Abstract: Although they all concurred in condemning Jovinian, Pope Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome had different views of asceticism and clerical office. Siricius had long been lukewarm towards ascetic piety; he insisted that monks had to work their way through the ranks of the clergy before becoming presbyters or bishops, at the same time as he insisted on sexual continence for the higher clergy. Ambrose, by contrast, saw monks as the ideal candidates for the episcopacy, and he encouraged the ascetical life, especially in the form of consecrated female virginity. Jerome favoured the ascetic life and looked down on most of the clergy. He also was overtly hostile towards both Siricius and Ambrose. All of these different dynamics came into play in the course of the Jovinianist Controversy

Keywords: clergy, celibacy, veiling of virgins (velatio), priesthood, Levites,