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UTE E. MEN, Women Officeholders in Early Christianity: Epigraphical and Literary Studies (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000). Pp. viii + 322. Paper $49.95.
The original German publication (1996), here translated by Linda Maloney, was inspired by Bernadette Brooten's work, Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue: Inscriptional Evidence and Background Issues (Brown Judaic Studies 36; Chico: Scholars, 1982), but goes much further because there is much more evidence for women leaders in early Christianity. Eisen aims not to be exhaustive but to provide "a presentation of the multiplicity and variety of official titles held by Christian women in the Roman and Byzantine empires" (p. 19). One could therefore always wonder why this inscription was included or that literary reference omitted, but by and large, E. succeeds very well in providing a sufficiently representative sample so that the reader unaware of the evidence finishes with a good idea of what is possible.
The chapters are divided according to the title studied: apostles, prophets, teachers of theology, presbyters, widows, deacons, bishops, and stewards. The chapters on apostles and prophets yield no surprises except for the fourth-century apostle to Georgia, Nino, known to contemporary Mediterranean historians, whose memory was reworked by Rufinus into a traditional woman's role. The chapter on teachers of theology discusses,...