The young Roman woman Vibia Perpetua, in her very brief life (she dies at about age twenty-one), embodied many of the strong currents of social change that were pressing on the Roman social order at the end of the second and the beginning of the third century. Along with a female companion of hers named Felicitas - perhaps a slave or servant in Perpetua's household - Perpetua had converted to the new religion of Christianity. Perpetua was from a reasonably well-off family that came from a Roman town located not far from Carthage, the provincial capital city of the Roman province of Africa (in modern-day Tunisia). Because of her steadfast adherence to her new faith, Perpetua was charged with the crime of 'being Christian' and was condemned to death 'against the wild beasts' in the great Roman amphitheater at Carthage. Both Perpetua and Felicitas were executed in the arena in March of the year A.D. 202, in the reign of great Roman emperor Septimius Severus who was also an African. He came from the city of Lepcis Magna, a wealthy Roman city some distance to the east of Carthage in what is today Libya.

The document that you will read was originally written in Latin soon after Perpetua's death. It includes, however, a long passage of continuous prose written by Perpetua herself while she was awaiting death in the prison at Carthage - in effect, part of her prison diary. It is one of the very few reasonably lengthy pieces of narrative prose composed by the hand of a woman that survives from the whole period of the Roman empire.

Questions: What conflicts are there between traditional Roman social and political order and Perpetua, and her ideals and behavior? Consider the conflict between her and figures of authority like her father, of how she views marriage and family, and of her views of things that were valued highly in Roman society. On the other hand, in what ways does she remain quite Roman, despite the adherence to her new Christian faith? How does the fact that she is a woman affect the nature of the account that she has left us?

Copyright 1998-2001, Prof. Brent D. Shaw.