Jerome, invited to Rome originally to the synod of 382 held for the purpose of ending the schism of Antioch, has made himself indispensable to Pope Damasus, and taken a prominent place in his councils.

Among other duties he has undertaken the revision of the text of the Latin Bible on the basis of the Greek New Testament and the Hebrew Old Testament, in order to put an end to the marked divergences in the current western texts.

Prior to Jerome's translation, all Old Testament translations had been based on the Septuagint.

Jerome has chosen, against the pleadings of other Christians including Augustine himself, to use the Hebrew Old Testament instead of the Septuagint.

The commission to translate the Bible into Latin will determine the course of Jerome’s scholarly activity for many years, and will be his most important achievement.

His translation of the Bible from Greek to Latin is called the Vulgate (vulgar) because it is in the common, or vulgar, tongue of the people.

He has undoubtedly exercised an important influence during these three years in Rome, to which, outside of his unusual learning, his zeal for ascetic strictness and the realization of the monastic ideal have contributed not a little.

A circle of well-born and well-educated women, including some from the noblest patrician families, such as the widows Marcella and Paula, with their daughters Blaesilla and Eustochium, surround Jerome.

The resulting inclination of these women for the monastic life, and his unsparing criticism of the life of the secular clergy, brought a growing hostility against him among the clergy and their supporters.

Soon after the death of his patron Damasus on December 10, 384, and having lost his necessary protection, Jerome is forced to leave his position at Rome following an inquisition of the Roman clergy into allegations that he had improper relations with the widow Paula.