Summary

Augustine lived in the Roman Empire, before it fell, in an upper middle class family. His father, a tax collector, was overly focused on finances and did not make Augustine feel valued. His mother, on the other hand, was religious, determined, and formidable within the community. She ran the household, and though she loved Augustine, she often tried to control him fiercely. While he recognized this, he still loved her and thus could not bring himself to dismiss or reject her love.

As a child, he was undisciplined and physically weak. He fell ill often, and grew easily bored by school. In his curriculum, there was a central conflict between Hellenistic, classical culture and Judeo-Christian, Hebraic thought. The former focuses on exploring the good surrounding one in the world while the latter focuses on higher truth and self-sacrifice.

When he was a teenager...