This volume assembles papers with common approaches to the Life of Severinus. It focuses not so much on the "historical Severinus", fiercely debated following Friedrich Lotter's studies, but on the text and its author, Eugippius. In what ways is the text shaped by the concerns of Eugippius and his community near Naples at the beginning of the sixth century, far away from the cell of the saint at the Norican frontier? As Ian Wood argues, the Vita can also be read as a statement in a debate about monasticism which increasingly favoured life in a community as opposed to peripatetic monks. In this respect, it can be compared with the Vita Antonii which raises similar problems with very different stylistic methods (Christian Rohr). The Vita Severini reflects the concerns of a network of (mostly female) patrons and intellectuals with whom Eugippius was familiar (Kate Cooper, Conrad Leyser). It discusses forms of ecclesiastic and lay community from an Augustinian point of view (Maximilian Diesenberger). It can also be read as a statement on the correct way to deal with barbarians (Walter Goffart). It does not simply style the 'political' Severinus as an ideal saint by using hagiographic stereotypes, as Lotter believed; the ways in which Eugippius pictures his saint respond to a number of challenges. At the 'lost frontier' of Noricum, spiritual power is juxtaposed with barbarian violence, obedience with stubbornness, knowledge with ignorance. The Vita Severini is less the expression of a Christian model of sanctity than the echo of debates about the proper way to face difficult circumstances.