Perpetua and Felicitas
The little we know about Vibia Perpetua and Felicitas is derived from this account – anonymous, but containing some autobiographical material from two of the protagonists – of the days leading up to their martyrdom, along with a small group of other Christians, probably on 7 March 203, in the arena at Carthage. Perpetua came from a well-to-do family and converted to Christianity. Her father was probably a pagan for he tried to dissuade her from refusing to make the sacrifice required by the Roman emperor. She was the mother of a baby whom she kept with her in prison until he was weaned. Felicitas was Perpetua’s slave who gave birth to a daughter while in prison. Theirs is a world depicted in the writings of the first major Christian writer in Latin, Tertullian, who was not only their contemporary but who also lived in Roman North Africa: indeed, it has been suggested that he is the author of the introductory and concluding framework of this account which includes the prison diary of Perpetua (sections 3–10) and of Saturus (11–13), one of the four men martyred alongside the two women. Tertullian mentions Perpetua as ‘the most heroic martyr’ in chapter 55 of On the Soul, and Augustine preached four sermons on the feast day of these two martyrs, some two hundred years after their deaths (Augustine, Sermons 280–83). There exists also a Greek text of the account which is probably a translation from the Latin. Although other martyrdom narratives, usually known as ‘Passions’, exist, this is probably the most famous, largely because of the vividness of Perpetua’s own account of her time in prison and the visions experienced by her and by Saturus, and of the courage and solidarity displayed by all these martyrs.
1 In the past people used to record examples of behaviour that had been inspired by faith for these were considered a sign of God’s grace. Such examples were thought to provide others with spiritual strength because by reading such accounts people would remember those deeds, and as a result they would honour God and derive encouragement for themselves. So why should one not record recent examples, too, seeing that they are just as likely to have the same effect?
At some stage these recent examples will also become things of the past and be important to people of later generations, even if those who are contemporary with these events do not esteem them as highly because there is a tendency to value more highly things from the past. But those who gauge the power of the one Holy Spirit according to the period when it manifested itself should consider this: more recent events should be regarded as more impressive for the very reason that they are recent, because it was for the final period of time that most grace was promised.
For ‘in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and their sons and daughters will prophesy, and I will pour out my spirit on my servants, both men and women, and the young men will see visions and the old will dream dreams’.1 We, too, recognize and value not only prophecies but also new visions which have been promised to us. We consider all the other powers of the Holy Spirit to be for the good of the church, for the Holy Spirit was also sent to the church to distribute all gifts to everyone, as the Lord hands them out to each person. We therefore consider it necessary to write down these things and to make them known to prevent people of weak or despairing faith from believing that God’s grace was only active in the past, whether in martyrdom or visions. God always carries out his promises, as proof for non-believers and as a benefit for believers.
And so, my brothers and little children, we will tell you what we have heard and touched, so that those of you who were present may recall the glory of the Lord, while those of you who hear about it now may have fellowship with the holy martyrs and through them with our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong splendour and honour for ever and ever. Amen.
2 It happened that a number of young candidates for baptism were arrested – Revocatus and his fellow-slave Felicitas, together with Saturninus and Secundulus; they were accompanied also by Vibia Perpetua, a married woman of good family who was well educated. Perpetua, who was about twenty-two years old, had a father, a mother and two brothers – one of them a candidate for baptism like her – and a baby son at her breast. From this point on the account of the events leading up to her martyrdom is hers, as she wrote it down in her own words.
3 While we were still up before the prosecutors, my father, out of love for me, came to try to shake my resolve and persuade me to change my mind. ‘Father,’ I said, ‘You see this jar lying here, a water pot or whatever it is?’ ‘Yes, I do,’ he replied. ‘Surely it cannot be called anything other than what it is?’ And he replied, ‘No.’ ‘Well, in the same way I cannot call myself anything other than what I am, namely a Christian.’ My father got so angry when he heard the word Christian that he came at me as if he were going to tear my eyes out, but he just shouted at me and then left, defeated, as were his diabolical arguments. For the next few days I gave thanks to God because my father had left me alone: I was relieved that he was not there. During those few days we were baptized and I was inspired by the Holy Spirit not to pray for anything afterwards other than the ability to endure physically. A few days later we were taken to prison. I was terrified as I had never experienced such a dark place.
What a difficult time that was! Stiflingly hot because of the huge crowds; soldiers extorting money; and during the whole time I was there I was tormented by worries about my baby. Then Tertius and Pomponius, those kind deacons who were looking after us, bribed someone to allow us to be moved to a better part of the prison for a few hours so that we could recover a bit. Everyone then left the prison cell and we had a rest. I fed my baby who was weak from hunger. In my anxiety about him I spoke to my mother, tried to comfort my brother and entrusted my son to them, but I suffered because I saw them suffering on my account.
Such were the worries that tormented me for many days. Then I managed to get permission for my baby to stay with me in prison and as a result I immediately felt better, relieved as I was of my discomfort and of worry for the child. Suddenly the prison had become a palace, and I preferred to be there rather than anywhere else.
4 Then my brother said to me, ‘My dear sister, you are already greatly privileged – so much so that you can surely ask for a vision to find out whether you will be condemned or set free?’ I faithfully promised that I would, for I knew I could talk with the Lord, whose great blessings I had experienced. I told my brother I would give him an answer the following day. I then asked for a vision and this is what I saw. I saw an amazingly tall ladder, made of bronze, reaching right up to heaven. It was so narrow that only one person could climb it at a time. All kinds of metal objects had been fixed into the sides of the ladder: there were swords, spears, hooks, daggers and spikes, so that if the person climbing up were not careful or if he failed to look where he was going, he would be gashed and his flesh would stick to the metal spikes. Under the ladder lay an enormous dragon, waiting to attack those who climbed it and to frighten them off any attempt to climb. Saturus was the first to climb up – he who later surrendered voluntarily out of consideration for us (for it was he who had been our spiritual teacher), and so he had not been with us when we were arrested. When he got to the top of the ladder, he turned round and said to me, ‘Perpetua, I will help you up. But be careful that the dragon does not bite you.’ I replied, ‘He will not hurt me, in the name of Jesus Christ.’ Then hesitantly, as if it were afraid of me, the dragon stuck its head out from under the ladder and I trod on its head as if it were the first rung, and began to climb up.
Then I saw a very large garden and a tall man with grey hair sitting in the middle of it dressed as a shepherd, milking his sheep. Standing around him were thousands of people dressed in white. He raised his head, looked at me and said, ‘Welcome, my child.’ He called me over to him and gave me a mouthful of fresh milk; I took it in my cupped hands and drank it and all those who were standing around said, ‘Amen.’ At the sound of this word I woke up, with the taste of something sweet still in my mouth. I immediately told my brother and we realized that I would be condemned. From that time on we began to relinquish all hope in this life.
5 A few days later a rumour circulated that we were going to be given a hearing. My father also arrived from the city, worn out with anxiety. He came up to me to try to shake my resolve and said, ‘Dear daughter, have pity on me in my old age. Have pity on your father – if I deserve to be called your father, if I have raised you to reach the prime of your life, if I have favoured you more than your brothers. Do not cause me disgrace. Think of your brothers, think of your mother and your aunt, think of your son who cannot live without you. Stop being so proud and stubborn! Do not destroy us all! For none of us will be able to speak freely again if anything happens to you.’ This was the way my father spoke out of love for me, kissing my hands and throwing himself down in front of me; in tears, he talked to me no longer as a daughter but as a woman. I was sorry for my father because he was the only one of all my relatives who would not be happy for me in my suffering. I tried to comfort him, saying, ‘Let God’s will be done in the prisoner’s dock. For you must remember that things are not in our power but in God’s.’ And he went away, deeply upset.
6 One day, while we were eating breakfast, we were suddenly rushed off to a hearing. When we arrived at the forum the news immediately circulated around that area and a large crowd turned up. We went up into the prisoner’s dock and when interrogated, all the others admitted their guilt. Then it was my turn. Suddenly my father appeared with my son and pulled me off the platform, saying, ‘Perform the sacrifice! Have pity on your baby!’ The governor Hilarianus, who had received his judicial powers as successor to the late proconsul Minucius Timinianus, said to me, ‘Have pity on your father’s grey hairs, have pity on your baby son. Make a sacrifice for the emperors’ welfare.’2 I answered, ‘No, I will not.’ Hilarianus asked me, ‘Are you a Christian?’ and I answered, ‘Yes, I am.’ When my father persisted in trying to shake my resolve, Hilarianus gave orders that he be thrown to the ground and beaten with a rod. I was upset by what was happening to my father, for it was as if I myself was being beaten; I felt really sorry for him, so pathetic was he in his old age. Then Hilarianus passed sentence on us all, condemning us to the wild beasts. We went back down to the prison cell in good spirits. Then, because my baby was used to being breastfed and to being with me in prison, I at once sent the deacon Pomponius to ask my father for the baby but he refused to hand him over. However, it was God’s will that the baby should no longer want the breast. Fortunately my breasts did not become inflamed so I was not tormented by worry for the baby nor by discomfort in my breasts.
7 A few days later, while we were all praying, I suddenly shouted out the name Dinocrates. I was shocked, for this name had never entered my mind until that moment, and I was upset when I recalled what had happened to him. I realized at once that I was privileged and ought to pray for him. I began to pray at length and to sigh for him before the Lord.
That night I had the following vision. I saw Dinocrates coming out of a dark hole where there were also many others with him. He was very hot and thirsty, pale and dirty. On his face he had a sore, the one he had when he died. This Dinocrates was my brother according to the flesh. He had died of skin cancer when he was seven years old, a death that everyone found horrifying. It was for him that I prayed but we were separated by a great gulf which prevented us from reaching each other. There was a pool full of water where Dinocrates was standing. Its rim was higher than the child’s height and Dinocrates was reaching out to try and drink from it. It upset me that the pool was full of water and yet he could not drink it because he was not tall enough.
Then I woke up and realized that my brother was suffering. But I was confident that I could help him in his trouble. I prayed for him every day until we were transferred to the military prison (for we were going to engage with the wild beasts at the military games held on the Emperor Geta’s birthday).3 Sighing and weeping I prayed night and day that my brother should be given to me.
8 On one of the days when we were still in custody, I had the following vision: I saw the same place I had seen before and Dinocrates was there, clean, well dressed and refreshed; where the wound had been, I now saw a scar. The rim of the pool I had seen earlier reached only to the boy’s waist and he could now draw water from the pool. On the rim stood a golden bowl full of water. Dinocrates went up to it and began to drink from it but the bowl never became empty. When he had had enough he left the water and happily went off to play as children do. Then I woke up and I realized that he had been delivered from his suffering.
9 A few days later the junior officer Pudens, who was in charge of the prison, began to treat us really well for he could see that some great power was at work in us. He allowed us to have many visitors so that we could comfort each other. When the day of the games was close at hand, my father came to see me, worn out with anxiety. He began to tear the hairs from his beard and fling them to the ground; then he threw himself down, cursing his old age and saying things that would move any living being, causing me to grieve that he should be so unhappy in his old age.
10 On the day before we were due to face the wild beasts, I saw the following vision: Pomponius the deacon had come to the door of the prison and was knocking on it furiously. I went out and opened the door for him. He was wearing a loose white tunic and elaborate sandals. He said to me, ‘Perpetua, we have been waiting for you. Come on.’ He took me by the hand and we began to walk along uneven and winding paths. Finally, out of breath, we managed to reach the amphitheatre. He led me to the centre of the arena and said to me, ‘Do not be afraid. I am here with you and I will share your suffering.’ Then he went away and I saw a huge crowd of people looking on in amazement. And because I knew that I had been condemned to the beasts, I was surprised that they were not brought in to attack me.
Then an Egyptian, of terrifying appearance, came out with his assistants to fight me. Some good-looking young men also came out to join me, to give help and support. I was then stripped and I found I was a man. My supporters began to rub me down with oil, as is the practice before a contest. Then I saw the Egyptian on the other side rolling in the dust. Next a man came out who was so extraordinarily tall that he stood higher than the roof of the amphitheatre. He wore a loose robe of purple with two stripes across the chest, and sandals made of gold and silver. He carried a rod, like a gladiatorial trainer, and a green branch on which hung golden apples. He called for silence and said, ‘If the Egyptian beats this woman he will kill her with this sword, but if she beats him, she will receive this branch.’ Then he withdrew and we approached each other to begin the fight. The Egyptian tried to catch hold of my feet but I kept kicking him in the face. Then I was lifted up in the air and began to punch him without as it were touching the ground. When I saw him pause, I joined my hands together by intertwining my fingers and grabbed his head. He fell on his face and I trod on his head. The crowds began to shout and my supporters began to sing psalms. I went up to the gladiatorial trainer and he presented me with the branch. He kissed me and said, ‘My daughter, peace be with you.’ I began to walk triumphantly towards the Gate of Life. Then I woke up and realized that it was not beasts that I was going to fight against but the devil, though I also knew that I would win.
This was what I did until the day before the gladiatorial games. If anyone wants to write about what happened at the games, let him do so.
11 The blessed Saturus also told of his own vision and wrote it down himself, as follows. We had died and been stripped of our bodies and we began to be carried towards the east by four angels whose hands did not touch us. We were not being carried on our backs facing upwards but leaning forwards as if we were climbing a gentle hill. When we had got free from the world, we saw an immeasurably bright light, and I said to Perpetua (for she was at my side), ‘This is what the Lord promised us. We have received what he promised.’ And while we were being carried by those four angels, a huge space appeared before us, like a garden with rose trees and all kinds of flowers. The trees were as tall as cypresses and their leaves were falling without cease. There in the garden were four more angels, brighter than the others. When they saw us, they bowed down before us and said to the other angels in admiration, ‘Look, here they are!’ The four angels who were carrying us became frightened and put us down. Then we walked to the arena along a broad path and there we found Jocundus and Saturninus and Artaxius (who were burnt alive in the same persecution) and Quintus who had died as a martyr in prison. We asked them where they were. The other angels said to us, ‘Come here first; go in and greet the Lord.’
12 We came to a place with walls that looked as if they were built of light. In front of the door stood four angels who went in and put on white robes. Then we went in and heard a chorus of voices continuously chanting, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’ There we saw an old man seated, with snow-white hair. His face was youthful but we could not see his feet. On his left and on his right were four elderly men and behind them were several others. We went in, full of wonder, and stood in front of the throne. Then the angels lifted us up and we kissed the old man and he touched our faces with his hand. The other elderly men told us to go and play. I said to Perpetua, ‘You have got what you want.’ And she replied, ‘Thanks be to God! Although I was happy while alive, now I am even happier.’
13 We went out and in front of the doors we saw Bishop Optatus on the right and Aspasius the priest and teacher on the left. They were standing apart, looking miserable. They threw themselves at our feet and said, ‘Make peace between us for you are going away and leaving us.’ We said to them, ‘Are you not our bishop and you our priest? Why do you throw yourselves at our feet?’ And we moved forward to embrace them. Perpetua began to speak to them in Greek while we took them aside into the garden under a rose tree. While we were talking with them the angels said to us, ‘Let them rest. If you have any disagreement, sort it out among yourselves.’ They were upset and said to Optatus, ‘Tell these people off for coming to you as if they were on their way back from the races and were just having an argument about the different teams.’ It seemed to us that they wanted to shut the gates. We began to recognize many brothers there, including some martyrs. We all felt nourished by a wonderful fragrance that seemed to satisfy us. Then I woke up, feeling really happy.
14 These were the remarkable visions of those most blessed martyrs Saturus and Perpetua, which they themselves wrote down. As for Secundulus, by a special grace God called him out of this world earlier than the others while he was still in prison so that he would not have to face the beasts. Although his soul did not experience the sword, his body certainly did.
15 As for Felicitas, the Lord’s grace touched her too in the following way. When she was eight months pregnant (for she had been pregnant when she was arrested) and the day of the games was approaching, she became very upset at the thought that her martyrdom would be postponed because of her pregnancy (for it was against the law for pregnant women to be executed) and that she would have to shed her holy and innocent blood afterwards in the company of people who were common criminals. Her fellow martyrs were also very upset at the thought that they would have to leave such a good friend alone on the road to the same hope. And so a couple of days before the games they shared in her sorrow by saying a prayer to the Lord together. As soon as they had finished the prayer she went into labour. Since she was in great pain because of the natural difficulty of giving birth in the eighth month, one of the assistants of the prison guards said to her, ‘You are in great pain now but what will you do when you are up against the beasts? Did you not think of them when you refused to sacrifice?’ She replied, ‘Now it is I who suffer this, but there it will be someone else in me who will suffer for me, just as I will suffer for him.’ Then she gave birth to a girl whom one of her sisters brought up as her own daughter.
16 Since the Holy Spirit has allowed the events of the games to be recorded, and by allowing it has willed it, even if I am unworthy of adding anything to this glorious story, I shall still carry out the order, so to speak, or rather the commission of the most holy Perpetua, and I will add one more example of her perseverance and nobility of soul. At the time the tribune was treating them very harshly because, as the result of some information given by certain misguided people, he was afraid that they would be spirited away from prison by means of magic spells. So Perpetua said to his face, ‘Why do you not allow us to have a proper rest, seeing that we are the most valuable of the criminals, namely those belonging to the emperor, and we are to engage with the beasts at the games in celebration of his birthday? Or does it not redound to your credit if we are brought out on the day in a healthier condition?’ The tribune was disturbed and embarrassed by this. So he gave orders for them to be treated more humanely and gave permission for her brothers and other people to visit and eat with them. By now the junior officer in the prison was also a believer.
17 On the day before the games when they ate their last meal, usually known as the meal of freedom, they held instead a love feast.4 They called to the crowd with the same steadfastness, warning them of God’s judgement, firmly maintaining that they were happy to die, and were amused by the curiosity of those who had gathered to look at them. Saturus said, ‘Is tomorrow not soon enough for you? Why are you keen to look at something you hate? Our friends today will be our enemies tomorrow. But make a careful note of what we look like so you can recognize us on the day.’ Then the crowd dispersed in amazement and many of them began to believe.
18 The day of their victory dawned and they were led out of the prison into the amphitheatre, as cheerful as if they were on their way to heaven. Their looks were composed and if they trembled they did so out of excitement rather than fear. Perpetua proceeded calmly, her countenance radiant, like a wife of Christ, like the beloved of God. The intensity of her gaze forced everyone who looked at her to avert their eyes. Then came Felicitas who was relieved that she had safely given birth so that she could fight the beasts, going as it were from one bloody event to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, preparing to wash after childbirth in a second baptism. When they had been led in through the gates they were forced to put on robes – the men putting on those of the priests of Saturn and the women those of the virgins dedicated to Ceres. But Perpetua, that noble woman, continued to refuse to do so right to the end. For she said, ‘We came to this of our own free will, to prevent our freedom being violated. We agreed to hand over our lives to you, on condition that we would not have to do this: you agreed to this.’ Injustice recognized justice and the tribune gave in. They were led in just as they were. Perpetua was singing a psalm, already crushing the Egyptian’s head underfoot. Revocatus and Saturninus and Saturus began to threaten the crowd of onlookers. Then when they came within sight of Hilarianus, they began to communicate with him by gestures and nods: ‘You have condemned us, but God will condemn you.’ At this the people became enraged and demanded that they be whipped by a line of gladiators; but this just made them happy because they had managed to share something of the Lord’s sufferings.
19 But he who said, ‘Ask and you will receive’,5 granted them what they asked for by giving each what he wanted. For every time they had discussed their desire for martyrdom, Saturninus had claimed that he wanted to be thrown to all the wild beasts, so that he would win a prize of greater glory. And so when they were brought to the games, he and Revocatus were matched with a leopard, and then when they were on the platform they were attacked by a bear.
Saturus on the other hand hated the thought of a bear and claimed that his life would be ended by the single bite of a leopard. Then he was matched with a boar but the gladiator who had tied him to the boar was himself gored by the beast and died a few days after that contest, while Saturus was only dragged along. Then when he was bound on the platform for the bear to attack him, the bear refused to come out of its cage. As a result Saturus, unharmed, was called back a second time.
20 For the girls, however, the devil had prepared a very fierce heifer. This was an unusual animal but one that had been chosen as appropriate for their sex. So they were stripped and covered with nets and brought out. The crowd was shocked to see a pretty young girl and another young woman with breasts swollen with milk after recently giving birth. So they were called back and dressed in loose tunics. First, Perpetua was tossed by the heifer and fell on her back. Her tunic had been ripped along the side and when she sat up she pulled it down to cover her thigh, more concerned with her modesty than the pain. Then she asked for a pin to clip back her hair which had become dishevelled; for it was not right for a martyr to die with her hair in a mess, lest she should seem to be mourning in her hour of glory. She got up and when she saw that Felicitas had been dashed to the ground, she went up to her and held out her hand to help her up, and the two of them stood side by side. The crowd was now no longer keen to see them suffer and the two women were called back to the Gate of Life. There Perpetua was held up by a man called Rusticus, a candidate for baptism at the time, who was devoted to her. It was as if she had woken from sleep (in such ecstasy of spirit had she been) and she began to look round. Then to everyone’s amazement she said, ‘When are we going to be taken out to that heifer or whatever it is?’ When she heard what had happened, she did not believe it until she noticed some marks on her body and clothes, which proved that she had been roughly treated. Then she summoned her brother and that candidate for baptism and said to them, ‘Keep firm in the faith6 and love each other, all of you. Do not let the sufferings we have been through cause you to stumble.’
21 At another gate Saturus was speaking to the soldier called Pudens, saying, ‘It is exactly as I thought would happen and as I foretold: so far not a single wild beast has touched me. Now you must believe with all your heart: look, I am going in and one bite from the leopard will finish me off.’ As the contest was coming to a close, Saturus was thrown to a leopard, and after one bite he was so covered in blood that as he turned round, the crowd claimed this as evidence that he was being baptized for a second time. ‘A good way to wash! A good way to wash!’ they cried, and it certainly was. He said to the soldier Pudens, ‘Farewell. Do not forget your faith or me. Do not let these events upset you but rather inspire you.’ He asked Pudens for the ring off his finger, dipped it in the blood from his wound and gave it back to him, leaving it to him as a pledge and reminder of his bloodshed. Then he was thrown to the ground unconscious along with the others for his throat to be cut. But the crowd demanded that they be brought into the middle so that the people could feast their eyes, as guilty partners in murder, on the sight of the sword piercing their bodies. So the prisoners got to their feet of their own accord and moved to where the crowd wanted them to go, kissing each other first, for they wanted to complete their martyrdom with the ritual kiss of peace. The others stood motionless and accepted the sword wound in silence, especially Saturus who had been the first to climb the stairs and was the first to die for he was also supporting Perpetua. But Perpetua shouted out with joy as the sword pierced her, for she wanted to taste some of the pain and she even guided the hesitant hand of the trainee gladiator towards her own throat. It was as if such an extraordinary woman, feared as she was by the unclean spirit, could not have died in any other way except as she wished. You brave and blessed martyrs! Truly called and chosen to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! Anyone who glorifies and reveres and worships Christ’s glory should also read these examples for the edification of the church, for they are no less marvellous than those from the past. In this way recent examples of goodness can also serve to prove that the one Holy Spirit is always at work even now, together with God the omnipotent father and his son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is splendour and limitless power for ever and ever. Amen.