"While many know of the great Christian bishop St. Augustine of Hippo, few consider the deeply influential women in his life. Drawing upon their depictions in his startlingly intimate memoir, the Confessions, it becomes clear that Augustine's canonical Western text goes beyond autobiography to reveal a history of the Classical World as seen through the eyes of women. More than an iconic figurehead, Augustine was also a young man torn between the pangs of love and the pull of ambition. Queens of a Fallen World tells the story of Augustine and four prominent women in his life: his mother, Monnica of Thagaste; his lover and the mother of his child; the fiancée from whom he broke his engagement; and Justina, the troubled empress of ancient Rome. Parsing the Confessions, historian Kate Cooper corrects misreadings and uses the stories of these four women to interrogate and illuminate women's role in the late Roman Empire, and more broadly in Antiquity. Pulling each of these threads into a tapestry of their lives, she paints a portrait of the world they and Augustine moved through, ultimately making the case that Augustine did not end his engagement because he was called by God, but rather that he considered that potential marriage to be an unconscionable betrayal of his lover. Drawing on extensive new research and brilliantly told, Queens of a Fallen World is essential reading for those looking for a new understanding of not only Augustine, but of the women who shaped his life"--