They either continued like the early
asceticism, to live in their own homes, or dwelt together in or near cities. They acknowledged no monastic superior, obeyed no definite rule, and disposed individually of the product of their manual labour.
Jerome speaks of them under the name
remoboth, and
John Cassian tells of their wide diffusion in
Egypt and other lands. Both writers express a very unfavourable opinion concerning their conduct, and a reference to them in the
Rule of Saint Benedict is of similar import.
Philologists have attempted to discover Coptic terms behind the names. At a later date, the name Sarabaites designated in a general way degenerate monks. The Rule of St. Benedict considered their non-adherence to church canon only to be exceeded by the
gyrovagues. ==References==