2 - Book 1

Summary

Opening his City of God is a heartfelt dedication from Augustine to his “dearest son” (fili carissime) Marcellinus, a Roman tribune and the imperial commissioner who was dispatched by Emperor Honorius to preside over the Council of Carthage in June of AD 411. Best known for his assistance to the Bishop of Hippo in bringing the Donatist Schism to an end, Marcellinus was not shy in asking Augustine questions by exchanging rich letters (epp. 128, 129, and 133) during this time. Furthermore, Augustine’s On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins and on Infant Baptism (pecc. mer.) and The Spirit and the Letter (spir. et litt.), both dated AD 412, are also dedicated to Marcellinus in response to some answers this theologically cultured aristocrat first posed to the great bishop. Overseeing the debates between Catholics and Donatists in AD 411 would eventually cost Marcellinus his life, yet win him the hallowed crown of martyrdom. The well-connected Donatists were able to convince Marinus, comes rei militaris of both Italy and Africa, that Marcellinus and his brother Apringius (cf. ep. 134), African proconsul in AD 411, were secretly plotting with the comes Africae Heraclinus to usurp imperial power. Despite Augustine’s and other African bishops’ intervention, Marinus ordered the brothers’ beheading in mid-September of AD 413 on charges of high treason. However, a year later the imperial court realized that these charges had been fabricated. Emperor Honorius exonerated both brothers, produced evidence that Marinus had acted out of selfishness, and thereby referred to Marcellinus and Apringius with great honor, and had both celebrated as Catholic martyrs of the Donatist rebellion.