Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was a Christian theologian and philosopher who served as Bishop of Hippo Regius. Born in 354 in Thagaste in the Roman province of Numidia, he is generally regarded as one of the most influential philosophers in Western history and one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church. His writings shaped Christian doctrine on grace, original sin, and the Church, and his autobiography, Confessions, is considered the first Western autobiography.