What is it about?
Is empire necessarily bad? Can a servant of empire also be a servant of God? The Latin word 'imperium' came to mean 'empire', but its first meaning was the acknowledged right to give orders. Augustine was bishop of Hippo (on the coast of North Africa) in the Roman empire of the fourth and fifth centuries. He thought that all human beings want their own way, so to avoid permanent conflict, there must be social agreement on who gives the orders. Empire begins in aggression and domination, but it can maintain peace. An imperial civil servant may be motivated by love of God and neighbour.
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Why is it important?
Augustine is thought to have contrasted the city of God, which is the Christian church, with the earthly city, which is the Roman empire. But the city of God is not the same as the visible church, and the earthly city is not the same as the Roman empire or any other empire. You are a citizen of God's city, not because you are a member of the visible church, but because you love God and want what God wants. Or you are a citizen of the earthly city, not because you are an imperial civil servant, but because you love yourself and want what you want.
Perspectives
This paper began at a conference on Church and Empire in different periods of history. I enjoyed discussing it with colleagues who didn't already know about the workings of the Roman empire and the way Augustine thought about it.
Gillian Clark
University of Bristol
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Imperium and the City of God: Augustine on Church and Empire, Studies in Church History, May 2018, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/stc.2017.4.
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