In this article, I will press for some changes in the way we think about the role of women in early Christianity. Marcella(325∼410) played a much more creative role than often thought in shaping spirituality in the Roman setting during the mid-fourth century, the period of barbarian invasions. Marcella was a highborn lady from a line of consuls and prefects. She, as an aristocratic woman, was the first in Rome to accept the monastic vocation. Marcella created the Aventine Circle which provided the original impetus for the flowering of Roman female monasticism. She was an important teacher in the early church who was highly esteemed by Jerome. She was in the front lines in interacting with heretics and bringing them to a better understanding of Christian truth. At one point, when a dispute arose in Rome concerning the meaning of the Scriptures, Jerome asked Marcella to settle it.
It is wrong to give Jerome the credit for inspiring or shaping Marcella’s spirituality and her Aventine Circle. It is also a mistaken notion that Marcella was at best a satellite or disciple of Jerome. By the time Jerome appeared in Rome in 382, the Aventine Circle had already assumed its basic pattern of monastic life, centering around intensive study of scripture, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and so on. Although he taught scriptures and encouraged their asceticism, he could not have shaped the Aventine Circle, which by this time had already been in existence thirty years or more. Moreover, Jerome commented that their scholarship on biblical study was far beyond normal. Jerome leaves ample evidence that he considered Marcella a biblical scholar. She was fluent in Greek as well as Latin and had an intense desire to master Hebrew. Jerome saw Marcella his equal as an interpreter of the Scripture.
Looking in a new way at the evidence, I believe there are ample reasons for retelling the story of early Christianity in the West. As a founder of the Aventine Circle, as a role model of a monastic lifestyle for devout women of Roman aristocracy, and because of her highly intelligent scholarship on the Bible, Marcella was a major player in the development of Christian spirituality.

• 채승희(영남신학대학교) | Chae, Seong Hee