Augustine, Martyrdom, and Classical Rhetoric

Early Christian martyr accounts were less about recounting history than about constructing theology. As such, we may call them "rhetorical," and indeed many historians of late antique Christianity have done so. But what does this mean for early Christian theology of martyrdom? And what rhetorical techniques are actually being used for such theological construction? This book answers these questions by reading the martyr discourse of Augustine of Hippo in the context of classical rhetorical theory and practice.