Category Archives: Homeschooling

St. Augustine

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St. Augustine.

A philosopher, writer, and theologian, St. Augustine was one of the most profound Christian figures of his time. He even had a large impact on later theologians, such as Thomas Acquinas. 

Also known as Augustine of Hippo, he was born in Roman Northern Africa and was raised by a Christain mother. As a young man, Augustine lived in sin and was not Christain, but instead practiced many different religions and philosophies. Continually, Augustine would be left dissatisfied by these religions, like when he converted from Manichaesm to Skepticism in 383. At this time, he went to Rome and Milan to teach rhetoric and became a Neo-Platinist. While in Milan, Augustine met St. Ambrose of Milan who was preaching Christianity in a church. Known to be an exceptional public speaker, St. Ambrose became friends with Augustine. However, Augustine was not immediately converted to Christianity. After thoroughly reading and studying the Bible, Augustine finally accepted the faith in 383. He later became bishop of Hippo, Algeria, but found it hard to convert the people in the city. 

Highly influenced by Plato, Augustine answered Plato’s question of “the forms” by concluding that the form of everything were the archetypes of how God created the world. Continuing, Augustine stated that the same way the sun makes things visible is how divine light makes eternal truths visible. Asserting that happiness is what every human should pursue, Augustine meant for people to find happiness in God’s grace, not worldly things. God’s eternal laws are written on every man’s heart, so following these laws is what God meant man to do. Since Man is corrupted by original sin, he needs divine grace to observe these laws.

Augustine’s two most famous books were “The Confessions” and “City of God.” In The first part of “The Confessions” Augustine talks about his sinful life as a young man, but in the latter half speaks on a controversy which asserted that Christianity led to the end of the Roman Empire. Augustine refuted this by explaining that Rome’s demise was caused internally because of sin and corruption. In “City of God,” Augustine stated how there were two groups of men: those who love God and those who love themselves. Hence the City of God and the City of Man have always run parallel to each other throughout human history.

Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” Part 2

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Arachne and Minerva.

The first part of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” thoroughly discussed the story of creation, saying chaos was the original source of everything and that humans were formed by stones which were thrown. The rest of the work talked about the morals of the gods, the conflicts between them, and the wicked actions that they usually commit. 

Known to treat humans poorly, gods like Jove used humans as “playthings”, Ovid asserted. Lecherous, adulterous, and a rapist, Jove lied to his wife constantly, and was distrustful. Ovid explained that the wickedness of the gods was partly caused because they have eternal life, saying that it was a curse not a blessing. Although most men want eternal life, the gods hate it, so Ovid asked why men want to have it. Involving Apollo and Cupid, another conflict between the gods breaks out when Cupid is taunted by Apollo. This leads to Apollo’s lover Daphne being turned into a laurel tree by Cupid. Interestingly, Ovid stated that love and repulsion were already decided by fate and that people are powerless to change it. 

Following the narrative of the wickedness of the gods, Jupiter is portrayed as a lusting, lying, ethical monster. Although he was at the top of the hierarchy of the gods, that did not mean that Jupiter was righteous. Rather, Jupiter was at the top of this set hierarchy, where men are below the gods and have to pay respect to them. Ovid mentioned that this hierarchy was set in nature long ago when two women tried to rebel against the gods and negative sanctions were brought upon them. Once righteous, men tried to rebel against the gods, who defeated them and turned them into sinful beings who have “no further historical or ethical development.” 

Although the gods are shown to be far from perfect, Ovid showed that if they have too much pride they will be humbled. Two gods, Arachne and Minerva had deep pride; Arachne’s pride is based on skill and Minerva’s is based on hierarchy more than skill. Arachne refused to acknowledge that Minerva gave her this skill and Minerva refused to acknowledge Arachne’s greater skill. Demanding worship based on her power, good looks, wealth, and greater skill, Arachne is turned into a spider for her pride and her denial of the relevance of invisible gods. Humans who show pride are destroyed, and the gods, especially Apollo, are ruthless in their response against them. Ovid: “pride goeth before the fall.”

The Third Century Crisis and the Barbarian Invasions of Rome

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The Visigoths sack Rome | History Today
Sacking of Rome by the Visigoths, 410.

The Third Century marked the beginning of the end for the Roman Empire, as everything seemed to go downhill from there. Septimius Servius ruled Rome from 193-211 and was the most successful emperor at the end of the 2nd century. He was a learned man but also a brutal warrior, who expanded the army and raised taxes to benefit the army. Although this was great for keeping Rome’s warriors happy, the rest of the people suffered more. Additionally, This set a dangerous precedent with the army more or less deciding the imperial succession over time. 

During the Third Century almost every emperor was corrupt and incompetent, leading to the penetration of Roman borders by barbarian tribes. The Roman economy had grown reliant on plunder; as there was less conquest, the economy had to adjust. Therefore, the growth of government and army required higher taxes, emperors tried to cope by debasement of currency, but this just made the economic crisis worse. Population decline from epidemics and wars led to barbarians serving in the Roman army. Prosperity in Rome relied on rapid expansion and exploitation of new territory. Consequently, when that strategy died out, nothing could stop the inevitable downfall of the Empire.

However, the deterioration was slowed by Emperor Diocletian, who ruled at the end of the Third Century from 284-305. He restored order, being the first competent Emperor since Septimius Servius. Diocletian made both good and bad decisions, specifically addressing the issue of succession by dividing the Empire into an east and west half, and also creating a leader and co-leader. The second-in-command (“Caesar”) would take the throne upon the death of the leader (“Augustus”) so there would be no debate about who the next Emperor would be. Diocletians’ decisions temporarily fixed some problems, but after he stepped down from office in 405, things quickly turned to chaos. 

Barbarians were mainly Germanic and Franksish, but of the various different types, some were not as violent while others were extremely brutal and destructive. Because they were begging for refuge from the Huns, the Visigoths were let into the Empire by Emperor Valens in 376. They were treated poorly by the Romans and ended up rebelling against Valens and completely ravaged most of Macedonia, Greece, and Bulgaria. Emperor Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople (378). Later in 395 Visigothic leader Alaric pillaged Italy, leading to Roman troops abandoning Britain and falling back all the way to the Rhine river in Germany. 

In the 5th Century, the Western Roman Empire was obliterated with the population decreasing from 1.5 million in the 4th Century to 300,000 in the 5th Century, the city of Rome itself was sacked for three days straight in 410. The barbarian Odovacar deposed the last Western Roman Emperor in 476, however the Eastern Roman Empire, which would come to be known as Byzantium, would continue for another 1,000 years.