I'm in the middle of The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez and it talks about the development of monastic traditions growing out of people in the Egyptian desert. Was this a new innovation, or were there also hermits and monasteries in pagan traditions? I know a bit about Buddhist monks, but nothing about the West.
Followup: are there good resources for the theology of paganism? I enjoy reading about the early theological christian arguments, but it makes me realize that I've never read anything about what paganism was like as a religion. Were there huge theological arguments in the Roman pantheon, for instance?