Deposito Diademate: Augustine’s Emperors

Religions

Peter Iver Kaufman¹  Scott McGinnis¹ 

[1] Jepson School, University of Richmond, Room 232, Jepson Hall, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA 23173, USA; E-Mail

关键词: Augustine;    Constantine;    Theodosius;    regalia;    humility;    empire;    ardor gloriae;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rel6020317

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

To assist colleagues from other disciplines who teach Augustine’s texts in their core courses, this contribution to the Lilly Colloquium discusses Augustine’s assessments of Emperors Constantine and Theodosius. His presentations of their tenure in office and their virtues suggest that his position on political leadership corresponds with his general skepticism about political platforms and platitudes. Yet careful reading of his revision of Ambrose’s account of Emperor Theodosius’s public penance and reconsideration of the last five sections of his fifth book City of God—as well as a reappraisal of several of his sermons on the Psalms—suggest that he proposes a radical alternative to political conformity relevant to undergraduates’ conventional expectations of society’s progress and their parts in it.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.