Thagaste

This is the name of Augustine's home terrain. It is located in North Africa in the general sense. It was in the region that had been the Kingdom of Numidia for some time, but at the time of Augustine's life it was part of Carthaginian lands. That noted, it was also the Southern edge of the Roman Empire.

Numidia

This is a North African kingdom, that sometimes coexisted with Carthage and other times came under the jursidiction of Carthage. It is one way of defining where Augstine comes from and is only referred to in relation to this during the biography.

Writings of Cicero

These were extremely influential in the education of Augustine. He learned a great deal of his philosophy through reading the works of the great Cicero. These were made all the more important due to the fact that Augustine was not adept with Greek...