Abstract

Augustine was born in 354 in Thagaste, a provincial town in what is now eastern Algeria. Aft er studying rhetoric in Carthage and sailing to Italy for what turned out to be a seven-year stay, he returned to North Africa where he became Bishop of Hippo Regius and stayed until his death in 430. In Carthage he had been attracted to Manicheanism; he was, in fact a Manichean ‘auditor’ for nine years. But about the time he left Carthage for Rome he had become disillusioned with Manicheanism. While in Italy he came under the influence of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who eventually baptized him. The experience of his conversion to Christianity is described in his famous autobiography, Confessions, at the end of book 8.