Monasticism - Monks - Cenobites - Orders

Jerome - Bible Translator St. Jerome
In 386 Jerome moved to Bethlehem where he set up and lived in a monastery.

Cenobite
Cenobite is a word describing communal living of monks.

Monk - Religious Monk
A monk was originally a solitary ascetic.

Pachomius - Christian Saint Pachomius
Pachomius put monks together under one roof, making him the father of cenobitism.

Prehistory
There were Hindu, Buddhist and Mediterranean monks before Christianity. Monasticism is characterized by ascetiscism, isolation and setting apart from normal life.

Life of Anthony
Anthony went to the desert to fight the devil and to meet God.

Rules of St. Augustine
St. Augustine wrote up rules guiding the communal life of monks in a monastery in which each man gave up private property and lived a life devoted to honoring God.

Rules
St. Benedict's might be the most familiar, but there were other monastic rules. This page describes them as following a horizontal cenobitism if the social structure of the monastery was fraternal, and vertical cenobitism if the order was authoritarian.