Chaste marriage was a popular form of domestic asceticism in Western history and intriguing stories exist about chaste couples in late antique Latin hagiography. This book studies six of the earliest stories in the Latin tradition: Jerome's Life of Malchus, Stephen of Africa's Life of Amator, and the anonymous Passion of Caecilia and Valerian, Passion of Chrysanthus and Daria, Passion of Julian and Basilissa and Life of Melanius and the virgin, which range from the end of the 4th century AD to the 8th century.

Just as chaste couples had to confirm their moral credibility to their neighbours, the writers of these stories employed many literary strategies to convince the audience of the veracity of their accounts, which are often highly fictionalized through the use of earlier topoi and literary material, including from genres such as the ancient novel. Building on modern and ancient theories, this book examines the literary means used to evoke belief in the moral credibility of the chaste couples and the truth of the stories, and, in doing so, explores what kind of authorship and readership is implied by the writings. In uncovering the poetics of moral and narrative credibility, Staat elucidates a topic at the heart of the study of late antique hagiography in general.