410 (sack of Rome); 412–426 ("City of God"); 430 (death of Augustine)

The sack of Rome by Alaric and Augustine's "City of God"

In 410 Rome, the "Eternal City," fell for the first time in 790 years to the Visigoths of Alaric. Pagans blamed the disaster on Christians who had abandoned the old gods.

In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote "The City of God" between 412 and 426 – the greatest apologetic work of the early Church. Its first part refutes the pagan accusations. Its second unfolds a philosophy of history as the struggle of two cities, intermingled until the end of time. The earthly city is founded on love of self, the heavenly on love of God. Rome was given power only to serve the spread of the Gospel.

At Augustine's request, his disciple Paulus Orosius supplemented the work with a "History Against the Pagans." Augustine died in 430 while Vandals besieged his city of Hippo. His work shaped Christian understanding of history and the state well into the modern era.