La giustificazione dei provvedimenti antidonatisti di Costantino nel primo libro del Contra epistulam Parmeniani di Agostino

This paper analyses the arguments that Augustine of Hippo gives in the first book of his work Contra epistulam Parmeniani with the aim of justifying Constantine the Great\u2019s measures against the Donatists. Although these arguments are probably preceded in time by similar remarks in the second book of Augustine\u2019s Contra litteras Petiliani, they represent the first organic statement of Augustine\u2019s defense of the emperor\u2019s right to judge about religious matters and to persecute schismatics and heretics. This paper suggests that Augustine never changed his mind about such a right in principle, but only about its practical usefulness for settling religious disputes