The twin of her brother St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Scholastica was a fascinating and powerful saint in her own right. She and her brother were born and lived in the time after the fall of Rome. Barbarian tribes had conquered Rome and set up warring kingdoms throughout Europe and even in Italy. In Italy, barbarian king warred against barbarian king, and then against the Eastern Emperor Justinian, who regarded the germanic tribes as interlopers and proposed to reconquer the Western Roman Empire.