This is CBS Eye on the World.

Here's John Batchelor.

This is CBS, I on the world.

I'm John Batchelor.

To the 4th and 5th century, AD, and a man named Augustine, St. Augustine, or as the Italians have taught me to say,

San Agostino. And I welcome Professor Catherine Conibert, Brynmar College, her new book, Augustine,

the African. You will recall that Augustine is central to many of the teachings of the Christian church for several centuries now, I would say, just deduct 400 from the 21st century, and you see how long Augustine has been with us.

However, we now travel to Augustine's home where he was born and where he spent all of his life

except for three or four years for his venture into Rome and Milan.

Professor, congratulations.

A very good evening to you.

You visited all these sites, North Africa, Carthage, and then on to Italy.

Togasti is new to me.

It's presented as a small town where his father, who was not Christian at the time,

and his mother, who was partially Berber and a Christian, lived, and they had land of their own.

What does it look like today?

Where is it?

Good evening to you.

Good evening.

It's a great pleasure to be here and thank you for engaging with my book.

Fagasti is about 50 miles inland in North Africa from the coast that faces Sardinia. It's on the border between

Algeria and Tunisia, on the Algerian side of the border. And there is almost nothing left of the Roman town it once was, a relatively humble Roman town, but it had baths, it had a theater, it had a forum.

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