A British Ascetic in Rome
Pelagius was born in Britain around 354, perhaps a few years later. Augustine, Orosius, and Prosper of Aquitaine all call him British. Jerome, who loathed him, mocked him as a heavy man stuffed with Scottish porridge, which in the language of the time may point to Irish descent. Nothing certain is known of his family or education, though his Latin is polished and his knowledge of Scripture wide.
By the 380s or 390s he was living in Rome as a lay ascetic. He was never ordained. He moved among wealthy Christian households, gave spiritual counsel, and became known for the seriousness of his life. Rome's Christians were then numerous, comfortable, and often lax, and Pelagius was troubled that many professed Christ while excusing their sins as unavoidable.
Augustine later told a story that captures the conflict to come. When a bishop in Rome quoted a prayer from Augustine's Confessions in Pelagius's presence, “give what You command, and command what You will,” Pelagius reacted with anger. To him the prayer seemed to make people passive, waiting for God to do what He had already commanded them to do.
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