Abstract
The essay deals with the so called Altercatio sancti Augustini cum Pascentio Arriano, a dialogue of an unknown author, and describes how the information of the preserved correspondence between Augustine and Pascentius (ep. 238–341) was used to create a dialogue between these combatants, supervised by a iudex Laurentius. Augustine and Pascentius were discussing the “Arian” question in many aspects as one can see from their extant letters, but the author of the Altercatio mainly concentrated on the term “homoousios” and made ‘Augustine’ successfully defending this term against “homoian” criticism. In all probability the Altercatio was written during the time of the Vandal kingdom in North-Africa at the end of the 5th century (the ascription to Vigil of Thapsus must remain undecided) and can be judged as a hint at the growing prestige of Augustine in this region.
© Walter de Gruyter
