The City of God stands as Augustine's masterwork of theological defense and construction, written over thirteen years in response to accusations that Christianity brought ruin upon Rome. This first volume contains the first ten books of sustained refutation—demolishing pagan claims that traditional worship secured either temporal prosperity or eternal happiness—followed by the beginning of his positive vision in Books Eleven through Thirteen, where he traces the origin of two societal orders to the primordial division among the angels. What emerges is not merely an apology for Christianity but a philosophy of history that subordinate the fate of empires to the hidden providence of the one true God, whose sovereignty extends from creation through the fall to the final judgment.
Augustine then addresses the question of suicide, which some have thought a noble escape from dishonor. He condemns suicide in the strongest terms, arguing that it is murder and a violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” The commandment does not say “Thou shalt not kill thy neighbor”; it is absolute, and therefore includes oneself. He examines the famous case of Lucretia, the Roman matron who killed herself after being violated by Tarquin’s son. The pagans celebrate her chastity, yet they face a dilemma: if she was chaste, she had no cause to kill herself, for she had committed no sin; if she killed herself because she felt polluted, she implicitly admitted some consent, yet she is praised for chastity. Either she was an adulteress, in which case she should not be praised, or she was chaste, in which case she committed murder by killing an innocent woman—herself. Augustine suggests that Lucretia may have been driven by pride and shame, unable to bear the thought that others might believe she consented, rather than by a pure love of virtue. The Christian women who suffered similar outrages and yet live have chosen a better path: they have not added the crime of self-murder to the suffering inflicted by another’s sin.
Augustine extends his condemnation of suicide to the famous examples of Cato and other noble pagans. Cato killed himself at Utica rather than submit to Caesar’s rule, yet he urged his son to trust in Caesar’s clemency. If submission to a conqueror was shameful, why did Cato spare his son that shame? The truth is that Cato could not bear to be pardoned by his enemy; his suicide was an act of pride, not of magnanimity. Augustine contrasts Cato with Regulus, who endured captivity and torture rather than violate his oath. Regulus, though he worshipped false gods, displayed a true fortitude that Christians should emulate in their willingness to suffer for the truth. The Christian, who looks for a heavenly country, has even less reason to take his own life, for he knows that present sufferings work out an eternal weight of glory.
The original text of this work is in the public domain. This page focuses on a guided summary article, reading notes, selected quotes, and visual learning materials for educational purposes.