Rome: Empire Without Limits Ep. 4 + Confessions, Bk 1
Was there ever a time when the Roman empire hesitated in their decision to delegate authority to smaller “emperors” throughout the empire? Or was the true emperor over-confident in thinking that these new rulers would not let the power get to their heads?
Confessions so far seems to be an extremely contradictory, winding, weaving, confusing and maddening read. Questions are posed to other questions. Questions that are easy to answer with a simple answer are given a complicated answer. Augustine humbles himself to the level of “dirt and ash,” to later sound almost cocky in speaking of his relationship with God and how God provided for him. Simple tasks and human processes like infancy, the simplest time in a person’s life, are twisted and presented in such a way to make them seem like the most profound thing. Perhaps this is an attempt to emulate the immensity and profoundness of God’s. Augustine’s original audience from the early centuries of the Christian church perhaps understood this better, or perhaps it is a product of the translation to English.