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This paper discusses the question of tradition and transmission of baptismal practices in African churches between the third and fifth centuries. It examines fragments from of De baptismo libri VII by Augustine of Hippo, which cites letters by Cyprian of Carthage on the baptismal controversy with Bishop Stephen of Rome in the third century. This leads to observations on the way in which Augustine, in the context of the conflict with the Donatists, uses the writings of Cyprian to retrieve the African religious tradition disputed by the Donatist church. For this purpose, the Bishop of Hippo manipulates the textual transmission of works by Cyprian to adapt them to new, fifth-century Catholic theological perspectives.