Rufinus of Aquileia’s Historia ecclesiastica and Historia monachorum in Aegypto: A Dual Program of Monastic Historiography

Abstract

Abstract The Historia monachorum in Aegypto is an anomaly among the vast corpus of translations produced by Rufinus of Aquileia, not least because it represents his only known experiment with the literary genre of monastic hagiography. This article explores the question of why he undertook this project at all and considers this issue of authorial intention in the broader context of Rufinus’ work as a church historian. In particular, I propose that he envisaged the Historia monachorum in Aegypto in part as a follow-up, or companion piece, to his recently completed Historia ecclesiastica and intended both writings to articulate cooperatively his vision of the monks of Egypt as prime movers in the Christianization of the fourth-century Roman Empire.