Paulus Orosius's masterpiece is Historiae Adversus Paganos, the only history book that he wrote, which gives insight into the historiographical methodology of the Spanish priesthood.
It is not possible to be certain as to when it was written as there is no single theory that is unanimously accepted by all historians.
 The most common estimate places the drafting of the book between 416 and 417.

Miguel Ángel Rábade Navarro offers a clear and concise definition on Orosius's history in one of his articles on the author.
In this article Rábade calls the Histories a "universalist history with an apologetic and providentialist character, whose main aim is to compare a pagan past with a Christian present, through their followers, their actions and their geographical and temporal location".

Be this as it may, the book had a definite origin and a clear purpose.
 The book's origins were a response to Saint Augustine's express desire for a book that would complement his De Civitate Dei which is a history focused on the pagan races.
 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 – 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.

In a more general way Orosius wanted to show that the world has improved since the introduction of Christianity rather than declined as others had argued.
In response to those who pointed to contemporary disasters, he simply argues that previous disasters occurring before Christianity were much worse.
The work, a universal history of the calamities that have happened to mankind was the first attempt to write the history of the world as a history of God guiding humanity.

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 Graeco-Roman historiography.
Orosius never offers a negative image of the Pagans, in this way he is being true to the traditions of the Graeco-Roman historians of that time, who always tried to give a positive impression of their "enemies".
Paulus Orosius's masterpiece is Historiae Adversus Paganos, the only history book that he wrote, which gives insight into the historiographical methodology of the Spanish priesthood. It is not possible to be certain as to when it was written as there is no single theory that is unanimously accepted by all historians.  The most common estimate places the drafting of the book between 416 and 417.
Miguel Ángel Rábade Navarro offers a clear and concise definition on Orosius's history in one of his articles on the author. In this article Rábade calls the Histories a "universalist history with an apologetic and providentialist character, whose main aim is to compare a pagan past with a Christian present, through their followers, their actions and their geographical and temporal location".
Be this as it may, the book had a definite origin and a clear purpose.  The book's origins were a response to Saint Augustine's express desire for a book that would complement his De Civitate Dei which is a history focused on the pagan races.  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 – 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.
In a more general way Orosius wanted to show that the world has improved since the introduction of Christianity rather than declined as others had argued. In response to those who pointed to contemporary disasters, he simply argues that previous disasters occurring before Christianity were much worse. The work, a universal history of the calamities that have happened to mankind was the first attempt to write the history of the world as a history of God guiding humanity.
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 Graeco-Roman historiography. Orosius never offers a negative image of the Pagans, in this way he is being true to the traditions of the Graeco-Roman historians of that time, who always tried to give a positive impression of their "enemies".
Orosius