An insightful, moving account of the death of an
early-third-century Christian martyr, based on her own diary. Vibia
Perpetua was the daughter of an old respected Roman family of
Carthage and, although raised in accordance with the pagan
religious traditions of Rome, converted to Christianity, one of
many faiths competing for devotees in the Roman Empire. Just 22
years old, she was arrested with several other converts to
Christianity and, because she refused to acknowledge the divinity
of the emperor Septimus Severus (and even though she was the mother
of an infant), was sentenced to be killed by beasts in the
Carthaginian arena. Salisbury (Medieval History and
Humanities/Univ. of Wisconsin, Green Bay) uses the text of
Perpetua's diary, written in prison, to explore this extraordinary
young woman's decision to renounce her prosperous life and embrace
a horrible death, and to depict in vivid and fascinating detail the
world of pagan Rome and the insular community of the early Church,
with its emphasis on prophecy and speaking in tongues. Salisbury
notes the contrast between the Roman religion, with its thousands
of household gods, and monotheistic/trinitarian Christianity with
its claim to be the only universally true religion. Also, the
patriarchy of traditional Roman society, which restricted women to
the roles of wife and mother, stood in stark contrast with the
egalitarian promise of Christianity, which taught that all persons
were equal before God and often gave women a leading role. Using
Perpetua's text, Salisbury shows that, despite the dangers, the
young woman turned her back on her affectionate family and infant
son to become a Christian because of her profound conviction that
she was experiencing the presence of God. A uniquely absorbing and
poignant study of the vanished world of the early martyrs. (Kirkus
Reviews)
In 203 AD a group of Christians in Carthage, North Africa, were
sentenced to the beasts in the arena. One of these, a twenty-two
year old young mother, wrote a diary while she was imprisoned
awaiting execution; later, this diary was completed by an observer
who described her death in the arena. This poignant and personal
narrative is the focus of this study of the conflict that resulted
in the martyrdom of Perpetua.
"Perpetua's Passion" studies the third-century martyrdom of a young
woman and places it in the intellectual and social context of her
age. Conflicting ideas of religion, family and gender are explored
as Salisbury follows Perpetua from her youth in a wealthy Roman
household to her imprisonment and death in the arena. The author
explores the ideas that shaped Perpetua's experience and the
memories that appeared in her dreams and text, including
metaphysical reflections, Carthaginian ideas of sacrificial
suicide, and early Christian praise of prophecy and passion.
"Perpetua's Passion" also encompasses more earthly dilemmas such as
family, gender roles and motherhood, using the experience of this
young martyr to explore these conflicting ideals and the conflict
of ideologies. This book examines concepts of martyrdom and memory
as her prison diary was preserved and read for centuries.
"Perpetua's Passion" provides insights into early Christian
communities and the spiritual aspirations that shaped the converts,
and will be of interest to classicists and medievalists, church
historians and anyone interested in spirituality and the origins of
Christianity.
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