Of Human and Divine Bondage:
Slavery and Freedom in Augustine
Dr. Susanna Elm
Department of History, UC Berkeley
A specialist on the later Roman Empire and its transformation into a Christian state, Professor Elm’s research bridges intellectual and social history and focuses on interactions between Christians and “pagans” in late antiquity. In this talk, she asks how ideas of bondage and practices of unfree labor influenced the formation of theological maxims in the writings of Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE). By analyzing the complex language in slavery in Augustine’s letters, Professor Elm situates his writings in the context of the major social and economic changes that reshaped the Roman world in the fifth century and explores how closely the metaphors of slavery that Augustine and his peers employed in their writings related to social realities they encountered on a daily basis. A reception with refreshments will immediately follow. Sponsored by the California Consortium for the Study of Late Antiquity.
