Melania the Elder and her granddaughter Melania the Younger were major figures in early Christian history, using their wealth, status, and forceful personalities to shape the development of nearly every aspect of the religion we now know as Christianity. This volume examines their influence on late antique Christianity and provides an insightful portrait of their legacies in the modern world. Departing from the traditionally patriarchal view, Melania gives a poignant and sometimes surprising account of how the rise of Christian institutions in the Roman Empire shaped our understanding of women’s roles in the larger world.
"In this tightly focused volume, Catherine Chin and Caroline Schroeder have done a splendid job giving shape to the emergent Christianity of the late Roman Empire through the lens of the Melanias. The work is of a very high caliber."–Susanna Elm, Sidney H. Ehrman Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley
"Melania makes both a significant contribution to the study of 'the Melanias' and also to a range of creative and innovative methodological interventions in the study of late antiquity. This volume is an appropriate tribute to the distinguished accomplishments of Professor Elizabeth A. Clark, in whose honor the essays have been written. I was extremely impressed."—Benjamin Dunning, Professor of Theology at Fordham University
"Readers can be grateful to the editors and authors who have produced a wide-ranging contribution to the 'Melania revival.' "
