Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

762 25. monasticism
aroused in Gaul by his doctrine of grace, at least in the 420s and 430s, and
the alternative prestige of Lérins and its satellites no doubt help to explain
why his ascetic writings and regulations were slow to make their mark
outside North Africa. It is in later ascetic writers – Caesarius, Benedict and
Gregory the Great – that his ideas can be more readily detected. 52
Nevertheless, while the earliest relevant texts do suggest a narrow audience
and confused compilation, Augustine could justly claim to have been the
first monastic legislator of the west. His ‘rule’ in its primitive form, the socalled
Ordo monasterii, was probably written, perhaps in collaboration with
others in his circle, at the beginning of the 390s, when Jerome and Rufinus
had yet to make known to the west the works of Pachomius and Basil.
Augustine was living at the time in a community at Thagaste, which he had
founded when he returned to Africa from Italy after 388. He undoubtedly
set the tone of the ‘rule’ in the opening section of what was otherwise a
laconic document, emphasizing love of God and neighbour. A cycle of
prayer and work was broken by a period of reading and a late afternoon
meal. Goods were to be held in common, but there was commerce with the
outside world. Obedience was demanded within a hierarchy of pater and
praepositus. 53 Augustine’s models had been inspired by the east, but were
Italian in origin: he imbibed the tradition at second hand. He also placed
the ascetic endeavour firmly within the context of the church as a whole.
Finally, he developed his devotion to the monastic life alongside his famous
sensibility to what he regarded as the weakness and complexity of the
human psyche: destined for eternal fulfilment, but needing guidance and
authority.
Once established in Hippo in 391, Augustine developed his ideas for a
monastery entirely his own, producing his Praeceptum. He attached characteristic
importance to the pattern of life followed by the first Christians in
Jerusalem, as portrayed in Acts. The original church was the perfect monastery,
with property held in common, and intense affection among its
members. Given the variety of ability characteristic of human experience,
the only way to maintain that ‘unity of heart and soul’ was to develop a
sense of responsibility for other people, acknowledging dependence upon
the virtuous, and rallying to the aid of the weak. A system of superiors still
monitored behaviour, but in collaboration with the community and for the
community’s sake, conscious always of their own vulnerability in the sight
of God. At the same time, the ‘rule’ had an authority of its own, being read
aloud each week. Prayer was clearly ordered, although the opportunity for
private reflection was still safeguarded, according to the Egyptian tradition.
52 All three will be dealt with below. Caesarius’ Statuta 21 (Quæ aliquid ) is a striking example: compare
Aug. Praec. i.5f., iii.3f. The relevant Augustinian texts are edited by Verheijen (1967).
53 Love: Aug. Ordo 1. Routine: 2f; see also 9. Common property: 4. External relations: 8.
Obedience: 6.
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