Perpetua
A young married woman of good family, newly baptised, who was put to death in the arena in Roman Africa. The account of her death includes a prison diary presented as her own, with her visions.
The editor of the Passion introduces her by her full name, Vibia Perpetua (spelt “Vivia” in the linked translation), as well born, well educated and married, about twenty-two years old, with a father, mother and two brothers and an infant son at the breast (Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 1.1). She was a catechumen when she was arrested and was baptised a few days later. In the pages given as her own she tells how her father begged her to give way, how she nursed her child in prison, and how she answered the procurator Hilarianus, “I am a Christian” (Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 1.2–2.2).
She was tossed by a wild cow in the arena, helped Felicity to her feet, and was then killed with the sword, guiding the young gladiator’s hand to her own throat (Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 6.3–4). Tertullian appeals to her vision of paradise (Tertullian, On the Soul 55).
In the timeline
- 7 March AD 203, estimated dateThe Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity
A group of newly baptised Christians is put to death in the arena in Roman Africa, among them the young mother Perpetua and Felicity, who gave birth in prison. The account preserves Perpetua’s own prison diary and her visions.