Chapter 3, Part 1, Chapter 7 & Summary and Analysis

Success is the final chapter of Part 1 of the biography. It begins just after Augustine has returned to Carthage. Here he begins to deal with being an instructor rather than a student. Peter Brown claims that the open rhetoric lessons with only a roof and a curtain for shelter would have been 'too public' for Augustine's taste. The character of the student body is examined further. Some are young aristocrats but others come from humbler backgrounds. Rome was a military autocracy at the time when Augustine was at this stage of development. There is no avoiding his occasional remark undervaluing women. He would prefer a same gender companion for friendship. In truth, even today, many women feel this way, and should only be viewed as much or as little of an insult as women preferring other women...