Lives of Roman Christian Women

by Carolinne White (Introduction)

'Perpetua shouted out with joy as the sword pierced her, for she wanted to taste some of the pain and she even guided the hesitant hand of the trainee gladiator towards her own throat'

Lives of Roman Christian Women is a unique collection of letters and documents from the third to the fifth centuries, celebrating Christian women from across the Roman Empire. During a crucial period in which Christianity transformed from a persecuted faith to the official religion of the Empire, these writings reveal the women who chose to dedicate their lives to Christ, by embracing martyrdom or by adopting a life of poverty and prayer, renouncing not only wealth but also their duties as wives and mothers.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: History, Religion, Christianity, Classics, Nonfiction, Ancient History

267 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2010

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects together biographies of, and letters to, of 8 women of which 5 were of three generations of one family (whose family tree is in the back of the book, with a map of Roman Empire included also). Of these writings, the first (of Perpetua and Felicitas's martyrdom) is partly autobiographical, as it includes some writing from one of the martyrs; and one letter credited to Jerome is actually a travel letter written by two enthusiastic and intelligent women he knew - if you've already read other ones of his writing here, you will notice a difference between this and the others. I have read many of Jerome's letters, so his texts were already familiar to me.

These writings are from the age range of 3rd to 5th Century, where you can see the transformation of Christianity from the persecuted kind to an official religion, and witness in the background the destruction of Rome. Most of the writings are about women living an ascetic life and/or raising a child/teen into this life. It's not necessarily a life you want to imitate (too little food/sleep, coarse clothes and a hairshirt, sleeping on a thin mattress or just the floor, and such), but these stories do tell of women who rose to have some level of power even men could appreciate, long after the women had died.
In many stories there was a rejection of marriage, selling gradually of vast wealth (some of them really had a lot of wealth, like for an example one place with a pool that gave you a view of the sea *and* a view of a park with animals while you swam in it), leaving children into others' care, traveling to Jerusalem and Egypt to see places and holy people, founding monasteries and doing charity...

But escapism wasn't a motive, it was intense faith and wanting to live it stronger by rejection of worldly things, live closer to holy places that counted. Class differences, of what people had been before, mattered less, but like minds gathered together.

Each of these eight women's stories (in the case of Melania The Younger's, twice) have their own varieties, they are just not a samey flow of frowny-faced ascetics here, but strong and working:
Perpetua and Felicitas - noblewoman and her slave, facing martyrdom while arranging things for their small children
Macrina - the great big sister
Melania the Elder - funder and founder of monasteries
Marcella - noble ascetic in Rome, confronting heresy, intelligent and a good example
Paula the Elder - funder, founder, patient friend of Jerome (you needed it when it dealing with him!)
Eustochium - her daughter and continuer of her work (with some letter support from Jerome)
Paula the Younger (little Paula) - ascetic from childhood, later a good companion to others
Melania the Younger - influencer, monastery founder, text collector, living in a chaste marriage

In reading things about traveling around Palestine looking at holy sites, I found myself thinking: what were genuine remains (of which how many are there still), what were just thought to be such. And of what buildings and shrines still exist, and what have been destroyed.

Reading these writings, lives and letters, was much more interesting than I expected. Certainly the ascetic life is not something I want to imitate, but the deepness of motivation and level of charity were impressive. There was a good view into a certain kind of world and way of thinking, world that has mostly vanished though the faith is still there. The women here were said to be more like men because of their activism and faith, but really there were just active and deep in faith, maybe sometimes even more deeply than men (like Melania the Younger traveled through a mountainous part with more energy and determination than the men coming along with her haha).

[Alex]

- Really interesting collection of historical documents, detailing the lives of important Christian women in the early church, dating from the early 200s to the mid 400s
- Enjoyed getting an insight into the theological debates and ideas from the time of things like virginity, marriage, baptism, martyrdom, canonisation, fasting, and the role of women as church members and Christian community leaders
- found some texts more inspiring than others, especially the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas and the Life of Macrina. The strength and faith of these women was genuinely awe-inspiring and challenging
- found the Jerome section (over half the book was letters written by or included in the Jeromian corpus) really confronting, he held some very umbilical views on virginity, marriage and womanhood within God's kingdom. Effectively encouraged spiritual and physical abuse of young girls
- didn't feel like an overly same-y collection - each biography gave a very different story of each woman and detailed the different elements of their incredible witnesses:

- 1. Perpetua and Felicitas were a noblewoman and her slave facing martyrdom with bravery
- 2. Macrina was the compassionate elder sister
- 3. Melania the Elder founded, funded and organised monasteries and religious education institutions
- 4. Marcella was a noble living in inner-city Rome, dedicated to living a life avoiding the indulgences of the world and confronting heresies within the Roman church
- 5. Paula the Elder, another monastery funder and founder and an extreme example of one who gave up her riches to the service of the poor
- 6. Eustochium, Paula the Elder's daughter
- 7. Paula the Younger, Eustochium's niece and Paula the Elder's granddaughter, raised as a virgin of God from birth
- 8. Melania the Younger, granddaughter of Melania the Elder, monastery founder and avid text collector who preserved many of Jerome's letters

- Overall a fantastic collection, well worth the investment and reading carefully together to get a sense of the cultural climate and learn about the great contribution these important women made to the growth of the early church
- 4/5, highly recommend

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating little book, rich with details of life in the Roman Empire of late antiquity. This book also serves as a reminder that women were vibrant and respected contributors to the early growth of the Church. All of the women described in these biographies either founded or had strong ties monasteries, and played leadership roles in their communities. It's amazing to me how completely that history has been forgotten.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly inspirational and detailed accounts of truly devout Roman Christian women. Should make rereading it a habit from now on.

[Alex McEwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent little read on the lives of Roman Christian women.

This little work is well anthologized by Penguin Classics. The work is a collection of primary and secondary source materiel from the early church seamlessly translated into English. In addition to a wide array of content both in form and subject, Penguin offers us insightful introductions to the women examined and the authors of the works included. This is a helpful addition to any history or theology collection.

Content wise it’s easy to see how Dr. Tom Holland would suggest that Christianity was the most radical thing to ever influence the lives of Western women. In the Lives of Roman Christian Women we see women truly transcend the Roman idea of womanhood into something that is uniquely Christian. Some of the works delve into hagiography, but by and large are straightforward works on the lives of these women. Interestingly we also get a glimpse into how the men of the early church viewed women. It’s oft been commented that women spin the wheels of the Church. This was the case at Calvary, the Early Church, and today. This was an incredibly encouraging read.

As a complimentarian it was nice to see how a church that only elevated men to eldership, still radically included women in the ordinary ministry of the Church. I will be pondering this work for a long time.

[Faith Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

"but God, who had seen his servant's faith and constancy, brought her good plan to fulfilment and brought her uncle enlightenment, thereby confounding the devil and his lackeys." (melania the younger)

"she followed the Lamb wherever he went and she who was hungry is now filled...she wept and now she can laugh for ever." (the life of paula the elder)

4.5 exceptional collection. need to chew on the depth of devotion, commitment to ascetism, and the need to honor virtuous women as "men," (and the entirety of "the education of little paula," but for now: a must read for anyone interested in early church history. impossible to read without being led to devotion, reflection, and a greater awe of the work of God in and through these church mothers.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I wanted to read Perpetua's account of her incarceration, and in that respect, I wasn't disappointed. Although it was short, it was full of detail about her religious fervor, visions, and internal conflict in the time leading up to her martyrdom. However, the other writings collected in the book were mind-numbingly repetitive. If you pick this one up, stick to the two letters/first person accounts written by the women themselves than the remaining accounts written by men.

[Maud Van Keulen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik vond dit een prettig te lezen boek! Ik kon er in wegkruipen en de wereld voor me zien, daarnaast was het ook heel leerzaam. Super!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides a lot of insight into ancient Christian culture in the Roman world