Meet the Cast
Augustine
By the time you finish the Confessions, you imagine that you know Augustine pretty intimately. After all, he doesn't shy away from telling his readers everything bad about his life, and believe us,...
Adeodatus
Adeodatus is Augustine's son by his long-term mistress. He's very smart (for a sixteen year-old, ha) and is baptized at the same time as Augustine. But he dies young. Augustine says that he loves h...
Alypius
Alypius is one of Augustine's BFFs from Carthage. He also goes with him to Italy. Alypius's main trait is that he is addicted to gladiator games. He is with Augustine during his crisis in the garde...
Ambrose
Ambrose is the much-loved bishop of Milan, and one of Augustine's major mentors in his eventual conversion. He epitomizes Christian wisdom in the Confessions. He's also a saint. There seem to be qu...
Faustus
Faustus is a hyped-up Manichaean speaker whose logic fails to impress Augustine.
Firminus
Firminus is a friend of Augustine's who is really into astrology… kind of like your aunt who always emails you your horoscope.
Monica, a.k.a. Augustine's Mother
Monica's job in the Confessions is mostly to cry and beseech God for Augustine's soul. But hey, she does a darned good job at it and it eventually gets her sainthood. In the book, she is the epitom...
Nebridius
Augustine's other bestie who is also obsessed with the search for truth. He converts not long after Augustine does.
Patricius
Patricius is Augustine's father. He's irreligious, unfaithful to his wife, and he has a hot temper. He's pretty much the polar opposite of Augustine's mother, Beauty and the Beast-style.
Simplicianus
A devout bishop in Milan and the spiritual mentor of Ambrose. He tells Augustine the story of Victorinus.
Vercundus
Augustine stays with Vercundus out in the country after he converts. Vercundus is married, so he can't be a Christian in the same way that Augustine can, but he converts right before he dies anyway.
Victorinus
Victorinus is a friend of Simplicianus who translated the Platonists from Greek to Latin. He secretly starts believing in Christianity, but is too embarrassed to admit it in public. Finally, he suc...
Vindicianus
A doctor friend of Augustine's who advises him against believing in astrology.