The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas

Scripture tells believers there will be persecution: “Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12 NRSVue). Jesus himself told his followers that there would be times of trouble (John 16:33). At times, persecution leads to martyrdom. Martyrdom is the act of willingly dying for one’s religious beliefs—a dramatic act and the pinnacle of a fully surrendered life. For Christians in every age, martyrdom is an act of faith. When a believer lays down their life for their hope in Christ, it forces the people around them to notice. Martyrdom is the greatest witness to the gospel of Christ and a calling in its own right.

Though Scripture mentions martyrs like Stephen and observes that women were among those persecuted (e.g., Acts 8:3), we are not told about any female Christian martyrs. The Bible may not feature their stories, but church history does. The present-day church would do well to learn from the women martyrs throughout history who were willing to use their lives and deaths as witnesses. Among these are the third-century martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas.

Ancient documents were rarely written from the female perspective. There are occasional letters—and also poetry—written by women, but a document regarding persecution and martyrdom from a woman would be a treasure amongst ancient prose. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is one such treasure. Stephanie Cobb considers that it “is among the best known and most beloved early Christian martyr texts.”¹ This story of faithfulness and courage in the face of persecution is an example to Christ-followers in every age.

Perpetua

It was the early third century in the major city of Carthage in North Africa. Septimius Severus, emperor of the Roman Empire (193-211 AD), decided that to create religious harmony among his people, all must acknowledge the deity Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.² Christians refused to follow this policy, causing Severus to make all conversions to Christianity illegal, hoping this would stop its rapid spread. Conversions could be punishable by death. But amidst the persecution, a young woman found faith.

The Latin version of The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas introduces five new converts: “Young catechumens were arrested: Revocatus and Felicitas, who was enslaved with him, Saturninus and Secundulus; among them also was Vibia Perpetua, of notable birth, well-brought-up, lawfully married.”³ Perpetua was a mother, still breastfeeding her son. Her father would beg multiple times for her to renounce her faith. In her first response, she used the analogy of a vase:

“Father,” I said, “Do you see, for the sake of an example, this vase lying there, or pitcher or whatever it is?”
He said: “I see it.”
I said to him: “Can it be called by another name than what it is?”
He said: “No.”
“So also I cannot call myself anything but what I am, a Christian.”⁴

Her resolute defiance of her father was incredible, but it would not be the last time he would try to convince her to save herself. Perpetua’s status as a woman did not support her religious choice. “Women were expected to worship the gods of their fathers and spouses, making the choice to become a Christian a high-risk decision if the men in the family were opposed.”⁵ Unsurprisingly, Perpetua’s father beat her for not putting aside her faith. Though a parent’s disapproval would be an especially heavy burden, Perpetua talked about being refreshed. What is more, the five converts were baptized a few days later.⁶

Life in the prison was hard. It was dark, hot, and crowded. The soldiers would extort the prisoners. Perpetua was concerned with the well-being of her child, whom she had not seen since her arrest. Two deacons, Tertius and Pomponius, interceded on behalf of the believers, getting them access to a better part of the prison for a few hours. There Perpetua was reunited with her son and was able to feed him. A few days later, her son was granted permission to stay with her in the prison. “In this manner, she appears as both a caretaker and protector of her infant.”⁷ Perpetua was in anguish for her family, saying, “I was languishing because I saw them languishing because of me.”⁸ But her brother, convinced of her faith, asked Perpetua to request a vision from God about her future, and she did.

Perpetua had three visions over the period of her stay in prison. All of them were vivid and prophetic. In the first vision, there was a bronze ladder reaching up to the sky. The ladder was narrow, allowing only one person to climb it at a time, and the sides were embedded with knives and swords. Under the ladder lay a dragon. Her friend, Saturninus, went up the ladder first, warning her of the dragon:

“Perpetua, I’m holding on for you; but be careful not to let that dragon bite you.”
And I said: “He won’t hurt me, in the name of Jesus Christ.”
And from underneath that ladder, as if he were afraid of me, he slowly stuck out his head; as if I were stepping on the first rung, I stepped on his head and I climbed up.⁹

When she reached the top of the ladder, there was a garden where she saw a man dressed as a shepherd and thousands of people in white. The man welcomed Perpetua and as the crowds said, “Amen,” she woke up. Perpetua told her brother of this vision, and they both believed it proved that suffering was imminent.

In her second dream, Perpetua saw her brother Dinocrates, who had passed away years before. His appearance was sickly: “The wound was on his face, which he had when he died.”¹⁰ She prayed on his behalf. They were separated from one another by a great distance, unable to approach each other. Suddenly, a pool of water appeared and Dinocrates tried to drink from it, but could not reach it. After this dream, Perpetua interceded for her brother, night and day. She later dreamed again of Dinocrates. This time he was healed from his illness, the wound now scarred over. The edge of the pool had been lowered, and now he could drink his fill. With this, Perpetua was confident that the Jesus who delivered her brother would be with her when she faced the beasts.

Her last vision occurred the night before the Christian converts were due to enter the arena. In her vision, a deacon, Pomponius, led her to the middle of the arena with the words: “Do not be afraid: I’m here with you and I’m struggling with you.”¹¹ An Egyptian was brought out to be her opponent. Perpetua found she was a man and was being rubbed with oil, as was customary before a fight. Another man entered, looming larger than the amphitheater and carrying a green branch with golden apples on it. He declared to the crowd: “This Egyptian, if he defeats her, will kill her with a sword; if she defeats him, she will receive this branch.”¹² The man left, and the fight began. The end of the vision is truly incredible:

And when I saw there was a lag, I joined my hands, so that fingers were linked with fingers, and I grabbed him by the head. He fell on his face, and I stepped on his head.
The people began to shout, and my supporters to sing praises. I went up to the gladiatorial trainer and I received the branch. He kissed me and said to me: “Daughter, peace be with you.” And I began to go with glory to the Gate of the Living.¹³

The three visions, vivid with detail, each prophetically points to her martyrdom.

Despite being young in faith, Perpetua stood her ground against her persecutors. The group of converts was brought before a crowd for a hearing. Here, she was repeatedly urged by her father and the procurator to retract her Christian faith by enacting a sacrifice for the health of the emperors.¹⁴ Perpetua looked the procurator in the face and declared herself a Christian. “Then he sentenced us and condemned us to the beasts; we went back down to the jail in good cheer.”¹⁵ Martyrdom was an honor for believers in the early church. It was not something that one chose for themselves but something that they believed God chose for them.¹⁶

Felicitas

The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas describes Felicitas as a slave and a catechumen. One of the arrested converts, she would have shared the circumstances of Perpetua and, like her, was baptized. She would have faced the same hearing and verdict. Her name appears in the text later when it is revealed that she was eight months pregnant upon her arrest.

As the day of the spectacle approached, she was in great distress that, because of her womb, she would have to wait (since it was not allowed for pregnant women to be displayed for punishment) and she would have to pour out her holy and innocent blood later among other criminals. But her fellow martyrs were deeply sad as well, that they would be leaving behind such a good ally as a lone companion on the same path of hope. So in a unified single groan they poured out a prayer to the Lord three days before the show.¹⁷

After the prayer ended, Felicitas went into labor. During the difficulty of childbirth, a jailor asked how she would handle the pain that the beasts in the arena would inflict. Felicitas responded: “Now I’m suffering what I suffer; but there another will be in me who suffers on my behalf, since I am going to suffer on his behalf.”¹⁸ Felicitas gave birth to a daughter, whom another believer raised. Both she and Perpetua were leaving behind infant children for the sake of the gospel.

Martyrdom

As onlookers gathered to view them—

They hurled words at the throng with the same steadfastness, warning them together about God’s judgment, testifying together to the happiness of their suffering, laughing at the noisiness of those crowding around, as Saturninus said: “Isn’t tomorrow enough for you? Why are you so willing to look at what you hate? Friends today, enemies tomorrow! Nevertheless, take a good long look at our faces so that you recognize us on that day!” Then everyone would scatter from there astonished, and many people from among them became believers.¹⁹

Martyrdom came in the next few days. The five believers were brought out into the arena, trembling with joy. Perpetua was calm. Felicitas rejoiced that she had given birth and could now fight the beasts with her family of catechumens. “But the one who said, ‘Ask and you shall receive’ [John 16:24], granted to those asking the end which each one desired.”²⁰ The two women faced their enemy together. Perpetua and Felicitas were stripped naked, clothed in nets, and thrown into the arena with a heifer, but the crowd was disturbed by the sight of the young women, and they were called back and changed into “unbelted outfits.”²¹ The heifer tossed the women around, and Perpetua, when her hair was falling down, took the time to pin it back up. “For it was not fitting for a martyr to suffer with disheveled hair, or she might seem to be mourning in her moment of glory.”²²

Eventually, the group was brought to the middle to die by the sword. Some of them received the sword with silence, but Perpetua shouted in triumph. What is more, “she herself brought the slipping hand of the inexperienced gladiator to her throat. Perhaps so great a woman could not otherwise be killed, who was feared by the unclean spirit, unless she wanted it.”²³

Significance

Perpetua and Felicitas are now commemorated as saints. They are celebrated for their faith and martyrdom on March 7 in Western traditions and February 1 in Eastern orthodoxy. Their likeness is shown in early Christian artwork—frescos, basilicas, and sarcophagi. They are mentioned in multiple works such as the Martyrs’ Burials of the Codex-Calendar of 354, the Syriac Martyrology, the Liber Genealogus, and The Martyrology of Jerome.²⁴ Sermons by Tertullian and Augustine of Hippo mention their martyrdom. Though it might seem strange to modern audiences, the sermons that Augustine preached on Perpetua and Felicitas were joyful. “On this day—observed on 7 March in North Africa—the church celebrated the day of the martyrs’ deaths as their births into eternal life.”²⁵

The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is significant because—as a prison diary—it provides an insider view of martyrdom in the early church from a female perspective. Not only were they two women, but one was pregnant and the other a breastfeeding mother. The depictions of what happened in that jail are notably feminine—Perpetua’s compassion for her family’s suffering, the pain of childbirth and sore breasts, the grace in death. They were mothers, daughters, and sisters.

Most importantly, they were children of God. While they were tortured and beaten, they remained dignified. They sincerely cared for the well-being of their children, having a maternal instinct and love for them that is noticeable throughout The Passion. They stared death in the face and did not tremble. They did not allow the cruelty of their jailors to intimidate them. Rather, it moved them to speak up. Instead of being angry at their circumstances, they were joyful. In an oppressively patriarchal society, their faith changed who they were—the weak became strong, the scared became brave, the obedient became disobedient. The wealthy young mother and the pregnant slave turned the tables.

Today, Christians in many parts of the world do not face death threats for their faith in Jesus. It would be insensitive to compare any simple mockery that faith invites to the real danger that Christians in many parts of the world face for theirs. Though many Christians will not have to face martyrdom, others are called to give their lives as witnesses.

As an example, American missionary couple Warren and Donna Pett left their family behind in 1997 and flew to Africa, where they eventually taught agriculture in a Ugandan school. They worked in the Yumbe district, which is largely Muslim. Though the environment became increasingly hostile, their son Saul recalls, “They felt so calm and felt so assured by the way it all came together that they didn’t concern themselves with it because they felt that was where they were supposed to be.”²⁶ On March 18, 2004, Warren and Donna were killed by masked gunmen.

Martyrdom is intimidating. Though Jesus has defeated death, it is natural to fear it. We want death on our own terms, in our own time. Surrendering to Christ means releasing this control. Martyrdom is a calling not only for the brave but for the humble, those whose reliance is entirely on God. Acts 7:55–56 comes to mind: “But filled with the Holy Spirit, he [Stephen] gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’” (NRSVue). In the face of death, Stephen encountered Christ. He serves as an example of how Christians are to respond to martyrdom.

Conclusion

And so it happened that “in the early third century, the Romans executed the catechumens Perpetua and Felicitas in North Africa in ceremonies to honor Geta’s birthday, the younger son of Emperor Septimius Severus.”²⁷ To some, The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is a tragedy. Two young women were killed mercilessly, and for what? Religion? But to believers, The Passion is a part of our Christian history. It is a story of faithfulness in the most unimaginable circumstances. And uniquely, it is a story of women’s faithfulness from the women themselves.

Notes

1. L. Stephanie Cobb, The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas in Late Antiquity (University of California Press, 2021).
2. Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity (HarperOne, 2010) 97.
3. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 23.
4. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 23–25.
5. Holly Beers, “Women in the Early Church,” BAR 46/3 (Dec 31, 2020) 66–67.
6. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 25.
7. Jackson Lashier, “Perpetua and the Meaning of Christian Identity,” WesTJ (Dec 31, 2019) 5.
8. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 25.
9. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 27.
10. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 29.
11. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 31.
12. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 31.
13. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 31.
14. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 27.
15. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 29.
16. Gonzalez, Story of Christianity, 55.
17. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 35.
18. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 35.
19. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 35–37.
20. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 37.
21. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 37.
22. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 39.
23. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 39.
24. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 263–333.
25. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 103.
26. “American Missionary Couple Martyred in Uganda,” Voice of the Martyrs (June 9, 2023).
27. Cobb, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, 1.