Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity

At the encouragement of her brother, Perpetua asks for and receives a vision, in which she climbs a dangerous ladder to which various weapons are attached (iv).

Saturus, who is also said to have recorded his own vision, sees himself and Perpetua transported eastward by four angels to a beautiful garden, where they meet Jocundus, Saturninus, Artaxius, and Quintus, four other Christians who are burnt alive during the same persecution (xi–xii).

The slave Felicitas gives birth to a daughter despite her initial concern that she would not be permitted to suffer martyrdom with the others, since the law forbade the execution of pregnant women (xv).

At the demand of the crowd they were first scourged before a line of gladiators; then a boar, a bear, and a leopard were set on the men, and a wild cow on the women (xix).

[9] Many scholars have examined the male modification and transmission of a female martyrdom story that challenged power dynamics and gender hierarchies within the organized church.

Brent Shaw argues that the editor of the story rewrites Perpetua's experience in such a way that affirms the technical value of her martyrdom while simultaneously presenting her actions as unnatural.

Others argue that Felicity may have been the initial source for the dream, an attribution changed by the editor in order to circumvent the problematic implications of a female slave who can receive visions.

[14] In the text, Perpetua's relationship with her father is the most prominently featured of all her familial ties, and she directly interacts with him four times (iii, v, vi, and ix).

[17] Perpetua and Felicity also defer their roles as mothers to remain loyal to Christ, leaving behind young children at the time of their death.

[20] Perpetua's execution alongside slaves demonstrated Christianity's ability to transcend social distinctions, in contrast to the inequality that pervaded Roman religion and society.

[21] As Perpetua and Felicity were equal in martyrdom despite differences in class, they made the dramatic statement that Christianity transcended social structure.

The movement was founded by Montanus; a recent convert to Christianity, said by early church father Saint Jerome to have been previously a priest of Cybele,[25] who had shared his ideas with followers.

[27] Further evidence for Montanism is that Perpetua and Felicity may have separated themselves from their partners in accordance with Montanist teachings, which allowed and sometimes even encouraged women to leave non-Christian husbands in favor of celibate lives devoted to preaching the Gospel.

Timothy David Barnes, in his Tertullian: An Historical and Literal Study (1973, Oxford University Press), initially defended the Montanist tone of the "Passion" as well as of the martyrs themselves.

Augustine addresses his treatise On the soul and its origin to a certain monk Renatus who used this account to bolster his claim that unbaptized infants could attain paradise, if not the kingdom of heaven.

[32] The once-flowering rambling rose "Félicité et Perpétue" (R. sempervirens x 'Old Blush'[33]) with palest pinks buds opening nearly white, was introduced by Robert Jacques[34] in 1828.

National Geographic documentary entitled Jesus Rise to Power featured the story of Perpetua in its 2nd episode (Martyrs) which was aired in 2013.

[36][37][38] BBC's documentary series and book[39] Andrew Marr's History of the World recreates the death of Perpetua in Episode 3.