Augustine was one of its foremost practitioners and was fully inculcated in Roman culture. His writing is as good as anything produced during the classical era.

Augustine was one of its foremost practitioners and was fully inculcated in Roman culture. His writing is as good as anything produced during the classical era. The Confessions are one of the most significant texts in all of Latin literature. If we see Christianity as a shift in focus rather than a break, that pushes the “downfall” back to 400 AD or later at the least.