Augustine of Hippo, in his City of God (1.1), states that during the sack of Rome in 410, Christians and pagans alike successfully sought asylum at the shrines of the apostles, not named, but evidently *Peter and *Paul (S00036 and S00008), and of the martyrs. Written in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), 412/413.
E01041
Literary - Theological works
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, City of God 1.1
Augustine claims that the very people who blame Christians for misfortunes befalling Rome were saved from the hands of barbarians during the sack of Rome (AD 410) only because they found asylum in shrines of martyrs and Apostles.
Testantur hoc martyrum loca et basilicae apostolorum, quae in illa uastatione urbis ad se confugientes suos alienos que receperunt. testantur hoc martyrum loca et basilicae apostolorum, quae in illa uastatione urbis ad se confugientes suos alienos que receperunt. Huc usque cruentus saeuiebat inimicus, ibi accipiebat limitem trucidatoris furor, illo ducebantur a miserantibus hostibus, quibus etiam extra ipsa loca pepercerant, ne in eos incurrerent, qui similem misericordiam non habebant.
'The places of the martyrs and the basilicas of the apostles bear witness to this; for in the sack of the city they were open both for ours [sc. Christians] and strangers [to the faith]. To their very threshold the bloodthirsty enemy raged; there his murderous fury received a limit. Thither did such of the enemy as had any pity convey those to whom they had given quarter, lest any less mercifully disposed might fall upon them.'
Augustine goes on to argue (City of God 1.7) that the behaviour of barbarians who spared those sheltering in the shrines of martyrs has to be attributed to the name of Christ, not to the mercy of the barbarians.
Text: Dombart and Kalb 1955.
Translation: Dods 1887, modified.
Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivitySeeking asylum at church/shrine
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesForeigners (including Barbarians)
Other lay individuals/ people
Pagans
Source
Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 in the north African city of Thagaste. He received an education in rhetoric at Carthage, and after a period teaching there moved to Rome, and then in 384 to a public professorship of rhetoric in Milan. In these early years of adulthood Augustine was a Manichaean, but then got disillusioned with this religion, and in Milan in 386, largely under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of the city, he converted to Christianity, and was baptised by Ambrose in 387. Returning to Africa in 388, he was ordained a priest in 391 at Hippo Regius (in the province of Numidia), and rapidly acquired a reputation as a preacher. In 395 he became bishop of Hippo, which he remained until his death in 430. Details of his early life were recorded by Augustine himself in his Confessions, and shortly after his death a pupil and long-time friend, Possidius, wrote his Life, focused on Augustine as an effective Christian writer, polemicist and bishop (E00073).Amongst his many writings, the most informative on the cult of saints are his numerous Sermons, the City of God, and a treatise On the Care of the Dead. The Sermons tell us which saints (primarily African, but with some from abroad) received attention in Hippo, Carthage and elsewhere, and provide occasional details of miracles and cult practices. The City of God records the distribution, and subsequent miracles, of the relics of saint Stephen, after they arrived in Africa from Palestine in around 420. On the Care of the Dead, discusses the possible advantages of burial ad sanctos (in other words, close to a saint), and theorises on the link between the saints who dwell in heaven and their corporeal remains buried in their graves. In these works, and others, Augustine reveals his own particular beliefs about the saints, their relics and their miracles.
Augustine wrote Book 1 of the City of God in Hippo, either in 412 or 413 in order to reject the allegation that the misfortunes of Rome were due to the spread of Christianity.
Discussion
Although the apostles mentioned in this passage are not named, Augustine is certainly thinking about Peter and Paul. Orosius (E02100) and Sozomen ($E###) name them explicitly. The martyrs are difficult to identify.Augustine's argument is based on the assumption that the shrines of martyrs and apostles were astonishingly successful in providing shelter to the Roman population and the barbarians themselves, otherwise cruel, not only respected them, but also brought people to these places. Augustine attributes this change of the barbarians' behaviour to God's will, not to the power of martyrs, but it is interesting that he does not claim that normal churches, not related to the cult of saints, played a similar role.
Bibliography
Edition:Dombart, B., and Kalb, A., Augustinus, De civitate dei, 2 vols. (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 47-48; Turnhout: Brepols, 1955).
English translation:
Dods, M., Augustine, The City of God (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 2; Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887).
Further reading:
Mathisen, R., "Roma a Gothis capta est: Ancient Accounts of the Sack of Rome in 410 CE," in: J. Lipps, C. Machado, and P. von Rummel (eds.),The Sack of Rome in 410 AD: The Event, Its Context, and Its Impact (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2013), 87-102.
Robert Wiśniewski
02/01/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Certain | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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