Thalassa Editions

City of God

Augustine

Christian Platonism · Advanced

A monumental late-antique response to political catastrophe and one of the founding works of Christian political thought.

Augustine · first circulated 413–426 CE

Main ideas

Roman history reread after the sack of Rome as a contest of loves rather than empires.
Earthly politics denied final saving power yet granted real temporal importance.
Christian Platonism extended into history, law and collective destiny.

Important themes

HistoryEmpireLove

Reading context

Begun after Rome was sacked in 410 CE, when pagans blamed the disaster on the abandonment of the old gods. Augustine answers with a history of two cities, one formed by love of God and one by love of self.

How to approach it

Books 1 to 10 answer the pagan charge and 11 to 22 set out the two cities. Most readers take Book 19 on peace and Book 14 on love, and leave the rest.