before A.D. 330. By the time Athanasius died in A.D. 373, the movement had witnessed extraordinary growth and had attracted international attention. It is unlikely that monasticism existed as a recognizable movement before the early part of the fourth century. Its beginnings would then coincide with the end of the age of the martyrs and the inauguration of the triumph of the Church, a fact which, as we shall see, may have had considerable influence on its development. The ascetic tradition in Christianity,