Extract

Born into a Christian family at Stridon in *Dalmatia, he was educated at Rome at the school of Aelius *Donatus, and later studied rhetoric. During a stay at Trier (*Augusta Treverorum), where he had probably intended to enter imperial service, his *Christianity took on greater meaning, and around 372, fired with ascetic zeal, he set out for the east. After two years or more at *Antioch, he finally withdrew to the region of *Chalcis in *Syria to undertake the more contemplative life of a monk (though the traditional picture of desert solitude and extreme hardship is exaggerated). Here he began to learn Hebrew, with immense consequences for biblical scholarship. But after no more than a year or so he returned to Antioch, where he was ordained priest. Back in Rome in 382, he quickly won the confidence of Pope *Damasus, at whose request he commenced work on what was to become the core of the *Vulgate version of the Bible.