ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introductory overview of fundamental questions relating to Augustine of Hippo, his late work, the De civitate Dei, and the Roman empire of the fourth and early fifth centuries. The republican philosopher and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero is singled out and studied in relation to political conceptions that occur in the De civitate Dei. Cicero deeply influenced Augustine’s reasoning, terminology and rhetorical mode of expression, as well as his political discourse and reflection on morality within politically organised communities. Cicero remains an important point of reference throughout this research. Cicero looked at philosophy as a communicative tool that helped him to understand problems more thoroughly. The statement provides the starting point for Augustine’s discussion of the definition of the ‘state’ in the De civitate Dei and his adjustment of Cicero’s political ideas for his own Christian argument. The quotation from the De re publica contains Cicero’s definitions of “people” and “state.”.
