Preface – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6
The Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas is an early Christian martyrdom text recounting the imprisonment and execution of Perpetua, a young noblewoman, and Felicitas, a pregnant slave, along with others in Carthage. Written partly by Perpetua herself, it details their arrest in AD 203 during Emperor Septimius Severus’ persecution of Christians. Refusing to renounce their faith, they faced trials, imprisonment, and eventual death in the arena, mauled by wild beasts and executed by sword. This account offers a vivid firsthand narrative of early Christian courage and steadfastness amid Roman persecution.
If ancient illustrations of faith which both testify to God’s grace and tend to man’s edification are collected in writing, so that by the scrutiny of them, as if by the reproduction of the facts, as well God may be honored, as man may be strengthened; why should new instances not also be collected, that will be equally suitable for both purposes—if only on the ground that these modern examples will one day become ancient and available for posterity, although in their present time they are considered of less authority, by reason of the presumed veneration of antiquity? But let men look into it, if they judge the power of the Holy Spirit to be one, according to the times and seasons; since some things of later date must be regarded of more account as being nearer to the very last times, in accordance with the abundance of grace manifested in the final periods determined for the world. For “in the last days, says the Lord, || I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh, || And their sons and their daughters will prophesy. And on My servants and My handmaidens I will pour out My Spirit, || And your young men will see visions, || And your old men will dream dreams.” And thus we—who both acknowledge and revere modern visions as equally promised to us, even as we do the [ancient] prophecies, and consider the other powers of the Holy Spirit as an agency of the Assembly for which He was also sent, administering all gifts in all, even as the Lord distributed to everyone as well—necessarily collect them in writing and commemorate them in reading to God’s glory, so that no weakness or despondency of faith may suppose that the divine grace dwelt only among the ancients, whether in respect of the humility that raised up martyrs, or that gave revelations; since God always carries into effect what He has promised, for a testimony to unbelievers, to believers for a benefit. And we therefore, what we have heard and handled, declare also to you, brothers and little children, so that just as you who were concerned in these matters [directly] may be reminded of them again to the glory of the Lord, so too you who know them by report may have communion with the blessed martyrs, and through them with the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honor, forever and ever. Amen.
1. The young catechumens, Revocatus and his fellow-servant Felicitas, Saturninus and Secundulus, were apprehended. And among them was also Vivia Perpetua, respectably born, liberally educated, a married matron, having a father, and mother, and two brothers (one of whom, like herself, was a catechumen), and a son, an infant at the breast. She herself was about twenty-two years of age. From this point onward she will herself narrate the whole course of her martyrdom, as she left it described by her own hand and with her own mind.
2. “While,” she says, “we were still with the persecutors, and my father, for the sake of his affection for me, was persisting in seeking to turn me away, and to cast me down from the faith—Father, I said, do you see, let us say, this vessel lying here to be a little pitcher, or something else? And he said, I see it to be so. And I replied to him, Can it be called by any other name than what it is? And he said, No. Neither can I call myself anything other than what I am: a Christian. Then my father, provoked at this saying, threw himself on me, as if he would tear my eyes out. But he only distressed me and went away overcome by the Devil’s arguments. Then, in a few days after I had been without my father, I gave thanks to the Lord; and his absence became a source of consolation to me. In that same interval of a few days, we were immersed, and to me the Spirit prescribed that in the water of immersion nothing else was to be sought for bodily endurance. After a few days, we are taken into the dungeon, and I was very greatly afraid, because I had never felt such darkness. O terrible day! O the fierce heat of the shock of the soldiers, because of the crowds! I was very unusually distressed by my anxiety for my infant. Tertius and Pomponius were present there, the blessed ministers who ministered to us, and had arranged by means of a gratuity that we might be refreshed by being sent out for a few hours into a more pleasant part of the prison. Then, going out of the dungeon, everyone attended to their own needs. I suckled my child, which was now weakened with hunger. In my anxiety for it, I addressed my mother, and comforted my brother, and commended my son to their care. I was languishing because I had seen them languishing on my account. I suffered such concern for many days, and I obtained for my infant to remain in the dungeon with me; and immediately I grew strong and was relieved from distress and anxiety concerning my infant; and the dungeon became to me as it were a palace, so that I preferred being there to being elsewhere.
3. Then my brother said to me, My dear sister, you are already in a position of great dignity, and are such that you may ask for a vision, and that it may be made known to you whether this is to result in a passion or an escape. And I, who knew that I was privileged to converse with the Lord, whose kindnesses I had found to be so great, boldly promised him, and said, I will tell you tomorrow. And I asked, and this was what was shown to me: I saw a golden ladder of marvelous height, reaching up even to the sky, and very narrow, so that persons could only ascend it one by one; and on the sides of the ladder was fixed every kind of iron weapon. There were swords, lances, hooks, [and] daggers, so that if anyone went up carelessly, or not looking upward, he would be torn to pieces, and his flesh would cleave to the iron weapons. And under the ladder itself was crouching a dragon of gigantic proportions, who lay in wait for those who ascended, and frightened them from the ascent. And Saturus went up first, who had subsequently delivered himself up freely on our account, not having been present at the time that we were taken prisoner. And he attained the top of the ladder, and turned toward me, and said to me, Perpetua, I am waiting for you; but be careful that the dragon does not bite you. And I said, In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will not hurt me. And from under the ladder itself, as if in fear of me, he slowly lifted up his head; and as I stepped on the first step, I stepped on his head. And I went up, and I saw an immense extent of garden, and in the midst of the garden a white-haired Man sitting in the dress of a shepherd, of large stature, milking sheep; and standing around were many thousand white-robed ones. And He raised His head, and looked on me, and said to me, You are welcome, daughter. And He called me, and from the cheese as He was milking, He gave me, as it were, a little cake, and I received it with folded hands; and I ate it, and all who stood around said, Amen. And at the sound of their voices, I was awakened, still tasting a sweetness which I cannot describe. And I immediately related this to my brother, and we understood that it was to be a passion, and we ceased from then on to have any hope in this world.”
1. “After a few days, a report prevailed that we should be heard. And then my father came to me from the city, worn out with anxiety. He came up to me, so that he might cast me down, saying, Have pity, my daughter, on my grey hairs. Have pity on your father—if I am worthy to be called a father by you. If with these hands I have brought you up to this flower of your age, if I have preferred you to all your brothers, do not deliver me up to the scorn of men. Have regard for your brothers; have regard for your mother and your aunt; have regard for your son, who will not be able to live after you. Lay aside your courage, and do not bring us all to destruction; for none of us will speak in freedom if you should suffer anything. My father said these things in his affection, kissing my hands and throwing himself at my feet; and with tears, he called me not Daughter, but Lady. And I grieved over the grey hairs of my father, that he alone of all my family would not rejoice over my passion. And I comforted him, saying, On that scaffold, whatever God wills will happen. Therefore, know that we are not placed in our own power, but in that of God. And he departed from me in sorrow.
2. Another day, while we were at dinner, we were suddenly taken away to be heard, and we arrived at the town-hall. At once the rumor spread through the neighborhood of the public place, and an immense number of people were gathered together. We ascend the platform. The rest were interrogated and confessed. Then they came to me, and my father immediately appeared with my boy, and withdrew me from the step, and said in a supplicating tone, Have pity on your baby. And Hilarianus the procurator, who had just received the power of life and death in the place of the proconsul Minucius Timinianus, who was deceased, said, Spare the grey hairs of your father, spare the infancy of your boy, offer sacrifice for the wellbeing of the emperors. And I replied, I will not do so. Hilarianus said, Are you a Christian? And I replied, I am a Christian. And as my father stood there to cast me down from the faith, he was ordered by Hilarianus to be thrown down, and he was beaten with rods. And my father’s misfortune grieved me as if I myself had been beaten; I was so grieved for his miserable old age. The procurator then delivers judgment on all of us, and condemns us to the wild beasts, and we went down cheerfully to the dungeon. Then, because my child had been accustomed to be suckled by me, and to stay with me in the prison, I send Pomponius the minister to my father to ask for the infant, but my father would not give it to him. And even as God willed it, the child no longer desired the breast, nor did my breast cause me uneasiness, lest I should be tormented by care for my baby and by the pain of my breasts at once.
3. After a few days, while we were all praying, suddenly, in the middle of our prayer, a word came to me, and I named Dinocrates; and I was amazed that that name had never come into my mind until then, and I was grieved as I remembered his misfortune. And I immediately felt myself to be worthy, and to be called on to ask on his behalf. And I earnestly began to make supplication for him, and to cry with groaning to the Lord. Without delay, on that very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where there were also several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pale color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease—his face being so eaten out with cancer, that his death caused revulsion to all men. I had made my prayer for him, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach the other. And moreover, in the same place where Dinocrates was, there was a pool full of water, having its edge higher than the stature of the boy; and Dinocrates raised himself up as if to drink. And I was grieved that, although that pool held water, still, on account of the height to its edge, he could not drink. And I was aroused and knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then was the birthday of Geta Caesar, and I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me.
4. Then, on the day on which we remained in chains, this was shown to me: I saw that that place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean, well-clothed body, was finding refreshment. And where there had been a wound, I saw a scar; and that pool which I had seen before, I now saw with its margin lowered even to the boy’s navel. And someone drew water from the pool incessantly, and on its edge was a goblet filled with water; and Dinocrates drew near and began to drink from it, and the goblet did not fail. And when he was satisfied, he went away from the water to play joyfully, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment.”
1. “Again, after a few days, Pudens, a soldier, an assistant overseer of the prison, who began to hold us in high esteem, perceiving that the great power of God was in us, admitted many brothers to see us, so that both we and they might be mutually refreshed. And when the day of the exhibition drew near, my father, worn with suffering, came in to me, and began to tear out his beard, and to throw himself on the earth, and to cast himself down on his face, and to reproach his years, and to utter such words as might move all creation. I grieved for his unhappy old age.
2. The day before that on which we were to fight, I saw in a vision that the minister Pomponius came here to the gate of the prison and knocked forcefully. I went out to him and opened the gate for him; and he was clothed in a richly ornamented white robe, and he had on manifold calliculae. And he said to me, Perpetua, we are waiting for you; come! And he held his hand to me, and we began to go through rough and winding places. We had barely arrived breathless at the amphitheater, when he led me into the middle of the arena and said to me, Do not fear, I am here with you, and I am laboring with you; and he departed. And I gazed on an immense assembly in astonishment. And because I knew that I was given to the wild beasts, I marveled that the wild beasts were not let loose on me. Then a certain Egyptian came forth against me, horrible in appearance, with his backers, to fight with me. And there came to me, as my helpers and encouragers, handsome youths; and I was stripped and became [like] a man [for battle]. Then my helpers began to rub me with oil, as is the custom for contest; and I beheld that Egyptian on the other hand rolling in the dust. And a certain man came forth, of wondrous height, so that he even exceeded the top of the amphitheater; and he wore a loose tunic and a purple robe between two bands over the middle of the breast; and he had on calliculae of varied form, made of gold and silver; and he carried a rod, as if he were a trainer of gladiators, and a green branch on which were apples of gold. And he called for silence, and said, This Egyptian, if he should overcome this woman, will kill her with the sword; and if she will conquer him, she will receive this branch. Then he departed. And we drew near to one another and began to deal out blows. He sought to lay hold of my feet, while I struck at his face with my heels; and I was lifted up in the air and began thus to thrust at him as if spurning the earth. But when I saw that there was some delay, I joined my hands so as to intertwine my fingers with one another; and I took hold on his head, and he fell on his face, and I stomped on his head. And the people began to shout, and my backers to exult. And I drew near to the trainer and took the branch; and he kissed me, and said to me, Daughter, peace be with you: and I began to go gloriously to the Sanavivarian Gate. Then I awoke and perceived that I was not to fight with beasts, but against the Devil. Still, I knew that the victory was awaiting me.” This, so far, I have completed several days before the exhibition; but what passed at the exhibition itself, let who will write.
1. Moreover, the blessed Saturus also related his vision, which he himself committed to writing: “We had suffered,” he says, “and we had gone forth from the flesh, and we were beginning to be carried by four messengers into the east; and their hands did not touch us. And we did not float supine, looking upward, but as if ascending a gentle slope. And being set free, we finally saw the first boundless light; and I said, Perpetua (for she was at my side), this is what the Lord promised to us; we have received the promise. And while we are carried by those same four messengers, there appears to us a vast space which was like a pleasure-garden, having rose-trees and every kind of flower. And the height of the trees was after the measure of a cypress, and their leaves were falling incessantly. Moreover, there in the pleasure-garden four other messengers appeared, brighter than the previous ones, who, when they saw us, gave us honor and said to the rest of the messengers, Here they are! Here they are! with admiration. And those four messengers who carried us, being greatly afraid, put us down; and we passed over on foot, the space of a stadium in a broad path. There we found Jocundus, and Saturninus, and Artaxius, who having suffered the same persecution, were burnt alive; and Quintus, who was also a martyr himself, had departed in the prison. And we asked them where the rest were. And the messengers said to us, Come first, enter and greet your Lord.
2. And we came near to a place, the walls of which were such as if they were built of light; and before the gate of that place stood four messengers, who clothed those who entered with white robes. And being clothed, we entered and saw the boundless light and heard the united voice of some who said without ceasing, Holy, Holy, Holy! And in the midst of that place we saw, as it were, a silvery man sitting, having snow-white hair, and with a youthful appearance; and we did not see His feet. And on His right hand and on His left were twenty-four elders, and behind them a great many others were standing. We entered with great wonder and stood before the throne; and the four messengers raised us up, and we kissed Him, and He passed His hand over our face. And the rest of the elders said to us, Let us stand; and we stood and made peace. And the elders said to us, Go and play. And I said, Perpetua, you have what you wish. And she said to me, Thanks be to God, that joyous as I was in the flesh, I am now more joyous here.
3. And we went forth and saw before the entrance Optatus the overseer at the right hand, and Aspasius the elder, a teacher, at the left hand, separate and sad; and they cast themselves at our feet and said to us, Restore peace between us, because you have gone forth and have left us this way. And we said to them, Are you not our father, and you our elder, that you should throw yourselves at our feet? And we prostrated ourselves, and we embraced them; and Perpetua began to speak with them, and we drew them apart in the pleasure-garden under a rose-tree. And while we were speaking with them, the messengers said to them, Leave them alone, so that they may refresh themselves; and if you have any dissensions between you, forgive one another. And they drove them away. And they said to Optatus, Rebuke your people, because they assemble to you as if returning from the circus, and contending about sectarian matters. And then it seemed to us as if they would shut the doors. And in that place, we began to recognize many brothers, and moreover martyrs. We were all nourished with an indescribable aroma, which satisfied us. Then, I awoke joyfully.”
1. The above were the more eminent visions of the blessed martyrs Saturus and Perpetua themselves, which they themselves committed to writing. But God called Secundulus, while he was still in the prison, by an earlier exit from the world, not without favor, so as to give relief to the beasts. Nevertheless, even if his soul did not acknowledge a cause for thankfulness, assuredly his flesh did.
2. But respecting Felicitas (for to her also the Lord’s favor approached in the same way), when she had already gone eight months with child (for she had been pregnant when she was apprehended), as the day of the exhibition was drawing near, she was in great grief lest on account of her pregnancy she should be delayed—because pregnant women are not allowed to be publicly punished—and lest she should shed her sacred and guiltless blood among some who had been subsequently wicked. Moreover, her fellow martyrs were also painfully saddened lest they should leave such an excellent friend, and as it were companion, alone in the path of the same hope. Therefore, joining together their united cry, they poured forth their prayer to the Lord [for] three days before the exhibition. Immediately after their prayer her pains came on her, and when, with the difficulty natural to an eight months’ delivery, in the labor of bringing forth, she was sorrowing, someone of the servants of the Cataractarii said to her, “You who are in such suffering now, what will you do when you are thrown to the beasts, which you despised when you refused to sacrifice?” And she replied, “It is now that I suffer what I suffer; but then there will be Another in me, who will suffer for me, because I am also about to suffer for Him.” Thus, she brought forth a little girl, which a certain sister brought up as her daughter.
3. Since then the Holy Spirit permitted, and by permitting willed, that the proceedings of that exhibition should be committed to writing, although we are unworthy to complete the description of such great glory; yet we obey, as it were, the command of the most blessed Perpetua, indeed, her sacred trust, and add one more testimony concerning her faithfulness and her loftiness of mind. While they were treated with more severity by the tribune, because, from the insinuations of certain deceitful men, he feared lest they should be withdrawn from the prison by some sort of magic incantations, Perpetua answered to his face and said, “Why do you not at least permit us to be refreshed, being as we are objectionable to the most noble Caesar, and having to fight on his birthday? Or is it not your glory if we are brought forward fatter on that occasion?” The tribune shuddered and blushed, and commanded that they should be kept with more humanity, so that permission was given to their brothers and others to go in and be refreshed with them—even the keeper of the prison now trusting them himself.
4. Moreover, on the day before, when in that last meal, which they call the free meal, they were partaking as much as they could—not of a free supper, but of a love [feast]—with the same firmness they were uttering such words as these to the people, denouncing against them the judgment of the Lord, bearing witness to the joy of their passion, laughing at the curiosity of the people who came together; while Saturus said, “Tomorrow is not enough for you, for you to behold with pleasure that which you hate. Friends today, enemies tomorrow. Yet note our faces diligently, so that you may recognize them on the Day of Judgment.” Thus, everyone departed from there astonished, and from these things many believed.
1. The day of their victory shone forth, and they proceeded from the prison into the amphitheater, as if to an assembly, joyful and of brilliant countenances; if perhaps shrinking, it was with joy, and not with fear. Perpetua followed with placid look, and with step and gait as a matron of Christ, beloved of God; casting down the luster of her eyes from the gaze of all. Moreover, Felicitas, rejoicing that she had safely brought forth, so that she might fight with the wild beasts; from the blood and from the midwife to the gladiator, to wash after childbirth with a second immersion. And when they were brought to the gate and were constrained to put on the clothing—the men, that of the priests of Saturn, and the women, that of those who were consecrated to Ceres—that noble-minded woman resisted even to the end with endurance. For she said, “We have come this far of our own accord, for this reason, that our liberty might not be restrained. For this reason, we have yielded our minds, so that we might not do any such thing as this: we have agreed on this with you.” Injustice acknowledged the justice; the tribune yielded to their being brought as simply as they were. Perpetua sang psalms, already treading underfoot the head of the Egyptian; Revocatus, and Saturninus, and Saturus uttered threats against the gazing people surrounding this martyrdom. When they came within sight of Hilarianus, by gesture and nod, they began to say to Hilarianus, “You judge us,” they say, “but God will judge you.” At this, the people, exasperated, demanded that they should be tormented with scourges as they passed along the rank of the venatores. And they indeed rejoiced that they should have incurred any one of their Lord’s passions.
2. But He who had said, “Ask, and you will receive,” gave to them when they asked, that death which each one had wished for. For when at any time they had been discoursing among themselves about their wish in respect of their martyrdom, Saturninus indeed had professed that he wished that he might be thrown to all the beasts; doubtless that he might wear a more glorious crown. Therefore, in the beginning of the exhibition he and Revocatus made trial of the leopard, and moreover on the scaffold they were harassed by the bear. Saturus, however, held nothing in greater abomination than a bear; but he imagined that he would be ended with one bite from a leopard. Therefore, when a wild boar was supplied, it was rather the huntsman who had supplied that boar who was gored by that same beast and died the day after the shows. Saturus was only drawn out; and when he had been bound on the floor near to a bear, the bear would not come forth from his den. And so Saturus for the second time is recalled unharmed.
3. Moreover, the Devil prepared a very fierce cow for the young women, provided especially for that purpose contrary to custom, also mocking their sex in that of the beasts. And so, stripped and clothed with nets, they were led forth. The populace shuddered as they saw one young woman of delicate frame, and another with breasts still dropping from her recent childbirth. So, being recalled, they are unbound. Perpetua is first led in. She was tossed and fell on her loins; and when she saw her tunic torn from her side, she drew it over her as a veil for her middle, rather mindful of her modesty than her suffering. Then she was called for again and bound up her disheveled hair; for it was not appropriate for a martyr to suffer with disheveled hair, lest she should appear to be mourning in her glory. So she rose up; and when she saw Felicitas crushed, she approached, and gave her her hand, and lifted her up. And both of them stood together; and the brutality of the populace being appeased, they were recalled to the Sanavivarian Gate. Then Perpetua was received by a certain one who was still a catechumen, Rusticus by name, who kept close to her; and she, as if aroused from sleep, so deeply had she been in the Spirit and in an ecstasy, began to look around her, and to say to the amazement of all, “I cannot tell when we are to be led out to that cow.” And when she had heard what had already happened, she did not believe it until she had perceived certain signs of injury in her body and in her dress, and had recognized the catechumen. Afterward, causing that catechumen and the brother to approach, she addressed them, saying, “Stand firm in the faith, and love one another, all of you, and do not be offended at my sufferings.”
4. The same Saturus at the other entrance exhorted the soldier Pudens, saying, “Assuredly I am here, just as I have promised and foretold, for up to this moment I have felt no beast. And now believe with your whole heart. Behold, I am going forth to that beast, and I will be destroyed with one bite of the leopard.” And immediately, at the conclusion of the exhibition, he was thrown to the leopard; and with one bite of his he was bathed with such a quantity of blood, that the people shouted out to him as he was returning, the testimony of his second immersion, “Saved and washed! Saved and washed!” Clearly, he who had been glorified in such a spectacle was most certainly saved. Then to the soldier Pudens he said, “Farewell, and be mindful of my faith; and do not let these things disturb, but confirm you.” And at the same time, he asked for a little ring from his finger and returned it to him bathed in his wound, leaving to him an inherited token and the memory of his blood. And then lifeless, he is cast down with the rest, to be slaughtered in the usual place. And when the populace called for them into the midst, that as the sword penetrated into their body, they might make their eyes partners in the murder, they rose up of their own accord and transferred themselves where the people wished; but they first kissed one another, so that they might consummate their martyrdom with the kiss of peace. The rest indeed, immoveable and silent, received the sword-thrust; much more Saturus, who also had first ascended the ladder, and first gave up his spirit, for he was also waiting for Perpetua. But Perpetua, so that she might taste some pain, being pierced between the ribs, cried out loudly, and she herself placed the wavering right hand of the youthful gladiator to her throat. Possibly such a woman could not have been slain unless she herself had willed it, because she was feared by the impure spirit. O most brave and blessed martyrs! O truly called and chosen to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! Whom whoever magnifies, and honors, and adores, assuredly ought to read these examples for the edification of the Assembly, not less than the ancient ones, so that new virtues may also testify that one and the same Holy Spirit is always operating even until now, and God the Father Almighty, and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, whose is the glory and infinite power forever and ever. Amen.