The passage is taken from the letter of Augustine to Fabiola, a noble Roman who offered hospitality and help to Antoninus. Antoninus, a young lector of the Church of Hippo, was ordained as the bishop of Fussala when the original candidate withdrew (see [399]). Antoninus was later accused of several crimes. Augustine and his colleagues tried to make him step down, but he appealed to Rome. Fussala used to be a Donatist see, so the date of Antoninus' ordination is between AD 411 (the conference of Carthage) and AD 419 (the recourse of Antoninus to Rome).