"Truly the Romans of the times of Scipio did not leave a stone standing." "Alypius should already be there." "Megalius!" "Alypius!" "What happened?" "They have been assaulted by bandits" "They are merchants." "They were coming loaded with merchandise from the port of Hippo." "There is no safety on the road any more" "Alypius, it is going from bad to worse" "Shall we go?" "Yes, let us go!" " Hippo should not be far - We are already late" "Valerius is waiting for us" "He wanted the comfort of your advice" "Our trip must have an important reason if he summoned us with so much urgency" "Take care of them" "God will reward you" "Alypius, Bishop of Tagaste." "Do you remember me?" "We are of the same age" "You have become an honored Bishop" "And I am a beggar monk" "When will you turn to poverty, Alypius?" "I remember you, Elias!" "Alypius, you descended from the pure heights of the Gospel and of primitive Christianity" "Down to the depths of a handmaid of the State" "Poverty and penance should not debase men" "You have already lost in prosperity the glory gained in persecution and disaster" "Come Megalius!" "Unfortunately it is useless to speak to them" "They do not understand!" "Hell's fire will burn those who contaminated themselves" "They are worse than the Manicheans" "The would like men not to eat but herbs, for they say that what is flesh contains evil to drink only dirty water because..." "Fresh water makes one feel sensual pleasure when ones drinks it" "They would like man to destroy himself" "So to destroy the evil that is hidden within us" "They would like to be saved for their own merits" "And not for Christ's" "You have nothing to fear" "However vehicle circulation is forbidden in the city before sunset" "Tonight you shall receive your merchandise" "You must trust me" "We have an impeccable organization" "But why unloading my car?" " It would not pass through the streets" "Our cars have an axle of different size" "And so we pay another tax" "Sure!" "Hello Caius!" "See?" "We shaved our wives' heads as a sign of mourning" "For the death of the great Theodosius Augustus" "Stop!" "But can you see they are two high imperial dignitaries?" "Go and call Bishop Valerius!" "Megalius!" "Peace to you!" "Alypius!" "Peace to you!" "May peace be to this house" "Peace to you!" " Peace to you!" " Peace to you!" "Welcome to this house, Megalius" "And to you, Alypius" "I have been waiting for you" "Thank you for coming with such haste" "Here is Augustine!" "May discord be far from us!" "It is born when we only love ourselves" "If you want to be admitted to our monastery, you must learn to read and write well" "Oh Alypius!" "Megalius!" "What a surprise!" "Peace be with you!" "Peace to you Augustine!" "Peace to you Augustine!" "Peace to you!" "Do not stop teaching" "Do go on" "We shall see you later" "We shall stop here for some days" "Come!" "Come!" "In memory of the Blessed Martyr Polycarp" "Epistle of the Church of Smyrna to the Christian communities" "Brothers!" "Three days before his arrest" "While he was praying" "Polycarp had a vision" "And said to his companions" "I must be burned alive" "But he did not flee" "He was arrested" "And while he was being lead to the stadium through the insults of a large crowd" "A voice from heaven was heard" "Be strong, Polycarp" "Behave as a brave man" "The Proconsul said to him" "Insult the Christ and I will release you" "I have been serving Him 86 years" "Polycarp answered" "And He never wronged me" "I have beasts at my disposal" "Added the Proconsul" "They will devour you" ""Let them come" said Polycarp" "I do not change better for worse" "Since you despised the beasts" "Ended the Proconsul" "I will have the fire consume you" "And he was placed on the stake" "But since the fire would leave him unscathed" "The impious pierced him with a dagger" "A dove came out of his heart" "And such an amount of blood that extinguished the fire" "The crowd was filled with wonder in seeing what a difference was" "Between the unfaithful and the elect" "Now you may speak" "We have crossed the city to arrive here" "It is a babel" "All Africa is a babel" "And all the Empire by now" "We even met heretical monks" "They are like bandits" "The bandit deprives the passers-by of their goods or takes their life away" "The heretic robs Christians of the truth" "And separates them from the Church" "The world seems to be overrun by unspeakable confusion" "The Empire is divided and discordant" "The unity of the Church is threatened by heresies" "And by sects" "First Arius's heresy" "Then the Manicheans" "Now, especially here in Africa" "The Donatists" "A merchant told me that famine is threatening Rome" "With a decree Emperor Honorius" "Ordered to rebuild the fleet for the victualing of wheat" "He is still a boy but he shows to be wise" "Two months ago, at the death of Theodosius" "When the Empire was divided between East and West" "Most of the ships stayed in Constantinople" "What I fear most is the barbarians' pressure" "The search for new lands, for a warmer climate, pushes them towards the Mediterranean" "Toward Africa" "Emperor Honorius will surely know how to defend the Empire and the Church" "He is a fervent Christian" "He gave orders that in all the churches of the Empire we pray that God's hand may stop the Barbarians that are pressing at the border" "Many pagans will still pray to their idols" "To stop the Barbarians we would need again the ancient legions of Rome" "But where are they now?" "With your permission I retire" "I am old now!" "Tomorrow I shall wait for you in my episcopal palace" "You know that I need your help" "Your advise" "Before speaking to the faithful" "Brothers in the priesthood and sons" "I, Valerius, your Bishop" "Have been feeling for a while the weight of years" "In the difficult times we are passing" "In front of the tempest threatening us" "The Church needs a Shepherd full of strength" "And I am just an old man close to death" "Who better than me can confound the Manichean heretics" "And the followers of Bishop Donatus, who want to destroy the unity of Christ's Church?" "Who can announce to the pagans" "Salvation" "Teach" "Baptize" "Preach with a new energy" "Who among us burns more than all" "Of the fire of faith?" "The man that you yourselves wanted me to ordain a priest" "A priest here present in this church" "He has been in Milan and Rome" "He met the great dignitaries of the Empire" "He already travelled across Numidia" "Baptizing many pagans" "Romans" "Berbers" "Phoenicians" "Even the heretics" "Listen with admiration to his speeches" "Full of a faith born out of a wonderful grace of God" "It is this man that I want to call with your agreement" "To share with me the load of the Episcopate" "Of our Church" "Of our Church" "Aurelius Augustine of Tagaste" "I propose that you be with me and after me Shepherd and Bishop" "No!" "No, it is not possible!" "It is not possible!" "You all know my pride" "You all know my sins" "I made Monica, my mother, cry" "I abandoned a woman, my son's mother" "I left her in solitude, with no pity for her" "And not content with having spent years in... in filth" "I had the pride of wanting to confound God's wisdom" "I had the pride to proclaim that Christ was one like I" "He was a man" "Even though extraordinarily wise and knowledgeable" "And I then who denounced my innocent father?" "I had reversed to paganism and offered sacrifices to the gods" "To inherit my father's property" "You taught me how to weep over my sin" "And also to have faith in God's mercy" "Where is your faith now, Augustine?" "In the past I consulted the Haruspices" "I paid them with the money that belong to the Christian Community" "And now I am here and know I was forgiven" "When I slandered my neighbor" "Accusing him of fraud" "At the revenue office" "Because I wanted the ruin of his shop" "All the Church" "Rightly expelled me" "But you had me readmitted into the community" "And you taught that when a man cries" "Over his sin, he is a son beloved by God" "We know that you sinned" "But you cried!" "Why do you fear then?" "When I was a Manichean" "You convinced me to return to the Church" "You told me that in the blood of Christ" "All the sins are forgiven to us" "This blood washed you" "You can be our Bishop" "In my life there is nothing that may be for you of example" "Of comfort!" " Remember, Augustine?" "What you taught in the rule to your monks?" "Let the superior be obeyed lest God be offended in that person." "And by obeying you will show piety not only towards yourselves" "But towards Him too" "Long live Augustine!" "Long live Augustine!" " Stop" " Long live Augustine!" "The grace of forgiveness descended on your past sins" "My choice is approved by all the Christians of Hippo" "Long live Augustine!" "We have no use for your humility" "It is your obedience to the will of the faithful that we want" "What do you answer, Augustine?" "To your Church's invitation?" "You sent the Lord Jesus to save the world" "Through whom You chose the Apostles and consecrates from generation to generation holy bishops" "Make of your servant a holy Bishop" "In the succession of the Holy Apostles" "Give him the grace of the Divine Spirit" "That You granted to all the faithful servants" "To the Patriarchs and the Prophets" "Make him deign of feeding your flock" "May he remain pure and spotless in his office of Bishop" "By your only Son Jesus Christ" "Through Whom may glory and honor be given to You" "Now and unto the ages of ages." "Amen!" "Long live Augustine!" "Long live Augustine!" "On True Religion" "On the Morals of the Manichaeans" "Against the Academicians" "On Free Will" "The Immortality of the Soul" "This is a copy of the writings of Plotinus" "Do you want to take these too with you to the Episcopal Palace?" "Yes!" "They are very dear to me" "They helped me understand Plato" "The acts of the dispute against the Manicheans" "Augustine, you taught the way of truth to many" "Each of us must be a witness of the truth" "But truth is not outside us" "We must help people to look within themselves" "It is within themselves that truth lives" "It is within themselves that God's light shines" "That makes truth intelligible" "I have been carrying it with me from Milan" "How heavy it is to leave the peace of our monastery" "We left Africa without faith" "In search of fame" "Instead we found the Cross" "Do you remember our life in Rome and in Milan?" "You saw the sickness of my soul" "Covered with wounds, was madly searching for pleasure" "That engulfed me with painful ties." "Desire, jealousy, fury" "Strife" "To love and to be loved would be even sweeter to me" "If also in the body of the person I loved" "I could enjoy my same folly" "But with how much gall God's mercy sprinkled my pleasure" "To lead me back to Him" "After Baptism God filled us with His sweetness" "Which is an infinite sea" "And it was for the sweetness of His love" "That we welcome one by one our brothers into the monastery" "We read Scriptures with them" "With them we wrote our rule" "Which is sweet and wise" "And now I have to leave all of this" "Alypius, my friend of always" "You also had to leave the community to go to the bishopric of Calama" "And were the first" "I understand your sadness, Augustine" "Then it was painful also for me" "Let us go!" "We came here at Hippo" "From all the parts of Numidia" "First from Tagaste, Alypius, Possidius and I" "And then the others from Cirla, from Calama, from Carthage" "Severus from Miletus" "Evodius whom I met in Milan" "From Tagaste" "Together we went along the roads of Africa" "To announce to the pagans the word of salvation" "And to bring back to the right path our brothers" "Lost in heresies" "Then Alypius went back to Tagaste" "When he was named a Bishop" "Now it is I who have to leave you" "Our roads separate" "Like those of the Apostles" "Hail, Augustine" "Peace to you, Augustine!" " Peace!" " Peace, Augustine!" "Even if we go far from each other" "We always remain united in the soul" "Because together we broke the same olive branch" "In Tagaste greet all my friends" "I remember them one by one" "Now you are also our Bishop" "And your Episcopate ties you to each of us" "In the unity and love of the Church" "And in obedience to our holy Bishop Valerius" "Welcome among us!" "Now you also are our Bishop" "You may go!" "Alypius wants to leave" "Thank you!" "And may the Lord accompany you!" "We know that snakes passing through the fissures of the earth" "Shed their skin" "To receive new strength" "So we must put off the old man" "To put on the new man" "This image of the snake" "Is symbolic like many others" "In Sacred Scripture" "For example" "The branch of olive" "Brought by the dove at its return to the Ark of Noe" "Is the symbol of perpetual peace" "Are also numbers used symbolically in Scripture?" "Certainly!" "Moses, Elias, and Christ" "Fasted for 40 days" "This number 40, 4 times 10" "Corresponds, as the flowing of time in one year" "To a quaternary rhythm" "The day is divided in morning, midday, evening, and night" "The year is divided in four seasons" "Time never stops" "Flows like a river" "Did God also make time?" "He is beyond time" "He is our creator" "Of us who live within time" "God's nature is to be what He is" "And that is eternity" "Valerius!" "Augustine!" "It is not I who need you" "But they who for the Lord are but children" "Do not leave them" "They will be soon ready for Baptism" "I pray to God" "That He may grant me the grace of dying" "Think of your memory" "Than from birth collects the remembrance of all that you have seen" "And heard" "But your knowledge will be useless" "If you have not answered with your love" "To God's love" "According to the example of your Holy Bishop" "Valerius!" "This love will attract you as tender grass attracts sheep" "For no one approaches salvation if he is not attracted" "And no one resists to the Teacher's voice" "When he receives this love" "Which is the privilege of the predestined" "Your love must be" "Very large" "So that your reason may move within it" "Without fear" "You will be certain that God created the world not because it was useful or necessary to Him" "But out of love" "The very beauty of the world" "Shouts that it did not create itself" "But that it comes from God" "And we ourselves with the world were created by God in time" "While He always remains the same" "His years have no end" "His years do not come or go" "That Holy Mother the Church" "May bear you and beget you in charity and faith" "Receive the soul of your servant Valerius" "Into the places of your pastures" "Into the rest dwellings of Abraham" "Of Isaac, of Jacob, and of all the saints" "Forget his errors" "And his sins" "With Your consoling Spirit" "Sooth our sadness" "And give us all a happy ending" "Through Your only-beggoten Son Jesus Christ" "Through Whom glory and power is given to you" "Onto the ages of ages." "Amen!" "If I am here" "In Valerius's place" "As his unworthy successor" "You Christian faithful of the community of Hippo" "Are witnesses that it was not I who wanted this office" "It was you who forced it on me `" "Yes!" "Yes!" "We know it" "And you know that I am not worthy" "And with you I strike my breast" "And with you I ask God for forgiveness" "We are all sinners in front of the Father" "We all hope in His mercy" "Augustine!" "You are unworthy!" "He is saying the truth" "But not the whole truth" "And who are you to speak in this way?" "You do not remember me?" "No!" "I am Macrobius!" "The Donatist Bishop of Hippo" "Let him speak" "Speak!" "Fear not" "I want to ask you some questions" "First" "Is it not true that you fell into the Manichean heresy?" "Yes!" "It is true!" "And I thank God that I was freed from it" "But why are you making personal accusations?" "Who am I Augustine?" "Have I claimed to be a new Christ announced to all the peoples?" "No!" "One thousand times no!" "You are accusing me of the sins of my past" "And you are right" "But do not you remember what St. Paul said?" "The Lord chose the most despicable things to confound the world" "Stop!" "Go out!" "Yes!" "Go out!" "Let him speak" "Regarding your election to Bishop" "I must ask you another thing" "How dare you, who received a doubtful Baptism" "Sit on the episcopal throne?" "Because my Baptism is not doubtful" "You Donatists claim that only the Baptism that you impart be valid" "But he who baptizes does not bestow what belongs to him" "He only hands down a gift of God" "This is the doctrine of Church, one and indivisible" "You Donatists believe you are the only worthy" "Because you claim to come down from a sure tradition of holiness" "The priest sins as any other man" "But if he cries over his sins as any man" "They will be forgiven to them" "I was not baptized in Africa" "This is true" "But the Church where I was baptized" "Is the same for all the Universe" "But you Donatists shut yourselves within your churches" "As a sect" "In this way you went out of charity" "Hence out of faith" "For there is no faith without charity" "You are a liar and a heretic" "The errors of the Donatists" "Are like merciless wolves and ready to catch you" "Let us seek the wolf" "Let us lay the nets for it" "Let us chase it" "Let us seize it" "Let us kill it as soon as it is seized" "But let us kill it properly" "May the error die!" "May the man live!" "And if the Donatists keep saying that I am not a legitimate Bishop of the Catholic Church" "Do not answer but this" "Augustine carries his office" "He will account for it to God's justice" "In Milan I met Bishop Ambrose" "Think of it, he was born in Gaul" "He arrived to Milan as governor of the Empire" "The people had elected him Bishop by acclamation" "He died last winter" "He was known, Lord, as a faithful servant" "And he would distribute his eloquence to the people without ceasing" "The substance of your wheat" "The sweetness of your oil" "And the sober inebriation of your wine" "I was unconscious while You were leading me to him" "So that he may consciously lead me to You" "And that man of God" "Received me as a father and a Bishop" "Moved by my pilgrimage" "I learned to love him at once" "First not as a teacher of the Truth" "Since then I had no hope" "Of finding the Truth in Your Church" "But as a man who without ceasing was showing me" "His good will" "And thanks to him, thanks to him I was already approaching" "You without knowing" "What is it?" "Two brothers have come, one Christian the other a pagan" "To submit their case to your judgement" "It is an honor to see the citizens of Hippo" "Preferring the Bishop's judgement to the Imperial Magistrate's" "Especially when the may freely choose one or the other" "Come Caius!" "And you too, Julius" "It is a delicate matter" "And you know the case" "Come!" "Lord, God of justice who gave to Solomon the wisdom to pronounce just verdicts" "Grant to them and me, Bishop of Christ's Church" "That we may settle the controversies that divide the men of Your people" "So that with justice charity may be installed" "Amen!" " Amen!" "Let the plaintiff come forward and expose his case" "My name is Sixtus and I am a pagan" "This is my brother, he is a Christian and his name is Papirius" "Our father Fabianus, as he was dying, divided his property in two parts" "One went to the Church" "And the other to his Christian son Papirius, my brother here present" "To me instead he left nothing" "Sure!" "Sixtus left his father's house to live with a despicable woman" "Who instead is a very good mother" "I appeal to your justice" "Because I have nothing to support my family with" "And also nothing to feed my children with" "Of what did the property consist?" "A 200-acre olive grove" "Two houses, one of which in the country" "And a flock of more than 100 sheep" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "And you, Papirius, what do you have to say?" "That my father's will was drawn up according to the law" "And that nothing can justify that it be not literally complied with" "Thank you!" "After listening to our counsellors" "We Bishop of Hippo" "By the grace of God" "Declare that the goods of the deceased Fabianus" "Be divided in three parts" "The first for Sixtus" "The second for Papirius" "And the third for the Church of Hippo" "Is any of you opposing this verdict?" "I!" "It is not fair!" "And I want that the case to be appealed at the Imperial Tribunal" "It is your right" "Augustine, Bishop of Hippo here present" "Has found well grounded the request of Sixtus" "Son of Fabianus, decreeing the subdivision in three parts as it is known" "Of the inheritance of Fabianus" "Papirius has appealed the verdict of the Bishop of Hippo" "Listen to me!" "I want to tell you that I have appealed the verdict because it is unfair" "It is contrary to the law and against my father's will" "The appeal has been carefully examined by the Tribunal" "That has interviewed all the witnesses and read the documents" "Being understood that no procedural mistake" "Is found in the will under scrutiny" "Being also understood" "That a father has free disposal of his goods" "We, Magistrate by imperial will, decide" "That the will is valid" "And that the said Papirius will maintain the fullness of his rights" "The goods under scrutiny will remain divided in two parts" "One for the Church" "The other for Papirius" "The case is settled" "Your judgement respects the letter of the law" "But the law is made for man" "Not man for the law" "And then I will have an act of donation drafted" "What do you mean?" "That the Church will give her whole part to Sixtus" "Re-establishing him so in his rights" "This does not concern me" "Thank you!" "But it is crazy" "The community needs that property" "And the law favors us" "Men's law is sometimes contrary to justice" "Charity counts more than the law" "Have you seen?" "Even the banker converted." "He is burning the witchcraft books that were in his library" "Even the Sybils' prophecies" " This new Christian world" "Is swept away by a tempest of doctrinal disputes" "War used to be the natural condition of mankind" "For a century, since when Christianity triumphed" "We have been talking about peace" "And we have been waging war" "By now Christians have acquired the desire to rule everywhere" "And nobody questions their rights any more" "But is it possible that our old world is now worth nothing?" "Do you remember the invocation of the Emperor Julianus?" "Whom they named the Apostate" "He used to say that in his prayer to Cybele the mother of the gods:" ""Grant that your Roman people cancel the stain of impiety" "And that good fortune preserve the Empire for many thousands of years" "Grant that I receive as fruit of my adoration for you, oh Cybele" "The truth of divine knowledge" "The perfection of cult" "Virtue and success in all the political and military enterprises we are undertaking" "And an end of life without sadness" "And glorious" "Together with the hope of coming to you"" "Together with the hope of coming to you" "You echoed me!" "The echo..." "Do you remember Julianus?" "For you she is a talkative goddess and spouse of Pan" "I do not deny it" "For even if nature taught me that the echo is a sound of the voice" "That coming back through the air returns to the ear" "However assenting to the belief of the Ancients and the Moderns" "I want to concede that she is a goddess" "Sure today we do not understand who is a man or a woman any more" "Amira?" "Hail!" " Hail!" "Hail!" " Hail!" "Depilate me well" "I want to have a skin as fresh and smooth as a rose" "Curl my hair well" "Take mine too" "Since when my slave died I always come here to shave" "I received the webs from Nola" "And with honey and vinegar I will make a plaster that will rejuvenate your skin" "I feel very well with a beard" "The emperors had a great idea" "In letting their beard grow" "Every morning my barber's daughter" "Sits across my legs" "And trims it with care" "Beast!" "Ignorant!" "Don't you know that the great soldiers like Achilles, Aristomenes, Cimon" "Epaminondas and many other legendary heroes" "Found their strength in Greek love?" "He who fights next to his lover" "Does not need Mars to overcome his enemies" "Do I know you?" "Where did I meet you?" " I am Cottidus, gladiator" "I saw you are a gladiator from the corn on your nose" "These heroes are so scared" "That they wear on their heads helmets so heavy" "That rightly disfigure them" "Since when gladiatorial games by order of our Emperor have become bloodless" "We duel more and more and this damned corn grows ever larger" "So much for fun" "To watch fake duels" "I really do not know what he is saying" "Here in Africa we do not observe the imperial decrees that abolish gladiatorial games" "But can not they understand that when people are not entertained" "They become violent and rebellious?" "Can you see Milesius?" "A marriage!" "It is a good omen" "A pagan marriage" "Tullius the sculptor's workshop is nearby" "Shall we go?" "Have you seen how his son works?" " Yes!" "I know him" "Let us go!" "He already enjoys some fame in our city" "His works are most wanted" "However..." "I do not understand them" "We came to have a look at your works" "Come!" "Come!" "They are making us lose the sense of beauty" "Why do not you work like your father?" "My sculptures must not speak to the senses" "But to the spirit" "You cannot separate the senses from the spirit" "On the contrary..." "It is the senses that express the spirit" "It is in them that beauty and strength live" "While your sculpture seems to belong to a world that is not ours" "Maybe!" "Hail!" " Hail Milesius!" " Hail to you!" "The "De Deo Socratis" of Apuleius" "You are the first person in years that asks to read it" "Can you have it copied for me?" "Yes, sure!" "What does the great Milesius need?" "I need that you have the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius copied for me" "From whom my your friends have much to learn" "It is a book that the holy Bishop Augustine does not surely approve" "It does not matter, great Milesius, whether I approve or disapprove the books you recommend to the young" "It only matters whether they contain the truth" "You should not fear my judgement" "If however they deny the truth, it is clear that you corrupt those surrounding you" "You seem sincere when you speak of the truth" "You instead want the young to renounce to cultivate their spirit" "For fear they may sin against your God" "You would like to see the letters destroyed" "Music and all the arts of the Roman tradition" "As you saw the destruction by order of Emperor Theodosius" "Of the temples of our gods" "Of the ancient Roman tradition we must teach virtue to the young" "Which made Rome great" "And not sensuality, which lead it to ruin" "You often heard me quoting" "The ancient pagan authors as teachers of virtue." "It is not they that I reproach" "But the cult of sensuality and the corruption of what is beautiful" "That today has invaded the mind of many" "The letters and the arts have become a glorification of man's senses" "And contemplation of his passions" "And the cult of the senses made the young" "Find in them new gods on whom any motion of their life should depend" "But man cannot be separated from his senses" "It is through them that Divinity expresses Itself" "Which, although in tiny parts," "Is present within each man" "Divinity is not divisible in small pieces or parted among men" "How could infinity be divisible?" "Divinity is indivisible and in Christ became flesh" "It became Word of truth" "Light for each man" "And in this light man participates and lives in It" "Christians do not renounce to arts, to letters, to music" "They do not deny history" "They only say that through it" "Man must always see better the light within himself and God's Word that became flesh and dwelt among us" "You demand too much, Augustine" "You will not change nor cancel from the world the cult of senses" "Which is the very cult of beauty" "Augustine?" "They are having a fight." "A boy has been wounded to death" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Shame on you!" "What a shame to see you Christians one with the pagans watching this barbarian game" "To see you unmoved in front of these wounded young" "Even happy if they belong to the faction opposing the one you bet on" "Shame on you!" " And you pagans leave these cruel sports" "Before Heaven be tired" "Stop!" "Stop, enough!" "Enough!" "Augustine is coming" "We have been waiting for you" "Bless the bread for our trip" "In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" "From this monastery many of us left" "To announce God's word to the Africans" "This is a sign of the benevolence of God" "Give alms!" "Give alms!" "Who are you?" "Give me alms" "It is blessed bread." " Are you a Bishop?" " Yes!" "My name is Possidius" "Are you a Donatist?" " No!" " Then you come as a wolf to snatch the holy souls" "From the doctrine of Bishop Donatus - No!" "I only try to do good" "Calama is near" "Stop!" "Fools what are you doing?" "In God's name!" "Stop, brothers!" "In God's name!" "Stop!" "Enough!" "Enough brothers!" "What are you doing?" "Enough!" "Stop!" "In God's name!" "Enough!" "Wake up!" "Quick, Bishop Augustine is coming" "Thank you for coming to Calama" "Peace to you sons" "Thanks be to God our Bishop Possidius is better" "He is anxiously waiting for you" "I shall see him after saying a couple of words to the Donatist chief of this city" "Let us hurry!" "I will take care of your luggage" "I want to talk with your chief, Crispinus" "Hail!" "Greetings!" "Are you the chief of the Donatists of Calama?" "Yes!" "I am their Bishop" "Bishop Possidius has been assaulted by your men" "I come to ask you an account for that!" "My men?" "I do not hire criminals" "Hence how can you say that those who assaulted Possidius were Donatists?" "They were Circumcelliones, therefore Donatists" "But the Circumcelliones, everybody knows, are a sect of fanatics" "Hungry as all those who live in the country" "And it is not my fault if they are Donatists" "You will have to prove that!" "I understand what you are aiming at" "You want to denounce me to the Roman tribunal" "To force me to pay a fine of ten pounds in gold as heretic and trouble maker" "According to Theodosius's law" "No, do not worry!" "I do not want..." " The unity of the Church will happen only when we all obey" "To the holy doctrine of Bishop Donatus" "And not like your Church, Augustine, which is being protected by the Emperor's decrees" "Do you know that the Donatist Bishop of Hippo" "Has been living in hiding outside the city" "For years as he is threatened with arrest by the imperial authority" "For his faithfulness to Donatus's doctrine?" "There are many unjust things among us" "But we must seek truth in charity" "I wish you may do well your duty as a Bishop" "That of bringing peace, to pacify all conflicts with patience" "And reasoning and not with violence" "We are ready to discuss with you and your faithful" "To come to the unity of all the brothers in Christ" "Because for too long now the African Church has been divided by your dissension" "Greetings to you!" "Syriacus is here!" "Syriacus?" " Yes!" "The grain merchant" "His ships go to Rome" "To Egypt, to Greece" "Even to the ports of Gaul" "Oh Yes!" "I know him." "Let him come in" "I greet you and wish you much prosperity" "I thank you but prosperity is none of my worries" "You are lucky!" "We must say that as far as it regards us" "We have always tried to spare you this kind of worries" "I do not understand you!" "It slightly embarrasses me to remind you" "I have always helped your Church" "And your Presbyters have always traveled for free on my ships" "For that I am grateful to you" "It was your father, a wise and honest pagan, to establish this custom in your house" "And without asking anything in return" "I have always respected my father's will" "It is true that I am a pagan and keep the statues of the Penates at home" "That my ancestors brought to Africa from Rome" "But you know that I respect your religion" "Yes I know!" "I am happy to hear that" "Because I have a favor to ask you" "I know that for this you came and am listening!" "Well, the Imperial Vicar of Carthage" "Must send wheat to the mercenary troops camped along the Spanish shores" "Other carriers are competing for the same opportunity" "One word from you, one letter would help me much to obtain this contract" "But I know nothing of your business" "It is enough to write the truth to the Vicar" "That I have always respected the Church" "The Empire is Christian and Christian Bishops are honored by the Empire" "And so?" "One letter from you..." " One letter to conclude a big business" "Yes!" " Go on!" "Well, if you write a letter I..." " What do you mean?" "I mean I can help you and your community" "No!" "Richness and commerce are far from my interests" "My vocation is to make the word of God understood by all those who wish to listen to me" "Today you have ships" "And many goods." "Tomorrow death will take them away from you and you will appear before God" "There you will not have to account for your business" "Excuse me!" "But I cannot do what you ask" "I understand this, but also I do not understand you" "Think about it!" "If you change your mind let me know" "I only ask that you write that I respect the Church" "Do not insist, Syriacus" "You know that I will not change my mind" "Fear Augustine!" "Augustine wolf!" "Augustine!" "Fear!" "Fear!" "Augustine wolf!" "I am here, Macrobius." "What do you want?" "Why did you come accompanied by all your faithful armed with sticks?" "These are not all my faithful" "And you know that!" "The Donatists in Hippo are much more numerous than your Christians" "I came to tell you news" "The time of injustice is over" "The persecutions that we Donatists had to suffer until now" "Because of false accusations of heresy" "Launched against us from you and the other African Bishops" "Have been recognized as unfair by the Imperial Court of Ravenna" "Which has drafted a decree of tolerance" "Suspending all restrictions against us" "So we shall be able to meet freely and search for truth together" "For surely the Court of Ravenna cannot free you from your error" "I must give you a warning" "For your faithful and especially for those priests of yours you send across Africa" "To speak against Donatus's doctrine" "Let them take care" "They will be treated like wolves, they will not be able to stick their head out of their dens" "They will have to be very prudent" "If they do not wish to see their blood pouring" "That you may bring the Lord's peace according to the grace of your Episcopate" "Augustine wolf!" "Augustine wolf!" "Caius!" "We must speak to Augustine" " Sure!" "Did you see those lunatics too?" "Let us go!" "It is from the small door" "I tripped here on the threshold." "It is a bad omen" "Let us go back" " It is more prudent to close the door" "Do not have silly superstitions" "Do you know what Cato said to a terrorized soldier that told him that mice had gnawed his shoes?" "There is nothing strange." "I would worry if the shoes had gnawed the mice" "We have come to ask you how you will behave with Macrobius and the Donatists after the tolerance decrees" "Have you seen how arrogant they became?" "We came from the back door to avoid them" "What do you intend to do now?" "Consider that all that you will do will involve also us" "We cannot go on in this city" "Look at him." "Some thugs assaulted him" "And nobody helped him" "They stole all my jewels" "Listen, Augustine." "The Court of Ravenna, because of the restlessness of the Barbarians" "In the whole Empire, is convinced that it needs in Africa" "The Donatists' friendship" "That is why those decrees of tolerance were promulgated" "And the African Bishops must account the Court of Ravenna for all this" "And demand its official intervention" "That Ravenna send an envoy" "To see what is our situation and judge" "It does not matter what they think in Ravenna" "Here in Hippo they are more numerous than we and they are all armed" "You Augustine always wanted to deal with them with the weapons of persuasion, with debates" "And they instead are ready to assault your episcopal palace" "What the Court of Ravenna decides does not interest us" "I do not fear the Donatists" "They cannot overthrow the judging seat of Christ and replace it with Donatus's" "I will keep recalling those who are in error" "I will seek those who are lost" "And even if the branches of the wood tear me" "I will continue on my path" "The Lord, Who now allows me to fear for you" "And for me, will also give me the strength not to retreat before anything" "You should write to Carthage" "And ask the Primate to gather the Bishops" "To confront the Court of Ravenna" "All the Bishops of Africa are very worried" "What is right will be done" "The Barbarians sacked Rome?" "The Visigoths in Rome?" " At last Alaricus made up his mind!" " Alaricus must have enjoyed himself" "Rome has been violated!" " Rome has been violated!" "Mark, Mark!" "Come here!" "Is Bishop Augustine with your master?" " Yes, he is here!" "The great Volusianus" "Hail Volusianus!" "Hail Maximus!" "To what do I owe the visit to my house one of one of the greatest orators of the Empire?" "I came to honor your guest with you" "Bishop Augustine" "Thank you!" "I especially came to bring to the holy Bishop of Hippo" "The greetings of Tribune Marcellinus" "The Imperial Notary" "Whom our most pious Emperor Honorius sent to Carthage" "According to the wishes of the African Church" "To put peace and justice, as you say, between your faithful and Bishop Donatus's" "You must be happy!" "But it is foolish." "Do you realize" "That the weakness that undermined the Empire and opened the gates of Rome to the Barbarians" "Is due to the Christian doctrine" "Do you really think it is fair to accuse us?" "Do you really believe it?" "Sure!" "You say to turn the other cheek to him who strikes you, no?" "That we must let go the cloak into the hands of him who wants it?" "That we must go 2000 steps if somebody wants us to walk 1000?" "And do you think that could be State ethics?" "The pain for the humiliation suffered by Rome reached all of us" "But you, who are a famous expert of history" "How can you accuse Christianity to be responsible for Rome's ruin?" "Rome has been trampled and sacked for three days by the Barbarians" "The Roman people have been humiliated" "We have been humiliated" "Rome was strong when she was virtuous" "Remember Juvenal, I wish I could quote him by memory" ""Virtues existed when the Quirites lived in caves" "And the mother offered her turgid teats to the babes" "And the father cultivated the vine, the olive, the wheat" "Now luxury has fallen upon these citizens, more cruel and destructive than weapons" "And there are no more morals" "Now in Rome all the crimes, all the mischiefs of lust swarm and prosper" "That is the true cause of her ruin" "But many are blind and dumb to this truth" "In what abyss would this torrent of horrendous wickedness of the human race plunge us" "Were it not for the Cross of Christ" "If by clinging to it we had no point of support" "Not to be engulfed in the whirlpool of those of this world that are pushing us towards evil" "You are a learned man" "And know the ancient writers well" "But facts agree with me" "Barbarians and Christians destroyed Rome's greatness" "We shall discuss this again" "When you wish." "The door of my house is always open for you" "Greetings to you!" "There is something very close to my heart" "How do you think Marcellinus will behave in the dispute between Donatists and Catholics?" "I am not a Prophet" "I am not a Haruspex" "But you know Marcellinus" "Fear not." "He will condemn them" "He comes in the name of the most pious Emperor Honorius" "And could not do otherwise" "Marcellinus, even if he is Christian" "Knows well that only the strength of the Empire can solve the conflicts threatening the peace of the State" "The new ethics, that of the Christians" "Will never be superior to this strength" "When there is strife or conflict within the State" "When somebody threatens the Empire" "Do you think that saying not to render evil for evil can be useful?" "Forgive the enemy, not to do unto others what you would not that be done unto you?" "Maximus, you are a Roman too" "And know well it cannot be useful" "It is incredible that while Rome is being invaded by the Barbarians" "The Christian Emperor in Ravenna thinks of the futile controversies of the Church in Africa" "To defend her in this moment instead" "He should ask Christianity to explain" "The weakness that has undermined the ethics of the Empire" "And has opened the gates of Rome to the Barbarians" "It is written: "I saw an angel come down from heaven having great power: and the Earth was enlightened with his glory." "And he cried out with a strong voice, saying:" "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every unclean spirit and the hold of every unclean bird:" "and the hold of every unclean and hateful beast" "Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" "And the kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her" "The merchants of the Earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies" "I want to tell you something" "News came that Rome is unhappy" "Devastated, humiliated, conquered" "And immediately the pagans of this city of ours, Hippo" "Threw themselves at us Christians and said to us" "As long as we sacrificed to the ancient gods" "Rome was strong" "But now that your God substituted ours" "Rome is laid waste" "To this I answer that the greatness of the Empire" "Was not the work of incoherent and childish gods" "But the work of the great virtue of the ancient Romans" "Corruption is the true reason of the weakness of the Empire" "The pagans tell us also" "That Peter's body rests in Rome" "Paul's body rests in Rome" "Also Lawrence's body rests in Rome" "The bodies of thousands of Martyrs are in Rome" "And Rome is sacked" "For what were their relics useful?" "For what were the memories of Apostles useful?" "Fools!" "The memory of their blood is in the ground of Rome" "But it is not in their hearts" "For if they carried it in their hearts" "They would not speak like that" "When a man builds, he lays stone over stone" "When a man destroys" "He ruins these overlaying stones" "What a man has done, another tears down" "This end, dissolution, may happen also to Rome" "But is the end already here?" "Rome, as all mortal things" "Was founded by God" "And nothing of what God creates perishes without His consent" "Hence let us accept what He sends us" "It may be that Rome will not perish" "Maybe this is just a calamity and not ruin" "It may be a punishment and not her destruction" "Rome lives in the heart of all the Romans" "And will never die, if the Romans render glory to God" "And now let us pray together" "Accept o Lord the offer of this bread" "And of this chalice so that it may become the Body and Blood of Christ" "And that it may be a Sacrament of piety for all" "Hail Volusianus!" "Hail Milesius!" "Have you seen Terentius and Maximus?" " They are here at the baths." "They wait in the hot room" "They say the Haruspices of the Palatine had foreseen the Barbarians' invasion" "It is incredible that there still be somebody among us" "Believing in the Haruspices" "Alaricus with 8O,OOO Visigoth warriors" "And women, herds, cars" "He had been shuttling between the walls of Ravenna and those of Rome for two years" "And it did not take seers to understand that sooner or later" "He would have tried to violate the gates of the city" "That in her streets and squares has more than 80 golden statues" "And many of silver and bronze" "Huge treasures." "But the enemies of Rome are not the Barbarians" "The Christians are" "However, it was the Barbarians that forced the gates of the city" "To remain for 3 days!" " And why should have they stayed longer?" "What would the Barbarians do without Rome" "Without Rome where would the greatness of their kings be?" "Alaricus is perhaps the greatest Barbarian king that Rome has ever known" "Sure!" "He understood that Jupiter is not a fearsome god after all" "He waited for his inattention and gave a push to the Porta Salaria" "When Jupiter realized that it was too late" "They say he was upset" "It is silly to talk like that of Rome's gods" "I do not know how Jupiter looks like" "Nor whether he truly strikes his enemies with thunderbolts" "But surely the abandonment of the ancient cult of the gods" "Has weakened the spirit of Rome" "The moral strength of her citizen" "The cohesion of the State" "If the Emperor Julian, whom you Christians call the Apostate" "Had not been hit by that Persian arrow that truncated his young life" "He would have surely restored the cult of the ancient gods" "And the strength and greatness of Rome" "Now you cannot understand anymore what ethical principle sustains the Empire and its Magistrates" "Some are pagans" "Some Christians, some believe in nothing and just take care of their business" "Rome's ruin began when Constantine" "Believed he sawed a cross on his path and he bent his back" "The Emperor is not an Emperor any more" "But a sort of Christian theologian" "He is not a soldier heading an Empire" "And it is obvious that the Barbarians do not respect us any more" "They claim the practice love for neighbor" "But then they teach to hate his beauty" "His joy, his pleasure" "There was not really any need for them" "Rome has always shown trust toward man and his virtues" "Have we ever dared to say that man's nature was flawed?" "Sick, wounded, as from a mysterious sin?" "The Christians teach that instead" "They were right in persecuting them, accusing them of misanthropy" "Yesterday Volusianus heard Bishop Augustine's answer" "To the accusations against the Christians" "He did not know how to reply though" "Now he accuses the Christians of any foul deed, but not only." "Of all the evils of the Empire" "Augustine cannot understand us" "Ours is a great cult, the only one in truth" "Is that of Nature" "That is of reality and of law" "And lest the law should detach from life" "And from reality, the Edictum Perpetuum indicates how our laws" "Must be yearly interpreted by magistrates enlightened with experience" "For me this tradition remains the greatest in the world" "Strong of her law, Rome cultivated the cult of the ancient gods" "While she was showing tolerance towards other religions" "Respecting all beliefs" "Rome never exhibited fanaticism" "And what do Christians do?" "They show intolerance" "They always quarrel, even among themselves" "For obscure questions of doctrine" "Volusianus forgets the hatred of the Empire towards the Christian martyrs" "Remember: "Hear, o Queen, splendid gem of the world that belongs to you" "Venus and Mars are the authors of your invincible race" "You will reign through the centuries until the sky holds the stars"" "And the stars have not fallen yet" "Rome is stronger than any strength" "She absorbed Barbarians and made them Romans" "She will conquer also the Christians" "Rome is strength, power, law" "How could the world exist without Rome?" "We should wipe out the Christians from the face of the Earth to be sure" "Indeed all arguments against us Christians are fair now" "You dramatize so much these raids of Barbarian brigands" "They stole a small part of the richness of Rome" "And after three days they left" "You forgot that when Rome was all yours" "All pagan, she went through much greater dangers" "Brennus!" "Pyrrhus!" "Hannibal!" "But then Rome was virtuous" "And she could recover" "Where is her virtue now?" "They are Christians." "I recognize them" "They are the ruin of Rome" "They are impious, profaners of the gods" "Enemies of the Empire" "Evil!" "But Christ predicted that" "If the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated me" "Before you" "He chose us from the world" "And for that the world hates us" "I know from the captains of my ships that the stocks of wheat in Rome and all over Italy" "Were plundered by the Barbarians" "Scarcity is severe and, as always, it is the poor that suffer first" "Would you help them?" "I want to take to Rome shipments of wheat" "Your intentions are praiseworthy" "And I thought that with the help of the Church" "It might be possible to send to Latium the wheat they need" "Your word, no doubt" "Would help the endeavor" "But do you think you will send to Rome enough wheat" "To satisfy the needs of all the region?" "I have many ships far away" "Anyway, wheat will arrive at Rome" "Yes, but if the wheat you can send is not enough for all" "The rich will end up taking it" "And the merchants to have the price climb to the top" "Will exploit the poor's hunger." "Thus your deed will not help the poor but the rich" "Well, merchants are at the service of all" "Of the consumer and they guarantee to suppliers, to us, a just and honest profit" "And do you really think I wish to join this speculation of yours?" "But the profit would be useful to succor the poverty of the orphans and of the poor of this city" "Through the pains of other men?" "Never propose such injustice to me any more" "Stop!" "We are refugees coming from Rome, fled after the Barbarians' invasion" "We ask for asylum in this city" " Do you have relatives or friends here?" "No, nobody!" " And who can host you?" " Well we have money!" "We have jewels!" " Well!" "If such is the case you may pass" "I know of an inn where the food is very good too" "I can show you the way!" " Let us go!" " Yes, let us go!" "The refugees from Rome are coming" "The refugees from Rome are coming" "Is this the inn?" " Yes!" "Well!" "First let us take some refreshment" "Come on you!" "Here!" "Put it here!" "And you, do not move, understood?" "If you wish you may sit down but do not move for any reason" "Do you want anything?" "Yes!" "Give us to drink." "Bring us wine" "Tell us." "How did it happen?" "It started with the siege" "Then hunger, famine" "Then the plague fell upon us" "Dead bodies were piling along the streets sickening the city with their stench" "On a clear morning the flames" "Rose towards the sky" "Close to Porta Salaria" "And all the city was taken by panic" "From Porta Salaria the barbarians had entered Rome" "How did they come in?" "Somebody opened the gate" "A group of mercenaries defecting to the enemy" "No!" "No!" "It was the slaves" "It seems it was Faltonia Proba" "She did it to shorten the horrors of the siege" "Probus's widow, a Roman woman?" "." "It is not possible!" "She would never had done it" "When she became a widow, she left her villa on the Pincius to the virgins" "To protect them!" " People should not listen much to her" "People should not listen to you men" "These women dress like men, believe to know all, all like we men" "Why?" "We think like you men, no?" "Did we not contribute with our virtues to the greatness of Rome?" " Yes!" "Yes!" "But I wanted to say..." " But who is she?" "She is my wife" "In a moment the barbarians scattered around through the city" "And soon the Marcellus's Villa on the Aventinus was plundered" "The Emilia Basilica was destroyed by flames" "Pompeius's Theatre, the Colosseum, the Senate were plundered" "In a street off the beaten path I took refuge with mine into a church" "With the hope that the barbarians, being Christians" "Would spare at least the temples of their faith" "Thanks to the gods, I was not wrong" "They might have spared the people" "But it is certain they stole the silver tabernacle from the Lateran Basilica" "It may be, but these barbarians are not terrible after all" "They only wish to be part of the Empire" "They invaded the city, it is true" "But they did not stay" "While Pyrrhus and Hannibal wanted to destroy us" "Today there is great confusion in Rome" "Groups of armed bandits break into houses" "They kill, burn, assault passers-by" "And nobody can stop them" "For this we fled" "Our civilization is finished" "It was the gods that threw the gates open" "Did not Emperor Theodosius prohibit pagan cults?" "Did not the Emperor's niece steal Cybele's necklace?" "The books of..." "Yes!" "Of the Sybils, were they not burned?" "The Christians are responsible" "But who are these prisoners?" " They are Donatists that the Imperial Vicar condemned" "The Emperor, as a good Christian, will reward Vicar Marcellinus" "But who will save Rome?" "May I open?" " Yes, you may!" "Open!" "Have mercy, Augustine!" "Who are you?" "Who pummeled you in this state?" "We have been fleeing for weeks." "We had to climb the city walls to come to you." "We are Donatists" "The Roman soldiers, mercenaries and Arians, reached us during our fly" "And only a few of us could escape death" "But I know you" "I know you too, Augustine" "I am Bishop Caelestius." "When Marcellinus summoned us to Carthage" "To judge the right, our right to follow Donatus's doctrine" "You also were there, Augustine" "It seemed that everything would happen in complete freedom" "But after the verdict was unfavorable to us, Marcellinus was hard in demanding obedience" "Some of my brothers refusing the orders of the imperial enforcers" "Fled towards the desert" "Others killed themselves not to concede" "The Lord's hand led you to here" "You will live in my house like one of my brothers" "And you all, as long as you are in Hippo" "Have nothing to fear" "I have always thought that it was not lawful to force anybody" "It has always seemed right to me to act exclusively with the word" "To fight only with arguments" "And to prevail with the means of reason" "Not to have instead of sincere heretics" "Some hypocritical Christians" "But this opinion of mine was confuted" "Many Christians have brought contrary arguments" "And I thought that authority and imposition" "Could push the uncertain and placate the trouble makers" "But all that is violence" "And all that is blood" "Must stay away from us" "It is not like that that we should live Christ's charity" "It is the Lord's hand the lead you to here." "Come!" "Hail Augustine!" "How much do you ask to lead a donkey to Carthage and back?" "The usual price for you, Augustine" "But by all means, it must be a healthy animal" "The best!" "I come from Hippo to inform you that the Donatists came to me and asked for shelter" "Now I come to you to ask you to show leniency in your firmness" "The Donatists must obey and come back into the unity of the Church" "As it was established in my verdict approved by the Emperor" "I am a Magistrate of the Empire and a Christian" "My duty as a statesman" "Is to punish the rebels" "And to defend the State" "My duty as a baptized man" "Would be instead to forgive and to render good for evil" "But can day and night be reconciled?" "And how would the State survive if those who served it acted as Christians" "Towards the thieves." "If generals gave as a gift" "To the plunderers of a Roman province" "Another province?" "Christian law does not deny self-defense to the State" "If its defense is legitimate" "If it is to protect common property" "As for forgiveness of offenses" "If that is of scandal to the men of our corrupt society" "It is because they forgot the example of the ancient Romans" "Those preferred forgiveness to vengeance" "Cicero said of Caesar as to praise him for sure" "He forgets nothing except the offenses he suffered" "I tell you that if all statesmen practised mercy" "They would give more strength to the State than all the heroes of the Roman people gave in history" "Sallustius says "The State is a community of citizens united by the tie of concord"" "Anyhow, it cannot be denied that during the very reign of Christian Emperors" "Such as Constantius, Theodosius, Honorius" "The Empire is decomposing" "Much before than the name of Christ had shone on Earth" "Sallustius wrote: "O Rome, venal city and ready to sell yourself"" "Those who claim that Christian doctrine is an enemy of the State" "Let them give us husbands, wives, servants" "Sons, parents, kings" "Judges, tax payers and collectors, according to Christian doctrine" "And then let them dare to call it an enemy of the State" "Let them not hesitate instead to confess that it would be good for the State" "If they observed it." "The law of love does not make you weak" "But strong." "Without wickedness and violence" "And they would make strong also the State and the Empire" "No, Marcellinus." "There are not two ethics, one private and Christian" "And the other public, that of the tradition of the Roman State" "Ethics is one" "As God is one" "As conscience is one" "And in the confusions of customs we live in" "In such corruption of the ancient education" "It was extremely necessary that Celestial Authority should come" "To help us men." "That Christ should persuade us to embrace voluntary poverty" "Continence, benevolence, justice, concord, piety" "And the other virtues that are as the light and sustain of life" "No only to lead earthly life in all honesty" "But to reach eternal salvation in the Celestial City of which we shall be citizens" "Thanks to the faith in the light of God" "That enlightens and guides our soul" "My soul is grateful to you" "We must feel like exiles on this Earth" "Exiles of the Celestial City" "With the Donatists I will be patient" "I will write about what I told you" "So that those who will read may also feel in exile" "Our world is crumbling" "Four years ago when I first came to Hippo" "This temple was still standing" "Today is but a ruin" "You know Tribune Marcellinus very well" "You are a friend of his." " And so?" " News came to me from Carthage that he was arrested" "It is impossible!" "The Court of Ravenna nominated a new Imperial Commissary" "Count Marinus." "As soon as he arrived he had Marcellinus arrested" " By what pretext?" "The accusation is participation in the rebellion of Count Heraclianus" "And to have conspired with him against the Empire" "But is a lie!" "Marinus must have evidence" " He cannot have it because Marcellinus is innocent" "I came to tell you that I know Marinus" "If you wish, I can go to Carthage to ask a pardon for the prisoner" "This time I thank you, Syriacus" "I will go to Carthage and all the Church of Africa will defend Marcellinus's innocence" "Marinus will be forced to listen to me" "I am going!" "You know all the roads of Numidia" "You are not young any more but still travel" "You have always followed me, Severus" "How could we refuse to go where we are being called?" "We own nothing that we did not first receive" "And what we received we must give" "Do you think Count Marinus will listen to you?" "I do not know!" "But God already knows" "What Marinus will do" "For God all that will be is already completed" "Marinus however can still choose" "Between the truth of love or slander and the darkness of evil" "The history of each of us is that of the world" "It is like this road." "We can freely walk it but it is the road that leads us to the end" "Whoever left the road would perish in the desert" "Who wished to stop and to turn back" "Would be caught by the night" "Adam stopped" "He left the road and was caught by the night" "And after Adam the centuries would have rolled like empty vases, if Christ had not come" "To bring us the light that enlighten each man" "To show us the road of salvation" "Which is full of His gifts" "Go!" "He is here!" "Augustine?" "Augustine!" "The tribunal sentenced me to death" "The Donatists accused me of conspiracy against the Empire" " It is a lie!" "I will witness to that" "Come!" "I want to see you in the light." "Come!" "Augustine!" "Augustine!" "Once you told me that we should discover on our own where our slavery is" "And where our liberation" "My slavery is in earthly power" "My liberation is in the death that God chose for me" "Do not oppose Marinus's decision" "I am a Bishop and must defend the children of my Church" "I will ask a pardon for you" "And if you do not obtain it" " I shall obtain it!" "In the mean time, tell me, Marcellinus..." "What would you tell the Eternal Judge asking you to account for your life?" "In these days I have often thought of that" "Is there anything in your life, as sin for which you should offer yourself to God?" "With penance, before standing before His justice?" "I thank you for what you are asking me" "But I have always sought justice" "I have hated iniquity" "May God bless you!" "Is it evil, Augustine, that I hope Marinus will deny my pardon?" "Pray that God's will be done" "The count of Africa Heraclianus would not have fomented the rebellion against Rome" "Without having here in Carthage" "Connivances!" "The rebellion was quenched, it is true" "But it is my duty to punish the accomplices" "And I have good reasons to believe that Marcellinus was a party in the plot" "It is impossible!" "Marcellinus is too wise" "Does not my word have any weight?" "You know me" "I want a pardon for that man who, I repeat, he is not guilty" "Their enemies accuse him" "Well then!" "You must believe me!" "I Augustine, Bishop of Hippo formally entreat you to return him to freedom" "You know what you owe to the Church" "You know that we saved your brother from death" "You know that when you are in distress we did not forsake you" "What is your answer?" "I really must fulfil your request!" "I am returning to Hippo." "May I consider this pardon as a gift for the road?" "A friend's gift to a friend?" "Before a long road should part them?" "You may!" " Your promise has the strength of an oath" "I salute you!" "Marcellinus has strong ties with the African Church" "He is too cumbersome as a prisoner" "We cannot wait until somebody order us to free him" "Perhaps obtaining the pardon from the court of Ravenna?" "But he was wounded for our iniquities" "He was bruised for our sins" "By his bruises we are healed" "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter" "And he opened not his mouth" "As a lamb before his shearer" "He has opened not his mouth" "He was cut off out of the land of the living" "For the wickedness of my people he was struck to death" "He was humbled" "He has opened not his mouth" "As a lamb" "Led to the slaughter" "Make me seek, o Lord," "Thy face" "Give me the strength to seek Thee" "Thou that every day more hast given me the hope to find Thee" "You know my pain for this our society filled with injustice" "In which corruption, disorder, violence" "Lust for power and money" "Have covered with shame the dignity of men" "Who have lost the knowledge of what they are since the beginning of time" "Sons of God and heirs of Paradise" "But the sufferings of this time" "Says St. Paul, are not worthy to be compared" "With the glory to come that shall be revealed in us" "If that be the case" "Let us not be invaded by carnal thoughts" "This is not the time" "The world is shaken" "The old man is shocked" "Our flesh is humiliated" "So that hope may live and shine" "When the pagans told us" "Rome fell because of your faith" "We answered" "That Christ's doctrine" "Was not given to us" "To preserve the goods of the Earth" "But to reform our life" "And to lead us to invisible goods" "The kingdoms, the powers, and all that concerns them are really" "Like torrents after the rain" "They are born, they swell, and merge into the sea" "Truly they are but a soft murmur" "Between two silences" "And while the world is shaken and crumbles" "Christ tells us: "Why are you troubled?"" "I had foreseen all this" "You wonder at the world that perishes" "As you would wonder at a man that grows old" "The world is like man" "He is born, grows, ages" "May your faith then wake up, because Christ came into the world" "To recreate you while everything is decaying" "And do not refuse to grow young in Christ" "Nature, spoiled by sin" "Bears the citizens of the earthly city" "Grace that frees Nature from sin" "Bears the citizens of the city of God" "The former, descendants of Cain" "Age like the goods of the Earth to which they tied themselves" "The latter, descendant of Abel" "Are regenerated from age to age because they live the hope of the Celestial Fatherland" "And thus two loves" "Generate two cities" "Love of God generates Jerusalem" "Love for this world generates Babylon" "Let each of you ask himself what he loves" "He will find of which city he is a citizen" "If he finds he is a citizen of Babylon" "Let him eradicate avarice from his heart" "If he has the chance of being a citizen of Jerusalem" "Let him accept his slavery and wait his forthcoming liberation" "And let him not wonder at seeing that on Earth" "The just and the impious are together" "In the same way as both what we throw away and what we keep grow on the olive tree" "Both what we love and what disgusts us" "For the history of the world" "Comprises both the history of sin" "Which is that of the leaders of the Empire" "And the history of salvation" "Which is that of the Patriarchs and the Prophets" "The evil ones will soon leave" "Their richness" "As in a dream" "But those who serve God" "Will possess the Earth, the real Earth." "The eternal Jerusalem" "Iniquity is vain" "Iniquity is nothing." "Only justice is powerful" "Truth can be temporarily hidden" "But can never be conquered!" "Iniquity can often appear" "But never triumph!" "The earthly cities will perish" "But the city of God is and will be eternally in His glory"