Text & Translation of Book IV
Text & Translation of Book IV
This chapter provides the original text and translation of Book IV of Augustine's The City of God. It investigates the nature and the roles of the gods that the demons impersonate and demonstrate how the pagan religion is riddled with illogicalities and improbabilities. It also discusses the deities to whom the Romans ascribe the prosperity of their empire, the prominence of abstract deities, and the attitudes of Roman intellectuals towards their gods. The chapter describes how Augustine roundly condemns rampant imperialism and describes how the Roman gods had no care for the welfare of the state. It cites the evidence of Pompeius Trogus on the claim that Ninus, king of the Assyrians, was the first ruler in history to launch aggressive wars.
Keywords: Augustine, The City of God, Book IV, pagan religion, abstract deities, Roman intellectuals
Liverpool Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
