Monks and Matrons: The Economy of Charity in the Late Antique

298 Pages·2013·6.32 MB·English

Monks and Matrons:
The Economy of Charity in the Late Antique Mediterranean

By

Elizabeth L. Platte

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Greek and Roman History)
in the University of Michigan
2013

Doctoral Committee:
Professor Raymond Van Dam, Chair
Associate Professor Ian Moyer
Assistant Professor Ellen Muehlberger
Professor Paolo Squatriti
Professor Terry Wilfong
© Elizabeth L. Platte, 2013
For my grandparents:
Marvin, Virginia, Leonard, and Jean
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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my committee members, Ray Van Dam, Ian Moyer, Ellen
Muehlberger, Paolo Squatriti, and Terry Wilfong for their help and support as I
worked through the process of writing this dissertation. Many, many thanks to Ray
Van Dam, who has been particularly supportive of me throughout my time at the
University of Michigan and of this project specifically. I am grateful to him for his
guidance throughout the past six years. This project would not have been possible
without his support. I would also like to thank Ian Moyer for his help with economic
history and theory and his advice about subjects both academic and not over the
years. Thanks to Ellen Muehlberger for her enthusiastic support of my interest in
Coptic language and Egyptian monasticism and her challenging critiques. Thanks to
Paolo Squatriti for this helpful comments and interesting courses throughout the
years, and for providing a medieval perspective to this project. And thanks finally to
Terry Wilfong for sharing his knowledge of gender theory and Late Antique Egypt
and for his encouragement.
I would also like to thank my program, the Interdepartmental Program in
Greek and Roman History, and the affiliated staff and faculty members for making
my specific program of study possible. Thanks in particular to the Director of the
program, Sara Forsdyke, for her support and advice, and to Ruth Scodel, the Chair of
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the Department of Classical Studies, for her support. I would also like to thank the
Department of Classical Studies, the Department of History, and Rackham Graduate
School for their scholarly and financial support. I am very grateful to have had a true
home in two exceptional departments at the University of Michigan.
All of my wonderful friends at the University of Michigan deserve thanks.
Their support was worth more to me than I can say. There are so many amazing
graduate students in IPGRH, the Department of Classical Studies, and the
Department of History who have been my friends and colleagues through the
years—too many to list here. But I am particularly grateful to Michael Leese for
being a great cohort-mate.
Thanks to all my family, most of all my parents, Tom and Mary Jo, my sister,
Katie, and my brother, Tommy. They have always been there for me when I needed
them. Finally, and above all, thanks to Tom, for his love, support, and immense
patience. I could not have done any of this without him. He will always have my
deepest love and gratitude.
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Preface

Table 1:
Timeline of events

Black text=events in the lives of Melania the Elder or Melania the Younger
Blue text=events in the lives of other prominent ascetics or religious figures
Red text=political events

341 Melania the Elder born
345 Rufinus born
346 Athanasius leaves Rome after exile
347 Jerome born; Paula born
354 Augustine born
356 Anthony of Egypt dies
360 Athanasius writes the Life of Anthony; Olympias born
363 Melania the Elder’s husband dies; Palladius born
367 John Chrysostom ordained Bishop of Constantinople
370 Jerome and Rufinus meet for the first time
372 Melania the Elder and Rufinus leave Rome for Egypt
373 Jerome travels to Syria; Athanasius of Alexandria dies; Evagrius of Antioch
translates the Life of Anthony into Latin; Arian persecution of Egyptian monks
begins
374 Melania the Elder flees to Jerusalem
v
378 Jerome travels to Antioch
379 Paula widowed; Valentinian II becomes Western Emperor
380 Rufinus travels to Jerusalem
382 Jerome returns to Rome; Jerome and Paula meet
385 Melania the Younger born
386 Jerome and Paula arrive in Bethlehem
387 Augustine converts to Christianity
390 Palladius travels to Palestine as a monk
392 Valentinian II dies; Honorius becomes Western Emperor
394 Jerome and Rufinus begin to publicly fight about Origenism
395 Augustine ordained Bishop of Hippo
397 Rufinus returns to Rome
399 Melania the Younger marries Pinianus
400 Melania the Elder visits Rome; Palladius appointed Bishop of Helenopolis
404 Melania the Elder returns to Jerusalem; John Chrysostom and Olympias
exiled; Paula dies
406 Vandals enter Gaul
407 Melania the Younger and Pinianus flee Rome; the Visigothic siege of Rome
begins
408 Melania and Pinianus visit Rufinus in Sicily; Olympias dies; Stilicho and
Serena killed; Theodosius II becomes Eastern Emperor;
409 Vandals enter Hispania
410 Melania the Elder dies; Melania the Younger and Pinianus arrive in North
Africa; Rome sacked by the Visigoths
411 Rufinus dies
417 Melania the Younger and Pinianus leave North Africa for Jerusalem
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420 Melania and Pinianus visit Egypt; Palladius writes the Lausiac History;
Jerome dies
429 Vandals enter North Africa
430 Vandal siege of Hippo; Augustine dies
431 Melania and Pinianus begin construction of a monastery on the Mount of
Olives; Albina dies
432 Pinianus dies
436 Melania begins construction of a monastery for men on the Mount of Olives
437 Melania travels to Constantinople
438 Melania and Eudocia travel to Jerusalem; Melania begins the construction of
the Martyrion of Saint Stephen
439 Melania the Younger dies; Vandal siege of Carthage
443 Eudocia exiled to Jerusalem
450 Gerontius writes the Life of Melania the Younger

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