Scholarly Reflections
Davis, Cyprian. "The Didache and Early Monasticism in the East and West." in Jefford, Clayton (editor). The Didache in Context: essays on its text, history, and transmission. Leiden: Brill, 1995, 352-367.
Davis asks whether there is evidence that the Didache influenced early Christian monasticism. There is some reason to believe that the Didache may have originated in Egypt, also the home of early monastic movements (Davis 1995, 352). Davis does find some citations from the Didache in monastic writings, though they are not common.
One possible indicator of contact is a version of the Two Ways material from the Didache found in the "Life of Shenoute" by his successor, Besa (Davis 1995, 354). Shenoute, a monk in Egypt beginning about 371, as far as we know from period accounts, was an unusual figure, demanding high levels of commitment and obedience from his followers. The Arabic version of the Life of Shenoute provides a slightly abbreviated translation of Didache 1-5. Davis provides an English version of each in parallel columns (Davis 1995, 356ff). Davis suggests there may have been a copy of the Two Ways or of the Didache in a library which was available to Shenoute or to Besa, though there is no clear evidence for the actual source.
Davis further questions whether the Rule of Benedict was influenced by the Didache. Chapter four speaks of precepts rooted in the Decalog, which Davis considers similar to some of the Two Ways material (Davis 1995, 359). He also identifies the source document for much of the Rule of Benedict, called the Rule of the Master as having a parallel in chapter 80 to Didache 14 (Davis 1995, 362).
Davis concludes that while there is no direct evidence of influence of the Didache on specific monastic writings, it was decidedly an important part of the thought world from which monasticism emerged (Davis 1995, 365)