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Augustine lived in the Roman empire at a time when it seemed to be in danger of

collapse. Its power was declining and barbarian peoples were overrunning its
frontiers. The city of Rome itself had been sacked and burned in 410 by one such
people, the Visigoths. By the time of Augustine’s death in 430 AD another, the
Vandals, were threatening Hippo in North Africa, where he was bishop. The following
year they overran it.

To Christians like Augustine the adoption of Christianity by the Roman empire was
their moment of triumph, and a clear demonstration of God’s will. But many Romans

now blamed Christianity for the impending downfall of the empire. Surely the old
gods were punishing Rome for abandoning them. Roman religion had practiced
public sacrifices, and was closely linked to government. Many emperors were
declared gods after death. Christianity did not fit into this scheme of things.
Christians worshipped one God, in private, and many of their beliefs seemed at odds
with the basic values on which Rome was built. Many Romans blamed the Christians
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for the empire’s decline. The 18 century historian Edward Gibbon (“Decline and
Fall”) echoed this, saying that Christian beliefs like compassion for the poor and sick
undermined Rome which was built on power and military conquest.

Augustine wrote “The City of God” to defend Christians against these accusations.
However his book did much more than that. It also discussed how Christians should
think about the decline of Rome and how they should relate to society and to
government. It tried to define how the religious and secular realms should relate to
each other. These big issues are what made it so influential in the Middle Ages.

How did Rome become Christian?
For three centuries the Romans persecuted Christianity. But this changed under
Constantine I (“the Great”), emperor from 306 to 337. By his reign Rome was
declining. Two or more emperors often ruled jointly from different capitals (Ravenna,
Triers, Milan) in a bid to hold it together. This often caused civil wars. Constantine

came to power after winning such a civil war. As emperor he wanted to improve the
cohesion and unity of the empire. He saw religion as the key to this. He realised that
Christianity could no longer be excluded. On the contrary, by embracing it and
bringing it into the fold of official Roman religions, he hoped to exploit its potential
for unifying the empire and strengthening his authority.

This probably explains Constantine’s decision to tolerate and cautiously promote
Christianity better than the story that he saw a heavenly vision of a cross on the eve
of the battle that made him emperor and vowed to convert if he won. In fact he was

only baptized on his death-bed and Christianity only became the official religion after