Jerome and His Women

the long version

The Empire is fragile, the pagan beliefs that sustained it are fading. One man stirs up controversy like no other - Jerome. When the Pontiff, Damasus I, commissions Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, it is a political masterstroke. Highly intelligent and classically trained, Jerome was fluent in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Jerome's Vulgate displaces the many alternative biblical texts and plays a critical role in establishing Christianity as a world religion, with Rome at its centre. What is less known is that Jerome is assisted by a circle of aristocratic, educated women who risk their lives in the pursuit of their ideals. Chief among them is the attractive young widow Paula, as devoted to Jerome as she is to his cause. Rumours circulate as his enemies plot to dispose of Jerome once and for all.