Queens of a Fallen World

January 30, 2023
In this intriguing study, historian Cooper (Band of Angels) spotlights four women mentioned in St. Augustine’s Confessions: Roman empress Justina; his mother, Monnica of Thagaste; his mistress, with whom he lived for more than a decade; and his 10-year-old fiancée. (Augustine left the latter two unnamed in the Confessions, ostensibly to preserve their dignity; Cooper refers to them as Una and Tacita , respectively.) Setting Augustine’s brief mentions of these women against the backdrop of fourth-century North Africa and Italy, Cooper utilizes Justina’s reign as empress and protector for her son, Valentinian II, to discuss the religious and political forces at play near the end of the Roman empire. Augustine’s memories of his mother, Monnica, are more intimate, and reveal how Monnica’s stories, particularly those involving her enslaved childhood companion, Illa, and “the awkward balance of power that had governed their relationship,” helped shape his view of the world. Elsewhere, Cooper rounds out the scant mentions of Una and Tacita in the Confessions with discussions of Roman wedding customs, class hierarchies, and more. Though much remains unknown about these women, Cooper persuasively argues that they played a larger role in Augustine’s life and work than has previously been understood. It’s an eye-opener.

March 15, 2023
Intimate look at four women who were central to the life story of the iconic Christian saint. Historian Cooper explores one of the seminal texts of Christian biography--the Confessions of Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)--which makes note of several people who played important roles in his youth and in his formation as a thinker, believer, and a man. The author introduces us to four women who had particularly important--and remarkably different--parts to play in Augustine's personal story. Through these women, Cooper investigates the concept of gender in late-Roman society, delivering interesting details about life as a woman in this era in the Mediterranean world. Of most importance in Augustine's story was his mother, Monnica, also considered a saint, a woman of moderate station who was exceptionally gifted and had a profound impact on her son at every level. Cooper uses the name Una to refer to Augustine's otherwise anonymous concubine, a woman with whom he lived for more than a decade and who gave birth to his son. Empress Justina, a woman with whom Augustine had little personal contact, was a central figure in the court community into which he tried to ingratiate himself as a young adult. The final figure in Cooper's narrative is Tacita, also an anonymous character in Augustine's life. Tacita was a 10-year-old girl to whom he was betrothed, but the marriage did not occur due to Augustine's conversion to Christianity. The author provides a fascinating glimpse into Roman womanhood across social strata. Though her reading of these four lives involves a lot of conjecture, including an entire epilogue of what-ifs, Cooper should be praised for focusing on women who, by virtue of being in the Confessions, have long been known but, due to their gender, too often ignored. A thought-provoking exploration of gender in early Christian history.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.