Paulinus of Nola: Life, Letters, and Poems (Volume 27) (Transformation of the Classical Heritage) Hardcover – October 1, 1999 9780520217096

In addition to filling out the details of Paulinus’s life at Nola, Trout looks in depth at Paulinus before his ascetic conversion, providing a new assessment of this formative period to better understand Paulinus’s subsequent importance within the influential ascetic and ecclesiastical circles of his age. Trout also highlights Paulinus’s place in the swirl of rebellions and heresies of the time, in the pagan revival of the 390s, and especially in the development of a new genre of Christian poetry. And, he examines anew Paulinus’s relationships with such figures as Jerome, Rufinus, and Augustine. Trout fully explores the complexity of a figure who has too often been simplified and provides new insights into the kaleidoscopic character of the age in which he lived.