 esse rumpenda. Ista quippe verba sunt, quae in ilia epistola
posui : Restat ergo, inquam, ut nos quorum ministerium quan-

tulaecunque plebi Dei ubi sumus manenti ita necessarium est,
ut sine hoc earn non oporteat remanere, dicamus Domino:
Esto nobis in Deum protectorem et in locum munitum*
10 2. Sed hoc consilium tibi propterea non sufficit, ut scribis,
ne contra Domini praeceptum vel exemplum facere nitamur,
ubi fugiendum esse de civitate in civitatem monet. Recolimus
enim verba dicentis, Cum autem persequentur vos in civitate
9
ista, fugite in aliam. Quis autem credat ita hoc Dominum
15 fieri voluisse, ut necessario ministerio, sine quo vivere neque-
unt, desererentur greges, quos suo sanguine comparavit?
Numquid hoc fecit ipse, quando portantibus parentibus in
Aegyptum parvulus fugit, qui nondum ecclesias congregaverat,
quas ab eo desertas fuisse dicamus? Numquid quando Apos-
20 tolus Paulus, ne ilium comprehenderet inimicus per fenestram
in sporta submissus est, et effugit manus eius, 10 deserta est
quae ibi erat ecclesia necessario ministerio, et non ab aliis
fratribus ibidem constitutis quod oportebat impletum est?

Eis quippe volentibus hoc Apostolus fecerat, ut se ipsum ser-
25 varet Ecclesiae, quern proprie persecutor ille quaerebat. Faci-
ant ergo servi Christi, ministri verbi et sacramenti eius quod
praecepit sive permisit. Fugiant omnino de civitate in civita-
2 munita migrare CDEFG edd deserant A II nee A 16 de-

serentur DG, deserantur BCEF edd
who awaits my reply. For I said that those who desire to

withdraw to places of safety, if they are able, should not be
prevented, and that the ties of our ministry, by which the
love of Christ has bound us not to desert the churches which
we ought to serve, should not be broken. Here, then, are the
very words which I wrote in that letter:
'If, therefore/ I
said, 'our ministry is so needful to those people of God, how-

ever few, who stay where we are, that they ought not to be
left without it, it remains for us to pray to the Lord: "Be
thou unto us a God, a protector and a place of refuge."
!
2. But this advice, as you write, is not satisfactory to you,
because you fear we may be striving to act against that com-

mand and example of the Lord in which He teaches that we
should from city to city. We recall the words which He
flee
said: 'But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye to
another.' But who would believe that the Lord wished this
to be done when the circumstances are such that the flocks,
which He purchased with His own blood, should be abandoned
by that necessary ministry without which they cannot live?
Did He do this when as an infant He fled into Egypt, carried
by His parents, when He had not yet assembled any congrega-
tions which we could say were deserted by Him? When the
Apostle Paul, that he might not be apprehended of his enemy,
was let down through a window in a basket and escaped his
hands, was any church there which was deserted when in need
of his ministry? Was not that which was needful supplied
by the other brethren dwelling there? Indeed it was at their
request that the Apostle did this, that he might be spared to
the Church, since he alone was sought by the persecutor.
Therefore let the servants of Christ, the ministers of His
Word and Sacrament, do as He has taught and permitted.
Let them by all means flee from city to city when some one
tern, quando eorum quisquam specialiter a persecutoribus

quaeritur, ut ab aliis qui non ita requiruntur, non deseratur
Ecclesia, sed praebeant cibaria conservis suis, quos aliter vi-
vere non posse noverunt. Cum autem omnium, id est, episco-
5 porum et clericorum et laicorum est commune periculum, hi
qui aliis indigent, non deserantur ab his quibus indigent. Aut
igitur ad loca munita omnes transeant aut qui habent rema-
;
nendi necessitatem, non relinquantur ab eis, per quos illorum

est ecclesiastica supplenda necessitas, ut aut pariter vivant, aut
10 pariter sufferant, quod eos paterfamilias volet perpeti.
3. Quod si contigerit, ut sive alii maius, alii minus, sive
omnes aequaliter patiantur, qui eorum sint qui pro aliis pati-
untur apparet, illi
qui scilicet cum se possent talibus malis
eripere fugiendo, ne aliorum necessitatem desererent, manere

15 maluerunt. Hinc maxime probatur ilia caritas, quarn loannes
apostolus commendat, dicens Sicut Christus pro nobis animam
:
suam posnit, sic et nos debemus animas pro fratribus ponere.

Nam qui fugiunt, vel suis devincti necessitatibus fugere non
possunt, si comprehensi patiuntur, pro se ipsis, non pro fratri-
20 bus, utique patiuntur. Qui vero propterea patiuntur, quia
fratres, qui eis ad Christianam salutem indigebanr, deserere
noluerunt, sine dubio suas animas pro fratribus ponunt.
4. Unde illud quod episcopum quemdam dixisse audivimus,
"Si Dominus
nobis imperavit fugam in eis persecutionibns,
25 ubi potest ructus esse martyrii ; quanto magis debemus fugere
f
steriles passiones, quando est barbaricus et hostilis incursus?"

verum est quidem et acceptabile, sed his quos ecclesiastici officii
5 et clericorum] et ont. CF edd 7 ad locum uncti A u magis A,

minus alii maius edd., alii maius om. E, alii minus om. C 12 patiantur
BCD*, patientur F 16 animam suam pro nobis edd 18 Nam
126, 18 ecclesia om. G
of them in particular is sought by the persecutors, provided

that the Church shall not be abandoned by the others who are
not so persecuted, but that these may administer the food to
their fellow-servants, who they know would otherwise be un-
able to live. But when the danger is common to all, that is, to
bishops, clergy and laymen, let those who are in need of others
not be abandoned by those of whom they are in need. Ac-
cordingly, either let them all withdraw to places of safety or
else let not those who have a necessity for remaining be left
by those through whom their ecclesiastical needs are supplied,

so that they may either live together or suffer together what-
ever their Father wishes them to endure.
3. But if it should happen that some suffer more and others
less, or if all suffer equally, it is evident that they suffer for
others who, though they were able to escape such woes by
flight, preferred to remain so as not to desert others in their
time of need. In this especially is that love exemplified which
the Apostle John commends, saying: 'As Christ laid down
His life for us, so also ought we to lay down our lives for the
brethren.' For if those who flee or those who are bound by
their duties and are unable to flee if these are taken captive
and suffer anything, they of course suffer for themselves, not
for the brethren. But those who suffer because they are un-
willing to forsake their brethren who have need of them for
their Christian welfare, these undoubtedly lay down their
lives for their brethren.
4. Therefore that which we heard a certain bishop say,
namely: 'If the Lord has bidden us to flee in those persecu-

tions where we can obtain the reward of martyrdom, how
much more ought we to avoid these fruitless sufferings when
there is a hostile invasion of the barbarians?' is indeed true
and acceptable, but only for those who are not held by the
i2 4 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
non tenent vincula. Nam qui clades hostiles ideo non fugit,
cum possit effugere, ne deserat ministerium Christi, sine quo
non possunt homines vel vivere vel fieri Christiani, maiorem
caritatis invenit quam qui non propter fratres, sed
fructum,
5 propter se ipsum atque comprehensus non negat Christ-
f ugiens
um suscipitque martyrium.
5. Quid est ergo quod in epistola tua priore posuisti? Dicis
enim: "Si in ecclesiis persistendum est, quid simus nobis vel
populo profuturi non video, nisi ut ante oculos nostros viri
10 cadant, feminae constuprentur, incendantur ecclesiae, nos ipsi
tormentis deficiamus, cum de nobis quaeritur quod non habe-
mus." Potens est quidem Deus audire preces familiae suae,
et haec,quae formidantur, avertere, nee ideo tamen propter
quae incerta sunt, debet esse nostri officii certa desertio,
ista,
15 sine quo est plebi certa pernicies, non in rebus vitae huius, sed
alterius quae incomparabiliter diligentius sollicitiusque curanda
est. Nam si certa essent ista mala, quae timentur, ne in locis,
in quibus
sumus, forte contingant, prius inde fugerent omnes,
propter quos ibi manendum est, et nos a manendi necessitate
20 liberos redderent. Non enim quisquam est, qui dicat minis-
tros manere oportere, ubi iam non fuerint quibus necesse sit
ministrare. Ita quidam sancti episcopi de Hispania profuger-
unt, prius plebibus partim fuga lapsis, partim peremptis,
partim obsidione consumptis, partim captivitate dispersis: sed
25 multo plures, illic manentibus propter quos manerent, sub
eorundem periculorum densitate manserunt. Et si aliqui
deseruerunt plebes suas, hoc est quod dicimus fieri non debere.
3 fieri vel vivereCDEF edd 5 comprehensum A n in tormen-

tis edd nostri officii esse edd 16 quae om. edd curanda est]
curandae edd 22 quidam] CE edd., quidem ABDFG
bonds of For when he who can escape does

ecclesiastical duty.
not fleefrom the onslaught of the enemy and so does not
abandon the ministry of Christ, without which men could
neither live a Christian life nor become Christians, he finds a
greater reward of love than he who flees, not for his breth-
ren's sake but for his own, and when taken captive does not
deny Christ but suffers martyrdom.

5. But what, then, is that which you wrote in your previous
letter? For you say: 'If we must remain in the churches, I
do not see what will be the advantage to us or to the people,

except that men should be cut down before our very eyes,
women outraged, churches burned, and we ourselves perish
under torture when the things we have not are demanded of
us/ God, indeed, is able to hear the prayers of His children
and to ward off the things which they fear; yet even so we
ought not, on account of that which is uncertain, to be guilty of
that which is certain, namely, neglect of our ministrations.
Without these the ruin of the people is certain, not in the
things of this life, but of that other which must be cared for
with incomparably greater devotion and anxiety. For if these
evils were certain which we fear might come to pass in the
places in which we are, all on whose account we ought to re-

main would have fled before us, and so we should be freed
from the necessity of remaining. For there is no one who
says that ministers ought to remain where there are no longer
any to whom it is necessary to minister. So indeed the holy
bishops fled from Spain after the people had either fallen in
flight, or had been slain or consumed in the siege or scattered
in captivity. But many more bishops stayed amid the multi-
tude of these dangers, because those on whose account they
remained were staying there. And if some deserted their
people, this is what we say ought not to be done. For such
Neque enim tales ducti auctoritate divina, sed humano vel er-
rore decepti vel timore sunt vincti.
6. Cur enim sibi putant indifferenter obtemperandum esse
12
praecepto, ubi legunt in civitatem de civitate esse f ugiendum ;
5 et mercenarium non exhorrent, qui videt lupum venientem et
18
f ugit, quoniam non est ei Cur non istas duas
cura de ovibus ?
dominicas verasque sententias, unam scilicet ubi fuga sinitur

aut iubetur, alteram ubi arguitur atque culpatur, sic intelligere
student, ut inter se reperiantur non esse contrariae, sicut non
10 sunt? Et hoc quomodo reperitur, nisi attendatur quod iam
superius disputavi, tune de locis, in quibus sumus, premente
persecutione fugiendum esse Christi ministris, quando ibi plebs
Christi non fuerit, cui ministretur, aut potest implere per alios
necessarium ministerium, quibus eadem non est causa fugien-
14
15 di: sicut in sporta submissus, quod supra memoravi, fugit
Apostolus, cum a persecutore ipse proprie quaereretur, aliis
utique necessitatem similem non habentibus, a quibus illic
ministerium absit ut desereretur ecclesia; sicut fugit sanctus

Athanasius 15 Alexandrinus episcopus, cum eum specialiter ap-
20 prehendere Constantius 10 praeceperat Imperator, nequaquam
a ceteris ministris deserta plebe Catholica, quae in Alexandria
commanebat. Cum autem plebs manet, et ministri fugiunt
ministeriumque subtrahitur, quid erit nisi mercenariorum ilia
fuga damnabilis, quibus non est cura de ovibus? Veniet enim
25 lupus, non homo, sed diabolus; qui plerumque fideles apostatas
esse persuasit, quibus quotidianum ministerium Dominici cor-
i docti BCDF edd., om. E 2 victi BCDEF edd 4 praecepto

esse om. E de civitate in civitatem B edd., in civitatem legunt de
civitate CF, in civitatem legunt esse D n hunc A 12 ibi]-faut
BCDF edd 13 aut]+etiam fuerit et edd impleri BCDEF edd
16 proprie ipse edd 122, 18 Nam 18 ecclesia om. G 20 prae-
ceperat] cuperet BCDEF
G edd.
were not led by divine authority, but were deceived by human

error or constrained by fear.
6. For why do they think they should without discrimination
obey the command which they read to flee from city to city,
and do not tremble at the parable of the hireling who sees the
wolf coming and flees because he cares not for the sheep?
Why do they not endeavor so to understand these two con-
sistent teachings of the Lord the one, indeed, where flight is
permitted or even commanded, the other where it is denounced
and censured that they be discovered not to be contrary to
each other, as, in fact, they are not? And how shall this be
discovered unless attention be given to that which I have dis-
cussed above, namely, that we ministers of Christ, under the
stress of persecution, should flee from the places in which we
are only when there are no Christians there to whom to min-
ister,or when the necessary duties of the ministry can be per-
formed by others who have not the same reason for flight as
the Apostle fled, letdown in a basket, as I have mentioned
above, when he alone was sought out by the persecutor while
the others did not have any such need for flight, so that the
services of the ministry were not withdrawn there nor the
churches abandoned as the holy Athanasius, Bishop of Alex-
;
andria, fled when the Emperor Constantius desired to appre-

hend him alone, while the Catholic people who remained in
Alexandria were by no means deserted by the other ministers.
But when the people remain and the ministers flee and the
service of the ministry is withdrawn, what will this be but
that damnable flight of hirelings who care not for the sheep?
For the wolf shall come, not a man, but the Devil, who has
very frequently induced the faithful to apostatize who were
deprived of the daily ministry of the Lord's body; and not
poris defuit; et peribit infirmus non in tua conscientia, sed

17
ignorantia frater, propter quern Christus mortuus est.
7. Quod autem ad eos attinet, qui in hac re non falluntur
errore, sed formidine superantur, quare non potins contra
5 suum timorem Domino miserante atque adiuvante fortiter
dimicant, ne mala sine comparatione graviora, quae multo
amplius sunt tremenda, contingant? Fit hoc ubi caritas Dei
flagrat, non mundi cupiditas fumat. Caritas enim dicit Quis :
ego non infirmor? Quis scandalizatur, et ego

infirmatur, et
10 non urorf Sed caritas ex Deo est. Oremus ergo ut ab illo
19
detur, a quo iubetur. Et per hanc magis timeamus, ne oves
Christi spiritalis nequitiae gladio in corde, quam ne ferro in
corpore trucidentur, ubi quandocunque quocunque mortis gen-

ere morituri sunt. Magis timeamus ne sensu interiori cor-
15 rupto, pereat castitas fidei, quam ne feminae violenter constu-
prentur in carne. Quia violentia non violatur pudicitia, si
mente servatur: quoniam nee in carne violatur, quando vo-
luntas patientis sua turpiter carne non utitur, sed sine con-
sensione tolerat quod alius operatur. 20 Magis timeamus ne
20 lapides vivi exstinguantur deserentibus nobis, quam ne lapides
et ligna terrenorum aedificiorum incendantur praesentibus no-
21
bis. Magis timeamus ne membra corporis Christi destituta
spiritali victu necentur, quam [ne] membra corporis nostri
oppressa hostili
impetu torqueantur. Non quia ista non sunt
25 vitanda cum possunt; sed quia potius ferenda sunt, quando
vitari sine impietatenon possunt: nisi forte quisquam conten-
deritnon esse ministrum impium, qui tune subtrahit ministe-
rium pietati necessarium, quando magis est necessarium.
i in tua non scientia BDEFG edd., in tua non conscientia CD*

7 dei caritas BDFG edd 9 non ego bis edd., ego primum et non
secundum om. A 22 Christi] nostri CD* 23 quam]+ne CG edd.
membra corporis nostri om. C 27 impium ministerium om. A
28 quando necessarium om. A
through thy knowledge, but through thine ignorance shall the

weak brother perish, for whom Christ died.
7. But as for those who are not deceived by error in this
matter, but are overcome by terror, why should they not

rather, with the mercy and aid of the Lord, bravely struggle
against their fright, lest incomparably greater and more fear-
ful evils come upon them? This will be the case where the
love of God is aflame, not where the desire of this world
smoulders. For love says 'Who is weak and I am not weak ?

:
Who is offended and I burn not?' And love is from God.

Let us pray, therefore, that this love be given of Him by
whom it is commanded. And because of it let us fear that the
sheep of Christ, who will die at some time by some kind of
death,may be slain in heart by the sword of spiritual wicked-
ness rather than in the body by one of iron. Let us rather fear
that the inner sense may be corrupted and the purity of faith
perish than that women be forcibly defiled in body. For chas-

not destroyed in the body when the will of the sufferer
tity is
does not shamefully take part in the deeds of the flesh, but
without consenting endures another's violence. Rather let us
fear that the living stones may be destroyed while we are
absent than that the stones and wood of the earthly buildings
may be burned while we are present. Rather let us fear that
the members of body may be destroyed when deprived
Christ's
of spiritual nourishment than that the members of our body
may be put to torture when overpowered by the attack of the
enemy. Not that these things are not to be avoided when pos-
sible, but rather that they are to be endured when they cannot
be avoided without impiety unless, perchance, someone will
maintain that the minister is not impious who withdraws his
ministry which is needful for piety at the time when it is most
needful.
8. An non cogitamus, cum ad istorum

periculorum perveni-
tur extrema, nee est potestas ulla f ugiendi, quantus in ecclesia
fieri soleat ab utroque sexu, atque ab omni aetate
concursus,
aliisbaptismum flagitantibus, aliis reconciliationem, aliis etiam
5 poenitentiae ipsius actionem, omnibus consolationem et sacra-
mentorum confectionem et erogationem? '
Ubi si ministri
desint, quantum exitium sequitur eos qui de isto seculo vel non
regenerati exeunt, vel ligati? Quantus est etiam luctus fide-
Hum suorum, qui eos secum in vitae aeternae requiem non
*o habebunt?
Quantus denique gemitus omnium et quorundam
quanta blasphemia de absentia ministeriorum et ministrorum?
Vide quid faciat malorum temporalium timor, et quanta in eo
sit malorum acquisitio aeternorum. Si autem ministri adsint,
pro viribus quas eis Dominus subministrat, omnibus subveni-

X 5
tur; alii baptizantur, alii reconciliantur, nulli Dominici corporis
communione fraudantur, omnes consolantur, aedificantur, ex-
hortantur, ut Deum rogent, qui potens est omnia quae timentur
avertere parati ad utrumque, ut si non potest ab eis calix iste
;
22
transire, fiat voluntas eius, qui mali aliquid non potest velle.
20 9. Certe iam vides quod te scripseras non videre, quantum
boni consequantur populi Crjristiani, si in praesentibus malis
non eis desit praesentia ministrorum Christi, quorum vides
etiam quantum obsit absentia, dum sua quaerunt non quae
lesu Christi 28 nee habent illam de qua dictum est Non quae-
;
:
25 rit quae sua sunt; 2 * nee imitantur eum qui dixit: Non quae-
rens quod mihi utile est, sed quod multis, ut salvi fiant Qui
etiam persecutoris principis illius insidias non fugisset, nisi se
9 requie BC edd., eras.m E 13 acquisito malorum BCDEFG edd

25 nee] non A
26 est om. edd,., sit E
8. Or when these dangers have reached their height and

there is no do we not realize how great
possibility of flight,
a gathering there usually is in the church of both sexes and
of every age, some clamoring for baptism, others for recon-
ciliation, still others for acts of penance: all of them seeking
consolation and the administration and distribution of the sac-
raments ? If, then, the ministers are not at hand, how terrible
is the destruction which overtakes those who depart from this
world unregenerated or bound by sin How great is the grief
!
of their brethren in the faith who shall not have their com-
panionship in the rest in the life eternal! Finally how great
the lamentation of and how great the blasphemy of some
all
because of the absence of the ministers and their ministry!

See what the fear of temporal evils does and how great an in-
crease of eternal woes results. But if the ministers are present
they are a help to all, according to the strength which the Lord
gives them some are baptized, others are reconciled, none are
:
deprived of the communion of the body of the Lord, all are

consoled, edified and exhorted to ask of God, who hath the
power to avert all the things they fear prepared for either
issue, so that if that cup may not pass from them, His will
may be done who can will no evil.
9. Surely you now see that which you wrote you did not
see, namely, how great advantage Christian people may ob-
tain if in these present evils they are not deprived of the pres-
ence of Christ's ministers, and you also see how much injury
their absence does when they seek their own, not the things
which are of Jesus Christ, and have not that love of which it
was said: 'She seeketh not her own,' and do not imitate him
who said 'Seeking not mine own profit, but the profit of many,
:
that they may be saved.' For he also would not have fled
from the snares of that persecuting prince had he not wished
aliis quibus necessarius erat, servare voluisset. Propter quod
ait Compellor autem ex duobus concupiscentiam habens, dis-
:
solvi et esse cum Christo, multo magis enim optimum; manere

in came necessarium propter vos.
5 10. Hie fortasse quis dicat, ideo debere fugere Dei ministros
talibus imminentibus malis, ut se pro utilitate Ecclcsiae temp-

oribus tranquillioribus servant. Recte hoc fit a quibusdam,
quando non desunt alii, per quos suppleatur ecclesiasticum
ministerium, ne ab omnibus deseratur quod fecisse Athanas-
;
10 ium supra diximus. 27 Nam quantum necessarium fuerit Ec-

clesiae, quantumque profuerit, quod vir ille mansit in carne,
Catholica fides novit, quae adversus Arianos haereticos ore
illius et amore defensa est. Sed quando est commune pericu-
lum, magisque timendum est, ne quisquam id facere credatur,
15 non consulendi voluntate, sed timore moriendi, magisque fugi-
endi obsit exemplo, quam vivendi prosit officio, nulla ratione
faciendum est. Denique sanctus David, ne se committeret
periculis praeliorum, et fortassis extingueretur, sicut ibi dic-
tum est, lucerna Israel?* a suis hoc petentibus sumpsit, non
20 ipse praesumpsit; alioquin multos imitatores fecisset ignaviae,
qui eum crederent hoc fecisse non consideratione utilitatis
aliorum, sed suae perturbatione formidinis.
ii. Occurrit autem alia quaestio, quam contemnere non
debemus. Si enim haec utilitas
negligenda non est, ut aliqui
25 ministri propterea fugiant imminente aliqua vastitate, ut ser-
ventur qui ministerent eis, quos post illam cladem residuos
potuerint invenire, quid fiet ubi omnes videntur interituri, nisi
aliqui fugiant ? Quid si enim hactenus sit evicta ilia pernicies,
3 enim magis BCDFG, enim om. E edd manere] -(-autem BCDEF

edd 5 forte edd fugere debere CF, dei ministros fugere edd
9 ab hominibus A 10 supra necessarium om. E ecclesiae
profuerit om. E n fuerit A 16 absit A 17 fugiendum A 18
scriptum CDF 24 enim si Sal 28 sit evicta] saeviat BCDEFG edd
to save himself for others who had greater need of him.

Wherefore he says : 'For I am
betwixt two, having
in a strait
a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better; never-
theless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you/
10. At this point someone perchance may say that the min-
isters of God ought to flee when such dangers are threatening
so that they may save themselves for the benefit of the Church
in more peaceful times. right for some when others
This is
are not lacking to provide the ministrations of the Church,

that it may not be deserted by all, as we have said above that
Athanasius did. For the Catholic faith, which was defended
against the Arian heretics by his voice and zeal, perceived how
needful it was and how profitable it would be to have him
abide in the flesh. But when the peril is common and it is
more to be feared that someone may be thought to do this not
from a desire of serving, but from a fear of dying, and when
more harm may be done by the example of fleeing than good
by the obligation of living, it should under no circumstances
be done. Finally the holy David, that he might not be exposed
to the dangers of battle and that the 'light of Israel/ as it is
there written, should not by any chance be extinguished, with-
drew when his followers demanded it, but he did not do this
of his own accord or he would have had many imitators of his
cowardice, who would have believed that he did it not from
any consideration of the advantage of others but from the
confusion of his own fear.
n. But another question arises which we ought not to slight.
For if this usefulness is not to be disregarded so that some
ministers should flee when any danger is imminent in order to
be saved to minister to those survivors whom they might be
able to find after the disaster, what should be done where all
seem sure to perish unless some flee ? What if the persecution
ut solos ministros Ecclesiae persequatur? Quid dicemus? An
relinquenda est a ministris fugientibus Ecclesia, ne a morienti-

bus miserabilius relinquatur? Sed si laici non quaeruntur ad
mortem, possunt occultare quoquo modo episcopos et clericos
5 suos, sicut ille adiuverit, in cuius potestate sunt omnia, qui
potest et non fugientes permirabili conservare potentia. Sed
ideo quaerimus quid nos facere debeamus, ne in omnibus ex-
spectando divina miracula tentare Dominum iudicemur. Non
quidem tempestas, quando laicorum et clericorum
talis est ista
lo est commune periculum, sicut in navi una commune periculum
est mercatorum atque nautarum. Verum absit ut tanti pend-
enda haec navis nostra, ut debeant earn nautae, et maxime
sit
gubernator, periclitantem deserere, etiam si in scapham transi-

liendo vel etiam natando possint effugere. Quibus enim me-
15 tuimus ne nostra desertione pereant, non temporalem mortem,
quae quandoque ventura est, sed aeternam, quae potest, si non
caveatur, venire, et potest, si caveatur, etiam non venire, me-
tuimus. In communi autem periculo vitae huius cur existime-
mus ubicunque fuerit hostilis incursus, omnes clericos et non
20 etiam omnes laicos esse morituros, ut simul finiant hanc vitam,
cui sunt clerici necessarii? aut cur non speremus sicut aliquos
laicos, sic etiam clericos remansuros, a quibus eis necessarium
ministerium valeat exhiberi?
12. Quamquam [o si] inter Dei ministros inde sit discep-
25 tatio, qui eorum maneant, ne fuga omnium, et qui eorum
fugiant, ne morte omnium deseratur Ecclesia! Tale quippe
certamen erit inter eos, ubi utrique ferveant caritate, et utrique
6 fugientem edd., morientes E per mirabilem conservare poten-

tiam BCDEFG edd 8 deum 16 ventura sit A
A*D 18 existi-
mamus D* edd., resistamus C, exestimus F 21 laicos aliquos edd.,
aliquos om. CD*F 24 o si inter G edd., si inter BCDEF, hos inter
A. cf. et o si fatigentur et o si viderent Con/. IX iv 10. quamquam
o si adesset Virg. Aen. XI 415 26 forte EG
should in so far be overcome as to pursue only the ministers

of the Church? What shall we say? Shall the Church be
forsaken by its ministers in flight that it may not be forsaken
more wretchedly by them But if the laymen are not
in death ?
persecuted to the death, they can in some way or other hide

their bishops and clergy, as He shall aid, in whose control are
all things, who is able by His marvelous power to save even
those who do not flee. But we are inquiring what we ought to

do in order that we be not adjudged as tempting God by look-
ing for divine miracles in all things. Certainly this storm in
which the danger is common to laymen and clergy is not the
same as that in which the danger is common to merchants and
sailors in the same ship. God forbid that this ship of ours
should be prized so lightly that the sailors, and especially the
pilot, ought to abandon it when it is in danger, even if they
can escape by taking to a small boat or even by swimming.
For in the case of those who we fear may perish because of
our desertion, it is not their temporal death we fear, which
is sure to come at some time, but their eternal death which
can come if we are not careful and which cannot come if we
are careful. But in the common perils of this life, why should
we believe that wherever there is a hostile invasion all the
clergy, and not all the laymen also, are going to perish so that
those for whom the clergy are necessary shall all end this life
together? Or why should we not expect that as some of the
laymen shall survive, so also shall some of the clergy, by whom
the necessary ministry may be provided for them?
12. Yet O
that the rivalry between the ministers of God
were as to which of them should remain that the Church be
not abandoned by the flight of all, and which of them should
flee that it be not abandoned by the death of all! Such, in-
deed, will be the rivalry among them when both are kindled
placeant caritati. Quae disceptatio si aliter non potuerit ter-

minari, quantum mini videtur, qui maneant et qui fugiant,
sorte legendi sunt. Qui enim dixerint se potius fugere debere,
aut timidi videbuntur, quia imminens malum sustinere nolue-
5 runt ;
aut arrogantes, quia se magis qui servandi essent, neces-
saries Ecclesiae iudicarunt. Deinde fortassis hi, qui meliores
sunt, eligant pro fratribus animas ponere; et hi servabuntur
fugiendo, quorum est minus utilis vita, quia minor consulendi
et gubernandi peritia. Qui tamen, si pie sapiunt, contradicent
10 eis, quos vident et vivere potius oportere, et magis mori malle,
quam fugere. Ideo sicut scriptum est: Contradictories sedat
sortitio, et inter potentes definit. Melius enim Deus in huius-
cemodi ambagibus, quam homines iudicant, sive dignetur ad
passionis fructum vocare meliores, et parcere infirmis, sive
15 istos facere ad mala perferenda fortiores, et huic vitae sub-
trahere, quorum non potest Ecclesiae tantum quantum illorum
vita prodesse. Res quidem fiet minus usitata, si fiat ista sorti-
tio; sed si facta fuerit, quis earn reprehendere audebit? Quis

non earn nisiimperitus, aut invidus, congrua praedicatione
20 laudabit? Quod si non placet facere, cuius facti non occurrit
exemplum, nullus fuga faciat ut Ecclesiae ministerium, max-
ime in tantis periculis necessarium ac debitum, desit. Nemo
accipiat personam suam, ut si aliqua gratia videtur excellere,
ideo se dicat vita, et ob hoc fuga esse digniorem. Quisquis
25 enim hoc putat nimium sibi placet: quisquis autem etiam hoc
dicit, omnibus displicet.
3 eligendi CDF, elegendi E 6 ii edd 7 eligunt C, eligent edd

8 consolendi AG, consulendo F 13 iudicat CDFG edd 16 del
ecclesiae edd 21 nullius CDEFG edd fugam BG 23 excipiat
Ben. Mi
by love and both obey love. And if this argument cannot be

otherwise settled, so far as I can see, those who should remain
and those who should flee must be chosen by lot. For those
who shall say that they ought rather to flee will either seem to
be afraid because they are unwilling to endure the threaten-
ing danger, or presumptuous in that they judge themselves
more necessary to the Church to fulfill its services. Further-
more, peradventure those who are the better may choose to
lay down their lives for the brethren and those will be saved
by flight whose useful by reason of their inferior
life is less
ability in counsel and government. Nevertheless those who

are good and wise will oppose those who they see ought rather
to live and who yet choose to die rather than flee. Thus, as
it is written : causeth contentions to cease and parteth
'The lot
between the mighty/ For in difficulties of this sort God is
a better judge than men as to whether it is well to call the
more gifted to the reward of martyrdom and to spare the weak
or whether to make them stronger to endure the hardships and
to take them out of thisworld whose lives cannot be of as
much advantage to the Church as the lives of the others. The
procedure will indeed be rather unusual if the lot has to be
adopted; but if it has been used who shall presume to call it
into question? Who, except he be ignorant or envious, will
not praise it with fitting commendation? But if this method
isnot found satisfactory on the ground that no instance of
such a procedure occurs, let no one by his flight cause the
ministration of the Church, especially needful and due amid
such greatperils, to cease. Let no one regard his own person,
so that he seem to excel in some grace, he should on this
if
account say he is more deserving of life and therefore of

flight. For whoever thinks this doubtless pleases himself;
but whoever also says this, displeases all.
i 38 SANCTI AUGUSTINI VITA
13. Sunt sane qui arbitrantur episcopos et clericos non fugi-

entes in talibus periculis, sed manentes, facere ut plebes de-
cipiantur, cum ideo non f ugiunt, quia manere suos praepositos
cernunt. Sed facile est hanc reprehensionem vel invidiam de-
5 vitare, alloquendo easdem plebes, atque dicendo: 'Non vos
decipiat, quod de loco isto non fugimus. Non enim propter
nos, sed propter vos potius hie manemus, ne vobis non minis-
80
tremus quidquid saluti vestrae, quae in Christo est, novimus
necessarium.
Si ergo fugere volueritis, et nos ab istis, quibus
IO tenemur, vinculis solvistis.' Quod tune puto esse dicendum,
quando vere videtur utile esse ad loca tutiora migrare. Quo

audito si vel omnes vel aliqui dixerint: 'In illius potestate
sumus, cuius iram nullus quocunque vadit, evadit, et cuius

misericordiam, ubicunque sit, potest invenire, qui nusquam
X 5 vult ire, sive certis necessitatibus impeditus, sive laborare no-
lens ad incerta suffugia, et non ad finienda, sed ad mutanda
pericula/ procul dubio isti deserendi non sunt ministerio Chris-
tiano.autem hoc audito abire maluerint, nee illis manen-
Si
dum illos manebant
qui propter quia ibi iam non sunt propter
;
20 quos manere adhuc debeant.

14. Quicunque igitur isto modo fugit, ut ecclesiae necessa-
rium ministerium illo fugiente non desit, facit quod Dominus
praecepit sive permisit. Qui autem sic fugit, ut gregi Christi
ea, quibus spiritalitervivit, alimenta subtrahantur, mercenarius
25 est illequi videt lupum venientem, et fugit, quoniam non est
ei cura de ovibus. 81
Haec tibi, quia me consuluisti, frater dilectissime, quia ex-
istimavi veritate et certa caritate rescripsi; sed meliorem si
4 responsionem edd declinare E edd 10 solvitis DEFG, solutis

E* isetom.edd 15 sive impeditus om. B 18 manendum est
BCDEFG edd 22 ministerio A, om. C 25 ille est BCDEFG edd
27 quoniam G, qua BCD edd., quae F 28 sed meliorem si inveneris ne
sequaris sententiam CD* (nos sequaris D, non E, sententia F), sed ne
meliorem si sequaris sententiam BG (inveneris edd.}
13. To be sure there are those who believe that when the
bishops and clergy do not flee amid such dangers but remain,
they deceive the people, since the people do not flee because
they see their bishops remaining. But it is easy to avoid this
accusation or reproach by speaking to the people and saying:
'Be not deceived because we do not flee from this place. For
we are remaining here not for our own sakes but rather for
yours that we may not fail to provide you with whatever we
know to be needful for your salvation which is in Christ. If,
therefore, you wish to flee you will free us from the bonds by
which we are held/ This I think should be said when it seems
truly expedient to withdraw to places of greater safety. And
when such words have been heard and all or some shall have
said: 'We are in His power whose wrath no one escapes,
wheresoever he may go, and whose mercy he can find, where-
soever he may be who does not wish to go elsewhere, whether
prevented by certain obligations or unwilling to seek places of
uncertain refuge, thus not ending but merely trans fering the
dangers,' surely they must not be forsaken by the Christian
ministry. if the people prefer to leave when they have
But
heard this, the ministers are not bound to stay who were re-
maining on their account, because there are no longer any
persons there for whose sake they ought still to remain.
14. Accordingly, whoever under such circumstances

flees
that the necessary ministry of the Church is not lacking be-

cause of his flight, does as the Lord commands or permits.
But whoever so flees that he deprives the flock of Christ of
that nourishment from which it has its spiritual life, is an
hireling who sees the wolf coming and flees because he cares
not for the sheep.
These things, since I believe them, my brother most be-
loved, have I written to you in truth and love unfeigned be-
invenis, sententiae non praescripsi.Melius tamen quod in his

periculis faciamus, invenire non possumus, quam orationes ad
Dominum Deum nostrum, ut misereatur nostri. Quod ipsum,
ut scilicet ecclesias non desererent, Dei dono nonnulli prudentes
5 et sancti viri et velle et facere meruerunt, et inter dentes ob-
trectantium a sui propositi intentione minime defecerunt."
CAPUT XXXI
Mors et sepultura
Sane ille sanctus in vita sua prolixa pro utilitate ac felicitate

10 sanctae Ecclesiae divinitus condonata (nam vixit annis septua-
ginta sex, in clericatu autem vel episcopatu annis ferme quad-
1
raginta ) dicere nobis inter familiaria colloquia consueverat,
post perceptum baptismum etiam laudatos Christianos et sacer-
dotes absque digna et competenti poenitentia exire de corpore
15 non debere. Quod et ipse fecit ultima qua defunctus est aegri-
tudine: nam sibi iusserat Psalmos Davidicos, qui sunt paucis-
simi de poenitentia 2 scribi, ipsosque quaterniones iacens in
lecto contra parietem positos diebus suae innrmitatis intueba-
tur et legebat, et ubertim ac iugiter flebat: et ne intentio eius
20 a quoquam impediretur, ante dies ferme decem quam exiret
de corpore, a nobis postulavit praesentibus, ne quisquam ad
eum ingrederetur, nisi his tantum horis, quibus medici ad in-
spiciendum intrabant, vel cum ei refectio inferretur. Et ita
observatum et factum est, et omni illo tempore orationi vaca-
25 bat. Verbum Dei usque ad ipsam suam extremam aegritud-
inem impraetermisse, 3 alacriter et fortiter, sana mente sanoque
consilio in ecclesia praedicavit. Membris omnibus sui corporis
i perscripsi DF 4 scilicet] -fdei edd 118, 10 Interea 6 defece-

runt ont. J 10 ecclesiae] -Katholicae D edd., catholici F, sanctae ac
catholicae ecclesiae C. Q om. catholicae nam vixit] ABCDEFGJQ
bceghjklnopqr, nam ont. edd septuaginta sex] ABCDFJbegklmnopq,
sex om. c, LXXVI EGhjr, septuaginta et sex edd 118, 10 Interea
....II quadraginta om. H
12 dicere] -J-autem edd 19 iugiter ac
ubertim edd 21 quis BCDEFGHJ edd 22 iis edd 23 intrarent
C edd. Q exhibet intrabant 24 ac factum edd
cause you have asked my advice, but I make no objection to

a better opinion if you find one. Nevertheless we can find
nothing better to do in these dangers than to pray to the Lord
our God that He have mercy upon us. And some wise and
holy men, with the help of God, have been enabled to will and
to do this much, namely not to desert the churches, and in the
face of detraction not to waver in maintaining their purpose."
CHAPTER XXXI
Death and burial
Now the holy man in his long life given of God for the bene-
fitand happiness of the holy Church (for he lived seventy-six
years, almost forty of which he spent as a priest or bishop),
in private conversations frequently told us that even after
baptism had been received exemplary Christians and priests

ought not depart from this life without fitting and appropriate
repentance. And this he himself did in his last illness of which
he died. For he commanded that the shortest penitential
Psalms of David should be copied for him, and during the
days of his sickness as he lay in bed he would look at these
sheets as they hung upon the wall and read them and he wept ;
freely and constantly. And that his attention might not be

interrupted by anyone, about ten days before he departed from
the body he asked of us who were present that no one should
come in to him, except only at the hours in which the physi-
cians came to examine him or when nourishment was brought
to him. This, accordingly, was observed and done, and he
had all that time free for prayer. Up to the very moment of
his last illness he preached the Word of God in the church
incessantly, vigorously and powerfully, with a clear mind and

sound judgment. With all the members of his body intact,
4
incolumis, integro aspectu atque auditu, et, ut scriptum est,
nobis astantibus et videntibus et orantibus, dormivit cum patri-
bus suis, enutritus in bona senectute: et nobis coram pro eius
commendanda corporis depositione, sacrificium Deo oblatum
5 est, et sepultus est. Testamentum nullum fecit, quia unde
faceret pauper Dei non habuit. Ecclesiae bibliothecam omnes-
que codices diligenter posteris custodiendos semper iubebat.

Si quid vero ecclesia vel in sumptibus, vel in ornamentis hab-
presbyteri, qui sub eodem domus ecclesiae curam gere-
uit, fidei
10 bat, dimisit. Nee suos consanguineos, vel in proposito vel
extra constitutes, in sua vita et morte vulgi more tractavit.
Quibus cum adhuc superesset, id si opus fuit quod et ceteris
erogavit, non ut divitias haberent, sed ut aut non aut minus
egerent. Clerum sufficientissimum, et monasteria virorum ac
15 feminarum continentibus cum suis praepositis plena Ecclesiae
dimisit, una cum bibliotheca et libris tractatus vel suos vel
aliorum sanctorum habentibus, in quibus dono Dei qualis quan-
tusque in Ecclesia fuerit noscitur, et his semper vivere a fideli-
bus invenitur. luxta quod etiam secularium [quidam] poeta
20 iubens quo sibi tumulum mortuo in aggere publico collocarent,
programmate fixit, dicens,
Vivere post obitum vates vis nosse viator?

5
Quod legis ecce loquor, vox tua nempe mea est.
Et in suis quidem scriptis ille Deo acceptus et carus sacerdos,

lucente veritate videre conceditur, recte ac sane,
25 quantum
fidei, spei et caritatis Catholicae Ecclesiae vixisse manifestatur,
2 et videntibus et orantibus om. EJhn cum eo pariter orantibus

H edd. LMNOPbcdegjklmopqr om. cum eo pariter dormivit] -fin
pace H, obdormivit CDF
edd 3 et nutritus DFJ, enutritus om. N
5 sepultus est]+vixit autem annis LXXVI
in clericatu vero vel episcopa-
tu annis ferme XL H10 dimisit] hie disinit J 12 dum BCDE*
FGH edd., quibusdam E 15 continentium ESal., contin// F16
bibliothecis libros et tracatus BCD*EFGH
edd., libris D
18 in his
BCDEFG edd 19 quidam] om. A
BCDEFGH edd., poetarum B
edd 20 suis iubens CDEFH edd., sui G 21 programmate] ABDEG
Hbcdeghjkmnop, pragrammate r, programatice F, epigrammate C, pro
epigrammate p* edd finxit G edd 22 vatem BCDEFGH edd 24
acceptus est carus A
with sight and hearing unimpaired, while we stood by and

watched and prayed, "he slept with his fathers," as it is written,
"well-nourished in a good old age." And in our presence, after
a service was offered to God for the peaceful repose of his
body, he was buried. He made no will, because as a poor
man of God he had nothing from which to make it. He re-
peatedly ordered that the library of the church and all the
books should be carefully preserved for future generations.
Whatever the church had in the way of possessions or orna-
ments he left in charge of his presbyter, who had the care of
the church building under his direction. Neither in life nor
death did he treat his relatives according to the general cus-
tom, whether they observed his manner of life or not. But
while he was still living, whenever there was need he gave to
them the same as he gave others, not that they should have
riches, but that they might not be in want, or at least might
be less in want. He left to the Church a fully sufficient body
of clergy and monasteries of men and women with their con-
tinent overseers, together with the library and books contain-
ing treatises of his own and of other holy men. By the help
of God, one may find therein how great he was in the Church
and therein the faithful may always find him living. Where-
fore also a secular poet, who directed that a monument be
erected to himself in a public place after his death, composed
this as an inscription, saying:
Wouldst know that poets live again, O traveller, after death?
These words thou readest, lo, I speak! Thy voice is but my
breath.
From his writing assuredly it is manifest that this
priest, beloved and acceptable to God, lived uprightly and

soberly in the faith, hope and love of the Catholic Church in
atque eum de divinis scribentem legentes proficiunt. Sed ego

arbitror plus ex eo proficere potuisse, qui eum et loquentem
in ecclesia praesentem audire et videre potuerunt, et eius prae-
sertim inter homines conversationem non ignoraverunt. Erat
5 enim non solum eruditus scriba in regno coelorum, de thesauro
suo proferens nova et vetera, 6 et unus negotiatorum, qui in-
venta pretiosa margarita, quae habebat venditis, comparavit, 7
verum etiam ex his ad quos scriptum est Sic loquimini, et sic :
8
facite: et de quibus Salvator dicit :
fecerit et docuerit sic
Qui
9
IO homines, hie magnus vocabitur in regno coelorum.
Peto autem impendio vestram caritatem, qui haec scripta
legitis,ut mecum omnipotenti Deo gratias agatis, Dominum
qui benedicatis, qui mihi tribuit intellectum, ut haec in notitiam
et praesentium et absentium praesentis temporis et futuri
15 hominum, et vellem deferre et et mecum ac pro me

valuissem:
oretis, ut illius quondam viri, cum quo ferme annis quadra-
ginta Dei dono absque amara ulla dissensione familiariter ac
dulciter vixi, et in hoc seculo aemulator et imitator exsistam,
et in future omnipotentis Dei promissis cum eodem perfruar.
20 Amen.
i atque] ABHQ, quae G, quod agnoscunt qui CDF edd., quod agnos-
cunt quicunque de 2 ex eo]-|-illum E. hie desinit E 3 prae-

sentem audire] audire praesentaliter N
7 inventam pretiosam mar-
garitam C edd illis CD*, iis edd ad quos] aliquos A, quos eras.
11 in compendio A
B, ad quem D, a quo FH, de quibus C
12 do-
minum qui F, dominumque BCDGH
edd 13 mihi intellectum tribuit
G, tribuit mihi edd 16 cum vixi om. C 20 amen om. BDEFGH
so far as he was permitted to see it by the light of truth, and

those who read his works on divine subjects profit thereby.
But I believe that they were able to derive greater good from
him who heard and saw him as he spoke in person in the

church, and especially those who knew well his manner of life
among men. For not only was he a "scribe instructed unto the
kingdom of heaven, which bringeth forth out of his treasure
thingsnew and old," and one of those merchants who "when
he had found the pearl of great price, sold all that he had and
bought it," but he was also one of those of whom it is written :
"So speak ye and so do," and of whom the Saviour said:

"Whosoever shall so do and teach men, the same shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven."
Now Iearnestly ask your grace who read these words, you
who bless the Lord, that with me you give thanks to God
Almighty, who gave me understanding to desire and power
to bring these things the knowledge of men near and
to
far, of present and of future time ; and I ask that you pray
with me and for me, that as by the grace of God I have lived
with this man, who is now dead, on terms of intimate and
delightful friendship, with no bitter disagreement, for almost
forty years, I may also continue to emulate and imitate him
in this world and may enjoy with him the promises of God
Almighty in the world to come. Amen.
NOTES
PG = Patrologia Graeca.
PL =
Patrologia Latina.
Works of Augustine are quoted by title, those of other patristic
writers according to the volume and column of the Patrologia.
PREFACE
1 exortu et procursu et debito fine: Possidius here has in mind
Augustine's own words in which he sets forth the origin, development
and end of the Civitas Dei and the Civitas terrena: exortu et excursu
et debitis finibus: Civitate Dei XI
De i.
z
Patris luminum: From Jac. 1:17.
putaret: From 2 Cor. 12:6.
3
ne de . . .
4 Tobiae 12
honorificum est: :
7.
CHAPTER I
Tagastensi: Tagaste or Thagaste was a small town in the eastern

1
part of the province of Numidia about fifty miles southeast of Hippo-

Regius and about a hundred and fifty miles south-west of Carthage.
Augustine names Tagaste as his birthplace: neque in hoc inviderunt
ecclesiae Thagastensi, quae carnalis partia meet est: Ep. CXXVI 7.
Alypius, Augustine's bosom friend, was ordained bishop of Tagaste

in 394-
2
omnibus vacant:
. . . Almost the same as Augustine's words:
omnes libros artium quas liberates vacant: Confessiones IV xvi 30.
3
Ambrosius: Bishop of Milan 374-397. Before becoming bishop he
had been consular magistrate of Liguria and Aemilia. The manner
in which he was chosen bishop of Milan bears a close analogy to the
election of Augustine as presbyter in the church at Hippo, seventeen
years later: Paulinus, Vita Ambrosii, PL 14, 31. In the interesting
little account which Augustine gives of Ambrose's passion for reading
in the spare moments of leisure from his episcopal duties (Confessiones

VI iii 3) we may possibly see a reflection of Augustine's own busy
life, crowded with so many secular cares that he could scarcely find
time to study the Scriptures.
*Huius interea verbi intendebat suspensus:
. . Like Augustine's
.
verbis eius suspendebar intentus: Confessiones xiii 23. V

5
Manichaeorum: From his nineteenth to his twenty-eighth year
Augustine followed the current Manichaean philosophy, a Persian dual-
147
148 NOTES
ism somewhat grossly imposed on Christian ideas, teaching that good
and evil are co-ordinate and eternal Confessiones V vi 10. Beginning :
in 389, soon after his conversion, he published thirteen anti-Mani-

chaean treatises during the next sixteen years. The Manichaean sect
continued to flourish till the sixth century.
CHAPTER II
1
ex intimis cordis medullis: Compare quam intime etiam turn medul-
lae animi mei suspirabant tibi: Confessiones III vi 10.
2
iam non uxorem . . .
quaerens: Compare ut nee uxorem quaere-
rein nee aliquam spent saeculi huius: Confessiones VIII xii 30.
3
coelis: Luc. 12 32-33. :
4
sequere me: Matth. 19:21.
5 Et super . . .
pretiosos: From i Cor. 3: 12.
6
annis maior triginta: Augustine was in his thirty-third year at the
time of his baptism in 387.
7
sola superstite matre: Possidius is speaking of Augustine's parents
only, without reference to other relatives, for his son Adeodatus lived
several years longer and the death of his widowed sister, whose name
is not mentioned by Possidius or Augustine, did not occur till 423.
Of the death of his brother Navigius we find no record. Strangely
enough Possidius makes no mention whatever of the death of Augus-
tine's mother Monica which occurred a few months after his baptism.
See also Chapter XXVI, note I, on quae pariter Deo serviebant.
6
sibique exsultante: Compare matre adhaerente nobis: Confes-
. . .
siones IX iv 8, and convertisti luctum cius in gaudium multo uberius

quam voluerat, et multo carius atque castius quam de nepotibus carnis
meae requircbat: Confessiones VIII xii 30.
9
pater antea defunctus erat: In 371, when Augustine was a young
student at Carthage, his father Patricius died, having been received
into the Church and baptized just before his death.
10 Renunciavit . . . decrevissct: Compare Renunciavi peractis vinde-
mialibus, ut scholasticis suis Mediolanienses venditorem verborum alium
providerent, quod et tibi ego servire delegissem: Confessiones IX v 13.
CHAPTER III
1
ferme triennio: The
three years following his return to Africa
in 388. The sense of ferme, a word expressing a near approach to a
limit, ranges from nearness to exact coincidence. Thus in Possidius
ferme decem XI, XXXI, "about ten" ferme triennio III, "almost three ;
years," ferme decem XVIII, "almost ten," ferme quadraginta XXXI,

"almost forty" and in Augustine ferme viginti, De Civitate Dei VII ii,
;
"just twenty."
NOTES 149
2
in lege node: From Psalm 1:2.
. . .
3
ex his quos dicunt agentes in rebus: Augustine has the same
phrase Erant autem ex eis quos dicunt agentes in rebus: Confessiones
:
VIII vi 15. These officers had various duties principally as messengers,

tax collectors and police agents. For a detailed statement of their
duties see Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopddie I, 776 ff. Evodius, Aug-
ustine's pupil who was bishop of Uzelis, had been one of the agentes
in rebus: Confessiones IX viii 17.
4 Called Hippo Regius because it had been the
Hipponem-regium:
favorite residence of the Numidian kings, thus distinguishing it from
Hippo Diarrhytus, near Utica. This flourishing seaport, about one
hundred and fifty miles west of Carthage, was also the capital of its
district. It is referred to by classical writers. As early as 255 a
certain Theogenes, Bishop of Hippo Regius, is mentioned as attending
a Council of Carthage, but the historical importance of the city began
when Augustine became its last bishop and ended with its fourteen
months' siege and subsequent capture by the Vandals. The siege
ended in 431, the year following Augustine's death. After further
conflict the possession of the city was finally conceded to the Vandals
by treaty in 435. See Hodgkin II 247-252. The Christian basilica was

one of the most prominent buildings of the city (De Civitate Dei XXII
viii 9) and bore the name of Ecclesia Pads: Ep. CCXIII i. The
writings of Augustine mention seven separate churches or chapels in
Hippo: Leclercq, L'Afrique Chretienne II 26, 30-31. The city was
finally destroyed in the seventh century by the Arabs. The modern
town of Bona is built near its ruins.
5
sed vacare esse: For a parallel of this use of the verb with
. . .
the neuter of the adjective compare non vacat, non est inane: Confes-
siones VI xi 19.
*vas . . .
paratum: From 2 Tim. 2:21.
CHAPTER IV
Valerius, who died in 396, was Augustine's immediate
1
Valerius:
predecessor as bishop of Hippo. Compare Chapter VIII, note 3 on
contra morem Ecclesiae. His wise and generous nature is revealed
not so much in his foresight in choosing such a rarely promising young
convert as Augustine to be his successor, as in his unselfish care for the
welfare of his people and the advancement of the Church. He was so
far from allowing any sense of personal rivalry to hinder the career of
his brilliantyoung asssistant that he even created a new custom in the
African churches and gave Augustine, the presbyter, the right to
preach in his presence: Possidius, Vita Augustini V.
2
securus et ignarus: This is fully corroborated by Augustine's own
ISO NOTES
statement in a sermon delivered in Hippo: Ego quern Deo propitio
Metis episcopunt vestrum, invents veni ad istam civitatem, ut multi
vestrum noverunt. Quaerebam ubi constituerem monasterium et vive-
rem cum fratribus meis. Spent quippe omnem seculi reliqueram, et
quod esse potui, esse nolui, nee tanten quaesivi esse quod sum. Elegi
in domo Dei mei abiectus esse, magis quam habitare in tabernaculis
peccatorum. Ab eis qui diligunt seculum, segregavi me; sed eis qui
praesunt populis, non me coaequavi; nee in convivio Domini mei
superiorem locum elegi, sed inferiorem et abiectum; et placuit illi
dicere mihi: Ascende sursum. Usque adeo autem timebam episcopat-
um, ut quoniam coeperat esse iam alicuius momenti inter Dei servos
fama mea, in quo loco sciebam non esse episcopum, non illo accederem.
Cavebam hoc et agebam quantum poteram, ut in loco humili salvarer,
ne in alto periclitarer. Sed ut dixi, domino servus contradicere non
debet. Veni ad istam civitatem propter vidcndum amicum, quern puta-
bam me lucrari posse Deo, ut nobiscum esset in monasterio; quasi se-
curus, quia locus habebat episcopum. Apprehensus presbyter factus
sum, per hunc gradum perueni ad episcopatum. Non attuli aliquid;
et
non veni ad hanc ecclesiam, nisi cum Us indumentis quibus illo tem-\
pore vestiebar: Sermo CCCLV i 2.
3
atque ideo fleret: This statement of Possidius is borne out fully
by Augustine's Ep. XXI written in 391 to Valerius, Bishop of Hippo.
4
completum est desiderium: This method of obtaining and ordain-
ing a presbyter or even a bishop by force was not unusual. That
Augustine feared it is shown by the fact that when he was a layman
he carefully avoided any city where the bishopric was then vacant.
Possidius mentions another instance of it. Firmus, who had been
converted by Augustine, was later ordained presbyter in this manner:
petitus et coactus accessit officium: Vita XV. Augustine's Ep. CXXVI
is a detailed account of the blind obstinacy and menacing insistence
of the people when they wished to compel a certain Pinianus, a

wealthy alien, to become their presbyter. Compare also the letter of
Paulinus to Alypius included in Augustine's epistles: Nam ego etsi
a Delphino Burdegalae baptizatus, a Lampio apud Barcilonem in His-
pania, per vim inflammatae subito plebis, sacratus sim: Ep. XXIV 4.
A striking instance of the ordination of a bishop against his will oc-
curs in the case of Ambrose. He had not even been baptized when
the people demanded him as their bishop, and in spite of his ingenious
efforts to escape, they had their way Paulinus
: Vita Ambrosii, PL 14, 31.
CHAPTER V
1
Pactusque presbyter: Augustine was ordained presbyter in 391.
2 monasterium :
Augustine states that the garden in which this
NOTES 151
monastery was situated was given to him by the aged Valerius, Bishop
of Hippo Et quia hoc disponebam in monasterio esse cum fratribus,
:
cognito institute et voluntate tnea, beatae memoriae senex Valerius

dedit mihi hortum ilium, in quo nunc est monasterium. Coepi boni
propositi fratres colligere, compares meos, nihil habentes, sicu\t nihil
habebam, et imitantes me, ut quomodo ego tenuem paupertatulam meam
vendidi et pauperibus erogavi, sic facerent et illi qui mecum esse voluis-
sent, ut de communi viveremus; commune autem nobis esset magnum
et uberrimum praedium ipse Deus: Sermo CCCLV i 2.
3 sub sanctis aposlolis constitutam: Act. 2:44 ff.
*m essent . . . erat: From Act. 2:45, 4 35- :
5
contra usum
Africanarum ecclesiarum: Jerome complains of
. . .
this unwritten law and calls it a most injurious practice: Pessimae

consuetudinis est, in quibusdam ecclesiis tacere presbyteros, et prae-
sentibus episcopis non loqui, quasi aut invideant aut non dignentur
audire: Ep. LII, PL 22, 534. This restriction had likewise been ob-
served in the Eastern Church but was first ignored by Anus, presbyter
in the church at Alexandria, some seventy years before Augustine be-

came presbyter in 391. IlapA 51 'AXelavSpeOo-i fj.6vos 6 rijj ir6Xews tirtvicoiros.
$a<rl 5 rovro oi> irpbrepov eZa>0ds {iriyevfoOai, &<p' oC'A/oeios 7rpr/3i/Te/)os &v, trfpl rov
86yfMTos 5taXry6/Aepos ^ewr^pwe Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica^ : 67, PG

'
1476. Similar testimony is given by Socrates n/jeo-jSjJrepos tv A.\eavdpelg. :
oi> irpo<ro]M\t Kal rovro dpx^v ^Xa/Sey, d0' oO "Apetos ryv 'EKK\tj<rlav trdpa.% ev:
Historia Ecclesiastica'. PG 67, 640.

accensa . . . lucebat: From Jo. 5:35, Matth. 5:15, Marc. 4:21.
Luc. 8:16.
CHAPTER VI
^Fortunate: This public discussion of Augustine with the Mani-
chaean presbyter Fortunatus was held at the Baths of Sossius in
Hippo Regius on August 28, 392: Ada contra Fortunatum, PL 42, in.
2
paratus . . . est: From i Pet. 3:15.
3
potensque . . .
redarguere: From Tit. 1:9.
4 These stenographers, or short-hand reporters, were uni-.
notarii:
versally employed throughout the Roman world, not only by the gov-
ernment but also by the Church and private individuals. On their
presence in the church at Hippo Regius and their reports of Augus-
tine's sermons see R. J. Deferrari's article, Verbatim Reports of
Augustine's Unwritten Sermons, Transactions of the American Philo-

logical Association 1915, XL VI 35-45.
6 ut se gestorum continet fides: Ada contra Fortunatum, PL 42, in.
152 NOTES
CHAPTER VII
1
libris confectis et repentinis sermonibus: In this connection con-
fectis means composed, written or finished
repentinis, "sudden," and
off-hand, not prepared in writing, extempore. Thus Sidonius Apolli-
naris IX 3, 5, contrasts praedicationes repentinas with praedicationes
elucubratas.
2
quisquis . For quisquis with a singular verb and a
. . adhibentes:
compare Augustine's similar but less extremely ab-
plural participle
normal ammonuitque populum ut ilium [serpentem] exaltatum quis-
quis a serpente morderetur attenderet; hoc facientes continuo sano
bantur: De Peccatorum Mentis I xxxii 61.
odorque suavissintus Christ i: From Eph. 5 2.
3
:
*manifestata: The post-classical verb manifesto is often used by

Augustine, especially in the participal form, as manifestatum est mihi:
Confessiones VII xii 18; ex manifestato in came Christo: Contra duas
Epistolas Pelagianorum IV iii 3. Augustine also uses it as a substan-
tive :
per se ipsa manifestata delectant: De Doctrina Christiana IV
xii 28. Besides this instance in Possidius it again occurs in Chapter
XIV : cunctis manifestata, and Chapter XXXI : vixisse manifestatur.
5
Quoniam . . . membra: From i Cor. 12:26.
CHAPTER VIII
1
primatem episcoporum Carthaginensem: Aurelius, the archbishop
of Carthage for thirty-five years (388-423) in a period of critical im-
portance. His confirmation was required for the election of a bishop
in any city of Africa. He also convoked and presided over the vari-
ous plenary councils held almost every year. He co-operated with
Augustine in suppressing the Donatist schism, agreeing with him in a
policy of moderation and appealing to the civil government only when
the Donatist outrages and fanaticism became unbearable. Four of
Augustine's epistles are addressed to Aurelius: XXII, XLI, LX,
CLXXIV.
2
Megalio Calamensi episcopo: Megalius was the immediate prede-
cessor of Possidius as bishop of Calama, a North African town about
forty miles south-west of Hippo Regius. His aversion to Augustine
led him to oppose his election as coadjutor-bishop to Valerius, bishop
of Hippo Regius, and he brought forward certain serious charges
against him. These, however, he was unable to prove and was com-
pelled to retract them. He became reconciled to Augustine and in
391 consecrated him as coadjutor to Valerius. He died in 397, the year
after Valerius died. Accordingly within the one year (396-397) Va-
leriuswas succeeded by Augustine as bishop of Hippo and Megalius
was succeeded by Possidius as bishop of Calama.
NOTES 153
3 contra morem Ecclesiae: Augustine thought that the consecration

of the successor to a bishop while that bishop was yet living had no
sanction in ecclesiastical custom. Valerius, however, was able to cite
some exceptions, as Augustine himself states nonnullis : iam exemplis
praecedentibus, quibus mihi omnis excusatio claudebatur: Ep. XXXI 4.
He learned much later of the prohibition in the eighth canon of the
Council of Nicaea held in 325 Adhuc in corpore posito : beatae mem-
oriae patre et episcopo meo sene Valeria, episcopus ordinatus sum, et
sedi cum illo: quod concilio Nicaeno prohibitum fuisse nesciebam, nee
ipse sciebat: Ep.CCXIII 4. Nevertheless the canon of Nicaea, while
providing against two bishops in one diocese, left the way open for
ordaining a coadjutor to the bishop, if the bishop so desired. The
ordination of Augustine was therefore entirely lawful.
4 nee . aliis fieri voluit:
. . On September 26, 426 Augustine pro-
posed in an assembly of bishops, clergy and people held at Hippo
Regius that the presbyter Heraclius should relieve him of his secular
cares in order that he might devote himself entirely to the study of the
Scriptures. He asked that Heraclius should succeed him as bishop,
but in deference to what he believed to be the prohibition of the
Council of Nicaea, and in view of the blame he had himself received
for becoming a bishop while Valerius was yet alive, he announced
that Heraclius would remain a presbyter till the proper time came for
making him a bishop: Ep. CCXIII 4, 5.
5
episcoporum: This action was taken by the
conciliis constitueretur
Third Council of Carthage in 397, canon III Item placuit, ut ordi- :
nandis episcopis vel clericis, prius ab ordinatoribus suis decreta con-

ciliorum auribus eorum inculcentur, ne se aliquid contra statuta con-
cilii fecisse asserant: Collectio Conciliorum III 880.
CHAPTER IX
iparatus est: From i Pet 3: 15.
. . .
2
Donatistae: The Donatist schism was local, not extending beyond
North Africa. arose from a question of the discipline of the tra-
It
ditores, namely those who had surrendered the sacred writings during
the Diocletian persecution, 303-311. In 311 a division arose over the
election of Caecilianus as bishop of Carthage, the opposition party
declaring it who had performed the ordination
invalid because Felix,
service, was a and because the Numidian bishops had had no
traditor,
vote in the election. Majorinus was elected as counter-bishop and on
his death in 315 was succeeded by Donatus, called the Great, from
whom the party received its name. Since they regarded themselves as
the only pure church all the others being traditores they required
all converts to be rebaptized: see Ep. LXVI to Crispinus. They were
154 NOTES
condemned (Carthage 311, Rome 313, Aries 314).
at various councils
In spite of the end of the fourth century they had more fol-
this, at
lowers in North Africa than the orthodox Church. However, the re-
enforcement they received from such fanatics as the Circumcellions
brought them into disrepute and this, combined with the efforts of
Augustine, did much to reduce their power and secure their condem-
nation at the Conference of Carthage in 411. The controversy was
finally ended by the Vandal invasion of Africa in 428.
3 cum timore . . .
operabatur: From Phil. 2 : 12.
CHAPTER X
1
Circumcelliones: and lawless roving bands of schis-
Fanatical
matics in North Africa, associated with the Donatists. The first
record of their appearance is in 347 (Optatus). They called themselves
Milites Christi Agonistici (see Optatus, De Schismate Donatistarum,
PL ii, 1007) but were popularly known as Circumcelliones. This
name, as explained by Augustine, is compounded from circum and
cella, because they went around to the huts of the country folk to get
food V ictus sui causa cellos circumicns rusticanas, undc et Circum-
:
ccllionum nomen accepit: Contra Gaudentium I xxviii 32. Their vio-

lence was not confined to waylaying and assaulting others, but often
led them to seek voluntary martyrdom by the sword or by leaping
over precipices. A detailed statement of their excesses and cruelties
is given in Ep. LXXXVIII 6-8. For the Circumcellions generally see
J. C. Robertson, History of the Christian Church I 277-278.
2
calcem cum aceto in oculos miserunt: Compare Augustine's com-
ment on the same act in Ep. LXXXVIII 8: In oculos extinguendos
calcem mixto aceto incredibili excogitatione sceleris mittunt, and also
Quis enim barbarus excogitare potuit quod istit ut in oculos clericorum
nostrorum calcem et acetum mitterent: Ep. CXI i.
CHAPTER XI
*ferme decem: these bishops were Possidius, who became
Among
bishop of Calama, Alypius of Tagaste, Severus of Milevum (Ep. XXXI
9), Urbanus of Sicca (Ep. CXLIX 34), Evodius of Uzelis, Profuturus
of Cirta, Privatus and Servilius (Ep. CLVIII 9, n). Besides these
eight Salinas adds Fortunatus, successor of Profuturus as bishop of
Cirta, and Peregrinus. Tillemont also suggests a certain Bonifacius
(XIII 155). Possidius nowhere "enumerates" ten bishops as is stated
in the Catholic Encyclopedia II 87.
2 Graecum sermoncm
in translates: None of these Greek transla-
tions referred to by Possidius are extant.
3
peccator . . . tabescebat: From Psalm 111:10.
4 cum his . . . ab eis: From Psalm 119:7.
NOTES 155
CHAPTER XII
1
succenturiati: "re-enforced to the full complement," "in full force."
Donatus, explaining succenturiatus in his commentary on the Phormio,
states its use as translatio e re militari.
2
ducatoris: A
post-classical word. It is found in Augustine :
coepit habere ducatores: Serm. 2. CCV

3 manus
impias abisse: Augustine gives a similar account of this
narrow escape: Nonnullis errare profuit aliquando, sed in via pedum,
non in via morum. Nam nobis ipsis accidit, ut in quodam bivio fallere-
mur, et non iremus per eum locum ubi opperiens transitum nostrum
Donatistarum manus armata subsederat: atque ita factum est, ut eo
quo tendebamus, per devium circuitum veniremus; cognitisque insidiis
illorum, nos gratularemur errasse, atque inde gratias ageremus Deo:
Enchiridion xvii 5.
*
domusque Dei zelum: From Psalm 68: 10, Jo. 2: 17.
5
unus ex his: i.e. Possidius. This murderous attack on Possidius
made by a certain presbyter Crispinus, who is not to be confused with
his supposed relative the Donatist bishop Crispinus of Calama, is de-
scribed by Augustine Contra Cresconium Donatistam III xlvi 50 and
Ep. 0V 4-
6 The clergy collectively, so
clero : named from the lot or
jcA^jjpos
portion of the Lord.
7 non This seems to be based on the proverb, inter
inter leges siluit:
arma leges silent.
8
Crispinus: There are many references in Augustine's writings to
Crispinus, the Donatist bishop of Calama, including two letters directly
addressed to him. After Crispinus had refused an invitation to en-
gage in an oral debate, Augustine, in Ep. LI, invites him to a written
discussion. Evidently this invitation was not accepted. In Ep. LXVI
he reproaches Crispinus for the forcible rebaptizing of Catholics by
the Donatists. The same subject is taken up in Contra Litteras Petil-
iani II Ixxxiii 184. References to the trial and condemnation of Cris-
pinus and the Donatists occur in Contra Cresconium Donatistam III
xlvi 50, xlvii 51 and Ep. LXXXVIII 7.
9
Probably Possidius, whose failure to mention
Ecclesiae defensore:
his own name is in keeping with his habit throughout the Vita. Com-
pare unus ex his in the preceding sentence and the other instances in
this chapter.
10 From I Cor. 8:9, Rom. 14: 13.
scandalum nasceretur:
infirmis
11 tertio The
conflictum: apparently the assault of the fol-
first is
lowers of Crispinus on Possidius, the second the public notice to

Crispinus that he was subject to the fine which was imposed on here-
156 NOTES
tics, and the third the debate here mentioned which ended in the
proconsular condemnation of Crispinus.
12 libellari:
"formally recorded." The English word "libellary" has
the same sense. This term of Roman law means the libel or written
statement of his cause of action made by the plaintiff at the beginning
of a suit. See the word in the Oxford English Dictionary. The
"libellary sentence" passed on Crispinus is a formal written statement
explaining and justifying the sentence.
13 auraria mulcta: In Ep. LXXXVIII 7, sent by the clergy of Hippo
to Januarius, a Donatist bishop in Numidia, but evidently written by

Augustine, the amount of the fine is stated as poena decem librarum
auri. Compare also Contra Cresconium Donatistam III xlvii 51. Fines
were prescribed as the penalty for the Donatist heretics by the Emp-
eror Theodosius: see PL n, 1420.
14
Officium in the legal sense of the body of officials or
officium:
court officers usual in the time of Augustine.
is Compare Paulus
episcopus dixit: Novit officium publicum, id est Edesius et lunius ex-
ceptores: Contra Cresconium, PL, 43, 513; and sicut interrogatum
. . .
respondit Officium: Breviculus Collationis cum Donatistis, PL 43, 616.

See also PL 43, 621, 643-644 and Serm. LXVI i.
CHAPTER XIII
l
iustitiae coronam: From 2 Tim. 4:8.
2
augebatur et multiplicabatur: From Act. 12:24.
*Honorio: Western Emperor 395-423.
*Marcellinum: The tribune Marcellinus was sent by the Emperor
Honorius from Rome to Africa in 411 with authority to hear and
judge the controversy between the Donatists and Catholics. Ac-
cordingly he presided at the celebrated Conference of Carthage held
that same year, at which the Donatist schism was condemned and ef-
fectually checked. Because of his decision in favor of the Catholics,
the Donatists accused him of accepting a bribe: Optatus, Historia
Donatistarum, PL n, 820; Ep. CXLI I, 12.
Augustine's acquaintance with Marcellinus evidently began at this
time and quickly ripened into intimacy. In compliance with his request
Augustine began writing the De Civitate Dei in 412 (I Praef., II I )
and also dedicated to him the De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione
and De Spiritu et Littera. Four letters from Augustine to him are still
extant.
In 413 Marcellinus was arrested, probably at the instigation of the
Donatists: Jerome, Contra Pelagianos, PL 23, 616; Orosius, Historia,
PL 31, 1171. Although Augustine intervened in his behalf and received
assurance of his safety and prompt release, Marcellinus, together with
NOTES 157
his elder brother Apringius, was hurriedly and secretly put to death
September 13, 413: Optatus, Historic, Donatistarum, PL u, 821. Aug-
ustine exposed the treachery of his murder and also paid a touching
tribute to his noble character: Ep. CLI 5, 6 and 8. After his death
the legal decisions of Marcellinus were confirmed Codex Theodosianus :
XVI 5, 55-
Jerome's Ep. CXXVI is addressed to Marcellinus in answer to the
questions on the origin of the soul and refers him to Augustine
latter's
for fuller instruction. After the death of Marcellinus a treatise on
this subject, De Origine Animae Hominis, was composed by Augustine
and sent to Jerome in 415: Ep. CLXVI.
CHAPTER XIV
qui dicer ent: The objection of the Donatist bishops that they had
1
not been tried by an impartial tribunal was valid, for the Emperor
Honorius and his delegate Marcellinus were committed in advance to
a hostile decision. The contention of Possidius that the Donatist
bishops by consenting to attend the Conference agreed to abide by its
decision has no force, since the Donatist bishops really had no alterna-
tive. Notwithstanding Augustine's full explanation in the De Gestis
cum Emerito, PL 43, 697, his consent to this unfair trial reveals the
extent to which he had departed from his earlier attitude of toleration
which was well stated in Ep. XXXIV I to the Donatist Eusebius,
written in 396 neque me id agere ut ad communionem Catholicam
:
quisquam cogatur invitus. His intolerant application of "cogite in-

trare" dates from about 408: Ep. XCIII ii 5.
2 in
Caesariensi Mauritaniae civitate constitutus: Augustine also
mentions this visit to Julia Caesarea tamen quia illae [litterae] quas ad
:
Mauritaniam Caesariensem misisti, me apud Caesaream praesente

venerunt, quo nos iniuncta nobis a venerabili papa Zosimo apostolicae
Sedis episcopo ecclesiastica necessitas traxerat: Ep. CXC i. In another
letter written soon after he again refers to this visit: Cum vero inde
(a Carthagine) digressi sumus, perreximus usque ad Mauritaniam

Caesariensem, quo nos ecclesiastica necessitas traxit: Ep. CXCIII i.
3 Emeritum: Donatist bishop of Julia Caesarea. He was present at
the Conference of Carthage in 411: PL n, 1228. The meeting of
Catholic bishops described by Possidius was held at Julia Caesarea in
418 and on that occasion Augustine unsuccessfully tried to persuade
Emeritus to return to the Catholic Church: De Gestis cum Emerito,
PL 43, 697, and later addressed to him a letter now lost Retractationes :
1146.
4 lam ilia . . .
fuerimus: Compare Augustine's record of the same
158 NOTES.
remark of Emeritus: Gesta indicant, si victus sum ant vici: si veritate
victus sum aut potestate oppressus sum: De Gestis cum Emerito, PL
43, 700. The Gesta referred to by Emeritus are the proceedings of the
Conference of Carthage in 411, Mansi IV 7-246.
ait, et cum reticeret:
6
Ait, the reading of the MSS as opposed to
that of the editions, is supported by Augustine: Emeritus episcopus
partis Donati dixit notario qui excipiebat: Fac. Cumque reticeret . . . :
De Gestis cum Emerito, PL 43, 700.

* De
gesta: Gestis cum Emerito, PL 43, 697.
CHAPTER XV
1
credo .
post-classical and mild consessive use of
. . voluerit: A
credo (somewhat like licet) joined directly with the subjunctive with-
out quod or any intervening word in the sense of "supposing," "per-
haps" or "maybe."
2
Firmus: Probably unknown, as Possidius's quidam would seem to
imply. The Firmus mentioned in Epp. CLXXXIV 7, CXCI I, CXCIV
i, and CCXLVIII 2 was doubtless another person.
8
sanctum benediximus: From Psalm 102
. . . : i.
4
per scientes animarum: For similar phrasing compare Augus-
. . .
tine: sed utens tu omnibus et scientibus et nescientibus ordine qua

nosti: Confessiones VI viii 12.
CHAPTER XVI
1
Ursum: Augustine also mentions the activity of this Ursus, a
Roman tribune, against the Manichaeans at Carthage: instante Urso
trihuno, (jni time doniui regiae praefuit: De Haeresibus XLVI. Ursus
also caused (421 ?) the famous temple of the Dea Coelestis at Carthage
to be razed to the ground and the site to be used as a Christian
cemetery: Liber de Promissionibus, PL 51, 835.
2
ad tabulas: i.e. in the presence of the notarii who took down in
short-hand both questions and answers on their tablets (ad tabulas).
3
Felice: This discussion with Felix took place on December 7 and
12, 404: De Actis cum Felice Manichaeo, PL 42, 519 and 535. From
the acts of the second day it appears that the books of Felix had been
confiscated and were being guarded under the public seal. This and
Felix's recantation at the end give the debate almost the appearance
of a trial.
*frustrata: In this sense post-Augustan and very rare.

5
sicut . . .
scriptural This record is found in De Actis cum Felice
Manichaeo, PL 42, 519.
NOTES 159
CHAPTER XVII
1
Pascentio: The date of this controversy with Pascentius is un-
certain. As a sequel to the public debate Augustine wrote three letters
to Pascentius (CCXXXVIII, CCXXXIX, CCXLI) but received only
one short reply (Ep. CCXL). Outside these letters and the account
of Possidius there seems to be no definite information regarding the
controversy.
2 Ariano: The Arian heresy which affected the whole
Christian
world, was so named from the presbyter Arius of Alexandria, who
taught in regard to the Trinity that the Son is not of the same sub-
stance with^ the Father, but of like substance, and is not co-eternal,
but the first of all This teaching was condemned at the
creatures.
Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. Fierce controversies followed
and various synods were held. Jovian, Valentinian I and Gratian
granted toleration to both parties. Arianism declined and was virtu-
ally suppressed in the Roman world in the times of Theodosius I
(379-395) and Valentinian II (375-392).
z
Maximino: This discussion on the Trinity between Maximinus,
the Arian bishop of Hippo Regius, and Augustine was held at Hippo
Regius in 427 or 428 see PL 42, 707. The report of the collatio shows
;
that Maximinus skilfully avoided Augustine's direct questions and

took so much time in his final presentation that Augustine had no
sufficient opportunity to answer: PL 42, 709-742. Augustine resented
this and composed a prompt and full reply in his two books Contra
Maximinum: PL 42, 743-814. In his opening sentence he makes a
pointed thrust at Maximinus : cuius prolixitate spatium diei, quo
praesentes conferebamus, absumpsit.
There was another Maximinus, Catholic bishop of Sinita, near Hippo
Regius, who is mentioned by Augustine in De Civitate Dei XXII viii 6
and elsewhere.
4
scriptum est: Collatio cum Maximino, PL 42, 709.
CHAPTER XVIII
iPelagianistas: The Pelagian heresy, which arose in the time of
Augustine, received its name from Pelagius, a British monk (c. 360-
420) P elagianorum est haeresis ... a Pelagio monacho exorta: De
:
Haeresibus LXXXVIII. He held that the human will is sufficient

without divine grace to fulfill the commands of God. Augustine im-
mediately aroused the Church against this new heresy and became its
principal antagonist in his copious anti-Pelagian writings, which ex-
erted a profound and lasting influence. The doctrine of Pelagius was
promptly condemned by Innocent I (Epp. CLXXXI, CLXXXII) in
160 NOTES
response to a letter from the Council of Carthage held in 416 (Ep.
CLXXV) and the Council of Milevum, held in the same year (Ep.
CLXXVI). It was again condemned by Zosimus in 418, by the Em-
peror Honorius in the same year, and again by Zosimus later. How-
ever it was not till 431, the year following Augustine's death, that the
heresy was finally condemned by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus.
2
anno s ferme dec em: Augustine issued his principal anti-Pelagian
writings in rapid succession in the years 412-421. After an interval,
however, four other treatises appeared, two in 426-427, and two in
428-429: Teuffel III 371.
z
lnnocentio: Pope 402-417.
*Zosimo: Pope 417-418.
6
indisciplinationes: This late form, with a few others of like com-
position, means the failure to keep up to a standard, as is more clearly
brought out in Chapter XXV.
*Indiculutn: This Indiculus, which is the appendix to the Vita
Augustini of Possidius, is the earliest detailed of Augustine's writ-
list
ings. It is to be found in PL 46, 5. Possidius fixes the total of Au-

gustine's works at 1030. Inspection of the Indiculus, however, shows
that he counted as a separate work each epistle or sermon known to
him, thus arriving at this large total which, nevertheless, does not
include all that Augustine wrote, as appears from the statement at the
end of the Indiculus: menwratus sanctus Augustinus episcopus Spiritu
divino actus, in sancta Ecclesia catholica ad instructionem animarum
fecit libros, tractatus, epistolas numero 1030, exceptis Us qui nunterari
non possunt, quia nee numerum designavit ipsorum.
At the end of the Retractationes Augustine states that he had re-
vised opera XCIII in libris CCXXXII, exclusive of his epistles and
sermons. Victor Vitensis, writing in 486, likewise gives the total as
232 "books," besides "innumerable" epistles, expositions of whole
Psalms and Gospels, and popular sermons: De Persecutione Vandalica
PL 58, 185.
Indiculus or Indiculum is post-classical and rare.
CHAPTER XIX
*apud infideles: I Cor. 6: 1-6.
2
eausas audiebat: One of the regular duties of the bishop at this
time was to hear and decide the cases of his parishioners. This
judicial authority had risen gradually till it became very important and
gained the recognition of the civil government. In the Christian Roman
empire a bishop had power to judge civil and criminal cases not in-
volving capital punishment. See Codex Theodosianus IX 3 7, IX 16 12,
NOTES 161
XV 8 XVI 10 19. In Ep. CCXIII, which is a public report made

2,
in 426, Augustine complains that these duties have become so onerous
that he had no time left for studying the Scriptures and therefore asks
his people to bring their secular difficulties to the presbyter Heraclius.
For a discussion of the development of this judicial power among the
clergy as revealed by legislation see W. K. Boyd, The Ecclesiastical
Edicts of the Theodosian Code, 87-102.
3
peccantes hdberent: From i Tim. 5 20.
. . . :
*
speculator Israel: From Ezech. 3:17.
. . .
5
praedicans doctrinal From 2 Tim. 4:2.
. . .
6
qui . docere: From 2 Tim. 2:2.
. .
7
angariam: A legal term : see Codex Theodosianus VIII 5. Angaria
is the enforced service due from a peasant to a lord. In
(ayyapeia)
the Vulgate the verb angario is used to denote compulsory service, as
in Matth. 27:22 and Mark 15:21 (Simon compelled to bear the cross).
Augustine also uses angaria to describe the eager, unresting forced
march of the Christian pilgrim through this world. Compare In
Psalmo LI 4: In ipsa republica angariam quodammodo faciebat
Joseph, sicut illi ires pueri, sicut Daniel; and In Psalmo LXI 8:
Et quasi angariam faciunt in civitate transitura.
CHAPTER XX
1
contemplatione: Late Latin in the sense of "consideration" or
"regard," occurring mostly in the jurists.
2 The vicarius was the head of a diocese of
Africae vicarium:
which, at this time, there were twelve and which in turn composed the
four prefectures. He was a civil administrator only and had super-
vision over the provinces into which his diocese was divided. The
vicarius of Africa had six provinces under his direction. See F. F.
Abbott, History and Description of Roman Political Institutions,
sec. 398.
z Macedonium: Vicar of Africa in 414. He was authorized to en-
force the imperial decrees against the Donatists. For the correspond-
ence between him and Augustine see Epp. CLII-CLV.
4 hoc more scriptum misit: This be found in full
letter may among
the epistles of Augustine (CLIV).
ask"; a rare word apparently not found elsewhere
5
petibile: "fair to
in extant Latin literature.
CHAPTER XXI
1 non . . .
quaerens: From Phil. 2 : 21.
162 NOTES
CHAPTER XXII
1
non . . .
quaerentes: From Phil. 2 : 21.
2
neque in dexteram declinans: From Num. 20:17 and Prov.
. . .
4:27. This attitude of Augustine in matters of dress is fully revealed

in Senn. CCCLVI 13 Nemo det byrrhum vel lineam tunicam seu ali-
:
quid, nisi in commune: de communi accipio et mihi ipsi, cum sciam

commune me habere velle quidquid habeo. Nolo talia offerat sanctitas
vestra, quibus ego solus quasi decentius utar; offerat mihi, verbi gratia,
byrrhum pretiosum; forte decet episcopum, quamvis non deceat Augus-
tinum, id est, hominem pauperem, de pauperibus natum. Modo dicturi
sunt homines, quia inveni pretiosas vestes, quas non potuissem habere
vel in domo patris mei vel in ilia secular i professione mea. Non dccet:
talem debeo habere, qualem possum, si non habuerit, fratri meo dare.
Qualem potest habere presbyter, qualem potest habere decenter diaconus
et subdiaconus, talem volo accipere, quia in commune accipio. Si quis
meliorem vendo: quod et facere soleo, ut quando non potest
dederit,
vestis esse communis, pretium vestis possit esse commune. Vendo et
erogo pauperibus. Si hoc eum delectat, ut ego habeam, talem det unde
non erubescam. Fateor enim vobis, de pretiosa veste erubesco, quia
non decet hanc professionem, hanc admonitionem, non decet haec mem-
bra, non decet hos canos.
*orationem: I Tim. 4:4-5.
* in suis
Confessionum libris: Confessiones X xxxi 46.
K i Tim. 5
infirmitates: 23. :
6 non . reminiscence of Philem. 1 14.

. . voluntatis: A :
contra pestilentiam humanae consuetudinis: To do away with the

7
habit of tale-bearing at the table, the Third Council of Toledo later

(589) decreed that Scripture should be read aloud during meals:
. .id universa sancta constituit synodus, ut quia solent crebro mensis
.
otiosae fabulae interponi, in omni sacerdotali convivio lectio scriptura-

rum divinarum misceatur. Per hoc enim et animae aedificantur ad
bonum et fabulae non necessariae prohibentur: Canon 7, Mansi, Col-
lectio Conciliorum, IX 994.
CHAPTER XXIII
alloquebatur plebem Dei: Two of Augustine's addresses on such an
1
occasion are fully recorded in two sermons CCCLV and CCCLVI en-
titled De Vita et Moribus Clericorum Suorum.
2
in vetere Testamento : Deut. 18.
NOTES 163
CHAPTER XXIV
1
ad vices: Apparently a late usage instead of the usual in vicem
or in vices.
aliquas cum here dilates recusasse novimus: Augustine refused the
2
legacy of a ship from Boniface because he thought the Church should

not be a ship-owner, taking the risk of loss through shipwreck, and
would not accept the estate of anyone who had disinherited his son.
He cites with admiration the example of Aurelius, Archbishop of
Carthage, who, on the birth of an heir, promptly returned an estate

which had been given to the church by a man who was childless when
he made the gift Serm. CCCLV 5.
:
3
refragatione: A late and rare word. There is an instance in
Augustine et in re facillima quae recte placuerat, curvam refragationem
:
et nodos difficultatis posuissem: Ep. CCXLI i.

4 ab ea: From Luc. 10:39-42.
5
Interea: "at times"; originally poetic in this sense.
6 The passage from Ambrose, unidentified by Possidius,
scripsit:
occurs in his De Officiis Ministrorum, PL 16, 148-150. Ambrose de-
clases that there are three cases in which a bishop may be justified in
melting and selling the sacred vessels to ransom the captive or relieve
:
the poor, to build a church, and to enlarge the burial grounds. Victor
Vitensis mentions a similar instance in which Deogratias, Bishop of
Carthage, used the gold and silver vessels of the church to ransom
the prisoners taken by Geiseric: De Persecutione Vandalica, PL 58,
191.
fidelibus: The name for baptized Christians, as distinguished from
7
catechumeni, the candidates not yet admitted to baptism. Thus Au-

gustine remarks that if anyone says he is a Christian he must then be
asked whether he is catechumenus or fidelis: Tractatus in loannem
XLIV 2.
8
se praesente: Of course at some time when Augustine was in
Milan, 384-387.
CHAPTER XXV
1
vestiebatur: Augustine's own references to the daily life in the
monastery at Hippo are naturally more vivid and intimate than the
matter-of-fact recital of Possidius. The following quotations may be
given : Nostis omnes aut pene omnes, sic nos v'vuere in ea domo, quae
diciti/Kf domus episcopii, ut quantum possumus, imitemur eos sanctos, de
quibus loquitur liber Actuum Apostolorum: Nemo dicebat aliquid
proprium, sed erant illis omnia communia: Sermo CCCLV i 2. Ecce
quomodo vivimus. Nulli licet in societate nostra habere aliquid pro-
164 NOTES
prium; sed forte aliqui habent. Nulli licet; si qui habent, faciunt quod
non licet. Bene autem sentio de fratribus meis, et semper bene credens
ab hoc inquisitione dissimulavi; quid et ista quaerere, quasi male sen-
tire mihi videbatur. Noveram enim et novi omnes, qui mecum viverent,
nosse propositum nostrum, nosse legem vitae nostrae: Sermo CCCLV
ii 2. Quisquis cum hypocrisi vixerit, quisquis inventus fuerit habens
proprium, non illi permitto ut inde faciat testamentum, sed delebo eum
de tabula clericorum. Interpellet contra me mille concilia, naviget
contra me quo voluerit, sit eerie ubi potuerit: adiuvabit me Deus, ut
ubi ego episcopus sum, ille clericus esse non possit: Sermo CCCVI
14-
2 ad periurium cecidisset: Based on Jac. 5:12.
3
suis instituerat: The dative with instituere in the sense of "to in-
struct anyone" is a later usage for the classical accusative.
4 ne . . .
peccatis: From Psalm 140:4.
5 Et dum . .
5:23-24.
.
offerendum: From Matth.
6 in
parte: "apart," "in private"; a post-classical sense. In parte in
classical usage means "in part," as in parte verum: Quintilian II 8 6.
publicanus: From Matth. 18:15-17.

7
Si vero ipse . . .
8 ut fratri . . . relaxaretur: From Matth. 18 21-22. :
CHAPTER XXVI
quae pariter Deo serviebant: Augustine had established a nunnery
1
at Hippo Regius of which his sister was prioress and to which the
daughters of his brother Navigius also belonged. This seems to have
been the first nunnery in Africa, though later than those founded by
Jerome and Paula in Palestine in 384. After the death of Augustine's
sister in 423 dissension arose among the nuns over the appointment
of Felicitas as her successor. Augustine wrote them a stern letter of
rebuke and, improving the opportunity, laid down a code of strict
rules for their conduct :
Ep. CCXI.
The name of Augustine's sister is not certainly known. Church tra-
dition gives it as Perpetua. See the Bollandistes, Vies des Saints
306.
2Dicebat quia: . verb of saying followed by quia and the
. . A
subjunctive instead of by the infinitive is common in Augustine and
late Latin generally. In this paragraph Possidius uses both construc-
tions.
5
aforis: Aforis, as well as deforis and foris, occurs in the Vulgate.
Augustine has aforis in De Nuptiis et Concupiscentia II xiii 27.
4
offendiculum infirmis: From i Cor. 8:9 and Rom. 14:13. . . .
5 scandalum
infirmis: From i Cor. 8:9 and Rom. 14:13.
. . .
NOTES 165
CHAPTER XXVII
^viduas . . . visitaret: From Jac. 1:27.
2 non . . These dying words of Ambrose, who had been
. habemus:
so influential in bringing Augustine to the Christian faith are also
recorded in almost exactly the same form by Paulinus, Vita Ambrosii,
PL 14, 45 non ita inter vos vixi, ut pudeat me v'were, nee timeo mori,
:
quid Dominum bonum habemus.

3
Dimitte nobis debita nostra: Matth. 6:12.
4
de mortalitate scripsit: Composed some time between 252 and 256
A.D. The passage here cited by Possidius occurs in Chapter XIX.
5
sanctus martyr Cyprianus:
.
Cyprian
. .
(c. 200-258)was the
first bishop in Africa to suffer martyrdom: Sic consummata pas-
sione perfectum est ut Cyprianus qui bonorum omnium fuerat ex-
emplum, etiam sacerdotales coronas in Africa primus imbueret, quia
et talis esse post apostolos prior coeperat: Pontius, Vita Cypriani, PL
3, His writings are frequently quoted by Augustine. Two
1557.
basilicaswere built at Carthage in his memory, one where he was
martyred, the other where he was buried. Both were outside the city
walls, one being on the sea-shore. This latter was the place where
Monica watched the night Augustine sailed for Italy: Confessiones V
viii 15. See also PL 58, 187.
CHAPTER XXVIII
1
De Recensione Librorum: This is the Retractationes, which was
issued in 427, three years before Augustine's death. It contains a gen-
eral revision of all his works except his Epistles and Sermons to the
people, as he states in the closing paragraph.
2
quosdam libros conquer ebatur: Such . . . was the case with Au-
gustine's treatise De Trinitate which he complained was taken from
him and issued hastily in parts before he had completed his final
emendation see Retractationes II xv I and Ep. CLXXIV.
:
3 This invasion of Africa by the Vandals occurred in 428.

irruisset:
4
apponit dolorem: Eccles. i 18. :
5 A fragment of Prov. 25 20 from

cor intelligens tinea ossibus: :
some See Petri Sabatier, Bibliorum Sac\rorum

pre- Vulgate version.
Latinae Versiones Antiquae sen Vetus Italica, Remis 1743, II 336.
6
fuerunt node: From Psalm 41:4.
. . .
7
effugatos: A post-classical word.
8 sustentaculis : A rare post-classical word, used once in Tacitus.
It is used by Augustine in the passage: multis non est causa ista
faciendi, sed quod viliore victu vivere placet, minimeque sumptuoso
corporis sustentaculo aetatem tranquillissimam ducere: De Moribus
166 NOTES
Ecclesiae Catholicae I xxxiii 72. Three other instances occur in one
of his sermons: LI xiv 23 and 24.
9 licet concremata: Apparently the only source for our knowl-
. . .
edge of the burning of Hippo. Gibbon does not mention the burning.
10 cuiusdant
sapientis: I am unable to identify this vague reference.
11 Count Boniface was governor of the province of
Bonifacius:
Africa during part of the regency of Placidia (425-450). He was a
zealous Christian and was highly esteemed by Augustine. After the
death of his first wife he was on the point of entering a monastery but
was persuaded by Augustine and Alypius that he could be of greater ser-
vice to the Church by repelling the barbarian hosts. Through the
treachery of his court rival Aetius, Placidia was turned against him
and to defend himself he unwisely invited the Vandals into Africa as
his allies. Later, when the treachery of Aetius was discovered, Boni-
face was received back into imperial favor and sought to drive the
Vandals out of Africa. After an unsuccessful battle he was besieged
in Hippo Regius for fourteen months. On August 28, 430, in the
third month of the siege, Augustine died. In July 431 the Vandals
raised the siege of Hippo and withdrew. Then after another defeat in
battle by the Vandals, Boniface escaped by sea to Italy. He died soon
afterward from a wound received in single combat with Aetius. See
Epp. CLXXXV, CLXXXIX and CCXX, particularly the last. A full
account of Boniface is given in Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire XXXIII.
12 iudicium tuum: Psalm 118: 137.
18 miserationum consolationis: From 2 Cor. 1 3.
. . . :
CHAPTER XXX
1
Thiabe was a small town in Numidia, probably be-
Thiabensis:
tween Tagaste and Hippo Regius: see Morcellus, Africa Christiana
I 314. Augustine mentions it in Ep. LXXXIII.
2
Honorato: This letter was written in 428-429 to Honoratus, at
that time bishop of the neighboring town of Thiabe. This Honoratus
is not mentioned elsewhere.
*Romaniae: A word of late popular origin, applied to distinguish

the world of Roman civilization from the barbarian world, rather than
to distinguish the Roman Empire from any other state. See Romania
I, 1872, p. 12. This instance in Possidius and two others in Orosius,
Historia, PL 31,840 and 1172 are apparently the earliest recorded oc-
currences of the word in Latin literature.
4 eversoribus: Compare with this the use of the word in Confessi-
ones III iii 6, where it is applied to the bands of students at Carthage
NOTES 167
who made a practice of interrupting and breaking up classes. For a

vivid and nearly contemporary account of this invasion see Victor
Vitensis, De Persecutione Vandalica, PL 58, 181.
5
epistolae : The letter to Quodvultdeus is not extant.
6
Quodvultdeo : He was probably the same as the Quodvultdeus who
was bishop of Carthage at the time of its capture by the Vandals in
438. With a considerable number of his clergy he was put on board
some leaky ships and set adrift, but reached Naples where he re-
mained till his death (in 444?) Victor Vitensis, De Persecutione :
Vandalica, PL 58, 187. He must be distinguished from three others of

the same name who appear in Augustine's works: (i) Quodvultdeus,
probably bishop of Girba (site unknown) who was present at the
Conference of Carthage in 411 and at the Council of Carthage in
416 (Ep. CLXXV) (2) Quodvultdeus, a presbyter mentioned in;
Contra Litteras Petiliani III xxxii 37; and (3) Quodvultdeus, a

deacon, at whose request Augustine wrote De Haeresibus: Epp.
CCXXI-CCXXIV.
7
nos . . . alligavit: From 2 Cor. 5 :
14.
8 munitum: Psalm 30 :
3.
*aliam: Matth. 10:23.
10 ne ilium eius: From 2 Cor. 11:33.
. . .
^ponere: I Joan. 3:16.

12 de civitate
fugiendum: From Matth. 10:23.
. . .
13 et mercenarium ovibus: From Jo. 10: 12-13. . . .
14
quod supra memoravi: As mentioned above in section 2 of this
letter.
15 This withdrawal of Athanasius marks the
sanctus Athanasius:
beginning of his third exile, which he spent in the desert, 356-362.
From the time of his accession to the episcopal chair of Alexandria in
328, his life was a continual series of conflicts with Arianism. Though
at times opposed by practically the whole Christian world he main-
tained the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.
After his return from this third exile of six years in the desert, he
was again banished by Julian and later by Jovian. In 366, however,
he was finally reinstated in the church at Alexandria where he re-
mained without further interruption till his death in 373.
16 Constantius: Constantius II, together with his two brothers Con-
stantine II and Constans, assumed the title of Augustus September 9,
337. From 350 till his death in 361 he was sole emperor.
17 et mortuus est: From i Cor. 8: n.
peribit . . .
is uror: 2 Cor. 11:29.

19 Oremus . . . iubetur: Merely another form of Augustine's fa-
168 NOTES
mous saying, da quod iubes et iube quod vis: Confessiones X xxix 40,
which he so often used in the Pelagian controversy.
operatur: See the De Civitate Dei I xvi-xviii for a like expression
20
of the same views written some fifteen years earlier.

21 membra
corporis Christi: From Eph. 5:30. This sentence is a
remarkable example of Augustine's balanced antithesis, wherein every
word in the first member is matched by a word in the second member
having the same construction with the same final syllable.
22 ut si eius: From Matth. 26 42.
. . . :
23 sua Christi: From Phil. 2 21.

quaerunt . . . :
z *sunt: i Cor. 13:5.

2S i Cor. 10:33.
fiant:
26 vos: Phil, i 23-24. :
27
supra diximus: In section 6 of this letter.
28 Israel: 2 Reg. 21:17.
29 Prov. 18: 18.
definit:
&0 saluti . . est: From 2 Tim. 2: 10.
81 mercenarius . . . ovibus: From Jo. 10: 12-13.
CHAPTER XXXI
1
annis ferme quadraginta: From the time of his consecration as
presbyter in 391 until his death in 430 is thirty-nine years.
2
Psalmos . . . de poenitentia: The seven penitential Psalms are 6,
31, 37, 50, 101, 129, 142 in the Vulgate. The "shortest" of these are
6, 31, 129 and 142.
8
impraetermisse : Apparently the earliest recorded instance of the
word.
4 ut scriptum est: As it is written of David in 3 Reg. 2:10 and
i Par. 29 28. :
6
vivere mea est: . . . I am unable to discover the authorship of
this elegiac couplet.
6 eruditus . . . vetera: From Matth. 13:52.
7 unus . . .
comparavit: From Matth. 13:46.
s
facite: Jac. 2: 12.
9 coelorum: Matth. 5 :
19.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bollandistes, Les, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, Brussels,
1898-1901. (Supplement 1911.)
Bollandistes, Les, Vies des Saints, Paris, 1888.
Bouche-Leclercq, Manuel des Institutions Romames, Paris,
1886.
Boyd, W. K., The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian
Code, New
York, 1905.
Duchesne, Early History of the Christian Church, trans-
L.,
lated from the fourth edition, New York, 1912-1915.
Heumann, H. G., Handlexikon zu den Quellen des romischen
Rechts, Jena, 1891.
Leclercq, H., L'Afrique Chretienne, Paris, 1904.
Mansi, J. D., Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima Col-
lectio, Paris and Leipzig, 1901-1913.
Mommsen, T., and Meyer, P. M., Theodosiani Libri XVI
(Codex Theodosianus), Berlin, 1905.
Robertson, J. C, History of the Christian Church, London,
1875-1907.
Teuffel, W. S., Geschichte der romischen Literatur, edition by
Kroll and Skutsch, Leipzig, 1913.
Tillemont, L. de, Histoire Ecclesiastique, Venice, 1732.
Romania, edited by Paul Meyer and Gaston Paris, Paris, 1872-
169
INDEX TO LATIN TEXT
Proper names, post-classical and rare words.
A
172 INDEX TO LATIN TEXT
M rebaptizatores 62, 64
Macedonius 90 de Recensione Librorunt no
Manichaeus 42, 50, 52, 74, 76, 84 refragatio 98
manifesto 54, 72, 142 relatio 66
Marcellinus 68 Retractationes, see de Recensione
Mauritania 70, 112 Libra rum
Maximinus 80 Roma 40
Mediolanum 40 Romania 118
Megalius 56
monasterium 48, 62, 64, 74, 104, 142 M
secretarium 100
N Speculum no
notarius 54, 68, 72, 76 spoliatio ii2
Numidia succenturiatus 64
sustentaculum 114
oblatio 94, 96
officium 68 Tagastensis 40
opitulatio 42 Thiabensis 118
tractatus 54, 74, 84, 142
tracto 48, 50, 58, loo
Pascentius 78, 80
Pelagianistae 82, 84 U
persisto 124 Ursus 76
petibilis 90 usufructus 96
praefidens 108
procurator (domus regiae) 76
programma 142 Valentinianus (II) 40
provectus 66, 84 Valerius 46, 48, 54, 56
Vandali 112
Q vicarius 90
quaternio 140 visitatio 104
Quodvultdeus 118
Zosimus 82
rebaptizo 54
INDEX TO NOTES
A Crispinus 153, 155, 156
Adeodatus 148 Cyprian 165
Aemilia 147
Aetius 166 D
agentes in rebus 149 Dea Coelestis, temple of 158
Alexandria 151, 159, 167 Deogratias 163
Alypius 147, 150, 154, 166 Diocletian 153
Ambrose 147, 150, 163, 165 Donatists 152-157, 161
Apringius 157 Donatus 153
Arians 159, 167
Arius 151, 159
Aries, see Councils Emeritus 157, 158
Athanasius 167 Ephesus, see Councils
Augustinus, passim Eusebius (Donatist) 157
Aurelius 152, 163 Evodius 149, 154
B
Baths of Sossius 151 Felicitas 164
bishops Felix (Catholic) 153
election 150, 152 Felix (Manichaean) 158
ordination 153 ferme 148
judicial duties 160 Firmus 150, 158
primate of 152 Fortunatus (Catholic) 154
Bona 149 Fortunatus (Manichaean) 151
Boniface, Count 166
G
Geiseric 163
Caecilianus 153 Girba 167
Calama Gratian 159
152, 154, 155
Carthage 147-149, 152-154,
163, 165, 166
158, 160, H
Heraclius 153, 161
Conference of 154, 156-158, 107
see Councils
Hippo Diarrhytus 149
Circumcellions 154
Hippo Regius 147, 149-152, 159,
163-166
Cirta 154 Honoratus 166
cogite intrare 157 Honorius 156, 160
157,
Constans, 167
Constantine II 167 /
Constantius II 167 Indiculus 160
Councils Innocent I 159, 160
Aries 154
Carthage 149, 154. 160, 167 /
Ephesus 160 Januarius 156
Milevum 160 Jerome 151, 157, 164
Nicaea 153, 159 Jovian 159, 167
Rome 154 Julia Caesarea 157
Toledo 162 Julian 167
173
174 INDEX TO NOTES
Liguria 147 Quodvultdeus 167
M R
Macedonius 161 rebaptizing 153
Majorinus 153 Romania 166
Manichaeans 147, 148, 151, 158 Rome, see Councils
Marcellinus 156, 157
Maximinus 159 j
Megalius 152 Salinas 154
Milan 147, 163 Servilius 154
Milevum 154 Severus 154
see Councils Sicca 154
milites Christi 154
Sidpnius Apollinaris 152
monastery 151, 163 Sinita 159
Monica 148, 165 Sossius, Baths of 151
N
Navigius 148,164 Tacitus 165
Nicaea, see Councils Tagaste 147, 154, 166
notarii 151, 158 Theogenes 149
Numidia 147, 156, 166 Theodosius 156, 159
'
nunnery 164 Thiabe 166

Toledo, see Councils
traditores 153
Orosius 166
U
r Urbanus 154
Pascentius 159 Ursus 158
Patricius 148 Utica 149
Paula 164 Uzelis 149, 154
Paulinus 147, 150, 165
Pelagians 159, 168
Pelagius 159 Valentinian I 159
Peregrinus 154 Valentinian II 159
Perpetua 164 Valerius 149-153
Pinianus 150 Vandals 149, 165, 166
Placidia 166 vicarius 161
Pontius 165 Victor Vitensis 160, 163, 167
Possidius, passim
presbyter, right to preach 149-151
Privatus 154 Zosimus 160
Profuturus 154
r
RETURN TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

198 Main Stacks
LOAN PERIOD 1
Home Use
YC 99601
415626 '
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Vi̇ta Augusti̇ni̇

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vi̇ta Augusti̇ni̇

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vi̇ta Augusti̇ni̇

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SANCTI AUGDSTINI VITA

iCRIPTA A POSSIDIO EPISCOPO

OXFORD UNIVElisfTY PRE88

SCRIPTA A POSSIDIO EPISCOPO

EDITED WITH REVISED TEXT, INTRODUCTION,

p. 32, 1. 8, col. 2, Insert u88 66 .

p. 44, next to last line For congitando read cogitando.

p. 102, 1. 27, For dicideret read dccideret.

p. in, next to last line, For his read this.

p. 134, last line, For Virg. read Verg.

p. 142, L 33, For tracatus read tractatus.

p. 158, 1.n, For consessive read concessive.

SCRIPTA A POSSIDIO EPISCOPO

EDITED WITH REVISED TEXT, INTRODUCTION,

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Accepted by the Department of Classics, 1918.

Printed in the United States of America.

A. F. West for his constant help and guidance in the prepara-

2. Abbreviations in the apparatus criticus 37

3. Latin Text and Translation 38

5. Select Bibliography 169

6. Index to Latin Text 170

7. Index to Notes 172

fessiones, covering the period up to the time of his conversion

Among the latter were those known as eversores, who went

Augustine's father Patricius was a man of curial rank in

even borrowed money to enable him to study

been a Christian up to the time of his son's departure for

7 De Beata Vita i 6 and Conf. IX xi 27.

whotook part in the discussions at Cassiciacum and in Serm.

group at Hippo. Chief 'among these friends

Carthage and Milan and faithfully reflected each of Augus-

Contra Academicos I i 4; De Beata Vita i 6; De Ordine I ii 5.

a public discussion with Crispinus, the Donatist bishop of Ca-

ever, which was the pagan feast-day, as Augustine relates, 30

25 Mansi III 794.

uproar was finally quieted by a stranger who seemed to have

Though only one is generally mentioned, there were evidently

Cod. Theod. XVI 10, 19.

not yet embarked on his voyage. 33 From this letter it would

as yet reached him.

the intimacy which existed between the two bishops. Among

intimacy of daily companionship which makes or breaks a

guilt and asked for their prayers. Again, we hear of Augus-

ably the most significant of these is found in

per nostras angustias dispensari. This is Augustine's fullest

fratres nostri coniunctissimi nobis, quos nobiscum desiderati

He had seen him faithful in his secular responsibilities, yet

by Augustine the cure of a sick man by the laying on of

ways mention the sources of his few non-biblical quotations,

cal greatness, but has less conception of the

essentially prosaic. Yet he did believe that posterity ought not

naturally into four parts:

raphy and which is best illustrated in the Lives of Suetonius. 51

intimate knowledge. That Possidius was a man of moder-

thought and style, which he embodies in Chapter XXX. The

writings. Possidius is both naive and commonplace in his

ophizing or play of the imagination neither is there any pad-