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Updated 05-03-08
Perpetua /Vibia Perpetua (d.203
CE)
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"ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CONTEST ITSELF, LET HIM WRITE
OF IT WHO WILL"
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Vibia Perpetua was a Roman who lived in or near Carthage, the provincial capital of North Africa (a Roman colony since c.40 BCE). According to the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, she was 21 or 22 years old when she was arrested, a married woman with an infant whom she was breast-feeding. She was also a catechumen (a student, not yet baptized) in the Christian religion.
In 202, Emperor Septimus Severus had issued an edict forbidding conversion to Judaism or Christianity (their followers' refusal to join in sacrifice for the emperor's health and safety was seen as treasonous). The proconsul of Carthage applied the decree with enthusiasm. Along with others, Perpetua was arrested, convicted of civil disobedience, and condemned to "fight with the beasts of the arena" (the alternative sentence was being burnt alive).
On the days before the "contest" she apparently wrote down her experiences from just before she was imprisoned, and this narrative was incorporated into the story of her death and those of her companions, compiled quite soon after the event.
Modern scholars accept that Perpetua is the author of her first-person narrative; certainly the voice that we hear sounds very much like that of a woman --- her attitude to her child and family, her descriptions of nursing her child, her very practical concern as to whether her breasts would be sore after her child was removed from her.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Information about translations in print
Information about secondary sources
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1. Perpetua's section of the Passio (followed by the work's ending), translated by Herbert Musurillo (1972). There is also a link (click on "more" in the introduction) to comments by Paula Fredrickson on Perpetua and the status of her Christian contemporaries.
2. Other versions:
(a) Mark Reasoner's 1992 translation of Perpetua's section into colloquial English: The opening reads: "'You've been involved in this Christian stuff enough now,' my father said, when we were at the prosecutors."
(b) Michael Markowski's version "like Reasoner's... though not as radical, is loose and contains many ellipses" and includes part of the rest of the narrative; you can link to an introduction by Markowski.
3. To see how Perpetua's narrative fits into the whole, a
translation
of the complete Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, by
W.H. Shewring (1931), "modernized" by Paul Halsall.
4. Musurillo's 1972 edition of the Latin
original of the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitas. At
another site, a hypertext
version of the Latin; here, from each of the 21 sections
you can link to all of the text's uses of a particular word or
phrase
5. For a nearly contemporary critical view of Perpetua's Christianity, some excerpts from the extant writings of Celsus, a Greek of the mid-100s. Note especially the lines from Book 3, Ch. 55, on the disruption of a family; and those from Book 8 on the importance of public sacrifice.
6. A letter from the Christian writer Tertullian to those in prison awaiting martyrdom, translated by Sydney Thelwall. The undated letter is usually assigned to 197, but some scholars think it may be a message to Perpetua and her fellow martyrs in 203.
7. Essays, etc.:
(a) "The Nature of Perpetua's Dreams: The Theological Meanings and Significance of Sacred Dreams" (after 2003), by Lien-Yueh Wei, discusses the view of dreams held in the early Christian community.
(b) "The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas: An Analysis of Some Pertinent Issues" (1998), by Gregory Johnson, discusses textual and theological questions raised by the Passio.
(c) "Perpetua, Optatus, and Friends: Christian Ministry in Carthage c.203 C.E." (after 1996), by William Tabbernee, looks at what the Passio reveals about the organization of the Christian community.
(d) "Gender, Status and Identity in a North African Martyrdom, 203 CE" (1996), by M. Eleanor Irwin, describes how Perpetua changes but still remains "a product of her upbringing."
(e) "The Passion of Perpetua: Christian Woman Martyred in Carthage in A.D. 203" (1993), by Brent D. Shaw, discusses the way Perpetua was viewed in her own period and in following centuries.
(f) "Miracles and the Metanormal" (after 1992), by Jeffrey B. Russell, uses Perpetua's story to analyze modern historians' views of the "miraculous."
(g) "The Passion of Perpetua, Everywoman of Late Antiquity" (1985) by Mary Ann Rossi, discusses the work's mixture of Christian and non-Christian themes and images; note the "Appendix," which describes contemporary and later references in literature and art.
(h) A review by Jan N. Bremmer of a 2004 German-language study by P. Habermehl; the English-language review describes recent research into questions about the Passio.
8. Other reviews (for information on the books' treament of Perpetua, see below, under "Secondary sources"):
(a) Pamela McVay on Joyce Salisbury's 1997 study, Perpetua's Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman.
(b) Ian H. Henderson on Rex D. Butler's 2006 study The New Prophecy & "New Visions": Evidence of Montanism in The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas."
(c) David Noy on Linda Lappin's 2001 translation of a 1994 essay collection, Roman Women.
(d) Amy L. Wordelman on the 1994 collection, Searching the Scriptures: A Feminist Commentary.
9. A 2002 bibliography of secondary sources on Perpetua.
10. Honoring Perpetua, a mosaic from Porec, south of Trieste; it is one of several found in churches after the persecutions had ceased.
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[This book includes the print version of Herbert Musurillo's edition of the Latin Passio Perpetuae et Felicitas available online and his translation (see Perpetua's section online). Musurillo's introduction suggests that the Passio's framework passages are by Tertullian or one of his circle:]
The acts of the Christian martyrs; introduction, texts and
translations by Herbert Musurillo ( Oxford early Christian texts).
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972. (lxxiii, 379 p.)
LC#: BR1603.A1 M87; ISBN: 0198268068
Parallel Greek or Latin texts with English translations. Includes
bibliographical references.
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[Sara Maitland's book includes a print version of the W. H. Shewring translation of the whole Passio that is available online. Maitland's commentary is a thoughtful description of her own interaction with Perpetua; she also gives translations of four of Augustine of Hippo's sermons on Perpetua and Felicity, which show Augustine trying hard to understand how women could be heroic:]
The martyrdom of Perpetua / with an introduction and commentary
by Sara Maitland (Visionary women). Evesham: Arthur James, 1996
( 64 p.)
English text of: Passio Perpetuae et Felicitas; Content: The
passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity -- The sermons of St Augustine
upon the Feast of SS. Perpetua and Felicity
LC#: BR1710 .P287 1996; ISBN 0853053529
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[This anthology includes a translation by Maureen A. Tilley of the whole Passio. Tilley provides a brief introduction but no notes; instead she refers readers to her 1994 study (see below). (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Religions of late antiquity in practice / Richard Valantasis,
editor (Princeton readings in religions). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, c2000. (xvi, 511 p.)
LC#: BL690 .R46 2000; ISBN: 0691057508, 0691057516
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[Joyce Salisbury's book is valuable for historical and local background, analysis of the text, and an bibliography of earlier studies. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Salisbury, Joyce E. Perpetua's passion: the death and memory
of a young Roman woman. New York : Routledge, 1997. (228 p.:
ill., maps)
LC#: BR1720.P42 S25 199; ISBN: 0415918367, 0415918375
Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-222) and index.
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[Rex D. Butler's study focuses on what the Passio reveals of the influence of Montanism, a Christian movement that began in the 100sCE, which accepted women in leadership roles and which would be seen as a heresy in the 300s. Because of its focus, the book will probably be of most interest to historians, but two of its chapters can be of value to the general reader: Chapter 3 includes a discussion of the probable sources and analogues of Perpetua's narrative; Chapter 4 describes editions and translations of the work and commentaries on it:]
Butler, Rex D. The new prophecy & "new visions":
evidence of Montanism in The passion of Perpetua and Felicitas
(Patristic monograph series; v. 18). Washington, D.C.: Catholic
University of America Press, c2006. (xvii, 211 p.)
LC#: BR1720 .P42 P2733 2006; ISBN: 0813214556
Includes bibliographical references (p.185-206) and indexes.
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[This collection includes an essay by Judith Perkins, "The
Rhetoric of the Maternal Body in the Passion of Perpetua,"
which relates the work's treatment of women's bodies and of human
birth to the polemical position of contemporay theologians, such
as Tertullian (a possible editor of the passio). Perkins
questions the authenticy of the whole narrative, but finds Perpetua's
story less suspicious than Felicity's:]
Mapping gender in ancient religious discourses / edited by Todd
Penner, Caroline Vander Stichele (Biblical interpretation series;
v. 84) . Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007. (580 p.: ill.)
LC#: BL65.S4 M36 2007; ISBN: 9789004154476
Includes bibliographical references (p. [511]-545) and indexes
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[This translation of a 1994 Italian collection includes an essay on Perpetua by Emanuela Prinzivale, translated by Linda Lappin, which gives a close reading of the Passio and shows how the story was received in the following centuries. Don't miss the valuable bibliographic note that summarizes earlier European research; there is no superscript to alert you to it. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Roman women / edited and with a new introduction by Augusto
Fraschetti; translated by Linda Lappin. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2001. (vi, 249p.)
LC#: HQ1136 .R6613 2001; ISBN: 0226260933, 0226260941
Translation of: Roma al femminile
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[In his study, Edward Peter Nolan includes a useful analysis of the style of Perpetua's narrative:]
Nolan, Edward Peter. Cry out and write: a feminine poetics
of revelation. New York: Continuum, c1994. (215 p.)
LC#: PA8030.C47 N65 1994; ISBN: 082640684X
Hildegard, Saint, 1098-1179--Style. Julian, of Norwich, b. 1343--Style.
Perpetua, Saint, d. 203--Style. Includes bibliographical references
(p. [209]-212) and index
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[Volume 2 of this collection, "A Feminist Commentary," includes Maureen A. Tilley's study of Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis. Tilley describes the way the Passio has been interpreted over the centuries; she also discusses Perpetua's relationship with the male figures in the text:]
Searching the Scriptures / Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
with the assistance of Shelly Matthews. New York: Crossroad,
1993-1994. (2 v.: ill.)
LC#: BS2379 .S43 1993; ISBN: 0824513819 (v.1), 0824514246
(v. 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index
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[Given with his translation of the text, Peter Dronke's 1984 commentary on Perpetua's section of the Passio is valuable; it analyses the work thoroughly and discusses older research. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Dronke, Peter. Women writers of the Middle Ages: a critical
study of texts from Perpetua (d. 203) to Marguerite Porete (d,1310).
Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge University Press,
1984. (xi, 338 p.)
LC#: PN671 .D7 1984; ISBN: 0521255805, 0521275733
Bibliography: p. 320-332. Includes indexes
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Updated 05-03-08