The Making of the Book

Abstract

This chapter discusses the occasion of the composition of City of God, Alaric’s Gothic sack of Rome in 410, and reactions to it. The theme of Rome’s fall, and its moral and religious implications, in Augustine’s sermons of 410–11, and in correspondence with prominent Roman political figures in the same period, is surveyed and linked to its treatment in City. The dates of composition of its various sections from 412 on (the work was completed by 426-7), and of their publication, are discussed, as well as the dedication of Books 1–2 to Flavius Marcellinus. Evidence is provided from Augustine’s correspondence on the format and dissemination of the work. The questions of its intended readership and of the possible revision of the work are discussed