Catherine M. Chin is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of California, Davis and author of Grammar and Christianity in the Late Roman World. Caroline T. Schroeder is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of the Pacific and author of Monastic Bodies: Discipline and Salvation in Shenoute of Atripe.

• IntroductionCatherine M. Chin and Caroline T. SchroederPART ONE. ARISTOCRACY1. Apostles and AristocratsCatherine M. Chin2. Namesake and InheritanceChristine Luckritz Marquis3. Exemplary WomenCaroline T. SchroederPART TWO. BODY AND FAMILY4. Holy HouseholdsMaria Doerfler5. Wounded by Divine LoveKristi Upson-SaiaPART THREE. GENDER AND MEMORY6. Memories of the MartyrsL. Stephanie Cobb7. The Memory of MelaniaRebecca KrawiecPART FOUR. WISDOM AND HERESY8. A Life in LettersRobin Darling Young9. Friends and HereticsSusanna Drake10. Posthumous OrthodoxyChristine ShepardsonPART FIVE. IN THE HOLY PLACES11. The Lost GenerationAndrew S. Jacobs12. Sing, O Daughter(s) of ZionStephen J. ShoemakerPART SIX. MODERNITIES13. AfterlivesMichael Penn14. Monastic RevivalsStephen J. Davis15. The Future of SainthoodElizabeth A. CastelliAfterwordRandall StyersList of ContributorsAcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex

"The decision to zero in on the two Melanias produces obvious benefits: the interlocking papers build to a sort of ‘thick description’ of late fourth- and early fifth-century Christianity, and recent analytical approaches to its study . . . this book would make an excellent companion for a special subject or graduate course on asceticism in late antiquity. "