This event is open to the public.
Like other patristic authors, Jerome did not engage with Rome’s non-Christian religious traditions in objective terms. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, he frequently referred to ‘Roman religion’ not only in the context of anti-pagan polemic, but also as a rhetorical tool against heterodox Christians and mainstream believers who did not conform to his particularly nuanced ascetic ideals. Moreover, Jerome employed traditional religious concepts to elucidate Scripture for the aristocratic members of his personal network and to provide edifying material for the Latin-speaking elite of an emerging Christian culture within the Empire. This lecture traces the Stridonian’s efforts, τhroughout his life and across the various literary genres he embraced, to establish his ideals of ascetic Christianity through references to pagan gods and cultic practices—ultimately reconfiguring the meaning of ‘Roman religion’ itself.