Likely similar roles to the ones mentioned by Pliny in 112 A.D.
Quo magis necessarium credidi ex duabus ancillis, quae ministrae dicebantur, quid esset veri, et per tormenta quaerere. Nihil aliud inveni quam superstitionem pravam, immodicam.
(I can’t read Latin.)
What, if anything, he learned about the roles of these deaconesses might be gleaned here.
Adfirmabant autem hanc fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel erroris, quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent; quibus peractis, morem sibi discedendi fuisse rursusque coeundi ad capiendum cibum, promiscuum tamen et innoxium; quod ipsum facere desisse post edictum meum, quo secundum mandata tua hetaerias esse vetueram.
Pliny seemed not to have noticed any church hierarchy, certainly nothing like that described by the author of 1 Timothy (who would not have been happy about these ministrae).
I’m sorry, I only looked at the Greek, and thought you were asking about the fact that she is called a deaconess.
As far as προστάτις, that means that she had money and used it to help people. And of course there is a church leadership role in being a προστάτις! It is usually one of the most important ones, after all: “Donor.”