This assumes that when Orosius met Saint Augustine he was 32 years old, that is, he had been an ordained priest for two years.

In order to meet with them Orosius travelled to cities on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Hippo Regius and Alexandria.

Orosius did not just discuss theological matters with Saint Augustine, in fact he also collaborated with him on the book The City of God.

Basically the problem is that it is not completely certain if he used this name or if he was simply called Orosius and whether Paulus has been added with the passing of time.

Despite the scarcity of sources, if his date of birth is accepted as that given above or at least within the window between 375 and 385 it can be seen that Orosius grew up during a period of cultural flourishing along with Hydatius and the Ávitos.

The classical theories suggest that Orosius belonged to a family with good social standing, which would have allowed him to gain a good education.

This date means that Orosius had a window of 5 years for his collaboration with Saint Augustine before he travelled to Palestine.

In his book Commonitorium, which was published in 414, Orosius talks of his arrival, his meeting with Saint Augustine etc.

What is certain is that once Orosius had left the Iberian Peninsula he was certain that his destination was Hippo ( now Annaba in Algeria ), and a meeting with Saint Augustine, who was the greatest thinker of his time.

In 415 Saint Augustine entrusted Orosius with the task of travelling to Palestine to meet with the thinker Saint Jerome who at that time was living in Bethlehem.

The visit to Palestine had a double purpose: Orosius wanted to discuss a number of theological topics with Saint Jerome, particularly those relating to the soul ’ s origins, and Saint Augustine wanted closer ties with the thinker and to gather information regarding the Priscillianists, Origenists and the Pelagian heresy.

Orosius had a confrontation with the Archbishop of Jerusalem, John II at the synod, in which Orosius was accused of heresy in front of the entire conclave.

The idea for Orosius ’ s great work, Historiae Adversus Paganos, was born during this reencounter with Saint Augustine.

In fact, this idea has recently been given a new lease of life by M. P. Annaud-Lindet, although with the proviso that Orosius wrote the book during his return journey from Palestine.

This lack of information regarding Orosius could be due to cooling of relations with Saint Augustine, who never makes any clear unambiguous references to Orosius ’ s " Histories " once they have been published.

Its chronology is littered with the same grey areas as Orosius ’ s biography.

The book is the result of a theological debate during which Archbishop John II accused Orosius of heresy due to his idea that man cannot remain free of sin, not even with the help of divine intervention.

The date of the book is not our main focus here, what is more important is Orosius ’ s objective in responding to Saint Augustine ’ s request by writing a book aimed at proving that Rome ’ s decadence – it should be remembered that Rome was sacked by Alaric I in 410 – had nothing at all to do with the fact that the Romans had relatively recently converted to Christianity.

Orosius ’ s basic innovation in dealing with the four empires theory was to introduce Carthage between Macedonia and Rome, which is something that scholars such as García Fernández point out as one of Orosius ’ s defining and definitive acts.

In reality, it would seem that Orosius ’ s main task was to assist Jerome and others against Pelagius, who, after the synod of Carthage in 411, had been living in Palestine, and finding some acceptance there.

At the synod Orosius communicated the decisions of the synod of Carthage and read several of Augustine's writings against Pelagius.

Yet the council rendered no verdict and passed the controversy to the Latin Church because Pelagius, Jerome, and Orosius were all Latin.

When Orosius returned to Africa, two local synods condemned Pelagius and Celestius without their presence.

The chief authorities on the career of Alaric are: the historian Orosius and the poet Claudian, both contemporary, neither disinterested ; Zosimus, a historian who lived probably about half a century after Alaric's death ; and Jordanes, a Goth who wrote the history of his nation in 551, basing his work on The Trojan War.

He relied heavily on Orosius ' Historiarum Adversum Paganos ( 5th century AD ) and Eusebius of Caesarea's Chronicon ( early 5th century AD ) as did Orosius.

Gregory's education was the standard Latin one of Late Antiquity, focusing on Vergil's Aeneid and Martianus Capella's Liber de Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae, but also other key texts such as Orosius ' Chronicles, which his Historia is a continuation of, and Sallust, all of which works he refers to in his own.

The book is basically a historical narration focussing on the pagan peoples from the earliest time up until the time Orosius was alive.

* Originated in La Coruña ( Brigantia ): this is a relatively new theory solely based on the fact that Orosius twice mentioned it in the geographical section of his Histories.

* Originated in Brittany: like the previous theory the supporting data for this theory rests on the fact that Orosius had some knowledge of this area.

Orosius ’ s first act on meeting Saint Jerome was to hand him the correspondence that he had brought from Saint Augustine.

Given that Saint Stephen ’ s relics were uncovered on 26 December 415, Orosius must have departed from Palestine after that date.

Miguel Ángel Rábade Navarro offers a clear and concise definition on Orosius ’ s history in one of his articles on the author.

Throughout the seven books that comprise the history, Orosius introduces several new methods and he also uses others that pick up on the traditional methods of Greco-Roman historiography.

In fact, despite the lack of agreement regarding all other aspects of Orosius ’ s life, including his biography and his works, most experts agree on the universalist nature of this work, including classicists such as Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo and even more modern historians such as Torres Rodríguez.

Paulus Orosius is not only a widely studied author he also described his own thoughts on his historical methodology in some of the prologues to the volumes that comprise his “ Histories ”.

Orosius uses the so-called " succession of the four world empires theory " throughout his works, which traced world history based on the premise that out of the ruins of one great civilization another arose.

Torres Rodríguez ’ theory refers to patriotism is the sense that Orosius places special emphasis on the events that took place in Hispania.

Orosius never seems lacking in sources of information, he even affirms that an historian should be selective with those he has, it rather seems that this difference in level of detail reflects the emphasis that he wants to place on reinforcing his ideas.

Another important aspect of Orosius ’ s work is the importance he placed on geography in his work as a historian.

Colophon from an Incunable | incunabulum of the Historiae Adversus Paganos by Paulus Orosius, one of the most copied books from the Medieval period. The assumed falling out of Paulus Orosius and Saint Augustine at the end of the former ’ s life does not seem to have had a negative effect on the distribution and impact of his Histories.

* A collection of links on Orosius