SOURCE: "The Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae: An Index of St. Jerome's Classicism," The Classical Journal, Vol. 49, No. 8, May, 1954, pp. 369-72.

In this essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1950, Diederich explores Jerome's letter 108—the Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae—in an effort to cite evidence of Jerome's classicism.

Among the many interesting letters of Saint Jerome which I believe give striking evidence of his classicism is the Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae, Letter CVIII in the collection. This epistle is addressed to Eustochium, the daughter of the saintly Paula, to console her for the loss of her departed mother. Written in the form of a laudatio funebris, the letter contains many of the elements of this particular type of literature. Jerome begins his eulogistic tribute with an expression of admiration of Paula's nobility of lineage and of her holiness of life. She was a descendant of the family of the Gracchi, says Jerome...