Abstract
This article explores The City of God’s treatment of Moses, the biblical founder of the Hebrew republic. Moses, we maintain, is for Augustine an exemplar of the “model statesman.” Two sets of contrasts discussed here draw out the significance of Augustine’s treatment of Moses. First is Augustine’s comparison of Moses with Lycurgus, the mythical refounder of Sparta. Second is a comparison of Augustine’s analysis of these figures with Machiavelli’s. Augustine’s Moses emerges from these contrasts as an exemplar of republicanism, defined by honesty, publicity, and humility and as such may still speak to political theorists today.