Abstract
Abstract The chapter analyzes Books 1–5, which are dominated by Augustine’s polemic against Roman polytheistic religion. Book 1 functions as an overture to central themes of the work, especially the contrast between the city of God, ‘an alien among the ungodly’, and the pride and desire for domination of the earthly city; it concentrates mainly on the moral and religious issues arising from Alaric’s sack of Rome in 410. The principal themes of these books are: pagan and Christian virtues; the moral deficiencies of Roman religion and the failure of the gods to protect Rome throughout its violent and disaster-prone history; God’s providential role in the success of empires, especially the Roman Empire; arguments against fate; Christian virtues and imperial rule.
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