Primary Source Analysis: Letter from St. Jerome to Principia (412 AD)

"Rome had been besieged and its citizens had been forced to buy their lives with gold. Then thus despoiled they had been besieged again so as to lose not their substance only but their lives. My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken; nay more famine was beforehand with the sword and but few citizens were left to be made captives. In their frenzy the starving people had recourse to hideous food; and tore each other limb from limb that they might have flesh to eat. Even the mother did not spare the babe at her breast. In the night was Moab taken, in the night did her wall fall down^. "O God, the heathen have come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have made Jerusalem an orchard. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them."
(Besieged= surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay siege to).

1. AUTHOR - What do you know, or what can you infer about the author?
  - The author saw, or experienced, this famine that broke out in Rome.

2. PLACE AND TIME - Where and when was the source produced, and how does this affect its meaning?

    -The source was produced in 412 AD in Rome. It was during a time of famine, which affects this meaning even more because it shows that the author who wrote the source was able to survive during this tough time.

3. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE - What else do you know that would help you understand the source?
    -They are in a time of famine, where there is no food or water. Some were taken captive and others were eating the flesh of other people for food. Dead bodies were everywhere surrounding Jerusalem.

4. AUDIENCE - For whom was the source created and how might this affect its reliability?
    -This source was created for anyone to read, and obtain information about more than what might be known to have happened in Rome. Because it was written during the time of the famine, this source has a higher reliability rate than others.

5. REASON – For what purpose what this source created?
    -This source was created to recall an event that happened in Rome. Rome had good moments, and this source shows that it certainly does have its hard times as well.

6. THE MAIN IDEA – What’s the main idea?
    -The main idea is that in Rome of 412 AD, Rome was surrounded and people went through a famine. Nobody had food, resulting to cannibalism, and death among many people.

7. SIGNIFICANCE - Why is this source important? What conclusions can be drawn from the source, or what questions remain unanswered?
     -This source is important in Roman history, telling us what went down in Rome during that time. We can infer that Rome, at one point, got surrounded and had a decline in the empire which made them enter a famine. A question that remains unanswered would be this: Did the author of this source really have a part in the famine? And if he did, then how did he survive through it?