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 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/actsofmartyrdomoOOharr 
 
THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 OF 
 
 PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
2JLont»on : C. J. CLAY and SONS, 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 AYE MARIA LANE. 
 
 eramlmtige: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. 
 ILetpjtg: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
 
THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 OF 
 
 PERPETUA AND FELICITAS; 
 
 THE ORIGINAL GREEK TEXT 
 
 NOW FIRST EDITED FROM A MS. IN THE LIBRARY 
 OF THE CONVENT OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 
 AT JERUSALEM 
 
 BY 
 
 J. RENDEL HARRIS, 
 
 FORMERLY FELLOW OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 AND NOW PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE IN 
 HAYERFORD COLLEGE. 
 
 AND 
 
 SETH K. GIFFORD, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN HAYERFORD COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 C. J. CLAY AND SONS, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE. 
 
 1890 
 
Camforitrge : 
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
t 
 
 
'M, 1 %‘W$*> l^jp* , 
 
 R : \ ’ ■■■■■ •' " . , , 
 
 Mosaic of Felicitas in the Archbishop’s Palace, Ravenna. 
 
 Copied from the original by Edward Backhoui 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A new version of the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas. 
 
 In the following pages the reader is presented with what we 
 believe to be the original Greek text of the celebrated Acts of the 
 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, the most beautiful as well 
 as the most undisputed of all the early Christian martyr-records. 
 These Acts have long been current in a Latin dress, but their 
 language was often so obscure that it was not easy to extract 
 a satisfactory meaning from the text, and there were many 
 transliterated Greek words in their pages which must have 
 seemed to scholars as not sufficiently accounted for by the fact 
 that North Africa at the end of the second century was bilingual, 
 or rather trilingual, and that of the languages spoken and written 
 the Greek was perhaps as much the accepted speech as either the 
 Latin or the Punic. Hence the suggestion became thrown out that 
 the published Acts were probably, either wholly or in part, a 
 translation from some lost Greek document. Such a document 
 is now published, as copied by one of the editors from a volume 
 of Lives of the Saints in the library of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. 
 We shall discuss presently the evidence and give the arguments 
 for believing that all existing Latin copies of the Acts are 
 derived from this. At present it is sufficient to say that whether 
 the Greek version be the primary or secondary fountain of the 
 text, it is of such value for the understanding of it and for the 
 clearing of its obscurities, that the welcome which it will meet 
 from Patristic scholars will be sure to outweigh any blame that 
 may attach to our unworthy presentation of it. 
 
 li. 
 
 1 
 
9 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 Of the Martyrs of Thuburho. 
 
 Few Christians read the story of the martyrdom of Perpetua 
 and her companions, or the almost contemporary story of the 
 martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, without entering into sympathy 
 with the exaltation of spirit which characterises these narratives, 
 and which makes our writer break out into the concluding words 
 “ 0 most brave and blessed martyrs ! O truly called and elected to 
 the glory of Christ !” As the faithful, and yet not unartistic 
 editor of the Acts pourtrays the glorious history of their struggle, 
 the martyrs’ faith, even after the lapse of nearly seventeen 
 centuries, is still potent to reproduce in those that have ears to 
 hear (and what Christian has not ears to hear such a story !) a 
 longing after the constancy and the courage of earlier days. As 
 we watch them ascend their brazen ladder, bristling on either 
 side with sword points, into Paradise, they seem to turn, as 
 Perpetua in her vision saw Saturus turn who had preceded her 
 in the ascent, and say as he said, “We wait for thee.” Their 
 farewell is an endless welcome to later Christians. Something of 
 the spikenard and balm and frankincense whose sweetness they 
 breathe drops into our atmosphere, to make their memories always 
 to be to the Church an acceptable savour of God in Jesus Christ. 
 It is proper and right, therefore, to make the study of these 
 recovered Greek Acts serve for our own emending as well as for 
 that of the Latin text. And if as we read the record of Perpetua’s 
 more than manly wrestlings, we find ourselves rather to be in the 
 place of the spectators than in the arena with the saints ; in the 
 historical succession of observation and criticism only, and not in 
 the sequence of suffering with them for Christ in our day and 
 generation, those brave eyes and that cloudless brow may well 
 render us abashed with something of the shame wherewith she 
 struck the spectators in the amphitheatre at Carthage. Thus she 
 being dead may speak to us yet in exhortation or unto edification 
 and comfort. 
 
 But the careful Christian student will not omit to note that 
 both of these martyrdoms, the Thuburbitan martyrs and the other 
 group to which we referred above (those of the Church in Gaul), 
 are Montanist martyrdoms, and so are especially concerned with 
 the personality and the operations of the Paraclete. So that when 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FE LICIT AS. 
 
 3 
 
 we say ‘ 0 most blessed martyrs,’ we must go on and say ‘ 0 most 
 blessed Paraclete’; for these martyrs are martyrs of the Holy 
 Ghost, martyrs, that is, of the Living God considered not merely 
 in opposition to the dead gods of the heathen, but as He lives and 
 works in the saints. Now the works of the Holy Ghost are great, 
 and are sought out of them that take pleasure therein. 
 
 Accordingly the redactor of the Acts instructs us to regard the 
 grace of the Spirit as operating in two ways ; first in the imparting 
 of visions, the effect of which gift is that the Church receives a 
 continual accretion to the deposit of revealed truth ; and secondly 
 in the raising up of martyrs, that is, in a continual increment of the 
 testimony to the deposited verities of the kingdom of Christ : the 
 advantage, then, which is to be derived from the story of the 
 martyrs of Thuburbo is that they furnish very beautiful illustrations 
 of both of these methods of the Divine operation. Nowhere are 
 there recorded such instructive and striking visions ; never were 
 gathered into the great world-battle so fair a company of athletes 
 whose triumph should belong to the clearest and most convincing- 
 chapter of the Christian evidences. 
 
 But there is another thing to be noted in connexion with these 
 martyrdoms. We may say of martyrdom, in general, that it is 
 something more than one of God’s chosen ways of attesting the 
 revelation which He has given ; it is also in many cases an 
 attestation that this truth has taken form in a society, which is 
 interpenetrating and leavening all other society and slowly quick- 
 ening it into higher forms ; a society never more than half- visible, 
 especially when, as in the present case, the living functions belong 
 to the ecclesia within the ecclesia rather than to the ecclesia 
 itself: a society whose constitution runs counter to the strati- 
 fication of the outer world ; where the mighty drop at their first 
 faith from the thrones, and the miserable rise spontaneously into 
 seats of power ; until, re-organized in the kingdom of God, bond 
 and free, rich and poor, male and female stand together in the 
 beautiful spiritual brotherhood, of which Christ had spoken when 
 He was upon earth. 
 
 The arena at Carthage presents this form of evidence in a most 
 convincing manner, when there are gathered in it a company 
 which have come together, so to speak, from the North and South, 
 from the East and West, of human society; the noble Perpetua, 
 the slaves Revocatus and Felicitas, and their other companions, we 
 
 1—2 
 
4 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 see them suffer in common for a common faith ; but especially we 
 may observe them as they are dragged back, after their fight with 
 the beasts, from the gateway of the arena which is called the 
 Yivific Gate, in order that under the dagger of the confector they 
 may be dismissed through the real gate of Life already turning on 
 its golden hinges ; and grouping themselves together for one more 
 saintly picture, 'they press from lip to lip the farewell kiss of 
 Christian peace, in order that, as their historian says, they might 
 perfect their testimony to the faith by the proper rite of the faith. 
 And this kiss of faith and peace and charity, upon which they die, 
 is the true monument and token of the revolution which God was 
 accomplishing in the earth. 
 
 Supplementing then the statements of the martyrologist by 
 this single consideration, that their martyrdom is a testimony to 
 the existence of the Church on earth as well as to the truth for 
 which the Church exists, we may pass on very briefly to answer 
 the inevitable question in all martyrology, “ What are these, and 
 whence came they ? ” 
 
 “What are these that shine from far? 
 
 These that look over the golden bar? 
 
 Strong as the lion, pure as the dove.” 
 
 The Acts inform us that these martyrs come from Thuburbo 
 Minus, a town not far from Carthage : indeed we have every 
 reason to believe that they were removed to Carthage not long 
 after their apprehension by the authorities : for it can hardly be of 
 any other amphitheatre than Carthage that the writer is speaking, 
 as being near the military camp, and apparently well furnished 
 with wild beasts for the shows 1 . The period of the martyrdom is 
 the year 203 A.D., when games are being celebrated in honour of 
 the birthday of Geta Caesar. If we may accept the Greek date 
 for the martyrdom (Feb. 2) then the date of their apprehension 
 must be some weeks earlier than this. 
 
 The persons apprehended were Saturninus and Secundus ; 
 Revocatus and Felicitas, together with Yibia Perpetua. Their 
 number was increased shortly after by the voluntary surrender of 
 Saturus the deacon, who was absent when the law was first set in 
 motion against them ; but it was diminished before the games by 
 the death of Secundus in prison, as often happened with early 
 
 1 If not Carthage, we should naturally think of Theveste as the Roman military 
 centre. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 5 
 
 Christian martyrs when cast into stinking dungeons, and tortured 
 in the interim between their apprehension and final condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 All of them seem to have been young ; Saturus from his office 
 may perhaps be reckoned so : of the rest we are expressly told 
 that they were young catechumens. Revocatus and Felicitas 
 were fellow-slaves, and may have been brother and sister. 
 Perpetua was about 22 years old, of noble birth and excellent 
 education. It does not appear that any of them, except of course 
 Saturus, were baptized at the time when they first came under 
 suspicion ; but in the interval during which they remained at large 
 they were baptized. Perpetua’s family seem to have been, on the 
 whole, in sympathy with her ; and one of her brothers was, like 
 herself, a catechumen : but her father was bitterly opposed to her 
 purpose and by an alternation of threats of violence with pathetic 
 appeals did his best to divert her from her resolution 1 . 
 
 Both of the women, Perpetua and Felicitas, were married : 
 Perpetua was already a mother; Felicitas became so in the 
 prison : but neither of the husbands appears in the story of the 
 trial : it is not unreasonable, therefore, to suppose that they were 
 concerned in the informations laid against the women ; indeed, it 
 is quite likely that, in a Montanising Church like that at Thuburbo, 
 the women had deliberately left their husbands for the Gospel’s 
 sake. In any case it would be extremely improbable that both 
 the husbands of two such very young women should have been 
 dead at the time of the martyrdom : and indeed there is almost 
 direct evidence in our Acts that the women had left their 
 husbands ; for when they come into the arena an attempt is made 
 to array them as priestesses of Ceres : now we know from 
 Tertullian that it was the custom in Africa for women to leave 
 their husbands in order to dedicate themselves to the service of 
 the goddess. Nor shall we be exercising our imagination unduly 
 if we say that the proposal to dress the martyrs as priestesses 
 of Demeter originated in the idea that it was an appropriate garb 
 for women who had left their husbands for religious reasons. 
 Such conduct was common to the Montanists and to the worship- 
 pers of Demeter : one of the charges levelled at Montanus by 
 Apollonius (who wrote against the Cataphrygians at the end of 
 
 1 Augustine by some misunderstanding makes Perpetua’s mother as much 
 opposed to her as was her father. 
 
6 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 H 
 
 > 
 
 the second century) is that he had taught the dissolution of 
 marriage 1 ; and on the other hand, as intimated above, we have 
 the direct and contemporary evidence of Tertullian with regard to 
 the worship of the African Demeter: “we know,” says he, “that 
 widows attend upon the African Ceres, allured from their marriage 
 by a most hard forgetfulness. For not only do they quit their 
 husbands yet remaining alive, but even introduce other women to 
 them in their own place (they no doubt smiling on it), refusing 
 themselves all contact, even to the kiss of their sons 2 .” 
 
 The Acts do not furnish us with a great deal of historical 
 information beyond what bears on the incidents of the prison and 
 the arena. Thus we find out that Dinocrates the other brother of 
 Perpetua had died some years previously of a gangrene in his face ; 
 but we only find this out, because one of Perpetua’s visions is 
 concerned with his suffering in the next world, and his delivery 
 therefrom by a sister’s prayers. 
 
 We also learn that the bishop Optatus and presbyter Aspasius 
 (who must be real persons) were not in much esteem with the 
 martyrs nor with one another. There were factions in the Church, 
 though upon what ground of division, whether Montanism or not, 
 it is hard to say. But this information only leaks out from a 
 vision of Saturus when after being caught up into Paradise, they 
 find the bishop and presbyter shut out from the sacred Presence 
 and ominously placed on the left-hand. In the same way we 
 gather incidentally the names of others who had perished either 
 in an earlier stage of the same persecution, or in an earlier 
 persecution. 
 
 The fact is the writer was not furnishing materials with a view 
 to history, for even the martyrdom is subservient to the visions ; 
 he relates nothing or next to nothing of the judicial proceedings, 
 over which martyrologists are usually diffuse. But he had in 
 hand two precious documents : one containing a vision seen by 
 Saturus, the other containing three visions of Perpetua concluding 
 with the intimation that ‘ who wills may tell the rest of the 
 story.’ Accordingly he told the martyrdom out of respect to 
 Perpetua and as a fitting tribute to the inspiration of her visions. 
 And indeed it is the visions that have impressed the Church, 
 both Montanist and Catholic. The vision of the redemption of 
 
 1 ofrros i<rriv 6 Stda^as \6<reis yafj.wv Euseb. H. E. v. 18. 
 
 2 Tert. ad TJxorem i. 6, et dc exhort, cast. 13. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 7 
 
 Dinocrates after death has probably as much to do with Perpetua’s 
 canonization as her death itself. Aub^ was inclined to believe 
 that the Acts were not really of this compound character ; but 
 that the writer had been guilty of an innocent literary forgery. 
 He imagined he detected the same style in the language of the 
 whole book. Of course this was not surprising if as Aube sug- 
 gested the Latin Acts were a translation from the Greek ; only in 
 that case he ought not to have projected the translator’s uniformity 
 of speech back upon the original scribes. The question can only 
 be decided from the Greek version itself. Our own impression is 
 that the differences of style are quite sufficient to discriminate 
 the various hands in the book ; or, if this be too strong, the 
 uniformity of style is not sufficiently pronounced to invalidate the 
 repeated statements of the redactor that he was using Perpetua’s 
 own materials. 
 
 Now when we turn to the story we find that, besides the 
 historical notes that can be made from point to point, there are a 
 multitude of little details concerning the Church life of the time, 
 which are of the highest value. These Acts are an open window |( 
 into the Church of the second century. Nevertheless we have 
 not thought it best to discuss them at length nor to recapitulate 
 the story, which we give both in the Greek and in the Latin, 
 to say nothing of a shorter and later form of the Acts of the 
 Martyrdom. We can not tell the actual story better than Per- 
 petua tells it herself ; and we have no right to tell it worse. Nor 
 have we occupied space in proving over again what has so often 
 been shewn as to the essentially Montanist character of the Acts. 
 
 A few foot-notes will probably suffice on this point. The fact is 
 that the changed attitude of modern theologians towards these 
 assumed early heretics renders it unnecessary to revive old 
 controversies. We can hardly deny their history when we have 
 all agreed to build and adorn their sepulchres, as indeed the 
 Western Church did so many centuries since. We therefore 
 proceed to the few critical points that may require to be made, 
 some of which have been already assumed in the preceding 
 statements 1 . 
 
 1 For the copies of the Ravenna Mosaics of Perpetua and Felicitas which adorn 
 this book, we are indebted to the kindness of our friend Catharine Backhouse, 
 of Sunderland, who has given us leave to use the plates made from the drawings of 
 her late husband for the illustration of his Church History. 
 
8 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 On the Date of the Martyrdom. 
 
 A close approximation may be made to the year of the 
 martyrdom by means of the external testimonies to the currency 
 of the Acts and the internal allusions to historical personages. 
 Thus we find not only that the Acts are referred to by Augustine 
 in his commentary on the Psalms and elsewhere, but that they 
 were even known to Tertullian. The latter father, in his treatise 
 De Anima, refers to the visions of Perpetua, and in so doing he 
 makes a mistake and gives us quotations from the vision of 
 Saturus. It is fair, then, to infer that in Tertu Ilian’s mind the 
 two visions were very closely bound up together, which probably 
 means that he had used the written Acts, in which they are given 
 in juxtaposition. This would make the Acts as well as the 
 martyrdom earlier than the treatise De Anima. 
 
 But second, in Tertullian’s tract against Scapula, mention is 
 made of the very Hilarian who condemned our martyrs ; for 
 surely the ‘Hilarianus praeses/ under whose administration a 
 popular outcry was made against the Christians, can hardly be 
 any other than the vice-proconsul of the Acts. So that we must 
 place the martyrdom earlier than the treatise ad Scapulam. But 
 this treatise bears every mark of having been written when 
 Scapula was in office or very soon after; for Tertullian says “We 
 battle with all your cruelty... we have sent you this letter as 
 fearing not for ourselves but for you 1 .” It is evident that this 
 language implies that Scapula was still in the place of power. 
 
 But from the fact that Scapula was consul in A.D. 195, coupled 
 with the fact that the time between consulate and pro-consulate 
 
 1 The treatise ad Scapulam is full of allusions to recent historical persons and 
 events, some of which can he approximately dated. Thus we have Hilarian, 
 Cincius Severus, Yigellius Saturninus &c. Amongst recent tokens of the Divine 
 displeasure towards the city of Carthage, he enumerates a plague of waters, 
 threatening fires which had hung over the walls of Carthage by night, portentous 
 thunderings, and an eclipse or blackness equivalent to an eclipse which was 
 especially noted at Utica. This darkness and the thundering are due probably 
 to volcanic causes, for we find from Dion Cassius lxxvi. 2 (shortly after 202 a.d.), 
 that Vesuvius was in flame and that there were mighty roarings (/ xiw^/xara tara ) 
 audible as far as Dion’s house at Capua. The fires which hang over Carthage are 
 the Northern Lights, which Dion describes well in lxxvi. 4 (i.e. not long after 
 A . D . 195). nvp alcf>vibiov vvktos iv Tip atpi rip irpos (ioppav toitovtov axpdr), ware tov s p.ev 
 Ti]v irb'Kiv 6\rjv, tovs 5e kcu tov ovpavov avrov KaUada i boneiv. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 9 
 
 at the end of the second century is about 13 years, we should 
 be inclined to place the pro-consulate of Scapula in Africa about 
 the year 208 A.D. It has, however, been urged that in the 
 treatise in question Severus is spoken of as if already dead : (e.g. 
 c. iv. “Severus himself the father of Antoninus was mindful of the 
 Christians”; “Severus... did not harm them”:) so that it maybe 
 necessary either to depress slightly the above date for the pro- 
 consulship of Scapula or for the time of production of the treatise ; 
 for Severus did not die until A.D. 211 (Feb. 4). In any case 
 Hilarian must be a few years earlier than this. 
 
 Turning now to the Acts we find that Hilarian is deputy for a 
 defunct proconsul, whose name is given in Latin as Minucius 
 Timinianus and in Greek as Minucius Oppianus. Neither of 
 these names has the right ring about it. We can find in Latin 
 Minianus, Mucianus and the like, but not I think Timinianus. 
 And the Greek form must either stand for Appianus or be a 
 corruption from some more remote name. It is conceivable that 
 Oppianus may stand for Apronianus who was consul in 191, and 
 Timinianus for Septimianus who was consul in 190; or perhaps 
 Septimianus might be the origin of both the names in question 1 . 
 Unfortunately we cannot find that either of these was a Minucius. 
 Septimianus is found written with various additional names in the 
 inscriptions ; sometimes M. Petronius Septimianus, and sometimes 
 M. Sura Septimianus, so that his complete name should be M. 
 Petronius Sura Septimianus. If either of these were the correct 
 consul of the Acts we should have to look for the martyrdom 
 about A.D. 203. 
 
 An examination of the seventy-sixth book of Dion Cassius 
 which begins with the year 202 A.D. will shew that shortly after 
 this time (see c. 8) Apronianus while in the government of the 
 province of Asia was condemned while absent on a charge of 
 treason. It would seem then that this consideration would rule 
 out Apronianus from any place in our lists. As far as we can 
 make out from the somewhat difficult style of narration of Dion 
 Cassius, who is, however, here at his best as an eye-witness of 
 almost all events which he records, this fixes the interval between 
 the consulship and pro-consulship of Apronianus at twelve or 
 thirteen years. And this will serve as a guide in determining the 
 
 1 Thus ! will easily give both om&NOC and timi&noc. 
 
 It II lANOt ) 
 
10 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 place of the African proconsuls in the Fasti. It points at all 
 events to Septimianus or some suffect consul of the same period 
 with him. 
 
 Now this date would agree very well with the plural form 
 which we find in Hilarian’s request to the prisoners to sacrifice for 
 the welfare of the emperors, since at that time both Severus and 
 Caracalla were Augusti ; and it would agree also with the state- 
 ment that the games were being celebrated in honour of Caesars 
 birthday, the Caesar in question being either Geta the brother 
 of Caracalla, (murdered by the latter in A.D. 212), or else the term 
 is used loosely of some festival connected with the birth or 
 accession to power of the Augusti. The Latin text gives Geta 
 Caesar definitely and it might almost be thought that this was 
 sufficient evidence upon which to correct the Greek text and to 
 base the chronology. If the birthday in question be the natural 
 birthday it cannot be that of Severus, for he was born on the 11th 
 of April, which will not agree with either the Latin or the Greek 
 day for the commemoration of the martyrs (Feb. 2, Feb. 5, 
 March 5). Neither can it be the birthday of Caracalla which 
 was either the 4th or the 6 th of April. The birthday then of 
 Geta may perhaps be taken as the festival. A question however 
 arises whether this be his natural birthday or the commemoration 
 of his being made Caesar. Now the latter title was given him 
 under the influence of the army at the time when Caracalla was 
 made Augustus, which seems to have been in A.D. 198, and it 
 is therefore urged that the festival in question may be the fifth 
 anniversary of the Caesarship of Geta 1 . His natural birthday 
 would seem to be excluded by the date (vi. Kal. Iun.) assigned to 
 it by Spartian. In any case the story reads very well by the light 
 of events of the year 202 or 203 A.D. 
 
 One other consideration may be given, which perhaps will be 
 thought an artificial one ; as we read our Acts, we shall be struck 
 with the prominence given to the “ kiss of peace ” as a Christian 
 sign and as a part of the Christian worship. It appears in the 
 vision of Saturus where the prayer made before the throne is 
 
 1 Bat Geta appears in official documents as Augustus at least as early as 
 204 a.d. This may be seen from a Fayum papyrus (No. 1429, cf. Mittheilungen aus 
 der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer, Bd. ii. p. 13) which is dated as 
 follows : Li/3 avTOKpaTopu v Kcuaapojv \ovkiov aeirnp ceovrjpov evaefiovs nepriv apafiiKov 
 adia^rjvLKov napdiKov peycarov kcu p a avpyXiov avruvivov evae(3o vs /ecu ttov(3\lov aeirnpiov 
 y era Kaiaapos ae^aaruu pex eL P L V • 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 11 
 
 concluded by the ‘ making of peace/ i.e. by the kiss of charity : it 
 appears also in the pathetic closing scene where the martyrs 
 expire in the arena : and the narrator adds the significant words 
 that it was done in order that they might perfect the mystery 
 
 of the faith by the rites proper to the faith. At first sight it 
 
 seems a little artificial to imagine any polemical tendency in such 
 an event at such a time ; but that there should be something of a 
 polemical character at all events in the interpretation given by 
 the writer would not surprise any one who had noted the degree 
 in which the Montanist ideas permeate the whole story : after 
 “ bread and cheese ” in Paradise, and the bishops on the left-hand, 
 we may be prepared for anything. Now it is a fact that precisely 
 at the period in Church History to which our Acts refer, there was 
 a dispute as to whether the “ kiss of peace ” was at all times 
 proper, and whether there were not occasions when it was of the 
 
 nature of true religion to omit it. And Tertullian ( De Oratione 
 
 c. xviii) in treating of this very question affirms that if the “ Peace” 
 is omitted the prayer is not perfected. The striking coincidence 
 of this sentiment with the language of our Acts, “ perfecting the 
 mystery of the faith by the proper rite of the faith,” should be 
 noted, as it gives us light upon our text and upon its interpretation. 
 It is pretty certain that we must read yvcrryptov with the Greek 
 against the martyrium of the Latin, although the Latin translator 
 has understood what was meant by ol/celoov rfjs 7t/o-t£&)?, and has 
 given us the appropriate interpretation “ sollemnia pacis,” where 
 pax stands again for the kiss. 
 
 Looking into the matter a little more closely we find that the 
 difficulty arose in the following manner. The Church kept two 
 station-days or sentry-days in the week, the Wednesday and 
 Friday fasts. Now these fasts are of very early origin and probably 
 arose out of antagonism to the Jewish bi-weekly fasts 1 ; but as time 
 went on, an explanation of their origin was given (which may 
 indeed be the true one), viz. that these were the days when the 
 Bridegroom was taken away, the Betrayal day and the Crucifixion 
 day, and therefore they were the proper days for fasting. The 
 question then came up, whether on these sentry-days the kiss 
 of peace should be given, and it is certain that the Christian 
 Church was divided on the point. Wednesday was an especially 
 difficult day because on that day, the day of betrayal, Judas comes 
 1 Cf. Teaching of Twelve Apostles , c. viii. 
 
12 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 into prominence who betrayed the Lord with a kiss. But the 
 difficulty seems to have been felt both with regard to the two 
 weekly fasts and the annual fasts. One school urged that to give 
 the “peace” was to break up the “station”: another that to deny 
 the “ peace ” was to leave the service imperfect. And it has been 
 maintained that the Montanists, who wished for longer fasts and 
 more of them, used this method of protesting against the Catholic 
 laxity ; it is said that they would prolong the fast by denying the 
 peace. Those who have reflected on the fundamental conservatism 
 of the Montanist movement will however be more disposed to 
 believe that it was a Catholic innovation to deny the kiss of peace 1 . 
 How widely this dispute spread may perhaps be judged by the 
 traces of it in our own folk-lore, for it is clearly the basis of Launce’s 
 humorous description of his lady-love; “she is not to be kissed 
 fasting — on account of her breath 2 .” 
 
 Now it is well within the bounds of possibility that the writer 
 of our Acts is alluding to this dispute and vindicating the giving 
 of “peace” by the martyrs : and if this were the case then there 
 would be some reason why they should have been incapable of the 
 “ peace ” in the eyes of the severer critics : in other words it must 
 have been either Wednesday or Friday. Friday may be excluded, 
 first, because there is not much chance that such a coincidence 
 between our Lord’s suffering and his martyrs would have passed 
 unnoticed ; secondly, because there is, as stated above, a greater 
 objection to the kiss of peace on Wednesday than on Friday. Now 
 it is a matter of interest that Feb. 2, the Greek day of the martyr- 
 dom, was a Wednesday in the year 203 A.D. 
 
 One other point may be noted in connexion with the dating of 
 the consuls and of the martyrdom. It has been felt that there was 
 something unusual in the replacement of a proconsul by a local 
 procurator: may we not go further and say that there is something 
 strange in the proconsul dying in office, where the office is of such 
 short tenure ? And is there not a euphemism latent in the remark 
 that the proconsul was recently deceased ? When we reflect upon the 
 number of persons of consular rank who were made away with by 
 
 1 We may even go so far as to suspect that this ‘ -Judas-kiss’ is the ground of the 
 tale told by the anonymous writer in Eusebius ( H . E. v. 16) to the effect that 
 Montanus died after the traitor’s own manner (/cal ovtio Si Te\evT?}<rcu /cat tov piov 
 KaTOLGTpeipai T ovSa vpoSorov S'lKrjv). 
 
 2 Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act hi. Sc. ii. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 13 
 
 Severus and Caracalla, it ought to surprise no one if a gap should 
 occur in the list of candidates for the proconsulship, or a vacancy 
 amongst those already elected. One has only to look at the lists, 
 in Spartianus or Dion Cassius, of proscribed and assassinated 
 nobles to feel the force of this. We have already intimated that 
 Apronianus got into trouble with the emperor Severus. Spartian 
 also records the death of Petronius, but places his murder 
 subsequent to the death of Geta (a.d. 211). Whether this be 
 Petronius Septiminianus or not, is hard to say; the narrative 
 of Spartian is very confused and often returns on itself, sometimes 
 slaying the slain over again under different emperors. We will 
 content ourselves with saying that the dead proconsul of the Acts 
 will probably be found amongst the political victims of Severus. 
 
 The relation of the Greek to the Latin Versions. 
 
 With regard to the shorter account, we shall elsewhere attempt 
 to shew that it is independent of the other Latin version and 
 probably based upon the Greek original. Additional force is given 
 to this argument by the peculiarities of style noticeable in each. 
 For example in the shorter version the connective vero occurs 
 twenty times while autem is found but once. Ruinart’s text has 
 only three instances of vero while the use of autem is very 
 frequent. 
 
 This seems also strong prima facie evidence in support of our 
 second claim that Ruinart’s text is a translation and that the 
 
 us is the form in which the narrative was first 
 
 CmV 
 
 Ut 
 
 "6urvw| tvW- 
 
 *\Jf* A *v 
 
 Greek before 
 written. 
 
 We shall not of course expect to find the Greek of the third 
 century written by a Carthaginian who undoubtedly spoke some 
 other language as his mother tongue entirely free from foreign 
 idiom. We are prepared for certain peculiarities of style. Indeed 
 it is not impossible that the author was more familiar with Latin 
 than with Greek. 
 
 The passages which seem to point to a Greek original are 
 scattered quite generally throughout the piece so as to leave no 
 room for a bilingual theory. 
 
 The selections made for comparison are by no means equally 
 convincing. The argument is from the nature of the case cumula- 
 
 % 
 
14 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 tive, so that a weak link does not necessarily invalidate the chain. 
 On the other hand many points have been intentionally omitted 
 which will appeal with different force to different individuals : the 
 argument drawn from the choice and order of words, the arrange- 
 ment of clauses, and the general sense of genuineness which pervades 
 the Greek, will perhaps be the most potent factor in convincing 
 the candid reader. 
 
 The examples which follow are taken in the order in which 
 they occur, the Latin from Ruinart, side by side with the Greek. 
 
 in. Cum adhuc, inquit, cum perse- £tl, (prjaiu, iifioov Trapa.Tripovp.ei'uv. 
 cutoribus essemus. 
 
 The Greek evidently means “while we were still under suspicion,” 
 i.e. while they were still at large and their enemies were watching for 
 an occasion to accuse them. For this use of 7 raparrjpew cf. Epis. 
 Mart. Lugdun. 15, iravri Be rpoirw izaper^pow ok pueya re /cepBa- 
 vovvres, el pur) rv^oiev ra(j)r]<;. 
 
 The Latin “while we were still with our persecutors” is at least 
 a very curious way of saying what is expressed clearly and 
 naturally by the Greek and what the context demands. And 
 indeed the same remark applies to the next clause “ Et me pater 
 avertere et deicere pro sua affectione perseveraret,” as compared 
 with the simplicity and perspicuity of the Greek : eire^elpei 6 
 'TTarrjp puov \oyoi<; nreiOeiv pie kclto. ttjv eavrov evair\ayyylav r?;? 
 •jTpo/cecpievrjs 6pLo\oyla<z eKireaelv. 
 
 Further on in the Chapter we may note the confusion of the 
 Latin in the description of the prison, and especially where the 
 prisoners are transferred to a r/puepcorepov tottov (Lat. meliorem 
 locum) of the prison : 
 
 Tunc exeuntes de carcere universi sibi Ecu di] eKaaroi TpoaaxOevTes i<rx°^ a fr v 
 vacabant, eavrols, 
 
 as it is quite evident that they did not go out from the prison 
 at this time. 
 
 At the beginning of Chap. IV. we have the following : 
 
 Tunc dixit mihi frater meus : Domina Tore ehrev p.01. 6 a de\<pos, Kvpia ade\<pri, 
 soror, iam in magna dignitate es, (et) ijdrj iu p.eya\ip a^tci/xart virdpxe^ roaaijTr) 
 tanta ut postules visionem... od<xa, ws d air^cTeLas... 
 
 Toaavrrj ova a, translated into the Latin by tanta , has caused 
 the confusion in the Latin mss. One would naturally suppose 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 15 
 
 that the writer would have avoided the ambiguity involved in tanta \ f 
 had he been writing Latin first hand. 
 
 In the next sentence fidenter repromisi is hardly the same 
 thing as 7tl(tt€co<; TrXrfpr]^ ovaa eirp'yyeiXa pupv , while the context 
 clearly shews that fulness of faith rather than faithfulness was 
 demanded. 
 
 Further on in the Chapter where the dragon presents his 
 head quietly at the foot of the ladder, the action of fear is far 
 more appropriately described than by the Latin, Et desub scala... 
 lente elevavit caput. 
 
 In the next sentence the translator seems to have taken a ;? ei? 
 for el rendering it quasi (Holstenius, Et quasi primum gradum 
 calcassem, Kal go? et? rov irpwrov ftaOpbov ideXpaa eiTifiqvai). 
 
 In the passage beginning Chap. V. 
 
 Post paucos dies rumor cucurrit ut Mera 8e rjfiepas oXiyas tyvwfiev fitWeiv 
 audiremur. Supervenit autem et de yfias oLKovo-dyaevdcu' vapeyei/ero de Kal 6 
 civitate pater meus, consumptus taedio, 7ra rrjp e/c rys woWys airodyfilas fiapaivo- 
 ascendit ad me, etc. fievos. Kal avifi y irpos fie ktL 
 
 not to mention ut audiremu r , the use of s uperve nit is striking as 
 well as the position of et and the expression de civitate. The 
 translator seems to have read i/c t^? 77-0 \ee»? for e/c rfjs 7 roXX^? ^ ^ 
 and to have ignored the force of /cal. Even if we could account 
 for the first discrepancy on the supposition of the Latin original, 
 the awkwardness of et with de civitate and the appropriateness 
 of Kal with 6 Trarrjp are certainly points in favor of the Greek. U 
 Again the mention of the father s return, — after speaking of his 
 absence, Chap. III., aTrohripLrjcravTos avrov , — is much more in 
 place than the meaningless phrase de civitate. Even if we 
 assume that the prisoners had already been taken to Carthage 
 it seems hardly likely that de civitate could refer to the father s 
 coming from Thuburbo. 
 
 Chap. VI. begins as follows, — 
 
 Alio die cum pranderemus, subito Kai rrj ijfiepy ev y upurro ypirayrjfiev 
 rapti sumus ut audiremur. IV a aicovcrd&fiev. 
 
 Is it possible that the translator has seen some form of apio-raco 
 in wpLtJTo ? He has made quite as fatal mistakes elsewhere. But 
 aside from this it is not probable that breakfast with the prisoners 
 was so formal and protracted an affair that Perpetua, who in 
 general makes little account of such trifles, would have thought 
 
 XU 
 
16 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 the interruption of their meal worthy of special mention. It 
 seems far easier to accept the other alternative and read “ on the 
 day appointed.” 
 
 In the vision in which Perpetua sees her brother after his 
 release and describes the fountain from which he drank, we 
 have Chap. yiii. 
 
 Et piscinam illam quam retro vide- 
 ram, summisso margine usque ad um- 
 bilicum pueri; et aquam de ea trahebat 
 sine cessatione, et super margine phiala 
 erat aurea plena aqua : et accessit Dino- 
 crates, et de ea bibere coepit, quae phiala 
 non deficiebat. Et satiatus abscessit de 
 aqua ludere more infantium gaudens, 
 etc. 
 
 In the Latin, the use of traho for haurio is peculiar as well as 
 the statement ‘that he drank incessantly’ standing, as it does, first ; 
 while the description proceeds ‘ Dinocrates approached and began 
 to drink’; not incessantly, but until his thirst was quenched. Nor 
 does the narrative allow us to take trahebat in a general sense of 
 what D. was accustomed to do ; for the vision only describes what 
 Perpetua actually saw. 
 
 Finally we may notice the barbarism in abscessit ludere. 
 
 Turning now to the Greek we find that water was flowing from 
 the fountain incessantly (the translator having read rjpvev for 
 eppeev and taken vBcop for the object), and that the boy, having 
 drunk his fill, began to play (where rjptjaro is taken for rjp^ero). 
 
 For a similar description where the water is likewise flowing 
 from the fountain, cf. Puinart Passio SS. Jacobi , Mariani et 
 aliorum plur. Mart . in Numidia c. VI., Sinus autem in medio pellu- 
 cidi fontis exuberantibus venis, et plurimis liquoribus redundabat 
 ...Tunc ibi Cyprianus phialam, quae super marginem fontis ja- 
 cebat, arripuit ; et cum illam de fontis rivulis implesset, hausit. 
 
 In Chap. X. near the beginning, distinctam can be traced 
 pretty clearly to Trepie^wo-gevos, and in the next sentence, 'irouciXa 
 must mean ‘ of bright and varied colors ’ for which multiplex is a 
 poor equivalent. 
 
 Further on in the Chapter in the description of the great 
 ( 3 pa/ 3 evr 779 we see how Bie^coapevos has again given rise to confusion 
 in the Latin, from the fact that the translator has not governed 
 the eaOrjra by it nor placed rroptyvpav in the relative clause. 
 
 Kai 77 KprjTrls rrjs Ko\vp.l3r)dpas KarrixOrj 
 £'ws rov opuf>a\iov a vtov, Zppeev d£ ei - avrij s 
 d5ia\et'7TTWS vdcvp, Kai eirauu) rrj s KprjTridos 
 rjv XP va V p.e<TTrj ' Kai TrpoaeXduv 6 
 
 AeivoKparrjs ^p^aro ei • avrijs iriveiv’ rj 5e 
 ovk eveKenrev' Kai epLirXycrOeis rjp^aTo 
 iraifciv ayaWubp.ei'os ws ra wrjiria kt£. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 17 
 
 In Chap. xi. we have the following : 
 
 Et liberati primam iam vidimus lu- Kai 8rj e£eXdovTes t6v irpCjTov Kbapov 
 eem immensam. 0ws XaprrpbTaTov e’idopev. 
 
 Cod. C gives a form much nearer the original than Ruinart’s 
 text, viz.: Et liberati primum iam mundo vidimus lucem im- 
 mensam. It is evidently the i^eXOovre? which has given the 
 trouble and has been confused with some form of eXevOepow. 
 
 In the next sentence percepimus is by no means an equivalent 
 for /jL€Tei\r)(f)afi€v } while the idea to be conveyed is undoubtedly 
 that of taking part in the promise. 
 
 A few lines further on via lata seems in some mysterious way 
 to represent avaXafiovres rrjv ohov. 
 
 Finally near the end of the Chapter the good Greek e£rjTovfiev 
 8e /cal 7 repl twv Xolttwv 7 tov apa eicrlv, has been mutilated into 
 the Latin, Et quaerebamus ab (Holstenius et cod C, de) illis ubi 
 essent ceteri. 
 
 In Chap. XII. how is the charming picture teal rfj 
 7 repLeXafiev Ta ? oyjreis rjgcov marred in its Latin transformation, 
 Et de manu sua traiecit nobis in facie (H, faciem); and on the 
 other hand how supernal ve is ‘go and play’ for 7 ropevecrOe Kai 
 yaipecrQe in the next sentence. 
 
 Near the middle of Chap. xm. dvaywpkoa has been given 
 the meaning of avaywpi^ w, clearly counter to the sense of the 
 passage. 
 
 In Chap. XVIII. we find 8ia tovto rrjv '^rv^rjv rjpLctjv irape- 
 Scofcapev rendered by adeo animas nostras addiximus : and in 
 Chap, xx., near the end, o? Trapeio-Trjicei avrij by qui ei adhaerebat. 
 The precision and correctness of the Greek seem evident in both 
 cases. 
 
 For our last example let us compare a part of the account of 
 the execution in Chap. xxi. : 
 
 Et cum populus illos in medium pos- 
 tularet, ut, gladio penetrante in eorum 
 corpore, oculos suos comites homicidii 
 adiungeret; ultro surrexerunt, et se quo 
 volebat populus transtulerunt. 
 
 kt£. 
 
 (Ets (T(payr]v de) 6 oxXo s r/T7j<reu avrods 
 ei $ pkaov peTaxOfycu ottcjs dia tu>v aytuv 
 <uop.&T(i)v eXavvbpevov to £i(f>os dedaovrai , 
 Kai paKapioi pdprvpes tov xp' L<rT0V €k6vtcs 
 rjybpOrjaav, r)crx^ VOVTO yap oXiyovs papTvpas 
 ^X eiv e7rl T< ? po-Kap’up OavdTLp avT&v’ Kai 
 dr) eXdovTUv a vtwu oirov 6 8xXo$ efiotiXero 
 
 H. 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 It hardly admits of doubt that the clause beginning rja^vvovro, 
 ‘for they were ashamed to have only a few witnesses at their 
 blessed death/ represents the original thought of the writer, for 
 which apparently the Latin has the corrupt form ‘ oculos suos 
 comites homicidii adiungeret/ At any rate the Latin is so badly 
 muddled in this instance as well as in many others of which we 
 have noted a few, that, on the assumption that it once had the 
 correct form, it is difficult to understand how it could have lent so 
 much perspicuity to the Greek and lost so much of that quality 
 itself. For certainly several difficult and perplexing readings 
 are entirely cleared up by reference to the Greek, while the 
 Latin with its three MSS. very seldom throws any light on the 
 Greek. 
 
 In the Latin text the following words are found apparently 
 direct transcriptions from the Greek, with regard to which there 
 seems no reason why they should have been chosen in place of 
 genuine Latin words, — viz. machaera, tegnon, oramate, diastema, 
 Hagios. In the Greek on the other hand we have 7 rpcuTcopiov, 
 fiarpwva, and the expression iv vepfiw (if indeed the text is 
 correct) two of which are technical terms, where Latin words are 
 most to be expected. An argument could hardly be drawn from 
 these in favor of a Latin original. 
 
 Besides these afa is given for /covtopro 9; the epithet Optio is 
 applied to Pudens, the keeper of the prison, where Ruinart 
 observes “Inspectorem putant Bollandiani a graeco verbo oirropcu” 
 (the word is wanting in the Greek); for the common use of this 
 military term we refer to our note in loc.; and, lastly, Cataractari- 
 orum stands for re ov Traparrjpovvrcov. 
 
 As before stated the preceding argument makes no claim to . 
 exhaustiveness ; on the other hand we believe that anyone who 
 carefully compares the two texts will find much additional evidence 
 in favor of the priority of the Greek. 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 19 
 
 On the shorter Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas. 
 
 We must now examine the relation which subsists between the 
 shorter form of the Acts as published by Aube from seven Latin 
 MSS. in the National Library at Paris 1 , and the longer Latin and 
 Greek Acts respectively. 
 
 These Acts are valuable both for the history of the martyr- 
 dom and for the text of the longer form of the Acts. On any 
 hypothesis as to the time of their production, they furnish in some 
 respects new material to the historian ; since they give us, for 
 example, a complete account of the proceedings in court, and what 
 constitutes properly the Acta of any given set of martyrdoms, viz. 
 the interrogatories of the judge and the replies or confessions of 
 the prisoners. Now this account may be mere matter of tradition 
 written down to fill the evident lacuna in the current Acts, which 
 are so taken up with the visions of the saints that they have no 
 time left for the summary of the legal proceedings : or again they 
 may be, as Aube seems to think, the real record of the proceedings, 
 modified only by some later hand, so as to refer them to the time 
 of Valerian and Gallienus in whose consulate they place the 
 martyrdoms 2 . It is merely a question of how much weight, less 
 or more, should be given to the short form of the Acts when 
 recording some details not given either in the longer Latin or 
 Greek Acts. 
 
 When, however, the shorter Acts contain matter in common 
 with the longer Acts, a little investigation shews that they do not 
 constitute any fresh historical evidence, but, being derived from 
 the longer form, the common matter is a new factor in the textual 
 evidence where there is a diversity of readings, and in particular it 
 becomes important to enquire whether the compiler of these Acts 
 drew upon the Latin or Greek forms, respectively, of the longer 
 work. Now in order to determine this point, the best way will be 
 to place the parallel passages side by side, so that we may illustrate 
 any passage in the shorter Acts by means of their possible or 
 actual written sources. And this we may do as follows, taking the 
 order from the shorter Acts : 
 
 
 1 Aube, Les Chretiens dans V empire Romain , pp. 521 — 525. 
 
 2 Similar phenomena occur in the accounts of the martyrdom of Cyprian. 
 
 2—2 
 
20 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 Short form. 
 
 Facta persecutione sub 
 Valeriano et Gallieno Con- 
 sulibus, 
 
 Comprehensi sunt vene- 
 rabiles viri iuvenes Saturus 
 et Saturninus, duo fratres, 
 Revocatus et Felicitas so- 
 ror eius et Perpetua quae 
 erat de nobili genere et 
 habebat patrem et matrem 
 et duos fratres et filium 
 ad mamillam. 
 
 Annorum enim erat ilia 
 duorum et viginti, apud 
 Africam in civitate Tubur- 
 bitanorum. 
 
 Long form (Greek). 
 
 i. ’E7rt OvaXepiavov Kal 
 TaKrjvov 5io)yp.bs eyivero' 
 
 ii. 2 \vve\r](t>6r)(Ta.v vea vl- 
 cTKOi KaTrjxobgevoi, "Peovicd- 
 tos Kal 3>ri\iKr}TdTr] <xvv- 
 80OX01, Kal 'LaTopv'ivos /cat 
 Se/couvSos ‘ /ter’ avrwv 5b Kal 
 Ovi(3La Hep-ireroba, tjtis 
 yevvrjdeiaa evyevcos . . . aurg 
 eTxcv irarepa /cat p.grepa Kal 
 duo aSe\(j)ov5...elx€i' /cat 
 t£kvov 5 Tpos robs gaadovs 
 £ti idgXafev ' 
 
 ^H v 5e avrrj er&u eiKocri 
 5i 'jo. 
 
 ’Fju 7r6\et QoufioupficTapcov 
 rrj puKporepa. 
 
 Long form (Latin). 
 
 Apprebensi sunt a- 
 dolescentes catechumeni, 
 Revocatus et Felicitas 
 conserva eius, Saturni- 
 nus et Secundulus, inter 
 quos et Yibia Perpetua, 
 koneste nata . . . habens 
 patrem et matrem et fra- 
 tres duos...et filium in- 
 fantem ad ubera. 
 
 Erat autem ipsa anno- 
 rum circiter viginti duo- 
 rum. 
 
 Comparing the preceding passages we see (1) that the epitomator 
 has apparently worked on a form of the Acts which already had 
 the prefatory matter, and it is even conceivable from his using 
 the words “ apud Africam ” that he used Acts which shewed also 
 the Metaphrast’s preface, (eV ’A cj)pL/cf)). The last point is, 
 however, less certain. 
 
 (2) He seems to be interpreting a Greek text rather than the 
 Latin ; comjprehensi for instance is a more literal rendering of 
 avve\r)(j)0r](Tav than the Latin apprehensi \ On the other hand 
 soror ejus seems more like a correction of conserva ejus than a 
 translation of crvvhovXoi. But then again, if he had been using a 
 Latin text, he had no need to alter ‘ honeste nata,’ nor ‘ ubera ’ ; 
 nor to drop the word ‘ circiter ’ in the Latin statement of the age 
 of Perpetua. 
 
 (3) The historical data added are that Valerian and Gallienus 
 were the consuls , and that, of the martyrs, Saturus and Saturninus 
 were brothers, and Revocatus and Felicitas brother and sister. 
 The last point is worked in again later on. We have no sufficient 
 means of weighing the value of the statement. 
 
 Let us proceed with the comparison : 
 
 Minutius proconsul dixit : Kat 'IXapiavos ivlTpoTros Et Hilarianus procu- 
 
 rbre tov avdoTraTov airoda- rator qui tunc loco pro- 
 vbvros 'M.ivovKiov...Xbyei . consulis Minuci Timini- 
 
 ani defuncti... inquit. 
 
 1 Does the writer mean ‘ venerabiles ’ for an equivalent of KaT7)x°d^voL ? JvXJU 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FEL1CITAS. 
 
 21 
 
 Here we have an arbitrary correction on the part of the redactor 
 who, perhaps, did not think it correct that a proconsul’s powers 
 should be delegated to an inferior officer. 
 
 Perpetua vero dixit ad 
 eum : Pater, ecce, verbi 
 gratia, vides vas iacens aut 
 fictile aut cuiuslibet gene- 
 ris? 
 
 Et ille respondit: Video, 
 quid ad haec. 
 
 Perpetua dixit, Numquid 
 aliud nomen potest habere 
 quam quod est? At ille 
 respondit, Non. Perpetua 
 dixit, Nec ego aliud nomen 
 accipere possum quam 
 quod sum, Christiana. 
 
 Tunc pater eius audito 
 verbo irruit super earn, 
 volens oculos eius eruere: 
 et exclamans confusus e- 
 gressus est foras. 
 
 Kdyw irpos avrov' llarep, 
 tyrjv, opa s Xoyou v 
 (TKevos KeifAtvov 7} aXXo tl 
 tQv toio&tcov ; 
 
 KaKeivos aireKpidr]' 'Opa’ 
 
 Kayw’ "AXX o ovo/xafciv 
 clvto fJir) 6 ^/jus; ovdb duua- 
 picu et p.r] 6 eipX Tobreoriv 
 XpiVTiavr). 
 
 Tore 6 ttclttip p.ov ra- 
 paxOeis T(pSe T(p Xoyip 
 irreXduv rjdtXrjaev robs 
 6(pdaXp.oiJS pu>v e£opi)£at* 
 ^7reira p.6vov Kpa^as, ii;r}X- 
 dev. 
 
 Pater inquio vides verbi 
 gratia vas hoc iacens, ur- 
 ceolum sive aliud? 
 
 Et dixit : video. 
 
 Et ego dixi ei : numquid 
 alio nomine vocari potest 
 quam quod est? Et ait, 
 Non. Sic et ego aliud me 
 dicere non possum, nisi 
 quod sum, Christiana. 
 
 Tunc pater motus in hoc 
 verbo, misit se in me, ut 
 oculos mihi erueret : sed 
 vexavit tantum et profec- 
 tus est. 
 
 Here the short Acts have preserved the Kpai;a<; of the Greek, 
 (= exclamans), which the Latin has corrupt ed somehow into 
 vexavit. Confusus also in the last sentence is for the Greek 
 rapa^OeU of which the Latin gives motus as the equivalent. 
 We may, therefore, again recognize that the Greek is the primary 
 authority. 
 
 But this being so, it becomes a question whether there was not 
 some word in the first sentence after Keipuevov , answering to the two 
 Latin renderings fictile , and urceolum. And again whether the 
 Greek should have restored to it the sentence corresponding to ‘ At 
 ille respondit, non : ( et ait non! In the last case the words ‘ et ait 
 non evidently break the sequence of the Latin: for there is in the 
 longer Latin no et ego dixi to follow, as there should have been 
 when the speaker had changed. Moreover the terse and striking 
 Greek would be sure to have been expanded by the implied 
 negative on the part of Perpetua’s father. 
 
 The other question is not quite so clear : the Greek is quite 
 intelligible but perhaps rj oarpciKivov should be added. 
 
 Vidi in visu hac nocte 
 scalam erectam mirabili 
 altitudine usque ad caelum, 
 
 W8ov KXip.aKa x a ^ K V v 
 Oavp-aarou ur)Kov s * rjs to 
 pLTjKos axpi-S otipavov ' orevr] 
 
 Video scalam aeream 
 mirae magnitudinis pertin- 
 gentem usque ad caelum, 
 
22 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 et ita erat angusta ut non- 
 nisi unus per earn ascen- 
 dere posset. Dextra vero 
 laevaque inerant fixi cul- 
 tri et gladii ferrei ut nullus 
 circa se nisi ad caelum re- 
 spicere posset. 
 
 Sub ea vero iacebat la- 
 tens draco teterrimus in- 
 genti forma, ut prae me tu 
 eius quivis ascendere for- 
 midet. 
 
 Yidi etiam ascendentem 
 per earn Saturum usque ad 
 sursum et respicientem ad 
 nos et dicentem: ne vere- 
 amini hunc draconem qui 
 iacet : confortamini in gra- 
 tia Chiristi, ascendite et 
 nolite timere ut mecum 
 partem habere possitis. 
 
 Yidi etiam iuxta scalam 
 hortum ingentem, copio- 
 sissimum et amoenum et 
 in medio horto sedentem 
 senem in habitu pastorali 
 et mulgentem oves, et in 
 gyro eius stantem multi- 
 tudinem candidatorum : et 
 aspiciens ad nos vocavit 
 ad se et dedit nobis omni- 
 bus de fructu lactis. Et 
 cum gustassemus, turba 
 candidatorum responde- 
 runt Amen : et sic prae 
 clamore vocum sum exper- 
 gefacta. 
 
 Se 9jv prjSeva 8 l avrrjs 
 SSvaadai ei prj povaxov eva 
 ^ava^Tjvai’ eKareptov de 
 tQ>v tvs KXipaKos pepwv 
 irav eldos r\ v epireirriypevov 
 e/cei %i(pu)v SopaTUV ayKi- 
 arpojv p.axcupw 6j3eXi- 
 <jk(j)v’ 'iva iras 6 avafiaivwv 
 apeXcos Kal pv ava^X^wcov 
 rots clkovtIols ras aapKas 
 (nrapaxOeLri • 
 v J3lv Si vtt avrrj rrj kXL- 
 paKL dpaKuv vweppeyidvs 
 8s 8 v robs avafiaivovTas 
 evrjSpe vev eKdajx@u)y owoos 
 prj ToXpejmv avaftaiveiv. 
 
 'Avefiv Se 6 harypos ' . . . 
 cl>s odv irpos to aKpov tt) s 
 KX ip.ci.Kos irapeyevero eaTpa- 
 <pr) Kal ehrev 
 
 Kal elSov ejcet Kijirov peyi- 
 cftov Kal ev peaip tov kt}- 
 7Tou avdpwirov iroXiov Ka- 
 detfpevov, iroipivos o’XV/ JLa ’ 
 &X 0VTa i vireppeyidr] os 
 rjXpevyev ra, Trpoj3aTa * 
 irepieuTTriKenjav Se avrip 
 7 roXXal xiAiaAes Xevxeipo- 
 vovvtojv • eirdpas Se tvv 
 
 K€(J>a A j?y edeaa aro pe 
 
 Kal eKaXeaev pe Kal e/c tov 
 rvpov ov 'rjXpevyev ZSwKev 
 poi cbirel \pwpiov’ Kal iXa- 
 1 3ov fei^acra ras xetpas 
 pov , Kal ’icfrayov ’ Kal el- 
 irav iravres ol irapearjoTes’ 
 ’Apr/v’ Kai irpos tov VX 0V 
 T?jS (puvrjs ei;Vi rviadrjv- 
 
 et ita angustam, per quam 
 nonnisi singuli ascendere 
 possent : et in lateribus sca- 
 lae omne genus ferramen- 
 torum infixum. Erant ibi 
 gladii, lanceae, hami, ma- 
 chaerae, ut si quis negli- 
 genter aut non sursum 
 adtendens ascenderet, la- 
 niaretur et carnes eius in- 
 haererent ferramentis. 
 
 Et erat sub ipsa scala 
 draco Cubans mirae mag- 
 nitudinis qui ascendenti- 
 bus insidias parabat et ex- 
 terrebat ne ascenderent. 
 
 Ascendit autem Saturus 
 
 prior : et pervenit in 
 
 caput scalae et convertit 
 se ad me et dixit mihi 
 
 et vidi spatium horti im- 
 mensum et in medio horti 
 sedentem hominem canum 
 in habitu pastoris, gran- 
 dem, oves mulgentem: et 
 circumstantes candidatos 
 millia multa : et Jevavit ca- 
 put et aspexit me: 
 
 et clamavit me et de caseo 
 quod mulgebat dedit mihi 
 quasi buccellam, et ego ac- 
 cepi iunctis manibus et 
 manducavi. Et universi 
 circumstantes dixerunt A- 
 men. Et ad sonum vocis 
 experrecta sum. 
 
 A little examination will shew that the differences between the 
 two Latin texts in those parts of the story which they have in 
 common, are not due to free handling of the longer Latin on the 
 part of the redactor of the shorter Acts : they are fundamental 
 differences and not mere emendations. The originality of the 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 23 
 
 shorter acts is shewn also by the use of peculiar expressions like ‘in 
 gyro eius,’ ‘de fructu lactis.’ We should conclude then that both 
 the Latin versions arise in some way out of the Greek. Dismiss- 
 ing, then, the longer Latin Acts, let us see how the compiler uses 
 his Greek materials. 
 
 The text of the shorter Acts now proceeds with the judicial 
 interrogatories ; in which nothing seems to be taken from the 
 published Acts, unless it be the information as to the condition of 
 Felicitas, until we come to the trial of Perpetua. 
 
 Proconsul ad Perpetuam dixit : Quid ''Eiridvaov xnrep acjrrjpias tCjv avTOKparo- 
 dicis, Perpetua, sacrificas ? Perpetua ; pwv • Kayo) aweKpidrjv ov 96 w. 
 
 Christiana, inquit, sum et nominis mei 
 sequor auctoritatem ut sim Perpetua. 
 
 Proconsul dixit: Parentes habes. Per- 
 petua respondit, Habeo. 
 
 This question appropriately makes way for the introduction 
 of the scene in the court between Perpetua and her father ; the 
 compiler of the Acts now draws largely on the longer version. 
 But in order to fill up obvious deficiencies in the story as received, 
 the husband of Perpetua turns up with the rest of the family. He 
 is, however, little better than a lay figure adding nothing to the 
 dialogue (“the poor craven bridegroom says never a word”) and 
 only an imperceptible quantity to the tears and lamentations. 
 
 Audientes vero parentes eius, pater, 
 mater, fratres et maritus simulque cum 
 parvulo eius qui erat ad lac venerunt 
 cum essent de nobili genere. Et videns 
 earn pater eius stantem ante proconsulis 
 tribunal cadens in faciem suam dixit ad 
 earn: Filia, iam non filia, sed domina, 
 miserere aetati meae patris tui si tamen 
 mereor dici pater, miserere et matris 
 tuae quae te ad talem florem aetatis 
 perduxit, miserere et fratribus tuis et 
 huic infelicissimo viro tuo, certe vel 
 parvulo huic qui post te vivere non 
 poterit. 
 
 Depone hanc cogitationem tuam. 
 Nemo enim nostrum post te vivere po- 
 terit, quin hoc generi meo nunquam 
 contigit. 
 
 Kat i<pavrj peTCL tov tckvov pov 6 TraTrjp ’ 
 
 [o irpos tols pacrdois ^rt...] 1 
 [yevvrjdeica euye^ws] 
 
 piirreiv eiri yijs ical Trptjvrjs KaraKeipevos... 
 
 Q6yaTep...ovK€TL pe dvyartpa aXXa Kvpiav 
 
 eireicdXei 
 
 e\eri<rov ras woXias pov, eXtrjcrov tov tv arepa 
 (TOV, p.V7]<Tdr)TL 6 tl TOUS X € P <t lv tcl6tcus TTpOS 
 rb tolovtov avdos rrjs rjXiKlas avrjyayov <re * 
 
 6pa to6s aSeX<f>o6s crov 
 
 i'Se tov viov <rov os p-era <re £rjv 06 86vaTou. 
 
 airhOov to6s dvpovs " 
 
 o68eis yap r}pCov p-era irapprjaLas Xa X^vei 
 eav tl aoi (rvpfirj. 
 
 1 Evidently the epitomator repeated these words from the earlier chapters. 
 
24 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 A comparison between the two texts will shew that the 
 compiler has recklessly displaced the sequence of the Greek Acts ; 
 the address of the father to Perpetua takes places in the open 
 court ; in fact two or three visits and addresses are tesselated 
 together. At the end the word crv fifty suggests the fact that 
 no such shame has ever happened to our family. 
 
 Praecepit ut in Caesaris natale bestiis 
 mitterentur. 
 
 Et cum essent in carcere iterum vidit 
 visionem Perpetua Aegyptium quendam 
 horridum et nigrum iacentem et volu- 
 tantem se sub pedibus eorum 
 
 prostrato inimico generis humani. 
 
 Contristantibus vero iis de Felicitate 
 quod esset praegnans in mensibus octo, 
 statuerunt unanimiter pro ea, precem 
 ad Dominum fundere. Et dum orarent 
 subito enixa est vivum. Quidam vero 
 de custodibus dixit ad earn : Quid fac- 
 tura es cum veneris ad amphitheatrum 
 quae talibus detineris tormentis ? 
 
 Felicitas respondit: Hie ego crucior, 
 ibi vero pro me Dominus patietur. 
 
 Euntibus vero eis sequebatur Felicitas 
 quae ex sanguine carnis ad salutem san- 
 guinis ducebatur et de obstetrice ad gla- 
 dium et de lavatione post partum balnei 
 sanguinis effusione meruit delavari. 
 
 Passi sunt sub Yaleriano et Gallieno 
 imperatoribus apud Africam in civitate 
 Tuburbitanorum sub Minutio proconsule 
 die nonarum Martiarum. 
 
 Actus eorum in ecclesia ad aedifica- 
 tionem legite, etc. 
 
 Tore rjp.as irapras irpos drjpia KaraKpivei * 
 yepedXi op yap ijp.eXXe v eimeXelpBai Kat- 
 papos. 
 
 Kai rjXde v irpos p.e Aiyvirnbs ns &p.op<f)OS 
 np axv^Ti p,era tup virovpyoijPTUP a vnp 
 
 /cat avnKpvs (3Xeiru Aiydirnop eiceipop ev 
 
 T(p K0PlipT(p KvXlOp.€VOV 
 
 irpos top diaj3oX6p epnp rj ePop.epr) p.axt). 
 eiceiprj yap....OKTU pltjpup %x 0Xjaa yaprepa... 
 
 ' AXXd /cat ot pvp,p.dpTvpes avrrjs irepi- 
 Xvttol rjaav p(podpa oiiru icaXrjp pvpepyop ... 
 KaraXeiireip ...KOiPip prepay pup epudbpres 
 Tpoaevxv v irpos top Ktipiop eiroirjpapTO * /cat 
 evdbs p.era ttjp wpopevxw wdipe s avrijp 
 pi )p£px ov ' [treicev de KopapLOP ] b<f>rj de ns 
 tup irapaTrjpouPTUP virrjpeTUP ' ei pop oOtus 
 aXyeis tl ?x eLS iroirjpai, fiXrjdeipa irpos 
 drjpia ; 
 
 KaKecprj aireKpidr]' NOv eyu irapxw o 
 irapxoi ’ &cet de dXXos eprlp 6 irdpx^P- 
 
 ’ HkoXovOtj db i) Y[epirero6a 
 
 'Op-oius de /cat i] ^rjXiKrjTaTi], . . .airo at/ta- 
 ros eis at/ra, airo p.aias irpos pLOPop.axia.P , 
 p.£XXovpa Xovpapdai p.era top Tonerop, 
 l Sairrippup dr] vpreptp. 
 
 Ut supra. 
 
 (The Latin date instead of the Greek.) 
 
 ...ovk rfppop tup iraXacup ypa<pup a eis 
 oiKodop.T)p eKKXrjpias apayiPUPKerai kt£. 
 
 Reviewing the manner in which the compiler of the shorter 
 Acts has used (or misused) his materials, we can hardly feel 
 confidence in any apparently fresh historical details which he gives. 
 Nor can we suppose that the judicial interrogatories are anything 
 else than a successful attempt to fill up an obvious lacuna in the 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 25 
 
 history of the proceedings. We cannot agree with Aube that they 
 bear a decided stamp of genuineness : it is possible to fabricate a 
 judicial investigation without making a ridiculous caricature of the 
 judge. The fact that he is humane does not make the dialogue 
 historical. 
 
 To sum up : the shorter Latin Acts were made, solely from the 1 1 
 Greek, after the time of Valerian and Gallienus : and since they 
 were made from a Greek MS. which already had erased the name 
 of Geta, and prefixed the notice as to Valerian and Gallienus, we 
 may conclude that they must have been written some time later 
 than the middle of the third century. If the closing sentences 
 belong to this version in its first form, as seems almost certain, 
 then these Acts are posterior to the time when Perpetua and 
 Felicitas were received into the Calendar (? Carthaginian or 
 Roman), with the date of their celebration corrected from February 
 to March. So that again we must ascribe them to a later date. 
 
 The compiler of the Acts has drawn nothing from the longer 
 Latin version ; and therefore, as far as he was concerned, these 
 Latin Acts may be held not to have existed ; a consideration 
 which militates very strongly against the current belief in the 
 antiquity of the published Latin text of Ruinart and Holstein. 
 
 
 -9 
 
 BW- 1 
 
 On the influence of the Acts of Perpetua on the later Marty rologies. 
 
 It is a curious study to trace the manner in which one famous 
 martyrdom acts upon the record of those that come afterwards, so 
 that th e ge nuine martyrolog ies copy the language of earlier \ 
 recitals of a similar nature, and the apocryphal martyrologies 
 intrude habitually not only the language but even historical 
 details from genuine records, often without a pretence at disguise 
 in the borrowed matter. And this tendency makes it often 
 difficult to discriminate between true^ and false in a series of 
 connected martyrdoms. For instance the martyrdom of S. Victor 
 and his companions relates the crushing of the saint between 
 mill-stones and makes him say in the midst of his tortures that he t 
 is “the wheat of God”; it is clear that the writer has borrowed 
 this from the epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, where ‘frumentum 
 Dei ’ is merely a strong figure of speech ; he has given us an 
 incident in which the figure is very literally translated. Obviously 
 
26 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 S. Victor never said anything of the kind; and it is probably 
 almost as certain that he never suffered anything of the kind ; but 
 whether -we can go further and detect the residual grains of truth 
 out of the heap of fiction is more difficult. Ruinart prints the 
 whole story, of course, without suspicion amongst his Acta Sincera ; 
 but then Ruinart used his winnowing fan very gently : and the 
 critical breeze was only beginning to blow. 
 
 Lightfoot holds that the Acts of Perpetua are a case of the 
 same kind inasmuch as they are coloured by the language of the 
 Ignatian epistles, a proposition which we shall examine presently ; 
 but in this case, since it is only language that is borrowed and not 
 history, no reflection is made upon the authenticity of the Acts. 
 The same thing is true of a host of martyrdoms which furnish 
 parallelisms with the great prae-Christian models of suffering 
 endurance, such as the case of the Three Children in the Furnace, 
 or the group of Maccabee Children. It is natural, for instance, for 
 martyrs in the flames to see Christ with them, or to be seen with 
 him ; almost as natural for them to be refreshed with a whistling 
 wind or a miraculous dew. But when the details of the hagiology 
 present more decided coincidences than these simple subjective 
 ones, we may easily find ourselves in the region of fable pure and 
 simple. Such is the case for instance of the martyrdom of 
 Felicitas and her seven sons which is nothing more than a Chris- 
 tian reprint of the heroism of the Maccabees. 
 
 It is natural, then, to expect that such a famous early martyrdom 
 as that of Perpetua should have left its mark upon later stories : 
 we will give one instance, with the view of shewing how closely 
 one writer can attach himself to another without being suspected 
 of plagiarism or worse. 
 
 The Sincere Acts of Ruinart contain the account of the Passion 
 of Montanus, Lucius and other African martyrs. Ruinart refers 
 these martyrdoms to the year 259 A. D. or 260. 
 
 The writer of these Acts is persuaded that modern examples of 
 the faith may, under the influence of divine promise, touch the 
 mark of earlier times : (c. IV. nec difficile credentibus fuit, nova 
 posse ad vetera exempla pertingere, Domino per spiritum polli- 
 cente): a theme to which he returns at the close of the story, 
 intimating that we may learn from the new scriptures as we have 
 learnt from the old; (c. xxiii. “0 martyrum gloriosa documenta ! 0 
 testium Dei experimenta praeclara, quae ad memoriam posterorum 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 27 
 
 scripta sunt merito, ut quemadmodum de scripturis veteribus 
 exempla, dum discimus, sumimus; etiam de novis aliqua discamus”). 
 Obviously the writer has been imitating the Acts of Perpetua. So 
 far the imitation has nothing to do with his veracity; it is literary, 
 not historical. But what are we to say when we find that they 
 are brought before a Procurator who happens to be filling the place 
 of a Proconsul who has died in office? c. vi. “subifco rapti sumus 
 ad Proeuratorem qui defuncti proconsulis partes administrabat.” 
 In the Acts of Perpetua this has been one of the difficult 
 points to explain, on account of the deficiency of precedent for 
 such a delegation of proconsular power 1 . But even if precedent 
 existed, the probability of this event happening in Africa twice in 
 fifty years may be taken as infinitely small. Moreover the 
 language “subito rapti sumus” is taken from the Perpetua Acts. 
 When they come to the prison, instead of making the martyrs feel 
 as Perpetua did “how dreadful and how dark was this place!” and 
 then go on in faith until the prison becomes a palace, our writer 
 plunges his prisoners into palatial joys at the start : they do not 
 fear the foulness nor the gloom ; the prison shines with the glory 
 of the Spirit, c. IV. “nec expavimus foedam loci illius nec caliginem. 
 Moxque career tenebrosus Spiritu perlucente resplenduit, etc.” 
 This last description might be merely an improvement upon 
 Perpetua ; but when we go a little farther, we find the governor of 
 the prison trying to starve the martyrs, and we have moreover a 
 series of visions which are evidently suggested by those in the 
 Acts of Perpetua. . It is true that he does not directly imitate the 
 Dinocrates-vision, but when one of the women-martyrs sees her son 
 who has suffered before her sitting by the margin of waters and 
 hears him speak to her : when a youth of amazing stature enters 
 with cups in his hands, the draught from which does not diminish 
 the supply (quae phialae non deficiebant), we know that the story 
 of Dinocrates was in the mind of the writer and that he made 
 the best use he could of his materials. 
 
 We might point out many more coincidences, but these will 
 probably be sufficient, to shew that the Acts of Montanus, Lucius 
 and their company are a deliberate forgery, based chiefly upon the 
 Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas. 
 
 1 Marquardt (Rom. Staatsvenvaltung, i. p. 415, n. 3) quotes these Acts in order 
 to establish the precedent ! 
 
28 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 Tertullian and the Acta Perpetuae. 
 
 It has been frequently suggested that there is some relation 
 between Tertullian and the author of the Acts of Perpetua, and 
 coincidences of language have been pointed out between the 
 writings of the great African father and our Latin text, so as to 
 support the thesis that perhaps the Acts themselves come from 
 the pen of Tertullian. Now it will be evident that, if our hypo- 
 thesis of a Greek original be correct, these arguments lose almost 
 all their force. It is not indeed impossible that Tertullian may 
 have been the author of Greek Acts, but we have no evidence 
 by which to support the theory in the shape of a comparison 
 between what he is known to have written and what he may be 
 maintained to have written. So that the theory falls to the 
 ground. There is, however, one direction in which we may find 
 traces of Tertullian which has not, as far as we know, been pointed 
 out previously. 
 
 If we are right in referring the martyrdom to any time near 
 200 A.D., and to any place near Carthage, it is extremely difficult 
 to believe that so valiant a defender of the faith as Tertullian had 
 nothing to do for the martyrs and nothing to say about them. It 
 would be almost impossible that such should have been the case if 
 he had been a pronounced Montanist at the time of the martyrdom, 
 and when we reflect upon the difficulty with which any of his 
 writings, except a very few tracts, can satisfactorily be labelled 
 non-Mon tanist, we are obliged to admit that the tide of sympathy 
 with the new movement must have set in some time before what 
 the orthodox church writers are pleased to call ‘ his fall.’ Thus it 
 is in the highest degree probable that Tertullian would have in 
 some way or other shewn sympathy with the imprisoned brethren 
 and sisters. So far we are only reasoning generally, and after an 
 a priori manner : but when we turn to Tertullian’s writings we 
 find one tract addressed directly to a group of martyrs in prison, 
 which is singularly applicable to the circumstances of Perpetua 
 and her friends ; so that it furnishes at least a commentary, if not 
 a historical supplement to the story of their sufferings. 
 
 In the tract ad Martyras we have very few direct allusions by 
 which to fix its date ; nor is this surprising, when we regard the 
 brevity of its composition. It has been regarded by some as 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 29 
 
 amongst Tertullian’s earliest works. This result is arrived at by 
 the Oxford translators of Tertullian as follows : the tract belongs 
 to a time of persecution ; but no martyrs have already suffered, or 
 they would have been named ; therefore it is the commencement 
 of a time of persecution. And since the closing words of the tract 
 contain an encouragement to the martyrs on the ground that, even 
 if they were not Christians, their lives would not necessarily be 
 secure, as we see by the sudden removal of persons of all classes 
 and conditions who have fallen under the condemnation of the 
 government, it has been held that the tract refers to the 
 suppression of the followers of Albinus and therefore to the 
 year 197. 
 
 Now this reasoning is invalidated as regards the martyrs, first, 
 because it has the usual weakness of an argument from silence, 
 and secondly, because Tertullian does allude to previous martyrs 
 in his opening remarks, where he says they have been in the habit 
 of giving from their prison certificates of peace to lapsed members 
 of the Church. But it is also weakened by the fact that the 
 proscription and assassination of persons suspected by the govern- 
 ment can hardly be held to have been ended in a single year ; for 
 the whole period with which we are concerned is rife with charges 
 of treason. So that it does not seem necessary to put the date as 
 far back as 197 A.D. 
 
 But now let us examine the tract a little more closely : and 
 first we notice that it is divided into two parts by alternate 
 addresses made to men and women. Thus in c. it. he addresses 
 the martyrs as “blessed men,” and so in the beginning of c. III. 
 
 But in c. hi. he changes the address from ‘ benedicti * to ‘ bene- 
 dictae,’ and it is clear that this need not be regarded as a 
 copyist’s error, since a little further on he brings in instances of 
 female constancy such as Lucretia, in order that the blessed women 
 might rival their own sex. 
 
 Now we conclude from this that the group of martyrs was 
 composed both of men and women. But our Acts give no hint;i r o, < 
 that women had suffered in the earlier part of the persecution with 
 Iucundus, Artaxius and the rest. We should therefore be disposed \ 
 to think that the women addressed were our own Perpetua and 
 Felicitas. At all events they satisfy the condition. 
 
 But further the martyrs were many of them young, since 
 Tertullian at the commencement of the second chapter says that 
 
30 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 there were some hindrances of the soul which had come after them 
 just as far as their parents had, viz. to the prison door. Whether 
 he means to include parents amongst the hindrances left behind, as 
 in Perpetua’s case, is not clear; but the language implies that 
 there was a large juvenile contingent amongst the martyrs. Now 
 our Acts emphasize especially the youthfulness of this band of 
 Christian soldiers. 
 
 The form of Tertullian’s sympathy is dictated by the trials 
 present and prospective of the martyrs. He commiserates them 
 on the darkness and foulness of their prison. We must not 
 unduly press such an exactness of agreement with the language of 
 the Acts, for it is probable that all prisons were much the same in 
 regard to light and sweetness. But we may say it is language 
 very adapted to our martyrs which can speak as follows: “the 
 world containeth the greater number of criminals, to wit the whole 
 race of man : it awaiteth moreover the judgment not of the 
 proconsul but of God. Wherefore, blessed men, consider that ye 
 have been translated from a prison to a place, it may be, of safe 
 keeping. It hath darkness, but ye yourselves are lights. It hath 
 bonds, but ye have been made free by God. An evil breath is 
 uttered there ; but ye are a sweet savour. A judge is looked for, 
 but ye shall judge even the judges themselves.” Could anything 
 be more appropriate to the condition of the martyrs from Thuburbo 
 than this ? 
 
 In the same way he touches on the suffering of their legs in 
 the stocks, on the probability of their having to run the gauntlet 
 under the whips of the venatores and the like. 
 
 But the_greatest piec e of evidence of all consists in the 
 directions which Tertullian gives them to tread the dragon under 
 foot in his own house. “ Let him flee from your sight and hide 
 himself in his utmost recess coiled up and listless like a serpent 
 that hath been charmed and fumigated away.” Read this by the 
 side of Perpetua’s account of the way in which, at the name of 
 Jesus, she saw the dragon retreat beneath the ladder, so that she 
 trod upon his head as she began her ascent, and one will be 
 disposed to say that either the story of the ladder and the dragon 
 had come to Tertullian’s ears, or that his words had furnished the 
 raw material, if we may so express it, for the vision which 
 Perpetua saw. 
 
 The way in which Tertullian works out the figure of the 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 31 
 
 athletic contest in which the martyrs are engaged is very 
 remarkable, because it runs parallel in some points with Perpetua’s 
 wrestling match with the Egyptian. It is true that the illustration 
 is a sufficiently common one, and therefore coincidences are not to 
 be pressed as they are in the previous illustration ; but at all 
 events let us look at them. According to our Acts, then, the last 
 vision of Perpetua is a vision of her wrestling with the devil under 
 the form of an Egyptian. A most beautiful youth attended by a 
 band of beautiful companions appears as her trainer. Presently 
 there enters a man of marvellous height, robed in purple of more 
 than ordinary dignity, and holding the judge’s staff in his hand. 
 
 The Latin version, not seeing the necessity apparently both 
 for the youth of amazing beauty and the judge of amazing stature, 
 has left out the former, furnishing thus only a bevy of young men 
 for backers of the athlete. But one suspects that both God and 
 Christ are represented in the vision : God the judge of all and 
 Christ the trainer of the faithful. And when we turn to Tertullian 
 we find as follows : “ ye are about to undergo a good fight wherein 
 the president is the Living God : the trainer, the Holy Spirit : the 
 crown, eternity : the prize, of angelic being, the citizenship of the 
 Heavens : the glory, for ever and ever. Wherefore your Master 
 Christ Jesus, who hath given you the unction of the Spirit, hath 
 brought you forth into this wrestling ground etc.” Now we should 
 infer from this that the youth of amazing beauty is either Christ 
 or the Holy Spirit : and thus we are able to justify the Greek 
 text against the Latin, and to shew a second case in which 
 Tertullian’s language is strikingly like the fabric of Perpetua’s 
 visions. 
 
 We are disposed to think that these agreements are sufficient 
 to prove that the tract ad Martyras was written to Perpetua and 
 her companions shortly after their removal to the military prison 
 at Carthage. We know nothing that is foreign to such a 
 hypothesis except that there is a lapse of some five or six years 
 between the dates that have hitherto been ascribed respectively to 
 the tract of Tertullian, and the martyrdom. But these dates, and 
 especially the former, have still some measure of uncertainty 
 attaching to them. We propose, therefore, to lower the date of 
 the ad Martyras by the necessary interval for agreement with the 
 martyrdom of Perpetua. 
 
32 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 On the relation of the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas 
 to the Ignatian Controversy. 
 
 The Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas have been brought into 
 prominence in the great historical controversy as to the genuine- 
 ness of the Ignatian epistles in two ways : first, to repel the charge 
 of anachronism brought by Bochart against the epistle of Ignatius to 
 the Romans on the ground of its use of the word “ leopard 1 /’ when 
 this word was an artificial and late word not found earlier than 
 the time of Constantine, the proper Greek word being 7 rdpSaXis : 
 secondly, they have been employed to demonstrate the antiquity 
 of the Ignatian epistles by means of actual quotations from those 
 epistles, or of parallelisms in language amounting to quotations, 
 which occur in the current Acts of Perpetua and her companions. 
 
 Now it is not our business, certainly not here and now, to 
 write our views on the Ignatian controversy : but it is well within 
 our province to test any of the links in the historical argument 
 evolved by Pearson, Usher and Light foot for the defence of the 
 Ignatian epistles, where the arguments are based upon the text of 
 which we give, as we believe, the first and authoritative form. 
 We shall accordingly say a few words on each of the two questions 
 referred to above. 
 
 And first with regard to the “ ten leopards ” of Ignatius. 
 
 Bochart in his Hierozoicon says as follows : “ Leopardi vox 
 serius usurpari coepit, nempe Constantini aevo. Proinde Ignatii 
 ad Romanos Epistola quam circumferunt, eo demum saeculo fuisse 
 scriptam vel ex hoc argumento colligas, quod Leopardorum diserte 
 meminit.” 
 
 If we may believe Pearson (Vindiciae Ignatianae II. 92) 
 Bochart based this observation on a remark of Gesner’s. Pearson 
 wittily remarks that it is quite possible that the word ‘ leopard ’ 
 does not exist in those Roman writers, earlier than the fourth 
 century, who had been studied by Bochart ; but there were other 
 authors, of the period in question, whom Bochart had not read ; 
 some of them were no doubt lost, but there were extant a few 
 authors who had used the word ; “ non legit, opinor, Bochartus, 
 passiones SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis primo in lucem ab Holstenio 
 productam ” : he then quotes the numerous allusions to the 
 
 1 Ign. ad Bom. v. “Bound to ten leopards” (KeoirdpSocs). 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 33 
 
 ‘ leopard * in our Acts and observes that the Acts were written 
 one hundred years before the time of Constantine. Upon which 
 Lightfoot remarks {Ignatius I. 397): “It is sufficient to say that 
 Pearson at once proved the extravagance of this assertion by 
 producing an example of the word as early as Severus (a.d. 202), 
 and thus convicting Bochart of an error of a whole century at 
 all events. I have been able to carry the evidence much farther 
 back." 
 
 Now we have the right to ask how the argument stands in 
 the light of our recovered Greek Acts. If the Latin were the 
 original, since there is, as far as we know, no suspicion that the 
 text of the Passion is corrupt, then ‘ leopardus ’ is good Latin 
 in the year 202 A.D. : and this means that it is possible in 
 Greek long before the time mentioned by Bochart. But we 
 have shewn that, so far from the Latin being the original text, 
 it is a translation and as far as we can judge, by no means an 
 early translation from the Greek. The idea that its language is 
 closely parallel to Tertullian arises from the fact that Tertullian 
 used the complete Acts of the Passion, and that some African 
 Latin parallelisms can be traced between Tertullian’s works and 
 the Latin Acts. 
 
 Turning now to the Greek Acts, we find everywhere instead of 
 the word Xeo7rapSo? (which we should expect if that word were 
 already current, and especially if the redactor of the Acts were 
 acquainted, as Lightfoot affirms, with the Ignatian epistles and 
 under their literary influence) the word 7 rapSaXcs : and this at 
 once disposes of the argument drawn by Pearson and Lightfoot 
 against Bochart. Perpetua and Felicitas must not be any longer 
 quoted in this argument ; or, if quoted, they will be quoted on the 
 other side. 
 
 Of course this does not settle the question ; many things are 
 still unsettled in the Ignatian controversy : the other instances 
 brought forward by Lightfoot are probably correct ; but, in any 
 case, we do not discuss them. Before leaving this point we would, 
 however, draw attention to one remark which Lightfoot makes on 
 the disputed question, which seems to us by some oversight to 
 have fallen a little short of the point which it was meant to 
 establish. In Ignatius I. 398 he says, “ Where the remains of 
 contemporary literature are so few and fragmentary, intervals far 
 longer than half a century constantly occur between the producible 
 
 3 
 
 H. 
 
34 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 instances of the use of particular words. One example will 
 suffice. The Ignatian letter to the Ephesians on any showing was 
 written before the middle of the third century when it is quoted 
 by Origen. Yet the next example, after this Ignatian letter, of 
 the use of the word avaycoyevs in the same sense as ‘ a lifting- 
 engine ’ (Ephes. 9), which the lexicographers produce, is in 
 Eustathius a writer of the twelfth century.” 
 
 It seems to us that the illustration given fails of its force in 
 that (i) it makes a parallel case between a common word ( leopard ) 
 and a very rare word (avaywyevs), which itself is being used in a 
 technical sense. Are “ lifting-engines ” to be expected as frequently 
 in literature as lions and tigers ? But (ii), and this is the main 
 point, it is not a question of the occurrence of a rare word, but a 
 question of the occurrence of another very common word as an 
 alternative for the word sought. We have no perplexity on this 
 head with regard to the * lifting-engine ’ ; but on the other hand 
 where the words * leopardus ’ and its Greek form do not occur, there 
 are plenty of pards and panthers and the like occurring as an 
 equivalent description to ‘ leopard.’ It seems therefore that 
 Lightfoot’s illustration is not quite adequate. 
 
 The second point of relationship between the Acts of Perpetua 
 and Felicitas and the Ignatian Epistles consists in the assumed 
 quotations which the Acts make from the letters. 
 
 These quotations are affirmed by Lightfoot, and they consist of 
 one principal instance, and three minor references. The idea is 
 that the Ignatian Epistles and especially the epistle to the Romans 
 became a sort of ‘vade-mecum’ of martyrs (which is certainly true 
 of many of the current Acta Martyrum), and so naturally coloured 
 the thought and language of Perpetua and her companions. 
 
 In Ignatius I. 135 we have the references given as follows: 
 
 Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas (c. a.d. 202). 
 
 “The expression ‘ut bestias lucraretur’ (§ 14) is probably taken 
 from Rom. 5, ovaLgyv rcov drjpicov ic.r A. . .These Acts likewise present 
 other coincidences with the Epistles of Ignatius : e.g. § 10, ‘Coe- 
 perunt me favitores oleo defrigere quomodo solent in agonem’ 
 (comp. Ephes. 3, i'jraXeiffiOrjvat with the note), and § 18, ‘Christi 
 Dei’ (comp. Trail. 7, Smyrn. 6, 10, with the note on Ephes. 1, 
 below, II. p. 29 sq.).” 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 35 
 
 To the above we must add the following from vol. I. p. 335 note. 
 “To the coincidences quoted above from the Acts of Perpetua and 
 Felicitas should be added § 5, ‘nos non in nostra potestate esse 
 constitutes sed in Dei’; comp. Polyc. 7, ^ piariavo 9 eavrov e^ovaiav 
 ovk e^ei aXka ©em o-^oXafet. This document is closely connected 
 with Tertullian (see de Anim. 55): and the Ignatian Epistles, 
 if known to the writers of these Acts, were likely to be known to 
 this father also. Thus the parallels in the one tend to confirm the 
 inference drawn from the parallels in the other.” 
 
 Now with regard to these assumed quotations and references; 
 the first, as will be seen from our Greek text, arises from a 
 misunderstanding; ‘ut bestias lucraretur’ is a false translation for 
 /cepSava? to pir/ Q^piopua^yaai, and the martyr is not described in 
 terms that are in any degree parallel to the Ignatian language ; 
 he simply has as his reward (in the fact of his dying in prison) 
 that he was exempted from the conflict in the amphitheatre. 
 
 The third reference ‘Christi Dei’ arises from an error in the 
 punctuation of the Latin text which should have a comma after 
 ‘Christi’ so as to read ‘ut matrona Christi, Dei dilecta’; some 
 texts emphasize the punctuation by inserting a second ‘ut’ between 
 ‘Christi’ and ‘Dei.’ It appears then that the two expressions are 
 in apposition and the second is an explanation of the first. But 
 it is more than an explanation, for a reference to the Greek shews 
 that it is a mere gloss of the Latin translator. There is nothing 
 in the Greek text to answer to ‘Dei dilecta.’ 
 
 The fourth instance quoted seems also to be a misunderstanding: 
 the Greek text is, 7 vdoOi yap '6 ti ovk ev rfj ypueTepa i^ovcria aXX* 
 iv rfj tov ® 6 ou iaopieOa, which must mean that when the day of 
 trial comes, ‘we shall be at God’s disposal and not at our own.’ Now 
 this can hardly be deduced from the general proposition in the 
 letter to Polycarp that ‘a Christian is not at his own disposal but 
 devotes his time ’ (so Lightfoot translates cr^oXafet) ‘to God.’ 
 
 There remains, then, only the second of the instances given by 
 Lightfoot, where he compares Act. Perpet. 10 with Ephes. 3. 
 The figure, however, is such a common one (that of being oiled by 
 one’s trainer) 1 , and the reading of the passage in the Ignatian 
 
 1 The figure is found in Tertullian, ad Martyras, c. iii. which tract is closely 
 connected with the time of Perpetua’s imprisonment. But when Tertullian speaks 
 of the good fight, in which the living God is the president, and the trainer the Holy 
 Spirit, whose unction the martyrs have received, he is not quoting the Ignatian 
 
 3—2 
 
36 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 letter is so doubtful withal, that I fancy this coincidence will 
 hardly be pressed when it is seen how completely the appearance 
 of the preceding parallelisms is changed by the introduction of the 
 Greek text. 
 
 When Lightfoot’s great work was first under the notice of the 
 reviewers his use of the Acts of Perpetua was severely commented 
 upon, if we remember rightly, by Hilgenfeld. The critic’s objection 
 was, we believe, widely sympathised with. We have now better 
 means of determining whether it was well-founded or not. And 
 in any case it can do no harm to draw attention to the point again. 
 
 As we have said above, our remarks are only meant as corrections 
 to the great argument ; they are not intended as a challenge to 
 battle. If we honour and admire Dr Lightfoot’s scholarship, we 
 have also the good sense to fear him more than anything short of 
 ‘thunder and the sword of Michael.’ And if we prize his personal 
 kindness, we also remember that on the road by which our studies 
 have in recent years taken us, we passed the ‘slovenly unhandsome 
 corse’ of the author of Supernatural Religion 1 . 
 
 Authorities for the text. 
 
 The Greek text is taken from a MS. in the library of the 
 Convent of the Holy Sepulchre ( Cod. S. Sep. 1). The MS. contains 
 ftioL /cal fiapTvpiai for the month of February. It is labelled with 
 the name of Symeon Metaphrastes, but inasmuch as the writing is 
 of the tenth century at least the title must not be taken literally. 
 Amongst the interesting matters in this Codex will be found on 
 p. 136 the martyrdom of Poly carp (i.e. the letter of the Smyr- 
 neans). On pp. 144 — 173 the life of Porphyry of Gaza. On p. 173 
 Hippolytus, l)e Christo et Antichristo. The martyrdom of Perpetua 
 will be found on p. 41 of the MS. 
 
 epistles. Indeed it is more likely than any other hypothesis that the Perpetua Acts 
 are under the influence of this special tract of Tertullian. As we have said the 
 figure is very ancient, one of the best cases of it is Ps. -Josephus, De Maccabeis § 18. 
 
 1 These remarks were written and the substance of the argument communicated 
 to the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, before we had received the news 
 of the immeasurable loss which the Christian world had sustained in the transla- 
 tion of Dr Lightfoot. There are others besides the bishops and clergy who stood 
 around his grave in Auckland Chapel who can use the words “ our dear father 
 departed,” and who can look back over the work that*he did for the defence of 
 learning and of religion, and say as Perpetua said, and without her touch of pity or 
 of scorn, oi’x* ob irairas i)p.(Tepos et : 
 
OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 37 
 
 T he longer Latin version was discovered by Holstein in the 
 monastery of Monte Cassino and published (? after his death), with 
 his notes, by Valesius at Paris. This edition forms the basis of 
 Ruinart’s text in the Acta Martyrum Sincera. Ruinart used two 
 other MSS.: one from the monastery jof Salzburg, the other from 
 the abbey of Compikgne. According to Aubd, the ms. 17626 
 (fonds latin) in the National Library at Paris belongs to the same 
 group. We have not been able to do more with the Latin text 
 than reprint Ruinart’s authorities and correct some of the more 
 evident errors of the Latin transcribers. 
 
PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 I. Si 1 vetera fidei exempla, et Dei gratiam testificantia et 
 edificationem hominis operantia, propterea in litteris sunt digesta, 
 ut lectione eorum quasi repraesentatione rerum et Deus honoretur 
 et homo confortetur ; cur non et nova documenta aeque utrique 
 causae convenientia et digerantur? Yel quia et haec vetera 
 futura quandoque sunt et necessaria posteris, si in praesenti suo 
 tempore minori deputantur auctoritati, propter praesumptam 
 venerationem antiquitatis. Sed viderint qui unam virtutem 
 Spiritus huius Sancti pro aetatibus iudicent temporum ; cum 
 maiora reputanda sint novitiora quaeque ut novissimiora, secun- 
 dum exuberationem gratiae in ultima saeculi spatia decretam 2 . 
 In novissimis enim diebus, dicit Dominus, effundam de Spiritu 
 meo super omnem carnem, et prophetabunt filii filiaeque eorum, et 
 super servos et ancillas meas de meo Spiritu effundam : et iuvenes 
 visiones videbunt, et senes somnia somniabunt. Itaque et nos 
 qui sicut prophetias, ita visiones novas pariter repromissas et 
 agnoscimus et honoramus ceterasque virtu tes Spiritus Sancti ad 
 instrumentum Ecclesiae deputamus, cui et missus est, idem omnia 
 donativa administrans in omnibus, prout unicuique distribuit 
 Dominus, necessario et digerimus, et ad gloriam Dei lectione 
 
 1 In the following notes H = Holstenius : S = cod. Salisburgensis : C = cod. 
 Compendiensis. 
 
 2 Codd. Ed. deer eta. 
 
 Prep. Two prefatory notes are given in the Greek; one of which is the 
 introduction of the Metaphrast, and the other of the prae-Metaphrast. evXoyrjaov 
 is the proper ejaculation of the dvayvuarrjs. 
 
 C. i. Cf. the introduction to the Passion of Cyprian (Euinart p. 179) where our 
 Acts seem to be alluded to. “ Certe durum erat, ut cum majores nostri, plebeiis et 
 catechumenis martyrium consecutis tantum honoris pro martyrii ipsius veneratione 
 
MAPTYPION rTEPrTETOYAC. 
 
 [Maprvpiov rrjs ayias HepTrcrovas Kai t<3j/ trui/ avrrj TcXenoOcvTOiV ev 
 * AcfjpiKrj . rfj 7rpo Tecradpoiv vovwv <$>€vpovapl(ov. EuAdy^aoi/.] 
 
 [’E7rt OvaXepidvov kou YaXrjvov Sitoypos eyevero ev a> ejxapTvprjfrav ol 
 ay tot SaVv/oos, % arovpvivos , 'PeovKaTOS, IIep7r€TOva, ^rjXiKrjrdTr], vov at? 
 4>eupovaptais.] 
 
 I. Et ra rraXaia rrj 9 7 rlarecos Boypiara, /cal Bogav ©eoO 
 < pavepovvra /cal obcoBofirjv avOpoorrois diroreXoi/VTa, 81a rovro 
 i(7Ti yeypapipieva, iva rfj avayvdxrei avrcov (6s 7 rapovcrla roov 
 rrpaypbdrwv yp(6pie6a teal 6 Oeos Bo^aaOfj, Biari pir} /cal ra /caiva 
 rrapaBelypuara, are Brj e/carepa epya^opieva oocfreXeiav, cocravrcos 5 
 y paef/fj rrapaBoOfj ; f) yap ra vvv rrpayOevra ov rrjv avrrjv 
 7 rappr)<Tiav eyei, en ret Bo/cei rrws elvai ra apyaia (repvorepa ; 
 ttXtjv /cal ravra varepov 7 Tore yevopieva rraXaia, coaavrco 9 rot? 
 pieO' rjpids yevrjaerai /cal avay/caia /cal rlpua. aXX! O'^rayvrai 
 oirive 9 pilav Bvvapuv evos aylov 7 Tvevpuaros /card ras rjXi/clas 10 
 Kplvovai roov ypovcov, on Brj Bvvaroorepa eBei vorjcrQai r a 
 /caivorepa, cos eyovra av^avopievrjs rrj 9 ydpiro 9 r ^9 et’9 Ta TeA,?7 
 Acts ii. 17 . raw /catpwv errrjyyeXpievijS * eV ecryarai 9 yap rjpiepai 9, Xeyei 6 
 Kvpios, eyyeco airo rov rrvev piaros piov eirl rrdcrav aap/ca , /cat 
 7 rpo<f>r)T€v<TOvcnv ol viol vpiwv /cal al Ovyarepe 9 vpicov' /cal ol 15 
 veavla/coi vpuwv opacreis oyjrovrai, /cal ol 7 rpeaftvrai vpiwv 
 evvirvlois evvirviaOrjcrovrai. rjpieis Be oirives rrpo(f>ijrelas /cal 
 opaaeis /caiva 9 BeyopieOa /cal emyivcocr/copiev /cal rijidopiev rrdaas 
 ra 9 Bvvapieis rov aylov rrvevpiaros, 009 %op?; yet ayta e/c/cXrjcrla 
 
 7 rpo 9 ^ /cat eirepu^Orj, rravra ra yaplapiara ev rraaiv Bioi/covv , 20 
 e/caarw ws epiepicrev 6 Oeo 9, avay/calcos /cal avapupivija/copiev /cal 
 7rpo9 ol/coBopirjv eladyopiev, pierd dydiry 9 ravra rroiovvres els 
 
 Praefatio. TaXt^ou. 2a.TovpvL\o$. C. 1 , 1. 1. elra. 2. <f>avepovvrai. 
 
 6. wapadodeis. 11. 6re 5c. 13. eTrr/yyeCKpevr/s. 14. e/cx ew * 
 
 dederint, ut de passionibus eorum multa, aut prope dixerim cuncta conscripserint, 
 ut ad nostram quoque notitiam gui nondum nati fuimus pervenerint, Cypriani 
 tanti sacerdotis et tanti martyris praeteriretur.” 
 
40 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 celebramus, ut ne qua aut imbecillitas, aut desperatio fidei apud 
 veteres tan turn aestimet gratiam divinitatis conversatam, sive 
 martyrum, sive in revelationum dignatione : cum semper Deus 
 operetur quae repromisit, non credentibus in testimonium, creden- 
 tibus in beneficium. Et nos itaque quod audivimus et contrecta- 
 vimus annuntiamus et vobis, fratres et filioli, ut et vos qui 
 interfuistis, rememoremini gloriae Domini: et qui nunc cognoscitis 
 per auditum, communionem habeatis cum sanctis martyribus, et 
 per illos cum Domino Jesu Christo, cui est claritas et honor in 
 saecula saeculorum. Amen. 
 
 II. Apprehensi sunt adolescentes catechumini, Revocatus et 
 Felicitas conserva eius, Saturninus 1 et Secundulus. Inter quos 
 et Vibia 2 Perpetua, honeste nata, liberaliter instituta, matrona- 
 liter nupta, habens patrem et matrem et fratres duos; alterum 
 aeque catechuminum, et filium infantem ad ubera. Erat autem 
 ipsa annorum circiter viginti duorum. Haec ordinem totum 
 martyrii sui iam huic ipsa narrabit, sicut conscript um manu sua 
 et suo sensu reliquit. 
 
 III. Cum ad hue, inquit, cum persecutoribus essemus 3 , et me 
 pater avertere 4 , et deicere pro sua affectione perseveraret : Pater, 
 
 1 In H deest Saturninus. 
 
 2 H habet Inter hos Ubia Perpetua , honest a, liberaliter educata , matrona licet 
 
 nupta. 3 H, essem. 4 H, evertere cupiret. 
 
 C. n. Of the names given in the Acts, all can be paralleled from the African 
 inscriptions. 
 
 Perhaps the best illustration can be taken from the inscriptions at Zanfur. 
 
 C. I. L. viii. 1803 FELICITAS. 
 
 P. V. A. 
 
 H. S. E. 
 
 1808 D. M. S 
 
 Q. MAGNIVS 
 SATVRNINVS 
 P.V. AN. CV. 
 
 1817 D. M. S 
 
 REVOCATVS ' 
 
 V.A. XXV. 
 
 For the use of the term atjrdov\oi cf. the Numidian inscription 2296. 
 
 ms ma s 
 
 FLORVS T FLAVI 
 T F MINIANI Cl 
 SER. PIVS VIXIT 
 FORTVNATA 
 CONSERVA 
 PIO MARITO 
 MVNVMEN 
 TVM FEC 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 41 
 
 1 John i. 
 1—3. 
 
 Boifav :ov real iva py 7rcos fj d/3e(3aios ns /cal eXtyoTnaros, y 
 /cal roes 7 raXaiols povov ryv X^P iV Kai r ^ v &vvapiv BiBoaOat 
 voplarj, elre ev roZs roov paprvpcov etre ev roZs roov d'rroKaXv- 
 yjreoov d^icopaaiv' , iravrore epya^opevov rov Oeov a eiryyyei- 
 Xaro els paprvpiov pev roov dirlcrroov els dvr iXyyjr iv. Be roov 5 
 
 'TTLGTWV. 
 
 K al ypeZs a r/KOvcrapev /cal eoopaKapev /cal i\JryXa(Joyaape v 
 evayyeXdfopeOa vpZv, dBeX<f>ol /cal re/eva, eva /cal ol crvprrapovre s 
 dvapvyaOdocnv Boffys ®eot) /cal ol vvv Bi d/corjs yivdocrKovres 
 Koivooviav 6 XV re y^era roov ayioov paprvpcov /cal Bt avrdov pera 10 
 rov K vplov ypdov ’I yaov Xpicrrov, <p y Botfa els rovs aldovas roov 
 aloovcov. dpyv. 
 
 II. ’E^ 7 roXec (dovj 3 ovp/ 3 iravcov rfj piKporepa crweXycpOyaav 
 
 veavid/coi Karyxovpevoc, 'PeovKaros /cal <f?y\i/cyrdry, avvBovXoc, 
 /cal %arovpvZvos, /cal He/covvBoi per avrcov Be /cal O vifdla 15 
 Uepirerova yns yv yevvyOeZcra evyevdo s /cal rpacfoeZcra 7 ro\vre\cios 
 yapyOeZcra re A vry elx €v Trarepa /cal pyre pa /cai Bvo 
 
 dBeXcfoovs dov 6 erepos rjv coaavrcos Karyxovpevos’ elx ev 8 e Kai 
 re/evov o 7 rpos roZs pacrOoZs en eOyjXa^ev’ yv Be avry ercov el/cocrc 
 Bvo’ yns irdaav ryv ra%iv rov paprvplov evrevOev Biyyycraro, 20 
 co<; /cal rco voi avrys /cal rfj X ei P L o’vyypd'ijracra KareXcrrev ovreos 
 elirovcra. 
 
 III. W E n, (joycrlv, ypdov rraparypovpevcov eirexplpet 6 iraryp 
 poi Xoyois rreiOeiv pe Kara ryv eavrov evcrTrXayxvlav rys 
 rrpoKeipevys opoXoylas eKireaeZv’ Kaydo rrpos avrov Tldrep, 25 
 
 1. r 7 a/3e/3cuo<rr?7S. 5. cod. ets avneis avriXrjxf/iv. C. 11 ., 1. 13. doviepiravuv. 
 14. <f>r)\r]KT]TaTri. 15. haropviXos. 15. ’IoiAca /cat Uepirerova. 
 
 17. avrij. 19. avrrj. 24. evairXaxviav. 
 
 I quote this inscription because it furnishes us with the suggestion that perhaps 
 Revocatus may have been the husband of Felicitas ; and also because it contains 
 the name Minianus which is very like the perplexing Timinianus whom we find 
 later on in the story. 
 
 For the name Felicitas as a slave’s name see C. I. L. vm. 1897. 
 
 n. m. s 
 
 FELICITAS 
 V. A. iii. H.S.E 
 HILARVS AVGGG 
 LIB. VERNACVLAE 
 SVAE FEC. 
 
42 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 inquio, vides, verbi gratia, vas hoc iacens, urceolum, sive aliud ? 
 Et dixit : Video, et ego dixi ei : Numquid alio nomine vocari 
 potest, quam quod est ? Et ait : Non. Sic et ego aliud me dicere 
 non possum, nisi quod sum, Christiana. Tunc pater motus in hoc 
 verbo, misit se in me ut oculos mihi erueret : sed vexavit tan turn, 
 et profectus 1 est victus cum argumentis diaboli. Tunc paucis 
 diebus quod caruissem patre, Domino gratias egi, et refrigerata 2 
 sum absentia illius. In ipso spatio paucorum dierum baptizati 
 sumus : mihi autem Spiritus dictavit, nihil aliud petendum ab 3 
 aqua, nisi sufferentiam carnis. Post paucos dies recipimur in 
 carcerem, et expavi quia numquam experta eram tales tenebras. 
 0 diem asperum ! Aestus validos 4 turbarum beneficio, concussurae 
 militum ! Novissime macerabar sollicitudine infan tis. Ibi tunc 
 Tertius et Pomponius benedicti Diacones qui nobis ministrabant, 
 constituerunt pretio, ut paucis horis emissi in meliorem locum 
 carceris refrigeraremus. Tunc exeuntes de carcere universi sibi 
 vacabant. Ego infan tern lactabam jam media defectum. Sollicita 
 pro eo adloquebar matrem, et confortabam 5 fratrem commendabam 
 filium. Tabescebam ideo quod illos tabescere videram mei 
 beneficio. Tales sollicitudines multis diebus passa sum, et 
 usurpavi ut mecum infans in carcere maneret ; et statim con- 
 valui et relevata sum a labore et sollicitudine infantis : et factus 
 est mihi career subito quasi praetorium, ut ibi mallem esse 
 quam alibi 6 . 
 
 IV. Tunc dixit mihi frater meus : Domina soror, iam in 
 magna dignitate 7 es, tanta ut postules visionem, et ostendatur 
 tibi, an passio sit, an commeatus. Et ego quae me sciebam 
 fabulari cum Domino, cuius beneficia 8 tanta experta eram, fidenter 
 repromisi 9 ei dicens : Crastina die tibi renun tiabo. Et postulavi, 
 et ostensum est mihi hoc. Video scalam aeream 10 mirae magni- 
 
 1 H, profecto. 2 H, refrigeravit. 
 
 3 Ed., in ; H, ab. 4 H, validus. 
 
 5 S, et confortabam, fratri commendabam filium. 6 H, alicubi. 
 
 7 H, in magna dignatione es, tanta ut postulem. 8 S, beneficio. 
 
 9 S, repromissionibus ejus dixi. 10 Ed. and C, auream. S, aeream. 
 
 C. iv. This ladder appears again, rather unskilfully imitated in the Martyrdom 
 of S. Sadoth and his companions in Persia (Ruinart, Acta Sincera p. 504) : “ Vidi 
 in somniis hac nocte scalam cum magna gloria, cuius initium erat in caelo. 
 Ei autem superstabat sanctus episcopus cum infinita gloria, ego vero infra in 
 
MAPTYPION T 7 EPTTETOYAC. 
 
 43 
 
 < v? , it 
 
 t $ 7 , 17 
 
 ecf>rjv, opas Xoyov \dpiv afCe ^°S Keipevov rj aXXo rt rwv 
 tolovtcov ; KaKeivos aTreKplOrj' 'Opto’ Kayoi* y, AXXo ovopa^ecv 
 avro prj Oepus ; ovBe Bvvapai, el prj o el p i, rovrecm Xpia- 
 riavrj. 
 
 T ore 6 irarrfp pov rapa^Oel s rqjBe raj Xoyw iireXOdov rjOeXrjaev 5 
 tov s otyOaXpovs pov i%opvf;cu’ erreira povov Kpatjas, i^rjXdev 
 vcKrjdel s pera toov tov BcaftoXov prjxavcov. 
 
 Tot6 oXiyas rjpepas aTroBrjprjaavTO s avrov , rjvyaplvTrjcr a to> 
 
 K vpcqy Kal rjaOrjv arrovros avrov' /cal iv avrals rals rjpepai s 
 e^aTTTL(i 0 r\pev' Kal ipe vrrrjyopevaev to irvevpa to ay tov prjBev 10 
 aXXo alrrjcracrOac cltto tov vBaros tov ( 3 airriaparo s el prj crapKos 
 vrropovrjv. pera Be oXiyas rjpepas i/ 3 Xrj 0 rjpev els $>vXa/cr)v /cal 
 iJ^eyiadrjv ov yap tt con ore tolovtov ewpd/ceiv a / cotos, oos Beivrjv 
 rjpepav Kavpa re acfioBpov, /cal yap avOpcoTrcov rrXrjOos rjv eKel 
 aXXcos re /cal crrpaTicoTaov avKocjravrtais TeXelcrraiS' peO ' a Brj 15 
 rravra KareTrovovprjv Bid to vrjr tlov tckvov. Tore T eprios Kal 
 Uoprrovcos, evXoyrj pivot BtaKovot 01 BtrjKovovv rjptv, rtpas Bovres 
 irrotrjGav rjpas els rjpepooTepov tottov rrjs (frvXaKrjs perax^^vat. 
 Tore dvarrvorjs irvxopev, Kal Brj eKaarot 7 TpocraxOevres ecr^o- 
 Xa£ov eavTols * Kal to /Bpecfoos rjvexQ'*) repos pe, Kal ireeBtBovv 2 o 
 av too yaXa, rjBrj av%p <p papavdev * rrj prjrpl repoaeXaXovv , tov 
 dBeXcpov repoerpereoprjv, to vrjretov rrapeTtOiprjv * irrjKoprjv Be ore 
 iOecopovv avrovs Bt ipe Xvreovpevovs * ovreos reepiXvrros r eXeiarats 
 rjpepats overa, etOura Kal to / 3 peejoos iv rrj (frvXaKr) per ipov 
 pevetv KaKelvo aveXa/ 3 ev Kal iycio iKovfylerOrjv areo avtas Kal 25 
 7 eovov, Kal IBov rj (jyvXaKrj ipol yeyovev tt paired piov, cos paXXov 
 pe iKel OeXeiv elvac, Kal ovk dXXaxov. 
 
 IV. T ore elrrev pot 6 dBeXcjoos K vpla dBeXcfn 7, rjBrj iv 
 peyaXco a^Lcopan vn rap^eis Tocravrrj overa cos el alrrjaeias 
 oirracrias, oirracrlav Xa/ 3 ois av els to Beix^^vai <roi e'trrep 30 
 ava/ 3 oXrjv e^ecs r) TraOetv peXXeus. Kayco rjTis fjBecv pe opiXovaav 
 ©€&>, ov ye Brj rocravras evepyealas el^ov, 7 Tiarecos rrXrjprjs ovaa, 
 iTrrjyyeCXaprjv avrm elrrovaa' A vpcov aoi aTrayyeXco. rjrrjcrdprjv 
 Be, Kal iBelxOrj poi tovto' 
 
 C. 111 . , 1. 1. Kel/ievov : forsitan addendum est rj oorpaiavov. 6. / iovov . 
 
 12. iKXrjOrjixev. 15. 7rXT?<rrat. 17. Hafj.Tovios. 24. ijdrjaa. 
 
 C. iv., 1. 29. cu’r? 7 <rtas. 
 
 2 
 
 *1 /' l^r. 
 
 31. rjTcs : cod. aireis. 
 
 terra consistebam. Atque ille magna me cum hilaritate compellans, Ascende, 
 inquit.’ ’ 
 
44 
 
 PASS 10 S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 tudinis pertingentem usque ad caelum, et ita angustam, per quam 
 nonnisi singuli ascendere posse nt : et in lateribus scalae omne 
 genus ferramentorum infixum. Erant ibi gladii, lanceae, hami, 
 macherae, ut si quis negligenter, aut non sursum adtendens 
 ascenderet, laniaretur et carnes ejus inhaererent ferramentis. Et 
 erat sub ipsa scala draco Cubans mirae magnitudinis, qui ascen- 
 dentibus insidias parabat 1 , et exterrebat ne ascenderent. Ascendit 
 autem Saturus prior, qui postea se propter nos ultro tradiderat, 
 et tunc cum apprehensi sumus praesens non fuerat : et pervenit in 
 caput scalae, et convertit se 2 et dixit mihi : Perpetua, sustineo te. 
 Sed vide ne te mordeat draco ille. Et dixi ego: Non me nocebit 
 in nomine Domini Jesu Christi. Et desub ipsa scala quasi 
 timens me, lente 3 elevavit caput : et cum primum gradum cal- 
 cassem, calcavi illius caput. Et ascendi, et vidi spatium horti 
 immensum, et in medio horti sedentem hominem canum, in habitu 
 pastoris, grandem, oves mulgentem : et circumstantes candidatos 
 millia mu lta. Et levavit caput et adspexit me, et dixit mihi : 
 Bene venisti, tegnon. Et cla mavi t me, et de caseo quod mulgebat 
 dedit mihi quasi buccellam, et ego accepi iunctis manibus, et 
 manducavi : et universi circumstantes dixerunt, Amen. Et ad 
 sonum vocis experrecta sum, commanducans adhuc dulcis nescio 
 quid. Et retuli statim fratri meo, et intelleximus passionem esse 
 futuram. Et coepimus nullam iam spem in saeculo habere. 
 
 Y. Post paucos dies rumor cucurrit ut audiremur. Super- 
 venit autem et de civitate pater meus, consumptus taedio, ascendit 
 ad me ut me deiceret, dicens : Miserere, filia, canis meis ; miserere 
 patri, si dignus sum a te pater vocari. Si his te manibus ad hunc 
 
 1 H, praestabat. 2 Ed. addit ad me, quod in H deest. 
 
 3 H, lente ejecit caput, et quasi primum. 
 
 ' kjx^v. The ‘Amen’ shews that she is describing the reception of the Eucharist. 
 This is also evident from the joined or crossed hands with which the fragment 
 was received. Even in S. Paul’s time the Eucharistic Amen was a prominent 
 feature of the Service: the unlearned or private persons joined in it (“else how 
 could the unlearned say the Amen at thy Thanksgiving,” 1 Cor. xiv. 16). The 
 utterance of this Amen is commonly spoken of by the Fathers as a shout, and 
 here also the whole company join in it so that we need not be surprised that at 
 this point Perpetua waked. If it appears strange that this Amen should in the 
 vision follow the participation in the elements, instead of forming a part of the 
 consecration, we have only to remember that the same thing occurs in the 
 Teaching of the Apostles (“ after ye are filled, give thanks as follows ”). The 
 rapidity of the action from the reception of the elements to the close of the ritual 
 is a characteristic of the world of visions. On account of their use of bread and 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 45 
 
 y 
 
 Ec 8 o*/ /cXipatca yaX/crjv OavpaGrov prj/covs' rjs to prj/co 9 
 aypi? ovpavov' arevrj Be rjv a5? prjBeva Bt avrr/s BvvaG0ai el prj 
 povayov era dva/3rjvat‘ e£ e/carepwv Be rwv rr)<; /cXlpa/cos pepwv 
 irav elBos rjv epTreir-qypevov i/cel ^icfycov Boparcov ay/CLGTpwv 
 payaipwv ofteXiG/ccoV Lva n ra? 6 dva/3aivcov dpeXdi)? /cal //,») 5 
 dvafiXerrctiV roh d/covrlois Ta? Gap/cas Girapaydelr}' rjv Be inr 
 avrfj tt) kXi pa/ct Bpa/ccov inreppeyeOrjs, 09 By rov 9 avaftalvovras 
 evrjBpevev e/cOapftwv 07rco9 roXp&Giv dva/3alveiv ' ave/3r] Be 6 
 ^drvpos' 09 varepov Bl rjpds e/ccov irapeBw/cev eavrov' avrov 
 yap /cal olrcoBop r ) rjpev ' aXX' ore GvveXrj^Orjpev drrrjv' ft ) 9 ouz; 10 
 7rpo9 to d/cpov rrj<; /cXipa/co 9 rr apeyevero , ecrTpd(f)r), /cal ehrev' 
 Uep7rerova, rrepipeva) ere' aXXa ftXeire prj ere 6 Bpa/ccov Ba/crj ' 
 /cat ehrov' Ov prj pe fiXa^y, ev ovopan 'lrjGov XpccrroO. Kat 
 viro/carco rrjs /cXlpa/co 9 eJcret (j)o/3ovpev6<; pe rjpepa rrjv /cecfraXr/v 
 rrpoGyvey/cev' /cal G09 et9 to// rrpeorov ftaOpov rjOeXyaa e7n(3fjvaL 15 
 tt)z/ /cetyaXrjv avrov iirdryGa' [/cat dvefiyv] /cal elBov i/cel /crjrrov 
 peyiarov /cal ev peaco rov /cr/rrov avOpcorrov 7 toXlov /caOe^opevov 
 iroLpevos cryfjpa eyovra V7reppeyedrj 09 rjXpevye rd 7rpo/3ara' 
 irepieiGrrjKeiGav Be avreo rroXXal yiXcdBe 9 Xevye/povovvrcov' 
 eVa/3a9 Se tt}z/ /ce<f>aXr)v eOedaaTO pe /cal ehrev * KaXftk eXrjXvOas, 20 
 re/evov' /cal e/caXecrev pe, /cal e/c rov rvpov ov rjXpevye v eBco/cev 
 pot Gocrel yjrcoplov' /cal eXa/3ov ^ev^aaa Ta 9 yeipas pov /cat 
 eepayov' /cal ehrav rravres ot rrapeGrcores ’ Aprjv. 
 
 Kat 7rpo9 rov yyov rrj 9 <ficovr}<; e^virvia6r)v ere ri irore 
 paGcopkvr) yXv/cv' /cal evOeax ? BcrjyyGapyv too dBeXcfyco /cal 25 
 evor/aapev on Beoi iraQelv' ical rjp^apyv e/crore prjBeplav 
 eXiriBa ev rco alclvL rovrep eyeiv. 
 
 V. MeTa 8 e r/pepa<; oXlyas ey vcopev pe\Xeiv rjpd? a/covaOrj- 
 aeaOao' 7 rapeyevero Be /cal 6 'irarrjp e/c rrjs 7r oAA??9 airoBr^pia^ 
 pap/auvopeyos /cal ave/Sr) irpo^ pe TTporpeTropevos pe /caiaftaXelv, 30 
 Xeycov' ®vyarep, eXerjaov ra 9 iroXids pov, eXerjaov rov 7 rarepa 
 aov , ehrep a^tos elpi ovopaGOfjvai 7 rarrjp gov, pvrjGOrjTL on ral 9 
 
 *7- 
 
 
 
 1. K\rjfj.a Kaxo-^KTjv. 3. tcXy/naros. 4. ayx^rp^v. 13. deest e^. 
 16. deest /cat ave(3r)v (cf. Lat. ci ascendi). 19. Xevaxv/ 10 vovovvtwv. 
 
 26. evvorjcraiuLev. 
 
 cheese in the Eucharist, the Montanists obtained the nickname of ’A pTOTvpirai. 
 See Epiph. Haer. 49. 2. The explanation which was given of this curious custom 
 in later times refers it to an assimilation of the Eucharistic oblation to the 
 offerings of primitive man, viz.: the fruits of field and flock; but this is very 
 doubtful ; and it is probable that the true explanation is historical rather than 
 theological. 
 
46 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 florem aetatis provexi ; si te praeposui omnibus fratribus tuis, ne 
 me dederis in dedecus hominum. Aspice ad fratres tuos, aspice 
 ad matrem tuam et materteram, aspice ad filium tuum qui post 
 te vivere non poterit. Depone animos. Ne 1 universes nos 
 extermines : nemo enim nostrum libere loquetur, si tu aliquid 
 fueris passa. Haec dicebat pater pro sua pietate basians mihi 
 manus ; et se ad pedes meos iactans, et lacrymis non filiam, sed 
 dominam me vocabat. Et ego dolebam causam 2 patris mei, quod 
 solus de passione mea gavisurus non esset de toto genere meo; 
 et confortavi eum, dicens: Hoc fiet in ilia catasta quod Deus 
 voluerit. Scito enim nos non in nostra potestate esse constitutes, 
 sed in Dei. Et recessit a me contristatus. 
 
 VI. Alio die cum pranderemus, subito rapti sumus ut 
 audiremur, et pervenimus ad forum. Humor statim per vicinas 
 fori partes cucurrit, et factus est populus immensus. Ascendimus 
 in catastam 3 . Interrogati ceteri confessi sunt. Ventum est et 
 ad me. Et apparuit pater illico cum filio meo, et extraxit me de 
 gradu, et dixit supplicans : Miserere infanti 4 . Et Hilarianus 5 
 Procurator, qui tunc loco proconsulis Minuci Timiniani defuncti 
 ius gladii acceperat : Parce, inquit, canis patris tui, parce infantiae 
 pueri. Fac sacrum pro salute Imperatorum. Et ego respondi: 
 Non facio. Hilarianus, Christiana es ? in quit. Et ego respondi : 
 Christiana sum. Et cum staret pater ad me deiciendam, iussus 
 est ab Hilariano deici, et virga percussus est. Et doluit mihi 
 casus patris mei, quasi ego fuissem percussa : sic dolui pro senecta 
 
 1 S and C, et noli nos universos exterminare. 
 
 2 Ed. canos. H, causam. 
 
 3 Ed., in catasta. S, catastam. C, in catastam. 
 
 4 C and S habent canos meos pro infanti. 
 
 5 S semper habet Elarianus , C Helarianus. 
 
 C. v. “ Catasta ” seems to be the regular African term for the platform in 
 front of the judge, or as we should say, the bar. Cf. Augustin, in Ps. 137 (de 
 martyre Crispina), “ Gaudebat Crispina cum ligata producebatur, cum in catasta 
 levabatur, cum audiebatur, cum damnabatur.” 
 
 toi)s dvfiotis. This seems to be rendered ‘ presumptio ’ in the Acta Montani. 
 
 C. vi. A similar case of the delegation of Proconsular powers will be found in 
 the Acta S. Montani (Ruinart p. 201) : “et continuo eadem die subito rapti sumus 
 ad Procuratorem qui defuncti Proconsulis partes administrabat.” The evidence of 
 this particular document is however vitiated by the suspicion that the author 
 imitates the Acts of Perpetua. 
 
 tCjv 8opv(f)6pc>}v Tis enjtTTTja ev . Cf. Ps.-Josephus De Maccab. 6, \a£ rot tw v 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPrTETOYAC. 
 
 47 
 
 \epcrlv ravTCUS irpos to tolovtov av6o$ rjXucias dvrjyayov 
 <76 ' /cal 7 rpoeiXopirjv ere virep toi)? aBeX<f>ov<; crov ’ \opa TOV$ 
 aBeX<f)ov<; go t >,] opa rrjv crrjv pi7]Tepa /cal tt)v tt) 9 purjTpos gov 
 aBeXcfrrjv, oBe tov vlov crov 09 fiera ore £rjv ov Bvvarai’ airoOov 
 tovs dvpiov 9 /cal fi7] rj puds iravra 9 i^oXoOpevcrrj 9* ovBeh yap 5 
 rjpiwv fiera irappr)Gia<; XaXr/Gei eav tl gol av/ifif). 
 
 Tavra eXeyev 0)9 7 rarr/p Kara rrjv tqov yovecov evvoiav' /cal 
 /carecf/iXei p,ov t«9 X e ^P a ? Kai ^ avr ov eppnrrev eparpoGOev tgov 
 ttoB&v piov /cal emBa/cpvwv ov/cen p,e Ovyarepa aXXa /cvpiav 
 eire/caXei' iyco Be 7 repl rrj 9 Biadeaew 9 toO 7rarpo<; rjXyovv, otl ev 10 
 oAo) tw e/xft) yevei pbovos ov/c yyaXXcaTO ev tc 5 e/zo3 7 raOei. 
 irapepLv0rjGdpirjv Be avTov ehrovGa' Tovro y evrjaeTai ev tg3 
 / Srjfiari e/ceivcp eav 0eXrj 6 /cvpLos' yvwOt yap otl ov/c ev rfj 
 77 / lerepa e^ovGia, aXX ' ev rfj tov 0eov ecro/ieOa' /cal e’^coptcr # rj 
 air epiov dBrj/xov/Bv. 15 
 
 YI. K al Tjj rjfJLepa ev fj wpiGTO r/pirdyrjfjLev iva d/covG0u>pLev' 
 /cal oocnrep eyevr)07]piev eh tt)v ayopav, fp/jpuj ev0v<; eh Ta 6771)9 
 piepr) BirjXOev /cal avveBpapuev irXelcrTO 9 0 ^ X09 • W9 Be dve(3r)pbev 
 eh to firjpba e^eTaaOevTe 9 01 Xocirol copioXoyrjGav' rjpueXXov Be 
 /cdyd) e^eTa^eadai' /cal i(j)dv7j e/cel pueTa tov Te/cvov puov 6 iraTrjp' 20 
 /cal /caTayaycov pie 777109 eavTov, ehrev' '^LiriOvcrov eXerjaaaa to 
 fipec/ios. /cal 'lXapiavos eiriTpoiros, 09 TOTe tov avdviraTOV 
 diroOavovTO? M lvov/cLov ’ Oirmavov e^overiav elXrjcf/ei pbaxaipas, 
 Xeyet puoi' Qelaai t<mv itoXlcdv tov irarpos gov' (fretaai T779 tov 
 iraiBiov vr\iri0T7)T0 9 * eiriOvaov virep GooTrjpias twv avTO/cpaTopcov. 25 
 /cdyco dire/cpi0r]V' Ov 0vco. /cal ehrev ' IXaplavo 9 ' XpiGTiavr) 
 el; /cal ehrov * HLpiGTiavrj elpu. /cal 0)9 eairovBa^ev 6 iraTpp piov 
 /caTa/3aXeiv [« 7 ro tt \ 9 opLoXoyla<;\ /ceXevcravro 9 'lXapiavov ege- 
 ftXrjQri’ irpoaeTL Be /cal Trj pd/3B(p twv Bopvcpopcov ti$ eTvirTTjaev 
 avTOv * Kayco acpoBpa rjXyrjaa, iXerjaaaa to yrjpa 9 avTov’ tot€ 30 
 
 2. omisit cod. opa tovs ade\<povs aov per opoioTeXevrov. Cf. Lat. C. vi. 
 
 ]. 16. Interpres latinus legit ev $ rjpLarup. 18. wXrjaTos. 22. ’I \apia- 
 
 poerns. 28. Oiriavov. 26. rjXapiavos. 28. awo ttjs opuiXo'yias : 
 
 forsitan additamentura. 
 
 TTiKpQv rts dopv(p6ptov els to^s Keve&vas evaXX6p.evos ’4 rvirrev , and 17, 4Xeyov 64 Kai tu>v 
 6opv(pbpo}v rivts. It is certain that almost all the early Christian martyrologies are 
 under the influence of the Maccabee legends. Several of the apocryphal martyrdoms 
 such as the Passion of S. Symphorosa and the story of Felicitas and her seven 
 sons are direct imitations of these Jewish martyrdoms. In other cases their 
 
48 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 eius misera. Tunc nos uni versos pronuntiat, et damnat ad bestias, 
 et hilares descendimus ad carcerem. Tunc quia consueverat a me 
 infans mammas accipere, et mecum in carcere manere ; statim 
 mitto ad patrem Pomponium 1 diaconum, postulans infantem : sed 
 pater dare noluit, et quomodo Deus voluit, neque ille amplius 
 mammas desideravit ; neque mihi fervorem fecerunt : ne sollici- 
 tudine infantis et dolore mammarum macerarer. 
 
 VII. Post dies paucos, dum universi oramus, subito media 
 oratione profecta est mihi vox, et nominavi Dinocratem : et 
 obstupui quod numquam mihi in mentem venisset nisi tunc, et 
 dolui commemorata casus eius. Et cognovi me statim dignam 
 esse, et pro eo petere 2 debere. Et coepi pro ipso orationem facere 
 multum, et ingemiscere ad Dominum. Continuo ipsa nocte 
 ostensum est mihi hoc in oramate : Video Dinocratem exeuntem 
 de loco tenebroso, ubi et complures 3 erant, aestuantem et sitientem 
 valde, sordido vultu, et colore pallido, et vulnus in facie eius quod 
 cum moreretur habuit. Hie Dinocrates fuerat frater meus carnalis, 
 annorum septem, qui per infirmitatem facie cancerata 4 male obiit, 
 ita ut mors eius odio fuerit omnibus hominibus. Pro hoc ego 
 orationem feceram : et inter me et ilium grande erat diastema 5 
 ita ut uterque ad invicem accedere non possemus. Erat deinde 
 in ipso loco ubi Dinocrates erat, piscina plena aqua, altiorem 
 marginem habens quam erat statura pueri, et exten debat se Dino- 
 crates quasi bibiturus. Ego dolebam quod et piscina ilia aquam 
 habebat, et tamen propter altitudinem marginis bibiturus non 
 esset. Et experrecta sum, et cognovi fratrein meum laborare. Sed 
 confidebam 6 me profuturam labori eius, et orabam pro eo omnibus 
 diebus quousque transivimus in carcerem castrensem. Munere 
 enim castrensi eramus pugnaturi. Natal e tunc Getae Caesaris, 
 
 1 C, Pompinianum. 2 S, pati. 
 
 3 H, complura erant loca tenebrosa. 4 S, macerata. 
 
 5 Sic suspicatur Holsten. S, dianten. Ed., diadema. 
 
 6 S, considerabam. H, fidebam me profuturam labori. 
 
 influence is no less marked, as in the case of the Acts of SS. Jacobus, Marianus &c., 
 (Ruinart, Acta Sine. p. 199), “his peractis Maccabaico gaudio Mariani mater 
 exultans & c.” and in the Acts of SS. Montanus, Lucius etc. (Ruinart p. 205), “O 
 Maccabaicam matrem &c.” We are inclined then to believe that the language of 
 our Acts is coloured here by reminiscence of the Acts of the Maccabees. It is true 
 that the father of Perpetua does not make an exact parallel with the aged Eleazar, 
 for he is not a Christian ; but the preceding sentences in the Acts have a further 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 49 
 
 Luke xvi. 
 24. 
 
 Luke xvi. 
 26. 
 
 rjfia ? 7 rdpTas 7rpos Orjpia KCLTaKpivei' Kal yaipovres fcaTLrjfiev 
 els (f)v\a/crjv. 
 
 ’E7refcS?) Be vtt i/iov iOrjXa^ero to ttcuBlov , /cal pi€T iptov iv 
 rfj (f)v\a/cfj elwOei fievetv, TrepLTro) irpos top iraTepa pbov HopnropLOP 
 Bid/covov, aiTovcra to /3 pesos’ 6 Be iraTrjp ovrc eBco/cev' irXrjp <09 5 
 6 Oeos (prcovojiTjarev ooVe 6 1 rat? paaOovs iTreOvpirjaep e/CTOTe , ooVe 
 e’/zot Tt? Trpoayeyopev c])Xey puoprj' IV <0? [/z?}] /cal rr/ too 
 
 iratBiov (ppovTiBi /cal Trj tup piaaOcop aXyrjBopc KaTa7roprj0cv. 
 
 VII. Kal p,€T oXiyas rjpiepas irpoaev^opLevcdv rjpd>p dirdpTWP 
 i£a[(f)pr)s iv piiaco Trjs irpoaevxV^ d<prj/ca (jxopr/p /cal copopiaaa 10 
 AeLPO/cpaTTiv. Kal eV#a/z/3o? iyevrjOrjp, Blotl ovBeiroTe el purj tote 
 dvdpivrjcnv avTOv ireTroirjKetv' rjXyrjaa Be els pLPr]pbr]p iXOovaa Trjs 
 avTOv t eXevTrjs. rrXrjp evOecos eyvwp ipuavTrjv dljlav ovaav 
 aiTrjacv TTOLrjaaaOai irepl avTov, Kal rjp^dpirjp 7 rpos K vptov pueTa 
 (TTevaypudov irpoaevyeaQai Ta nXeldTa’ Kal evOecos avTrj t\ j r 5 
 vvktI iBrjXooOrj poi tooto. cpw AetvoKpaTrjv igepxopbevov e/c 
 T 07 rov crKOTeiPOV, 07rov Kal dXXot 7roXXol KavpbaTL^OpbevOl Kal 
 BiyjrcbPTes rjaav , iaOrjTa e^opTa pv7rapap\ 0 oxpov Trj xpoa' Kal 
 to Tpavpca ip Trj oyjrec ai/Tov irepiop eri , oirep TeXevTwp eZ^eo' 
 (ooto? Be 6 AeiPOKpaTrjs, 6 aBeX/pos piov KaTa aapKa, errTaeT^s 20 
 TedprjKet daOevrjaas Kal Trjp oyjnp avTov yayypaiprj aairtls ds 
 top OapaTop avTov GTVyrjTOP yeveaOai irdaLv dvOpdiroLs) 
 eOeoopovp oup pueya BiacrTripLa apa pueaop avTov Kal ipuov, ds 
 pur) BvpaaOai rjpids dXXrjXoLS 7 TpoaeXOelp. ip iKelpw Be tco 
 tottw ip d) rjp 6 aBeX(j)6s p^ov KoXvpiftrjOpa rjp vBaTOs irXrjprjs' 25 
 vr\rrjXwTepap 8e ez^eo Trjp KprjiriBa 07 rep to too 7 ratBlov prjKos’ 
 
 7 rpos TavTrjp 6 A eopoKpaTrjs BierelpeTO nrielp TrpoacpovpLepos' iyco 
 Be rjXyovp Blotl Kal r) KoXvpL/3r/6pa rjp 7 rXrjprjs vBaTos , Kal to 
 7 raiBlop ovk rjBvpaTO irielp 8m ttjp vyjrrjXoTrjTa Trj ? KprjTrlBos' 
 Kal i%V7rPL(T0r}p. 30 
 
 K al eypwp Kappeip top dBeXcf)6p puov’ iireiroideLP Be BvpaaOai 
 pie avTfp ftorjOrjaaL ip Tats dpa piiaop rjpiipaLS , iv als KaT/jx® 7 !^ 61 ' 
 els Trjv aXXrjp (pv\aKrjp Trjp too ^tAmp^oo' 67709 yap r)V 
 Trjs 7rapep,/3oXrjs 00 rjpueXXopep Or^pLopiax^lv’ yeveOX/ov yap 
 
 ‘/'V3, J7 
 
 c 
 
 r 
 
 7 
 
 e 
 
 6. Cod. ovtcu. 7. /if) deest in cod. C. vii ., 1. 19. Cod. reXeurw v, oirep 
 irepLWv eri eixev. 20. os ade\<pos. 
 
 analogy with the Jewish legend, since irdadrjTi rats toD /SatrtXews evroXcus in one 
 text is not unlike in idea to the eiridvcrov virkp truiTifpLas tQv avTOKparopuiv. 
 
 H. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETYAE. 
 
 et feci pro illo orationem die et nocte gemens et lacrymans ut 
 mihi donaretur. 
 
 VIII. Die autem quo in nervo mansimus, ostensum est mihi 
 hoc. Video locum ilium quern retro videram tenebrosum, esse luci- 
 dum; et Dinocratem mundo corpore, bene vestitum, refrigerantem, 
 et ubi erat vulnus, video cicatricem ; et piscinam illam quam retro 
 videram, summisso margine usque ad umbilicum pueri ; et aquam 
 de ea trahebat sine cessatione, et super margine phiala erat aurea 1 
 plena aqua ; et accessit Dinocrates, et de ea bibere coepit, quae 
 phiala non deficiebat. Et satiatus abscessit de aqua ludere more 
 infantium gaudens, et experrecta sum. Tunc intellexi translatum 
 eum esse de poena. 
 
 IX. Deinde post dies paucos Pudens 2 , miles Optio, prae- 
 positus carceris, qui nos* magni facere coepit intelligens magnam 
 virtutem Dei esse in nobis, multos fratres ad nos admittebat, ut 
 et nos et illi invicem refrigeraremus. Ut autem proximavit dies 
 muneris, intravit ad me pater meus consumtus taedio, et coepit 
 barbam suam evellere, et se in terrain mittere, et prosternere se in 
 faciem, et improperare annis suis, et dicere tanta verba, quae mo- 
 verent universam creaturam. Ego dolebam pro infelici senecta eius. 
 
 X. Pridie quam pugnaremus, video in oramate hue venisse 
 Pomponium diaconum ad ostium carceris, et pulsare vehementer ; 
 exivi ad eum, et aperui ei : qui erat vestitus distinctam candidam, 
 habens multiplices caligulas 4 . Et dixit mihi : Perpetua te ex- 
 
 1 Sic H. In Ed. deest. 2 S, Prudens. 
 
 3 H, qui nos magnifaciebat ; capit intelligere magnam virtutem esse in nobis, 
 qui multos ad nos. 4 S, galliculas. Ed., calliculas. 
 
 C. viii. ev vepfiip. We need not be surprised at the Latinism which can be 
 paralleled from similar writings to our own. It is interesting to note that 
 Tertullian in his tract ad Martyras written about this time to a band of martyrs in 
 prison at Carthage sympathises with them over their suffering in the stocks ; but 
 remarks that if the mind be in Heaven, the leg will not really suffer upon earth. 
 
 <f)ia\r) [xsutt). Cf. Passio Cypriani 197, “tunc ibi Cyprianus phialam 
 quae super marginem fontis iacebat, arripuit : et cum illam de fontis rivulis 
 implesset, hausit.” 
 
 C. ix. Optio. The earlier commentators seem to have been puzzled over this 
 word as applied to a prison official, though they were able to quote a passage from 
 Ambrose, Ep. ad Ephes. c. 4, where optio carceris is used. A reference to the 
 African inscriptions will shew that it was a very common word indeed, and just the 
 word to be used either by a writer of Latin Acts or a translator of Greek Acts 
 at this point. It is the general word for any lieutenant of a higher officer. 
 G. I. L. viii. 2482 has no less than four Optiones, all from the same legion and 
 engaged in the same votive offering. This inscription belongs to the time of 
 
MAPTYPION T7EPTTETOYAC. 
 
 51 
 
 rjpeXXev eiriTeXeiadai [Te-ra] K alcrapos. eira irpocrev^apevr) 
 fiera aTevaypwv acpfoBpoos n repl tov aBeX(f)ov piov iqpepas t€ Kal 
 vvktos 8 (oprj 0 rjvai poi avrov rj^lojaa. 
 
 YIII. K al evOvs ev rf) ecnrepa ev rj ev vep/ 3 q> epelvapev, 
 iBei^Orj poi tovto. 5 
 
 'O pw TOV TOTTOV iv <p €(i)pd/C 6 LV TOV AeiV 0 KpaT 7 ]V [(jxDTeiVOV 
 ovTCLy feed tov AeivoKpaTrjv ] KaOapp aoopaTi ovra, Kal KaXoos 
 rjptyieapevov Kal avaylrv^ovra' Kal ottov to Tpavpa rjv ovXrjv 
 opcb ’ Kal Tj KprjTrls Trjs KoXvppSrjOpas KaT^Qr] ecos tov opcftaXlov 
 avTov * eppeev Be eg avTrj s aBiaXeiirTcos vBcop' Kal iirdvco Trjs Kpr}- io 
 7 riBos rjv 'xpvarj (p>idXrj peaTr)’ Kal irpoae\ 6 wv 6 AeivoKpaTi ]* ? rjp- 
 %aTO ef avTrj 9 iriveiv' rj Be (piaXr) ovk eveXenrev' Kal epirkriaOels 
 rjp^aTO 7 ral^eiv ayaXXioopevos cos Ta vrjTTia' Kal e^vTrviaOrjv. 
 
 K al evvorjaa oti peTeTeOr] eK tgov Tipcopicdv. 
 
 IX. Kal peT dXlyas tjpepas II ovBrjs tis aTpaTioorr] s 0 t rjs 15 
 c fyvXaKtji j 7 rpoicrTapevos peTa TroXXrjs cnrovBrjs rjp^aro rjpus 
 Tipav Kal Bo^a^eiv tov 6 eov , evvocbv Bvvapiv peyaXyv elvai 7 repl 
 r f pds" Bid Kal 7 roXXovs elcreXdeiv 7 rpos rjpas ovk eKcoXvev els to 
 
 t] pas Bid tgov eTraXXrjXcov irapapvdiGov Traprjyopeicrdai. rjyyiaev 
 Be rj rjpepa tgov (pnXoTipiGov Kal elaepyeTai 7 rpos pe 6 iraTrjp } t rj 20 
 qKrjBla pap avOels, Kal rjp^aTO tov Trobycova tov iBiov eKTiXXeiv, 
 piiTTeiv T€ 67 rl yrjs, Kal irpr)vrjs KaTaKeipevos KaKoXoyeiv Ta 
 eavTov eTr) KaTrjyopcbv Kal Xeycov ToiavTa prjpaTa cos irdcrav 
 BvvaaOai Trjv ktictiv aaXevaai' eyoo Be iirevOovv Bid to TaXal- 
 7 T(Dpov yrjpas avTov. 25 
 
 X. II po pias ovv tov Orjpiopa^elv r)pas, ftXeTTGO opapa toiovtov. 
 
 Tlopirovios o BiaKovos, (jyrjalv, r/XOev n rpos Trjv Ovpav Ttjs 
 
 <p>vXaKT)s Kal eKpovaev atyoBpa' e^eXOovaa rjvoi^a avTcd’ Kal rjv 
 evBeBvpevos eaOijTa Xapirpav Kal 7 repie^coapevos' dl^ev Be iroiKiXa 
 VTToBrjpara Kal Xeyei poi' Se irepipevi o , eXOe. 30 
 
 1. Cod. om. Tera, quia in pref. Valerianum et Gallienum nominavit. 
 
 C. VIII., 1. 6. TOV TOTTOV. Cod. TOTTCt) Cod. OQ1. (f)Ci}Tetv 6 v 8 vTa Kal TOV AeiVOKp&TYJV 
 
 per o/xoioreXevTov. Cf. Lat. 7. /caAAws. C. ix., 1. 15. Trovdr)$ TiapaTiuTrjs 
 
 (sic). 16. Cod. add. ttjs ante tnrovdris. 
 
 rtf 
 
 /. L*lr. 
 
 nt 
 
 2 
 
 ~T 
 
 Valerian and Gallienus. It does not however seem to be a very early military 
 term; indeed Festus says “optio, qui nunc dicitur, antea appellabatur adcensus ; 
 is adiutor centurioni dabatur a tribuno militum.” This agrees with what we find 
 in C. vii., that they had been removed from the common prison ets Trjv (pvXaKrjv rod 
 XcXiapxov. We may add that in Acts xvi. 23, 27, 36, Codex Bezae has optio as the 
 rendering of 5eo7io0tfAa£. 
 
 C. x. TroLKiXa vTTodrjpiaTa. The beautiful shoes appear also in the epitaph of 
 Abercius. 
 
 4-2 
 
PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 52 
 
 spectamus, veni. Et tenuit mihi manum, et coepimus ire per 
 aspera loca et flexuosa. Yix tandem pervenimus anhelantes ad 
 amphitheatrum, et indnxit me in media arena, et dixit mihi : 
 Noli pavere, hie sum tecum, et conlaboro tecum, et abiit. Et 
 adspicio populum ingentem attonitum. Et quia sciebam me ad 
 bestias datam esse, mirabar quod non mitterentur mihi bestiae. 
 Et exivit quidam contra me Aegyptius foedus specie cum adiu- 
 toribus suis pugnaturus mecum. Veniunt et ad me adolescentes 
 depori adiutores et favitores mei. Et expoliata sum, et facta sum 
 masculus. Et coeperunt me favitores mei oleo defricare 1 , quomodo 
 solent in agonem, et ilium contra Aegyptium video in afa 2 
 volutantem. Et exivit vir quidam mirae magnitudinis, ut etiam 
 excederet fastigium amphitheatri, discinctam 3 habens tunicam et 
 purpuram inter duos clavos per medium pectus, habens et cali- 
 gulas 4 multiformes ex auro et argento factas, et ferens 5 virgam 
 quasi lanista, et ramum viridem, in quo erant mala aurea. Et 
 petiit silentium, et dixit: Hie Aegyptius si hanc vicerit, occidet 
 illam gladio; et si hunc vicerit accipiet ramum istum. Et recessit. 
 Et accessimus ad invicem, et coepimus mittere pugnos. Ille 
 mihi pedes apprehendere volebat 6 , ego autem illi calcibus faciem 
 caedebam. Et sublata sura in aere, et coepi eum sic caedere quasi 
 terramj3oncalcans. At ubi vidi moram fieri, iunxi manus, ita ut 
 digitos in digitos mitterem. Et apprehendi illi caput, et cecidit 
 in faciem ; et calcavi illi caput. Et coepit populus clamare, et 
 favitores mei psallere. Et accessi ad lanistam, et accepi ramum. 
 Et osculatus est me, et dixit mihi: Filia pax tecum. Et coepi 
 
 1 Sic S, Ed. defrigere. 2 C and S, aqua. 
 
 3 H, discinctatus purpuram. 4 S, galliculas. 
 
 5 H, efferens. 6 Sic, H. Ed. habet quaerebat. 
 
 els Fwprjv 6s 6 Trep\J/ev ephv j3aaiXr)av adprjacu 
 Kal ^aatXcaaav I8ew XP V ^oaroXou xpvo’^^iXov. 
 
 Ligbtfoot ( Ign . 1. 482) explains this of the Church, basing it upon Ps. xlv. (liv.) .10 
 iraptaTT) j) /3aaiXiaaa e/c de^iuiv aov £v ip.aTLap.<p biaxp^ap TrepL^e^X^pevr], xeTroLKLXp£vT]‘ 
 where we may compare the last word with the xoLKiXa of the Acts ; and lower down 
 voLKLXa £k xpwLov K °d dpyvpLov. With this interpretation of Lightfoot, Ramsay also 
 agrees. It is likely that more than one passage of Scripture has contributed 
 to this curious idea of the Church in her beautiful slippers ; for instance there is 
 Cant. vii. 2 tl upaubd-qaav bia^pard aov ev vTro8r)paau/, dvyarep 'Apivadd/3 ; or Isaiah 
 lii. 7 might be quoted. 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 53 
 
 K al i/cpdrrjaev ras % eipd 9 pov /cal erropevOrjpev Bid rpayecov 
 /cal a/coXicov roTrcov’ /cal poXts 7 rapeyevopeOa e/9 to apcjoiOearpoV 
 /cal elarjyayev pe e/9 to peaov /cal Xeyec pot’ Mr) <f)0 fir] Ops' 
 ivOaBe elpl perd aov, avy/capvcov croc' /cal drrvjXOev. 
 
 K al IBov ftXerrco 7 rXeiorov oyXov drroftXerrovra rfj Oecopeia 5 
 acfroBpa' /cay do rjn 9 elBov 77/309 Orjpia pe /caraBucaaOeiaav 
 eOavpa^ov on ov/c e(3aXXov pot avra. 
 
 K al rjXOev rrpos pe AlyvTrrtos ns apopcj)os rat ayppan perd 
 rcov vrrovpyovvroov aiirao payrjaopevos pot' /cal epyerat irpos pe 
 veavtas ns evpopcjocoraros too /caXXet i^aarpajrrcov, /cal erepot 10 
 pier avrov veavLat copaloc’ virpperat re cnrovBaaTal epoi /cal 
 ePeBvOrjv /cal eyevrjOr) v apprjv' /cal rjptjavro oi avriXpirropes pov 
 eXaicp pee dXeicfretv, cos eOos early iv ay dove' /cal dvn/cpvs (SXeTreo 
 rov Aiyvrrnov e/cetvov iv too /covtoprdo /cvXtopevov. 
 
 ’E^X^ezr Be ns dvrjp Oavpacrrov peyeOovs, vrrepeycov rov 15 
 d/epov rov dp<fii0edrpov, Bte^cocrpevos eaOrjra, tjtls eiyev ov 
 povov e/c to ov Bvo dopoov rrjv 7 ropcfovpav, aXXd /cal dva pieaov errl 
 rov arrjOov s' dlyev Be /cal vrroBppara 7 rot/ciXa e/c y pvaiov /cal 
 apyvpiov' e(3dara£ev Be /cal pa/3Bov cos /3pa/3evrrjs rj rrpoardrr)s 
 povopaycov' ecfoepev Be /cal /cXaBovs yXcopovs eyovras j^rjXa 20 
 ypvcrd’ /cal alrrjaas atyrjv yevecrOat, eefop’ Ovros 6 Alyvrrnos 
 eav ravrrjv vt/ct]crp aveXel avrrjv payaipa' avrrj Be eav vi/crjay 
 avrov Xr'/\jrerai rov /cXaBov rovrov’ /cal direarr]. rrpoapXOopev 
 Be dXXr/Xots /cal r/ptjapeOa Tray/cpand^etv' e/cetvos epov rods 
 iroBas Kparelv p/3ovXero' eyed Be Xa/criapaaiv rrjv oy\nv avrov 25 
 erv 7 rrovb /cal IBov * err/jpa djro aepos * /cal rjp^dppv avrov ovreo 
 rvrrreiv co sjir/ rrarovaa rrjv yi]v. 
 
 ’iSoOo-a Be cos ovBe7rco rj/ct^ov avrov £ev£aaa ras yetpas pov 
 /cal Ba/crvXov 9 Ba/crvXots ep/3aXovaa rrjs /cecfoaXrjs avrov erreXa- 
 /36prjv' /cal eppt'yfra avrov err oyjret /cal irrarrjaa rrjv /cecpaXrjv 30 
 avrov ' /cal rjp^aro rras 6 oyXos f3odv' /cal oi arrovBaarai pov 
 iyavpicov * /cal TrpoarjXOov too f3pa/3evrfj /cal eXa/3ov rov /cXaBov ‘ 
 /cal r\airdaaro pe /cal eirrev ' Elprjvrj per a aov, Ovyarep' /cal 
 
 1. rpaxeiuv. C. x., 1. 4. avyKaiJLVov crov. 5. ttuttov. 6. Kayu)' 
 cod. kcu. 12. avTiXrj/xiTTopes. 14. Koi\iop.evov. 16. die^o<rp.tvos. 
 
 19. TTpoaTCLTUv. 23. \ei\percu. 26. forsitan ewrjpa aepios. 
 
 Is this thought of the shoes the reason why Saturus says in c. xii. xodas 8£ 
 avTOv ovk edeacapLeda ? 
 
54 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 ire cum gloria ad portam Sanavivariam. Et experrecta sum : et 
 intellexi me non ad bestias, sed contra diabolum esse pugnaturam ; 
 sed sciebam mihi victoriam imminere 1 . Hoc usque in pridie 
 muneris egi : ipsius autem muneris actum, si quis voluerit, 
 scribat. 
 
 XI. Sed et Saturus benedictus hanc visionem suam edidit, 
 quam ipse conscripsit. Passi, inquit, eramus, et exivimus de 
 carne, et coepimus ferri a quatuor Angelis in Orientem, quorum 
 manus nos non tangebant. Ibamus autem non supini sursum 
 versi, sed quasi mollem clivum 2 ascendentes. Et liberati primum 3 
 iam mundo vidimus lucem immensam ; et dixi : Perpetua (erat 
 enim haec in latere meo), hoc est quod nobis Dominus pro- 
 mittebat : percepimus promissionem. Et dum gestamur ab ipsis 
 quatuor Angelis, factum est nobis spatium grande, quod tale fuit 
 quasi viridarium, arbores habens rosae 4 , et omne genus floris. 
 Altitudo autem arborum erat in modum cypressi, quarum folia 
 cadebant 5 sine cessatione. Ibi autem in viridario, alii quatuor 
 Angeli fuerunt clariores ceteris, qui ubi viderunt nos, honorem 6 
 nobis dederunt, et dixerunt ceteris Angelis : Ecce 7 sunt, ecce 
 sunt : cum admiratione. Et expavescentes quatuor illi Angeli 
 qui gestabant nos, deposuerunt nos: et pedibus nostris transivimus 
 stadium via 8 lata. Ibi invenimus Iocundum et Saturninum 9 et 
 Artaxium, qui eandem persecutionem passi vivi arserunt ; et 
 
 1 H, esse. 2 C, glebam. 
 
 3 Ed.,primam iam vidimus. H, primo mundo vidimus. C, primum iam mundo 
 vidimus. 
 
 4 S, rosam. 5 S, ardebant. 6 S, et honorem. 
 
 7 S and C, ecce sunt. Expavescentes cum admiratione quatuor illi Angeli qui 
 stabant deposuerunt nos. 
 
 8 H, violata. 9 In S and C deest Saturninum. 
 
 C. xi. Kvirapiacrov. Cf. Passio Cypriani p. 197, “ iter autem nobis erat per 
 locum prati amoenum et viridantium nemorum laeta fronde vestitum opacum 
 cupressis consurgentibus in excelsum et pinnis pulsantibus caelum.” 
 
 ’Her av de ped' ryitav ktL 
 
 The Latin text may be taken as more correct here, although at first sight the 
 introduction of four new angels has little meaning. It is probable that these are 
 the four Angels of the Presence (the Face-angels, cf. Is. lxiii. 9, who, by a natural 
 misunderstanding, appear as four faces in the book of Enoch, where they are given 
 as Michael, Rufael, Gabriel and Fanuel, Enoch c. 40). As to their being more 
 glorious than the others, this is not a casual remark ; we may compare it with 
 2 Pet. ii. 11 o-rrov dyyeXoi iVxfo xal dvvdp.ei /xeL^ove s 8vres kt£. This passage is the 
 equivalent of Jude 9 where only one superior angel is spoken of (6 apxayyeXos), viz. 
 Michael. It thus appears that 2 Peter has substituted the Face-angels for 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 55 
 
 rjjp^apev ev0v 9 iropeveaOai pera S6^tj<; Trpos 7rvXr)v rrjv Xey opevrjv 
 £(DTi/ajv /cal e^virviaOijv. 
 
 K al evvorjaa on ov 1 rpos 0rjpla pot aXXa 7 rpos tov Sia/3oXov 
 eanv f) eaopevr) pd^r]' /cal crvvfj/ca on vi/crjaco avrov. 
 
 T avra ew? 7 rpo picis tgov (piXonpioov eypay\ra’ ra ev tg 3 5 
 dpefudearpep y evrjaopeva 6 OeXoo v avyypayfraTGO. 
 
 XI. ’A XXa /cal 6 paKapio 9 %arvpo<; rrjv ISlav oirraalav 
 auros Si eavroO avyypd-^ras efyavepwcrev roiavra elprjKGO 9 . 
 
 v H Stj . (j)r]Giv, rjpev do 9 TreirovdoTes /cal e/c ttjs crap/cos e^eXrfXv- 
 Oeipev , /cat /jp^apeOa fiacrrci^eo-Oai viro recrcrdpcov dyyeXcov 7 rpo? 10 
 dvaroXas, /cal al ^eipe^ {avTGov] rjpdov ovy^ tjtttovto' erropevopeOa 
 Se 6t<? Ta avaorepa , /cat ot/^ vtttloi aXX' olov a /9 St’ opaXfjs 
 dvaftacreMS ecfrepopeOa. 
 
 Kal S/) e%eX66vTe<i rov irpa/TOv Koapov (fxo 9 Xapirporarov 
 eiSopev' Kal ehrov 7rpo9 t/)z/ IIe/07r6Toi/at' (ttXtjo-Iov yap pov rjv), 15 
 toOto eanv orrep 6 Kvpio<; rjpdov eTrr/yyelXaTo’ pereiXrjcf/apev 
 rrj 9 e'rrayyeXlas' aiGopovpevGov Se rjpdov Sia tgov recrcrapcov 
 ayyeXaov eyevero araSiov peya, oirep cbcrel /crjiTOs rjv, eyo v poSov 
 SevSpa /cal ttclv yevo$ tgov avQeaov' to Se vyjros tgov SevSpeov r)v 
 Goael Kvirapiaaov prj/cos, a/caTairavaTGO 9 Se Karecfoepero ra SevSpa 20 
 ra (fovXXa avrcov. 
 
 crav Se peO' rjpdov ev avrdo rd> /crjircp 01 reacrape 9 ayyeXoi, 
 oXXtjXgov evSo^orepoi, vcfo gov icfoepopeOa '* 7rroovpevov' ? Se ypa? 
 /cal Oavpa^ovra? [/cat] a'rredrjKav, /cal * avaXafiovre 9 rrjv oSov 
 SirjXOopev to crraScov rot 9 rjperepoi 9 rrocriv. 25 
 
 ’E/cet evpopev ’I ov/covvSov Kal 'Zarvpov, Kal ’ Aprdtjiov rov 9 
 ev avroj rd> SiGoypd) f doyra^ ; Kpepaadevras' eiSopev Se K otvrov 
 
 1. ripi;b)/j.ev. 3. evor]<ra. 4. ecrio/xei >r). C. xi., 1. 9. e^eX^Xu- 
 
 Oynev. 11. avrwv deest. ovx^tovto (sic). 17. eiopov/ievuv. 18. 
 i> 
 
 20. KrjTrapricrov (sic). a/cara7raoTu>$. 24. cod. /cat airedy/nav kcu ave\a[3ov 
 
 kcu o8ou Xafiovres. 
 
 Michael, under the general term “the angels that are superior in strength and 
 might.” Appropriately then our Acts speak of the four great angels as excelling in 
 glory. 
 
 favTas KpepuxoOevTCLs. At first sight it seems as if the Greek were here giving us 
 something equivalent to vivum cremari as is not uncommon in writers who are of 
 bilingual habit. Certainly the word favras would lead us to expect some such 
 words as KaraKavdevras, for burning alive was a common form of martyrdom. Cf. 
 Mart. Polyc. c. v. fin. : Mart. Petri Andreae <&c. (Ruinart p. 135) “ tu igitur sacrifica 
 ne turpiter te illusam vi vam incendam.” Acta Tryphonis (p. 138) “ tales iussit 
 imperator vivos incendi nisi sacrificaverint diis ” etc. On the other hand observe 
 
56 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 Quintum, qui et ipse martyr in carcere exierat ; et quaerebamus 
 de 1 illis ubi essent ceteri. Dixerunt autem nobis Angeli: Yenite 
 prius, introite, et salutate Dominum. 
 
 XII. Et venimus prope locum, cuius loci parietes tales erant, 
 quasi de luce aedificati ; et ante ostium loci illius quatuor Angeli 
 stabant, qui introeuntes vestierunt stolas Candidas. Et nos vestiti 
 introivimus, et vidimus lucem immensam, et audivimus 2 vocem 
 unitam dicentium : Agios, agios, agios ; sine cessatione. Et 
 vidimus in medio loci illius sedentem quasi hominem canum, 
 niveos habentem capillos, et vultu iuvenili, cuius pedes non 
 vidimus. Et in dextra, et in sinistra seniores 3 quatuor et post 
 illos ceteri seniores complures stabant : et introeuntes cum admi- 
 ratione, stetimus ante thronum ; et quatuor Angeli sublevaverunt 
 nos : et osculati sumus ilium, et de manu sua traiecit nobis in 
 faciem 4 . Et ceteri seniores dixerunt nobis : Stemus. Et stetimus, 
 et pacem fecimus. Et dixerunt nobis seniores : Ite, et ludite. 
 Et dixi : Perpetua, habes quod vis. Et dixit mihi : Deo gratias, 
 ut quomodo in carne hilaris fui, hilarior sum et hie modo. 
 
 XIII. Et exivimus, et vidimus ante fores Optatum episcopum 
 ad dexteram, et Aspasium presbyterum doctorem ad sinistram, 
 separatos et tristes, et miserunt se ad pedes nobis, et dixerunt 
 nobis : Componite inter nos quia existis et sic nos reliriquitis. Et 
 diximus illis : Non 5 tu es Papa noster, et tu Presbyter, ut 6 quid 
 vos ad pedes nostros nnttatis ? Et moti sumus et complexi illos 
 sumus. Et coepit Perpetua graece 7 cum illis loqui, et segre- 
 gavimus eos in viridarium 8 sub arbore rosae. Et dum loquimur 
 cum eis, dixerunt illis Angeli: Sinite illos, refrigerent 9 ; et si quas 
 
 1 Sic H and C. S and Ed. habent ab. 2 H, et introivimus et audivimus. 
 
 3 Seniores...... stetimus. Sic H, Ed. autem habet seniores viginti quatuor, et 
 
 post illos ceteri complures stabant. Introivimus cum magna admiratione et 
 stetimus. 
 
 4 Sic H, Ed. facie. 5 S, nonne. 
 
 6 H, ut vos ad pedes nobis mittatis. Et moti sumus. Ed. habet misimus nos 
 pro moti sumus. 
 
 7 Sic S and C. In Ed. deest graece. 
 
 8 Sic H, Ed. viridario. 9 S and C, quiescite et refrigerate. 
 
 that there are at least two methods of hanging, one by the neck when life becomes 
 almost immediately extinct : and one by the arms or by impalement ; the latter 
 requires the word ‘ living ’ to explain it fully. In the Martyrdoms of Lyons and 
 Vienne Blandina was hanged in this way on a kind of cross, iiri £v\ov Kpep-aadelaa 
 npoxineiTo (3opa tu>v it poc fiaWopitv uv 6r)pLw. 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 57 
 
 tov papTvpa tov ev ry <f)v\a/cf} airoOavovra' e^rjTovpev Be /cal 
 Trepl twv Xolttwv 7 rov apa elalv' /ecu elirov ol ayyeXot 7rpw ? ppas' 
 
 A 6VT6 7 rpwTOv eaw iva acnra(T7]crd6 tov K vpiov. 
 
 XII. K al rjxOopev 7 rXrjalov tov tottov ifeeevov tov ^ovtos 
 tolxovs waavel Ik (pwT os wKoBoprjpevovs, Kal 7 rpo t rjs 0vpas tov 5 
 tottov 6K6lvov elcreXOovTes ol Teaaapes ayyeXot eveBvaav r/pas 
 XevKas aToXas' Kal elar/XOopev Kal rjKovaapev cf)wvrjv rjvwpevrjv 
 XeyovTwv’ rf Ayios, dycos, ay cos, aKaTairavaTw s. Kal etBopev 
 ev peaw tov tottov iKeivov KaOetypevov ws avOpwTrov ttoXloV 
 ov al Tpl'xes 'opoiai x lovo s Kal veapov to TTpbawTrov avTov’ 10 
 7 roBas Be avTov ovk eOeaaapeda . Trpea/3vTepoi Be r eaaapes e/c 
 Be^cwv Kal Tea crapes eg evwvvpwv rjaav avTov’ oTrlaw Be twv 
 T eaaapcov 7 roXXol 7rpea/3vTepoc. 
 
 '£ls Be OavpagovTes elaeXrjXvOapev Kal eaTrjpev evwi tlov tov 
 O povov, ol Teaaapes ayyeXoi inr/pav rj pas, Kal e^)iXr}aapev avTov, 15 
 Kal Trj x 6L P L irepieXa/Bev Tas o^eis rjpwv’ ol Be XolttoI irpea- 
 /SuTepol eh tov t rpos vpas, 2 raOwpev Kal TTpoaevgwpeOa. Kal 
 elprjvoTTOLrjaavTes chreaTaXrjpLev vi to twv 7rpea(3uTepwv , XeyovTwv , 
 
 I lopeveade Kal yalpeaOe. 
 
 K al ehrov , YlepireTova, e%ez? o e/3ovXov. Kal eiTrev, Tg3 dew 20 
 X^pt'S wa } ws ev aapKi peTa x a p as eyevoprjv , 7 rXeiova x a P w t'Oz'. 
 
 XIII. *E gr)X0opev Be Kal ecBopev 7 rpo twv Ovpwv 'Otttcltov 
 tov eTrlaKOTTOv Kal ’ AaTraatov tov 7rpeaj3vTepov 7 rpo? ra apia- 
 Tepd pepr\ BiaKex^pio-pevovs Kal TrepiXvTrovs. Kal TreaovTes 
 
 7r pos tovs 7roBas rjpwv ecpaaav rjpiv' A taXXdgaTe rjpas 7 rpos 25 
 aXXrjXovs otl egeXrjXvOaTe Kal ovtws rjpds dfjrr/KaTe. Kal 
 etirapev rrrpos avTovs, O v\l av Trairas rjperepos el, Kal av 
 7rpea/3vTepos ; Iva tl o'vtw TTpoaeireaaTe tols r)peTepois iroaiv ; 
 Kal aTrXayxy^9evTes 7repieXdj3opev avTovs Kal ijp^aTO r\ 
 HepTreTova EX ArjvcaTl pe t avTwv bpiXecv , Kal avex^p^o-apev 30 
 a vv avTuls els tov kt/ttov vt to to BevBpov tov poBov. Kal 
 \aXovvTwv avTwv pe6' rjpwv aTreKplOrjaav ol ayyeXoc 7 rpos 
 auTovs’ ’E aaaTe avTovs avayfrv^ai, Kal ec Tivas BcxoaTaalas 
 
 C. xii. Cf. Ep. ad Diognet. xi. 4, ovtos 6 dir ’ apxys, d kcuvos (pavds Kal TaXaios 
 edpedds. 
 
 C. xill. Cf. Hernias, Vis. III. 1. 9, 6 els ra depict, /x^prj toitos aWoiv early, rw Tjdrj 
 evapearrjKOTUv rtp Qe<p Kal iradovruv eiveKa rod ovogaros. 
 
 The Latin translator, not understanding the force of the allusion to the left- 
 hand, adds words of explanation : Optatus was on the right-hand and Aspasius on 
 the left. 
 
58 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 habetis inter vos dissensiones, dimittite vobis invicem. Et contur- 
 baverunt eos. Et dixerunt Optato : Corrige plebem tuam ; quia 
 sic ad te conveniunt quasi de circo redeuntes, et de factionibus 1 
 certantes. Et sic nobis visum est quasi vellent claudere portas. 
 Et coepimus illic multos fratres cognoscere 2 , sed et martyres. 
 Universi odore inenarrabili alebamur, qui nos satiabat. Tunc 
 gaudens experrectus sum. 
 
 XIY. Hae visiones insigniores ipsorum martyrum beatissi- 
 morum Saturi et Perpetuae, quas ipsi conscripserunt. Secundulum 
 vero Deus maturiore exitu de saeculo, adhuc in carcere evocavit, 
 non sine gratia, ut bestias lucraretur. Gladium 3 tamen etsi non 
 anima, certe caro eius agnovit. 
 
 XV. Circa Felicitatem vero, (nam et illi gratia Domini eius- 
 modi contigit) cum octo iam mensium suum ventrem haberet, 
 (nam praegnans fuerat apprehensa:) instante spectaculi die, in 
 magno erat luctu 4 , ne propter ventrem differretur; quia non licet 
 praegnantes poenae repraesentari : et ne inter alios 5 postea 
 sceleratus/ sanctum et innocentem sanguinem funderet. Sed et 
 commartyres eius graviter contristabantur, ne tarn bonam sociam, 
 quasi comitem, solam in via eiusdem spei relinquerent. Coniuncto 
 itaque unito gemitu, ad Dominum orationem fuderunt ante 
 tertium diem muneris. Statim post orationem dolores earn 
 
 1 H, de fatigationibus. 2 C, cognoscere Martyres, ubi odore. 
 
 3 Sic H, Ed. gaudium. 4 S, luctae. 5 Sic H, Ed. aliqnos. 
 
 aWaye Kal tovs p.dpTvpas. This is the passage referred to by Tertullian 
 in de Anima 55, “ Quomodo Perpetua fortissima martyr, sub die passionis, in 
 revelatione paradisi, solos illic commartyres suos vidit, nisi quia nullis romphaea 
 paradisi janitrix cedit, nisi < quia in Christo decesserint, non in Adam ? ” From this 
 passage we have inferred that Tertullian knew the Acts in their complete form, i.e. 
 Perpetua’s vision + Saturus’, since he cites as a vision of Perpetua what is really 
 a part of the vision of Saturus. The reasoning is not wholly convincing, because 
 in the vision of Saturus, Perpetua is imagined to be present, and to see what he 
 sees. We observe that Tertullian here brings forward the undoubtedly Montanistic 
 belief that Paradise is reserved for those who have suffered for the Name. Upon 
 which Cardinal Orsi remarks, in the desire to repel the allegation of Montanism 
 from the martyrs ; ‘ ‘ sed aut f allitur aperte Tertullianus aut fallit : solos enim se in 
 Paradiso vidisse martyres Perpetua non dicit : quin oppositum clare et aperte 
 testatur: ‘et coepimus illic multos fratres cognoscere sed et martyres.’ Igitur 
 non solos ibi commartyres sed et confratres etiam eosque non paucos Perpetua seu 
 potius Saturus vidit.” There is some force in Cardinal Orsi’s objection; never- 
 theless it is pretty certain that the passage especially in the Greek does contain an 
 emphasis on the martyrs; the usage of aWaye Kal seems to be late and not to differ 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 59 
 
 e^eT 6 pe6 ’ eavrcop, afare vpels dWrjXot^' /cal 67re7r\i)^ap avTois 
 /cal ehrap ’07 ttcltco’ ’E 7 rapopOcoaai to 7r\r}0os aov, ovtco yap 
 (jvvepyovTai irpos ere, cbcrel airo L7T7roBpopi(op iirapepyopepoi /cal 
 7 repl av T(Zv <f)L\ov€L/covvT€<;. epopl^opev Be avrovs co? OeXeiP 
 a-TTO/cXelcraL to? 7 rvXas. koli rjp^dpeOa e/cel 7 roXXoi)? tcop 5 
 
 dBe\cf)cop eTuyiPcocnceiP, aAXerye /cal tovs papTVpas’ eTpecpopeOa 
 Be irdvres berpr) ave/cBir)yr)Tcp rjTi 9 ov/c i^opra^ev rjpas' /eat 
 evOecos % aipcop iljv7rvLa0r]v. 
 
 XIV. Kvrai at opdaeis epcpaveaTaTai tcop papTvpcop 'Xarvpov 
 /cal Ile^eTOua? a? avrol <TVpeypd\fraPTo' top yap Xe/covpBop 10 
 rd^eiov i/c rov /cocrpov pereTrep-^raro [0 #609]* £p yap rfj (pv\a/cf) 
 Trjs icXrjcrecos rjfjicbOrj avv rfj yapen irapTCOs /cepBapas to prj 
 
 Luke ii. 35. Q^piopayficrai' TrXrjp el /cal prj rrjv aapK a aWovvye rrjv t^rjp 
 avrov Bie%r)\ 6 ev to ^icpos. 
 
 XV. ’AXXa /cal rfj ^tjXlktjt arp rj %ap? rov Oeov TOiavrrj 15 
 iBoOrj. irceivr) yap avWrjcpOelaa oktco prjpcop eyovaa yaarepa, 
 7ravvo)Bvp6TO ( Biotl ov/c e^eanv iy/evpova OrjpLopa^elp rj Ttpco- 
 pelaOai), pr)7ra)$ varepov pera dWcov apoatcop e/c^vOr) to alpa 
 aiTrj<; to aOwov. 
 
 ’AXXa /cal ol avppapTvpes avTt] 9 'rrepiXvirot rjcrav ocpoBpa 20 
 ovtco KdXrjp avvepyov /cal coael avpoBoiirbpop £v oBco T/79 avTr)<$ 
 e’X7rtSo9 prj 0 e\ovT 6 <; /caTaXeiireiV. 7 rpo TpLTrj 9 ovp rjpepas t ov 
 ttciOovs avTcov kolpco aTepaypco evcoOevTes 7rpoaev%r)p 7rpo9 top 
 YL vptop eTroirjcraPTO' /eat evOv 9 peTa tt)p TTpoaev^rjp cbBipes 
 
 C. xiv., 1. 11. 0 deos deest. 13. aapKa’ cod. pvx'rjv- x l /v X r l v ' cod .aapKa. 
 
 C. xv., 1. 17. iravodvpeTO. 
 
 essentially from rods p.apTvpas ye, i.e. ‘the martyrs were there, if none others.’ 
 In that case Tertullian has made the suggestion a little more definite. Or we may 
 conjecture that the primitive Greek text to which Tertullian is referring read 
 d\\a 7 e /cat toijtov s paprvpas, which scarcely differs from our edited text. 
 
 But it is conceivable that, after all, Tertullian is referring to the earlier part of 
 the vision where Iucundus, and Artaxius are seen beyond the plain. Perhaps this 
 last group of nameless brethren are not in Paradise at all ; Aspasius and Optatus 
 at all events are still alive. 
 
 In Perpetua’s own vision in c. iv. the white-robed throng correspond to the 
 company in the Apocalypse who have come up out of the great tribulation. They 
 are therefore martyrs. 
 
 C. xrv. el Kal plt) Trjv aapKa. The scribe supposing that Secundus was killed in 
 the prison, assumes of course that the sword did pierce his flesh, and not his soul : 
 thus the obvious allusion to the Gospel of Luke is weakened ; and the sentence 
 deprived of its meaning. We have restored the order against the ms. 
 
GO 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 invaserunt. Et cum, pro naturali difficultate octavi mensis, in 
 partu laborans doloret, ait illi quidam ex ministris cataracta- 
 riorum : Quae sic modo doles, quid facies objecta bestiis, quas 
 contemsisti cum sacrificare noluisti ? Et ilia respondit : Modo ego 
 patior quod patior, illic autem alius erit in me qui patietur pro me , 
 quia et ego pro illo passura sum. Ita enixa est puellam, quam 
 sibi quaedam soror in filiam educavit. 
 
 XVI. Quoniam ergo permisit, et permittendo voluit Spiritus 
 sanctus ordinem ipsius muneris conscribi, etsi indigni ad supple- 
 mentum tantae gloriae describendum, tamen quasi mandatum 
 sanctissimae Perpetuae, immo fidei commissum eius exsequimur, 
 unum adicientes documentum de ipsius constantia et animi 
 sublimitate. Cum 1 a tribuno castigatius eo tractarentur ; quia ex 
 admonitionibus hominum vanissimorum verebatur, ne subtra- 
 herentur de carcere incantationibus aliquibus magicis; in faciem 
 respondit Perpetua, et dixit: Quid utique non permittis refrigerare 
 noxiis nobilissimis, Caesaris scilicet, et natali 2 eiusdem pugna- 
 turis ? Aut non tua gloria est, si pinguiores illo producamur ? 
 Horruit et erubuit tribunus ; et ita iussit illos humauius haberi, 
 ut fratribus eius et ceteris facultas fieret introeundi, et refrigerandi 
 cum eis ; iam et 3 ipso Optione carceris credente. 
 
 XVII. Pridie quoque cum ilia coena ultima, quam liberam 
 vocant, quantum in ipsis erat non coenam liberam, sed agapen 
 coenarent, eadem constantia ad populum verba ista iactabant, 
 comminantes iudicium Domini, contestantes passioni suae felici- 
 tatem, inridentes 4 concurrentium curiositatem, dicente Saturo : 
 Crastinus dies satis vobis non est, quod libenter videtis quod 
 odistis, hodie amici, eras inimici. Notate tamen nobis 5 facies 
 
 1 S and C, quia tribuno castigante eos et male tractante, quoniam ex admoni- 
 tionibus. 
 
 2 S and C, quia natali eius sumus pugnaturi. 3 H, tamen. 
 
 4 H, irritantes. 5 S, vobis. 
 
 C. xv. iKei aWoj. Cf. Acta S. Victoris (Ruinart p. 260), “Ego sum, inquit, 
 Jesus qui in sanctis meis iniurias et tormenta sustineo.” 
 
 C. xvi. This seems to be imitated in Acta S. Montani (Ruinart p. 204), “ Haec 
 omnes de carcere simul scripserant. Sed quia necesse erat omnem actum martyrum 
 beatorum pleno sermone complecti ; quia et ipsi de se per modestiam minus 
 dixerant : et Flavianus quoque privatim hoc nobis munus iniunxit ut quicquid 
 litteris eorum deesset, adderemus etc.” 
 
 C. xvii. The ‘ last supper ’ of the criminals is referred to by Tertullian, 
 Apol. 42, “Non in publico Liberalibus discumbo, quod bestiariis supremam 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPrTETOYAC. 
 
 01 
 
 avTt)v avvea^ov, Kara rr)v rov oyBoov firjvos cj)V(TLV yaXeTra'i. 
 real fiera tov t o/ceTov /capLovaa rjXyei. ecfiTj Be Tt? avTjj twv 
 TrapaTripovvTWV inrrjperoov * E t vvv ovrcos dX yets r t e^et? 
 TTOLrjcrcu , /3Xrj0elcra n rpo$ Oypla (£v /car ecppovrj era? ore emOveiv 
 /ccLTe(j)povr}<ras /cal ov/c rjOeX^aa^ Ovaat; /ca/ceivrj dire/cpiOr]' 5 
 Nw eyw Tracr^u) o 7rda^(o‘ e/cel Be aXXo? iarlv 6 irdayjov virep 
 epLov’ earai/ev epbol Lva irdOrj Blotl iyco Trdcyyu) vn rep avrov. 
 
 V E re/cev Be /copaatov o pula twv aBeXcj)cov avXXa/3ovcra els 
 dvyarepa dveOpeyfrev avrr). 
 
 XVI. 'H/xlv Be avafyois ovaiv eirerpe^rev to dyiov Trvevpia 10 
 avaypayfrai, rrjv tci^lv rrjv eVt Tat? <£tXoTt/uat? r napa/coXov6ij- 
 craaav' 'rrXrjv g$? eVraX/xart T/J? pca/capias YlepireTOvas pidXXov 
 Be w? /ceXevapbaTL virripeTOvvTes avaTrXrjpovpLev to 7 rpocjTayQev 
 rj/jiLV. Ml? Be 7rXetot/? rjpepai BieyivovTO ev Trj (frvXa/ci 7 ovtcov 
 avrcov, rj pieyaXotypwv /cal avBpela «? dXr)0d)<; Hep7rerova, rov 15 
 % CKiapyov cLTcevyearepov ai/TOt? 7 rpocrcfrepopLevov, tlvwv 7 r^oo? 
 avrov p,ara[(D < ? 8ia/3e/3aL(ocrapLevGov to Bel v tyoftelcrOai /tryVeo? 
 
 67 rwBah puayucah T/7? (pvXa/crjs vire^eXOcacnv, evooi nov aire/cplOr) 
 Xeyovcra ' A taTt r/puv avaXapifiaveiv ov/c eTriTpeireis ovopaaToh 
 /caTa8ircoL<; Kaicra/oo? yevedXlois avaXwOrjcropevoi^ ; prj yap ov^l 20 
 err} Bofja eerTLV, i(j) ocrov nrioves 7 rpoaep^opeOa ; 7 rpo? Tavra 
 eeppe^e /cal eBvcrcoTTrfOr] 6 ^tXtap^o?, irceXevaev T6 ai/TOu? cfriXav- 
 OpwrroTepov Biayetv, go? /cat toi> d8eX<j)6v avTrjs /cal Xoarovs Ttm? 
 BeBvvrjcrOai elaeXdelv /cal dvaXapfiaveiv peT avTcov. tot6 /cat 
 auTO? 6 Trj ^ (fcvXa/cfjs TrpoecrTco ? eiriGTevaev. 25 
 
 XVII. ’AXXd /cat irpo puds oTe to eayarrov e/celvo Behrvov [ 
 
 oirep eXevOepov ovopud^ovatv’. oaov Be ecf)' eai/Tot? 00/c eXevOepov 
 Behrvov aXX’ dyair^v eire/caXovv Trj avTWV irapp^cjia' 7 r/?o? 
 toz/ o%Xov tov e/celae TrapeaTwra prjpiaTa e^eTrepbirov pueTci 
 7roXXr)s Trappr)(iias aoVot? a'/retXovvTe ? /cpiaiv ©600, dv0opuo- 30 
 Xoyovp,evoi tov p,a/capicrpLov tov 7 rdOovs eavTcov, /carayeX&We? 
 t?)z/ Trepiepyeiav twv avvTpe^ovTcov, XaTvpov Xey ovtos' 9 H avpiov 
 rjpiepa vplv ov/c eirap/cel; tI rjBews opaTe oO? pucrehe ‘ enjpuepov 
 cf)iXot * avpiov e^Opoi; TrXr)v eTriarjpieiwaaaQe tci TrpoawTra rj/jL/Bv 
 eVt/LteXco? tVa /cal enriyv odTe r/pid<; iv e/ceivp Trj r)p,epa. 35 
 
 1. Cod. (f>v(Ti. 2. roi/ TOKerov. C. xvi., 1. 15. ei /xeyaXocppov. 
 
 21. cod. TrXeioves. C. xvn., 1. 32. Xeyovros ’ cod. Xewvros. 33. vp.iv' 
 
 cod. 17 piv. pureire. cod. paariTou. 
 
 coenantibus mos eat.” It appears then that the free supper was originally a 
 supper in honour of Bacchus. 
 
G2 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 nostras diligenter, lit recognoscatis nos in die illo iudicii. Ita 
 omnes inde attoniti discedebant : ex quibus multi crediderunt. 
 
 XVIII. Inluxit dies victoriae illorum, et processerunt de 
 carcere in amphitheatrum, quasi in caelum, hilares, vultu decori ; 
 si forte, gaudio paventes non timore. Sequebatur Perpetua 
 placido vultu 2 , et pedum incessu, ut matrona Christi Dei dilecta: 
 vigore oculorum deiciens omnium conspectum. Item Felicitas 
 salvam se peperisse gaudens ut ad bestias pugnaret, a sanguine,' 
 ab obstetnce ad retiarium, lotura post partum baptismo secundo 
 Et cum delati 3 essent in portam, et cogerentur habitum induere ; 
 viri quidem sacerdotum Saturni, feminae vero sacratarum Cereri ; 
 generosa ilia in finem usque constantia repugnavit. Dicebant 
 emm: Ideo ad hoc sponte pervenimus, ne libertas nostra abdu- 
 ceretur. Ideo ammas nostras addiximus, ne tale aliquid faceremus: 
 hoc vobiscum pacti sumus. Agnovit iniustitia iustitiam : con- 
 cessit tribunus, ut quomodo erant, simpliciter indueerentur. 
 Perpetua psallebat, caput iam Aegyptii calcans. Revocatus et 
 Saturninus et Saturus populo spectanti comminabantur de hoc. 
 Ut sub conspectu Hilariani pervenerunt, gestu et nutu coeperunt 
 
 1 S, multi. 
 
 2 H, lucido vultu ut matrona Christi, ut Dei delicata, vigore oculorum deiciens 
 omnium conspectum. Ed., placido vultu, et pedum incessu, ut matrona Christi 
 Dei dilecta : vigorem oculorum suorum deiciens ab omnium conspectu 
 
 3 H, ducti. 
 
 C. XVIII. eirtxa^ev. Imitated in Passio Cypriaui p. 186, “illuxit denique 
 dies alius, ille signatus, ille promissus ille divinus...dies de conscientia futuri 
 martyris laetus. ” 
 
 cos ec’s obpavov. Imitated in Acta Montani, “ad summum ascendebamus locum 
 poenarum quasi ascenderemus in caelum.” 
 
 cos parpAva Xparrov. So Blandina is described in the Lyons martyrdoms : cos 
 els vvp<t>LK'ov Mttvov K€K\r)p,h v a\\a p.7] irpos Orjpia Cf. Tert. ad uxor . i. 4, 
 
 “ Sorores nostrae...malunt Deo nubere.” 
 
 yvayKdtovTo kt4. From Tertullian, De Testim. Animae 2, we find that the men 
 would have been dressed in scarlet cloaks, while the women would have worn a 
 fillet round their heads. “Unde hoc tibi non Christianae? atque id plerumque 
 et vitta Cereris redimita, et pallio Saturni coceinata.” Cf. also De Pallio 4. 
 It was apparently not an uncommon thing to make the Christian convict represent 
 some mythological, character or to engage in some idolatrous ceremony. Thus 
 Clement in his epistle speaks of Christian women who played the part of the 
 Danaids or of Dirce in the arena. In the Acts of Theodotus (Ruinart p. 301) we 
 have a case of persons who were made priests of Diana and Minerva: “iussit 
 eas fieri Dianae et Minervae sacerdotes ut quotannis iuxta morem lavarent earum 
 simulacra in vicino lacu.” 
 
 In our Acts the allusion to priests of Kronos and priestesses of Demeter is 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPnETOYAC. 
 
 G3 
 
 Outok cLTravres e/ceWev e/cirXrjTTopevoi eycopl&VTo, e’f g5i> 
 7r\el(TT0i 67 TLcrrevcrav. 
 
 XYI1I. ’ETreXa/x^e Be 77 rjpepa rrjs Viter]? avrccv ' /cal 
 TrporjXOov e/c rrj 9 $vXa/cr}$ els to ap$i6eaTpov cos els ovpavov 
 airtovre^, [Xapol real $aiBpol to> TrpocrcoTru), TTTOOvpevoc el Tvyou 5 
 yap a paXXov r) $6/3 w. 
 
 ’H icoXovOr) $e rj YlepTrerova 7 rpacos /3aBl£ovcra, cos paTpwva 
 XpMTTov, iyprjyopa) o$6aXp$, /cal rrj 7rpocr6$ei /cara/3dXXovcra 
 ra? ttclvtwv opacreus. 
 
 f O polcos /cal rj <&7]Xncr)TCLTr) yaipovera eirl rf) tov to/cctov 10 
 vyela iva Orjpiopayijo-rj, diro aipaTos el s alpa, anro palas irpos 
 povopayiav , peXXovaa XovaacrOac peTa rov ro/cerov, ftairTLapcp 
 Be verreprp rovreari t$ IBlw aepaTi. 
 
 "Ore Be ijyycaav irpo rov dp$L0edrpov, rjvay/ca^ovTo evBv- 
 aaaOat cryrjpara, 01 pev appeves iepewv K povov, ai Se 6r)\elai 15 
 t »79 Aypr/Tpas’ aXX' r) evyevearaTT] e/ceivr) Uep7reTova 7rapprj(rla 
 riywvlaaro ecos TeXovs’ eXeyev yap' Aid tovto e/covalcos els 
 tovto eXr/XvOapev' tva rj eXevOepla rjpcov pr) yrrrjdy' Bid tovto 
 T r)v yjr vyrjv rjpdov irapeBw/capev iva prjBev twv tolovtwv 1 rpd- 
 fjcopev’ tovto avveTa^dpeda peO' vpd/v. 20 
 
 *E7 reyveo rj aBt/cla tt)v Bi/caiocrvvrjv' /cal peTeireiTa €7reTpe$rev 
 6 ytXiapyos iva ovtw s elaaydwaiv cos rjcraV /cal rj HepireTova 
 eyjraXXev, tt}v /ce$aXrjv tov AlyviTTiov rjBrj iraTOvaa. 
 
 'Veov/caTOS Be /cal 'AaTovpvivo s /cal 2 aTvpo ^ ? tw OecopovvTi 
 oyXco 7 TjioawpiXovv' kcli yevopevoi epirpoaOev f I Xaptavov, /civrj- 25 
 
 C. xviii., 1. 5. rj tvxoi . 20. cod. tovto avveTa^w/xeda fxedaavveTa^eadai ped' 
 
 v/xuv (sic). 24. 'LoLTOvpviXos. 25. irpocxoprfKovv : (Lat. TrpotnjTreiXow). 
 
 thoroughly in harmony with the evidence supplied by North African inscriptions. 
 The cultus was one which not only was appropriate to the older rural life, and 
 to the Punic settlers who inherited Phenician forms of idolatry, but in the great 
 wheat raising districts would hold its own against any pressure of recently 
 imported religions. Thus we find C. I. L. viii. 2266, Frugifero saturno aug. 
 SAC. TI. TELTONIUS MARCELLUS PRAEFEC. LEG. III. AUG. P. V. V.S.L.A. and 4581, Deo 
 FRUGUM. SATURNO FRUGIFERO &C. 
 
 The African references to the priesthood attached to the worship of Saturn and 
 Ceres are numerous. Nine inscriptions commemorate priests of Ceres, and of 
 these seven are women : over thirty inscriptions record the names of priests of 
 Saturn. No other form of African worship is so well represented by memorials of 
 its officials as these are. The whole number of Ceres-inseriptions is about twenty, 
 of Saturn one hundred and five. Not even Jupiter is so frequent as this last. It 
 may be said, therefore, that the allusion made in the Acts to the worship of 
 Saturn and Ceres is in harmony with the evidence of inscriptions which makes 
 them to be amongst the most popular of African deities. Temples of Ceres are 
 
64 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 Hilariano dicere : Tu nos, inquinnt, te autem Deus iudicabit. Ad 
 hoc populus exasperatus, flagellis eos vexari pro ordine venatorum 
 postulavit. Et utique illi gratulati, quod aliquid et de dominicis 
 passionibus essent consecuti. 
 
 XIX. Sed qui dixerat, Petite et accipietis, petentibus dedit 
 eum exitum, quem quisque desideraverat. Nam si quando inter 
 se de martyrii sui voto sermocinabantur, Saturninus quidem 
 omnibus bestiis velle se obici profitebatur : ut scilicet gloriosi- 
 orem gestaret coronam. Itaque in commissione spectaculi, ipse 
 et Revocatus leopardum experti, etiam super pulpitum ab urso 
 vexati sunt. Saturus autem nihil magis quam ursum abomina- 
 batur : sed uno morsu leopardi confici se iam praesumebat. Itaque 
 cum aper subminis fcraretur, Venator potius qui ilium apro sub- 
 ministraverat 1 , subfossus ab eadem bestia, post dies muneris obiit/ 
 Saturus solummodo tractus est. Et cum ad ursum substrictus 
 esset in ponte, ursus de cavea prodire noluit. Itaque secundo 
 Saturus inlaesus revocatur. 
 
 XX. Puellis autem ferocissimam vaccam, ideoque praeter 
 consuetudinem comparatam 2 , diabolus praeparavit : sexui earum 
 etiam de bestia aemulatus. Itaque despoliatae et reticulis indutae 3 
 producebantur. Horruit populus, alteram respiciens puellam deli- 
 catam, alteram a partu recenti stillantibus mammis. Ita revocatae 4 
 et discinctis indutae. Inducitur prior Perpetua; iactata est, et 
 
 1 H, apro subligaverat. Ed., aprum subministraverat. 
 
 2 H, paratam. 3 S and C, dispoliatae promovebantur. 
 
 4 Ed., revocatae discingnntnr. 
 
 noted by the inscriptions at Agbia in Proconsular Africa and at Theveste in 
 Numidia ; at Sitifis in Mauretania have been found inscriptions in honor both of 
 Saturn and Ceres. Cf. C. I. L. vm. 8442 — 8450. 
 
 But beyond the fact that the worship of Ceres and of Saturn was popular in 
 Africa, there was a special reason for attempting to dress them this way. We have 
 shewn on p. 5, that the dedicated priestesses of Ceres were women who had left 
 their husbands ; and the populace would not be slow in seeing the appropriateness 
 of the raiment to the case. Still more fun would be made of the men ; for as 
 priests of Saturn, who devoured children, they would furnish an excellent reminder 
 of the scandals which prevailed as to the Thyestean banquets of the Christians, and 
 their custom of eating in secret “ the flesh of the Son of man and drinking his 
 blood ” ; we may be sure that when the scarlet robes of the priests of Saturn 
 appeared in the arena a shout of delight would have passed round the benches 
 where the expectant Carthaginian populace were seated. 
 
 To modern Christians these allusions are valuable because they shew us 
 an historical nucleus of the shameful blood-scandals against the Jews, and 
 because they are in evidence for the early diffusion of the language of the fourth 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 65 
 
 ptaatv /cal vevptaaiv etfiaaav' !£ v 'pptas /cal ae 6 Geos, n rpos 
 radra dyptcoOels 6 o^Xo? ptaartywOrjvat avrov ? ifiorjerev' dXXa 
 oi dytot tfyaXXtaaOrjaav ort virepteivav rt /cal rcov /cvpta/cwv 
 7 raOwv. 
 
 XIX. ’AW’ 6 euTToov' KtrelaOe /cal Xy\jrea0e, eBco/cev rot ? 5 
 atrrjaaatv ravrrjv rrjv Bo^av otav e/caaros avr gov iTreOvptrjaev. 
 elirore yap pteO* eavrcov 7 repl tjJ? eu^? to ^ ptaprvpiov avve- 
 XaXovv, Xarovpvtvos ptev rrdaiv to£? Orjptots /3Xr)0rjvat eavrov 
 eOeXev tt dvr cos iva evBo^orepov arec^avov aTroXa^rj. ev ap^rj 
 yovv rrj<$ Oewpias avros pterct f P eov/edrov 7 rapBiaXtv i/Treptetvev’ io 
 dXXa /cal varepov eirl rr/s yetyvpas vrro dp/cov Btearrapd^ij. 
 
 'Earvpos Be ovBev aXXo rj dp/cov dnrear pecker o' nal evl Bnyptart ' ly •/ £7, «AT 
 irapBaXeco^ reXetodaQat avrov eTrenroOet' ware /cal rw avt 
 * Bta/covovptevos* eavpr) ptovov, a^otvtw irpoaBeOets' 6 Be depart)? 
 
 6 tg3 avt avrov 7rpoa/3aXcdv in to Orjpos /carerpooBrj ovreos m? 15 
 pteO ’ r/ptepav rwv tfrtXortpttoov drvoQave'iv. aXXa /cal 7 rpo? dp/cov 
 BtaBedels vytrjs rraXtv Bteptetvev ' e/c yap rod ^co yplov avrrjs rj 
 ap/cos ov/c edeXrjaev etjeXOetv. 
 
 XX. Tat? pta/capiats Be veavtatv aypt(ordrr]v BaptaXtv 
 rjrotptaaev 6 (Ua/3oXo?, to OrjXv avrcov Trapa^rjXwv Btd rod 20 
 6rjptov' /cal yvptvwdetaat yovv irpoarfyovro' odev air ear pa (f>rj 6 
 0^X0?, pttav ptev rpvcj>epdv Koprjv /3Xe7rcov } rrjv Be aXXrjv ptaa0ov<; 
 ara^ovaav yaXa, go? 7 rpoacfrdrws tcvrjaaaav’ /cal dvaXrjcfrOetaat 
 TraXtv, /cal Bt/crvots rreptf3Xr)6etaat, ivBtBvarcovrat inro^wapaatv’ 
 o6ev eiaeXOovaGov avrcov, rj Yiepirerova rrpGorrj icepartadetaa 25 
 
 4. «. ^ 
 
 
 C. xix., 1. 8. 'Za.Tovpi'iXos. 
 C. xx., 22. fjLctcrdoLS. 
 
 9. 9e\e iv. 
 
 13. 
 
 ro9rj. 
 
 17. die/xeLvov. 
 
 gospel; they furnish us, therefore, with materials upon which to base acts of 
 repentance and of faith. 
 
 C. xix. diciKovoiJiuevos : is this for beLKvv/xevos ? 
 
 OX OLVL V irpoadeOds. The martyr was attached by a rope to the wild beast, before 
 it was loosed from its den, in order that he might not escape. This explains why 
 in some of the more famous martyrdoms the saints have pulled the beasts towards 
 them: for example in the letter of the Smyrnaeans on the death of Polycarp, we 
 are told that Germanicus iavrep t6 drjpiov eirecnrdaaTo irpoa(3ia(rdp.ei'os. And in Euseb. 
 H. E. viii. 7 the martyrs are said to do the very same thing, tCjv lep&v dOXT/rCov 
 yvfj.vCov €<ttJ)t(i)v Kai rats X e P aL KaraceiovTUv eiri re cr0as avrotis eTri<nrci)p.evo}v. Light- 
 foot quotes these passages in illustration of Ign. ad Rom. v. 5 ( irpo(r{3idcrofji.cu ) but 
 does not notice that the force is applied by means of a rope. 
 
 C. xx. diKTdois TrepipX'qde'iaa. The whole incident recalls the martyrdom of 
 Blandina ToV<Tx aTOV ets yvpyadov pXrjdeiaa, ratipw Trap€j3\r]dr]. 
 
 H. 
 
 0 
 
66 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 concidit in lumbos. Et ut conspexit 1 tunicam a latere discissam, 
 ad velamentum femorum adduxit, pudoris potius memor, quam 
 doloris. Dehinc requisita, et dispersos capillos infibulavit. Non 
 enim decebat Martyrem dispersis capillis pati, ne in sua gloria 
 plangere videretur. Ita surrexit, et elisam Felicitatem cum 
 vidisset, accessit, et manum ei tradidit et sublevavit illam. Et 
 ambae pariter steterunt, et populi duritia devicta revocatae sunt 
 in portam Sanavivariam. Illic Perpetua a quodam tunc cate- 
 chumino, Rustico nomine, qui ei adhaerebat, suscepta, et quasi a 
 somno expergita (adeo in Spiritu et in ecstasi fuerat) circumspicere 
 coepit, et stupentibus omnibus ait : Quando, inquit, producimur 
 ad vaccam illam nescio quam 2 ? Et cum audisset quod iam 
 evenerat, non prius credidit, nisi quasdam notas vexationis in 
 corpore et habit u suo recognovisset 3 . Exinde accersitum fratrem 
 suum, et ilium catecbuminum allocuta est eos, dicens ; In fide 
 state, et invicem omnes diligite ; et passionibus nostris ne scan- 
 dalizemini. 
 
 XXI. Item Saturus in alia porta militem Pudentem 4 exhor- 
 tabatur dicens ad summum 5 ; sicut promisi et praedixi, nullam 
 usque adhuc bestiam sensi. Et nunc de toto corde credas. Ecce 
 prodeo illo, et ab uno morsu leopardi consumar. Et statim in 
 fine spectaculi, leopardo obiectus de uno morsu eius tanto perfusus 
 est sanguine, ut populus revertenti illi secundi baptismatis testi- 
 monium reclamaverit : Salvum lotum, salvum lotum. Plane 
 
 1 H, ubi sedit. 
 
 2 Sic S and C, in Ed. deest quam. 3 Ed. addit et illuvi catechuminum. 
 
 4 In H deest 'Pudentem. 5 Sic H, Ed. babet adsum certe. 
 
 T7)s aKXrjpoTrjTos. Cf. Passio Cypriani p. 196, “victa denique feritate tor- 
 quentium.” 
 
 C. xxi. eve-K Xr/adri. Cf. Dion Cass, lxxvii. 2 ical yap rod aijuaros iraaa ev-X-pady, 
 where Geta is massacred in his mother’s arms. 
 
 KaXus eXovaoo. Aube remarks that it is quite possible that no one except 
 the author of the Acts saw an allusion to Christian baptism (much less to the 
 Montanistic idea of martyrdom as a second baptism), in the cry of the populace. 
 And he refers to an inscription at Brescia to shew that the expression is simply a 
 bath-motto. In this inscription ( C . I. L. v. 4500) the mosaic of an ancient 
 bath pavement furnishes us with the following formulae proper to the occasion ; 
 
 BENE SALVV PERIPSV 
 
 LAVA LOTVM MA SV 
 
 or ‘ bene lava,’ ‘ salvum lotum,’ * peripsema sume.’ The second of these is the 
 formula in our Acts ; its proper Greek equivalent is 4 /caXcGs Aotf<rw,’ and it is 
 addressed to a person when leaving the bath. The Corpus Inscriptionum shews 
 
MAPTYPION TTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 G7 
 
 eirecrev err octavos' /cal dva/caOtcracra rov ^trcova i/c tt}? 
 irXevpds avrrjv crvvay ay over a, ea/ceiraaev rov eavrrjs ptrjpov , 
 alBovs ptaXXov ptvrjptovevaaaa rj rrovcov' [alBovjievr]’] ptyBaptcos 
 cppovrtaaaa rwv aXyrjBovcov' /cal eTrttyjrrjaaaa /3eXovrj v rci 
 earrapaypteva avveacpty^ev, /cal Ta? rpiyas rfjs /cecjiaXy? rrept- 5 
 eBrjaev' ( ov yap enperrev ry pciprvpt Opt^lv a'lrapayQeiaat^ 
 opdaOat * tva ptrj ev ry IBta rtpty Bo/cy 1 revOetv.) 
 
 [Kai /cepanaOetaav IBovaa rrjv ^ rjXucyraryv , 7 rpoarjXOev 
 avrrj] /cal /cparrjaaaa r rjs % eipo ? avrrj ? rjyetpev avrrjv. /cal 
 earrjaav dpia * tj}? Be a/c\rjp 6 rrjro<$ rov o%Xov e/cvt/crjOetar 7? 10 
 aveXrj<f) 6 rjaav eU rrjv 7 ri/Xrjv rrjv ^corucrjv' e/cet rj Uepirerova 
 viro rtvo? /carrj^ovptevov ovoptart f P ovart/cov o? 7 Tapeiary/cet 
 avrrj co? e£ vttvov iyepOetaa (ovrcos ev irvevptart yeyovev 
 e/caraatv 7 raOovaa), /cal Trepi/SXeyjrapLevrj 6 api( 3 ovvrcov airavrcov 
 efyrj' IIot€ ( 3 aXXopte 6 a 7 rpo? rrjv BapaXtv rjv Xeyovatv ; /cat 15 
 d/covaaaa on rjBy e^eXrjXvOet irpos avrrjv , ov 7 rporepov eirt- 
 arevaev rrplv rj arjpteld rcva t?}? / 3 Aa/ 3 r 7? ev too IBlco acoptart 
 ecopa/cet' avaBet\ 6 evrcov Be /caXeaaaa rov lBlov aBeXcpov /cal 
 avrov rov /carrjyov ptevov 7 rape/caXet tva ev rviaret Biapteivcoatv 
 /cal aXXrjXovs ayairwatv, /cal Tot? 'iraOrjptaaLv ifcetvots ptrj 20 
 a/cavBaXiadcoatv rotovrots ovatv. 
 
 XXI. Kcu iv erepa rrvXy 6 'Zdrvpos too arpartcory TIovBevrt 
 irpoaoptiXet, /caOoXov Xeycov on, Kara rrjv n rpoXe^tv rrjv eptrjv, 
 co? /cal TTpoecirov, ovBe ev Orjpicov r/yfraro ptov eco? dpn' IBov Be 
 vvv, tva ef oXrjs /capBla<; Btairtarevays, 7 rpoaepyoptat, /cal ev evl 25 
 By y peart 7 rapBaXeco? reXetovptat * /cal evOvs ev reXet rrjs Oecoptas 
 irapBaXus avrco e/3Xrj6rj, /cal iv evl Byyptart rov aipiaros rov 
 ayiov even rXrjaOrj' roaovrov [St}] alpua eppvrj, co? XoyiaQrjvai 
 Bevrepov j3a'7rrL(TpLov piaprvpiov' /ca^oo? /cal e7re(f) covet 6 o^Ao? 
 /3oa>v ical Xeycov * KaAco? eXovcrco' /caXco? iXovcrco. /cal ptrjv 30 
 vytr}<; rjv 0 rotovrco rpoTrco XeXovptevo ?. 
 
 € 
 
 1. cod. KparriOrjaa (sic). 3. cudov. 6. cnrapaxOrjcrav. 7. Sukci. 
 
 8. cod. om. [ ] transiliens a Keparicrdeiaav ad Kparijaao-a. 18. avadeixdy- 
 
 aaaa. CT^ xxi., 1. 26. deiypuxTi. 27. 5etyp.ct.Ti. 28. epvet. 
 
 29. bevrepov. eir ecpuvrj. 
 
 this by a reference to Hanpt : “in colloquiis quae ex codice Montepessulano 306 
 (saec. ix) nuper edidit Hauptius in indice lectionum univ. Berolinensis m. Oct. a. 
 1871, p. 8, KaXtos ZXovaov (scr. eXorjato) Kvpte, salvum lutum (sic) domine.” Aubo 
 gives the equivalent /caXws ZXovaov and refers to Notices et Extraits des MSS. xxm. 
 p. 322, where the spelling would seem to imply that this is the same ms. as quoted 
 
68 
 
 PASSIO S. PERPETVAE. 
 
 utique salvus erat, qui hoc modo laverat 1 . Tunc Pudenti militi : 
 Yale, inquit, et memor esto fidei meae ; et haec te non conturbent, 
 sed confirment. Simulque ansulam 2 de digito eius petiit, et 
 vulneri suo mersam reddidit ei, beatam bereditatem, relinquens 
 ei pignus et memoriam tanti sanguinis 3 . Exinde iam exanimis 
 prosternitur cum ceteris ad iugulationem solito loco. Et cum 
 populus illos in medium postularet, ut gladio penetrante in 
 eorum corpore oculos suos comites homicidii adiungeret; ultro 
 surrexerunt, et se quo volebat populus transtulerunt : ante iam 
 osculati invicem, ut martyrium per solemnia pacis consummarent. 
 Ceteri quidem immobiles, et cum silentio ferrum receperunt : 
 multo magis Saturus : qui et prior scalam ascenderat, prior reddidit 
 spiritum, nam et Perpetuam sustinebat. Perpetua autem, ut 
 aliquid doloris gustaret, inter ossa compuncta 4 exululavit ; et 
 errantem dexteram tirunculi gladiatoris ipsa in iugulum suum 
 posuit 5 . Fortasse tanta femina aliter non potuisset occidi: quia 
 ab immundo timebatur, nisi ipsa voluisset. 
 
 O fortissimi ac beatissimi Martyres ! 0 vere vocati et electi 
 
 in gloriam Domini nostri Iesu Christi; quern qui magnificat, et 
 honorificat, et adorat, utique et haec non minus veteribus exempla 
 in aediticationem Ecclesiae legere debet, ut novae quoque virtutes 
 unum et eundem semper Spiritum sanctum usque adhuc operari 
 testificentur ; et omnipotentem Deum Patrem et Filium eius 
 Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum, cui est claritas et immensa 
 potestas in Saecula Saeculorum. Amen. 
 
 1 Sic H, Ed. spectaculo claruerat. 2 S, anulum. 
 
 3 Sic S, Ed. habet reddidit ei, hereditatem pignoris relinquens illi, et me- 
 moriam sanguinis. 
 
 4 Sic H, Ed. costas puncta. 5 H, transtulit. 
 
 by Haupt. As to the third formula, we have given ‘ peripsema sume,’ i.e. ‘take a 
 towel,’ as suggested by Haupt ; but it is an open question whether it is not really 
 a transliteration of irepLypriixd <rov (‘ your devoted servant’) ; the three sentences on 
 the mosaic being thus three forms of address to the person bathed by the bathman. 
 The use of such conventional formulae is well illustrated by Oriental life ; as for 
 instance in the case of shaving where the barber concludes his task by the words 
 “may God make it agreeable to you.” 
 
 A similar inscription in mosaic is given amongst the inscriptions from Maure- 
 tania ( C . I. L. viii. 2, no. 8424. Cf. additamenta in p. 970) : which may be read 
 as follows: bene laves: oze = (hodie) a[ssem] des, eras gratis: res tuta. Salvu[s ] 
 laves et bono [eius] q[u]i fieri jussit ex s[uo parcimonio ]. One would imagine there- 
 fore that it was a common thing to work such devices into the mosaics of baths. 
 
 /ecu da.KTv\iov alT-rjaas. The optiones of the legion all wore rings : thus we have 
 in C. I. L. viii. 2554 an inscription from the camp at Lambaesis where the 
 
MAPTYPION rTEPTTETOYAC. 
 
 69 
 
 T ore too arparuorr) UovSevTi e(f>r]' 'Tylaive Kal pvrjpove ve 
 7 riCTTeo)? kcu ipov’ kcu tcl ToicLVTd Kal crTepecocraTco ere pdXXov rj 
 rapa^dreo. 
 
 K al SclktvXlov aWrjaa 9 map avrov kcu evOels avro tS IS up 
 aXpaTt eScoKev avT(p paKapiav KXrjpovoplav, dcfrels pvyprjv Kal 5 
 ivOrjKrjv aXpaTos ttjXlkovtov. peTa ravra Xolttov epi rveoov 
 eri dirr/^Ot) peTa kcu t<ov dXXcov tS avvrjOei tottco’ els 
 atyayrjv Be 6 0^X09 rjrrjo-ev avTOvs els pecrov pera^Or/vac, omcos 
 Sta t Sv ayioov acopaTcov eXavvopevov to Ijlcfros Oedcrcovrat * Kal 
 oi paKapioi papTVpes eKovre 9 r/yepOrjaav' rja^vvovro yap 10 
 oXlyov 9 papTvpas e%eiv errl tS paKaplco OavaTco avreiv. 
 
 Kal Sr) eXOovTcov avTobv ottov 6 6%Xo 9 ipovXero mpeorov Kare- 
 (plXrjaav aXXr/Xov 9 Xva to pvarr/piov 8ca tSv oiKeiwv rrj 9 mlaTecos 
 TeXeiwcrwGLv' Kal peremeLra aapevcos vmepeivav rrjv Sia rod ^ccfrovs 
 Tipcoplav * 7 roXXS Se pdXXov 6 'Zdrvpos, 6 Sr) mporepo 9 rrjv KXipaKa 15 
 iKeivrjv avaftas, 09 Kal emeurev rrjv Uepmerovav avaftaiveiv. 
 
 f H be Uepmerova Xva Kal avrrj yevarjrai tSv irovtov 7 repl ra 
 oerrea vvyelaa rjXaXa^ev, Kal 7re7rXavrjpevr]v rrjv Se^idv dmelpou 
 povopayov KpaTr/aacra irpoaijyayev rrj KaraKXelSi eavTrjs' laws 
 rrjv Toaavrrjv yvvaiKa rod aKaOapTOV mvevpaTos (f)o/3ovpevov 20 
 [(poveuaai], tyovevOrjvat prj /3ovXopevr)v. 
 
 dpSpicbraroi Kal paKapiccraroi paprvpe 9 Kal aTparcborac 
 €kX€KTol } el? So^av K vplov * Irjaov Kpicrrov KeKXijpevoi. mobs 
 peyaXvvcopev vpas rj paKapicrcopev, yevvaioraroL arpanwrai ; 
 o\jk Tjcraov tgov maXaiSv y pacfxov, d els oiKoSoprjv eKKXrjcrlas 25 
 \dvayLvwGKerai ,] dvayivajfTKeaOat ocpeiXei rj mavaperos 7 roXireia 
 
 too v paKapioov paprvpcov 
 
 SC 
 
 So%av 
 
 avamepiropev tco 7 raTpt toov auovcov, apa too povoyevet avTov 
 vlS too K vplcp rjpSv ’I rjaov XpicrTa> ervv ay 1(0 mvevpaTL' <p f) 
 Sotja Kal to KpaTOS els tovs alSvas tSv aioovcov. ’A prjv. 30 
 
 1. II ovdevTLb). 7. ei<T(payr)u (sic). 9. deaaovTOu. 10. ktxvvovto. 
 
 12. kcu Set. 14. ai t/jlci’os. 16. ws /cat ecprjaev. 18. 7re7r\au7iiJ.€i/rj. 
 
 19. Ka.Ta.K\ridr}. 20. tov ’ cod. wo. 21. cod. om. cpovevacu. cod. 
 
 /cat <povev0y)vou /at) /SouXo/tepoi/. 25. urov. 26. cod. om. avayivour Keren. 
 
 27. desunt quaedam : cf. Lat. 
 
 formation of a college and the foundation of a schola by the optiones of one of the 
 legions : there are sixty of these optiones corresponding to the sixty centurions : 
 the concluding part of the inscription (veterani quoque missi accipiant kal. Jan. 
 anularium) decrees that all the discharged veterans should receive a ring on the 
 Kalends of January. Pudens’ ring is probably something of the same kind. 
 
 ireir\a.vT)iihr]v. Cf. Passio Gypriani 186, “ labente dextera gladium vix trementibus 
 digitis circuibat.” 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 THE SHORTER LATIN ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM 
 OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS \ 
 
 Facta persecutione sub Valeriano et Gallieno consulibus, compre- 
 hensi sunt venerabiles viri iuvenes Saturus et Saturninus, duo fratres, 
 Revocatus et Felicitas soror eius et Perpetua quae erat de nobili genere 
 et habebat patrem et matrem et duos fratres et filium ad mamillam. 
 Annorum enim erat ilia duorum et viginti, apud Africam in civitate 
 Zabarbitanorum. 
 
 Minutius proconsul dixit ad eos: “Invictissimi principes Yalerianus 
 et Gallienus iusserunt ut sacrificetis.” 
 
 Saturus respondit : “ Hoc non sumus facturi, Christiani enim 
 sumus” 
 
 Proconsul iussit eos recludi in carcerem ; siquidem hora erat prope 
 tertia. 
 
 Audiens vero pater Perpetuae earn esse comprehensam cucurrit ad 
 carcerem et videns earn dixit: “ Quid hoc fecisti, filia, dehonestasti enim 
 generationem tuam. Nunquam enim de genere nostro aliquis missus 
 est in carcerem.” 
 
 Perpetua vero dixit ad eum: “Pater, ecce, verbi gratia, vides vas 
 iacens aut fictile aut cuiuslibet generis?” 
 
 Et ille respondit: “Video, quid ad haec?” 
 
 Perpetua dixit: “Numquid aliud nomen potest habere quam quod 
 est?” 
 
 At ille respondit : “Non.” 
 
 Perpetua dixit: “Nec ego aliud nomen accipere possum quam quod 
 sum Christiana.” Tunc pater eius audito verbo irruit super earn, volens 
 oculos eius eruere ; et exclamans, confusus, egressus est foras. 
 
 Orantes vero et sine cessatione preces ad Deum effundentes, cum 
 
 1 As given by Aub6 from the mss. 5269, 5279, 5292, 5297, 5311, 5318, 5349, 
 of the National Library at Paris. 
 
THE SHORTER LATIN ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM. 
 
 n 
 
 essent multis diebus in carcere, quadam nocte videns visum sancta 
 Perpetua, alia die retulit commartyribus suis ita dicens : 
 
 “Yidi in visu hac nocte scalam erectam mirabili altitudine usque 
 ad caelum, et ita erat angusta ut nonnisi unus per earn ascendere posset. 
 Dextra vero laevaque inerant fixi cultri et gladii ferrei ut nullus circa 
 se nisi ad coelum respicere posset. Sub ea vero iacebat latens draco 
 teterrimus ingenti forma, ut prae metu eius quivis ascendere formidaret. 
 Vidi etiam ascendentem per earn Saturum usque ad sursum et respici- 
 entem ad nos et dicentem : ne vereamini hunc draconem qui iacet ; 
 confortamini in gratia Cliristi, ascendite et nolite timere ut mecum 
 partem habere possitis. Yidi etiam iuxta scalam hortum ingentem, 
 copiosissimum et amoenum et in medio horto sedentem senem in habitu 
 pastorali et mulgentem oves et in gyro eius stantem multitudinem 
 candidatorum : et aspiciens ad nos vocavit ad se et dedit nobis omnibus 
 de fructu lactis. Et cum gustassemus, turba candidatorum responderunt 
 “ Amen ” et sic prae clamore vocum sum expergefacta.” 
 
 At vero illi cum haec audissent gratias agentes insufficienter 
 domino cognoverunt ex revelatione beatissimae Perpetuae ad martyrii 
 coronam dignos esse effectos. 
 
 Post haec vero procedens Minutius proconsul et sedens pro tribunali 
 eos exhiberi praecepit dixitque ad eos : “ Sacrificate diis, sic enim ius- 
 serunt perpetui principes.” 
 
 Saturus respondit : “Deo magis oportet sacrificare quam idolis.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Pro te respondes, aut pro omnibus'?” 
 
 Saturus dixit: “Pro omnibus, una enim est in nobis voluntas.” 
 
 Proconsul ad Saturninum, Revocatum, Felicitatem et Perpetuam 
 dixit: “ Yos quid dicitis? ” 
 
 At illi responderunt : “ Yerum est, unam gerimus voluntatem.” 
 
 Proconsul iussit viros a niulieribus separari et ad Saturum dixit : 
 “ Sacrifica, iuvenis, et ne te meliorem quam principes iudices esse.” 
 
 Saturus respondit : “ Meliorem me iudico apud verum principem et 
 praesentis et futuri saeculi, si colluctando pati meruero.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Suade tibi, et sacrifica, iuvenis.” 
 
 Saturus respondit : “Hoc ego non sum facturus.” 
 
 Proconsul ad Saturrfinum dixit : “ Sacrifica vel tu, iuvenis, ut valeas 
 vivere.” 
 
 Saturninus respondit : “ Christianus sum et hoc mihi facere non 
 licet.” 
 
 Proconsul ad Revocatum dixit : “ Forte et tu sequeris voluntatem 
 illorum.” 
 
 Revocatus respondit : “ Eorum plane propter Deum sequor desi- 
 deria.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Sacrificate ne vos interficiam.” 
 
72 
 
 THE SHORTER LATIN ACTS 
 
 Revocatus respondit : “ Deum oramus ut hoc mereamur.” 
 
 Proconsul eos removeri praecepit et Felicitatem et Perpetuam sibi 
 iussit offerri. Dixit autem ad Felicitatem : “ Quae dicerisl ” 
 
 Respondit: “ Felicitas.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Yirum habes 1 ” 
 
 Felicitas respondit : “ Habeo quem nunc contemno.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Ubi est 1 ” 
 
 Felicitas dixit : “Non est hie.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Quo genere est ? ” 
 
 Felicitas respondit : “ Plebeius.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Parente(s) habes 1 ” 
 
 Felicitas dixit: “Non habeo: Revocatus vero congermanus meus 
 est. Yerumtamen his maiores parentes habere non potero.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Miserere tui, puella, et sacrifica ut vivas, maxime 
 quia te infantem in utero habere video.” 
 
 Felicitas respondit : “ Ego Christiana sum et haec omnia mihi 
 propter Deum contemnere praecepta sunt.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Consule tibi, doleo enim de te.” 
 
 Felicitas respondit: “ Fac quod vis, mihi enim persuadere non 
 poteris.” 
 
 Proconsul ad Perpetuam dixit : “ Quid dicis, Perpetua, sacrificas ? ” 
 
 Perpetua, “Christiana, inquit, sum et nominis mei sequor auctori- 
 tatem, ut sim perpetua.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Parentes habes 1 ” 
 
 Perpetua respondit : “ Habeo.” 
 
 Audientes vero parentes eius pater, mater, fratres, et maritus 
 simulque cum parvulo eius qui erat ad lac venerunt cum essent de 
 nobili genere. Et videns earn pater eius stantem ante proconsulis 
 tribunal cadens in faciem suam dixit ad earn : “ Filia, iam non filia, 
 sed domina, miserere aetati meae patris tui, si tamen rnereor dici 
 pater, miserere et matris tuae, quae te ad talem florem aetatis perduxit, 
 miserere et fratribus tuis, et huic infelicissimo viro tuo, certe vel parvulo 
 huic qui post te vivere non poterit. Depone hanc cogitationem tuam. 
 Nemo enim nostrum post te vivere poterit, quia hoc generi meo nun- 
 quam contigit.” 
 
 Perpetua vero stabat immobilis et respiciens in caelum dixit ad 
 patrem suum : “ Pater, noli vereri, Perpetuam enim filiam tuam, si 
 non obstiteris, perpetuam filiam tuam possidebis.” 
 
 Proconsul dixit : “ Moveant te et excitent ad dolorem lacrymae 
 parentum tuorum, praeterea voces parvuli tui.” 
 
 Perpetua dixit : “ Movebunt me lacrymae eorum, si a conspectu 
 domini et a consortio horum sanctorum, cum quibus secundum visionem 
 meam fratribus bonis sum copulata, fuero aliena inventa.” 
 
OF THE MARTYRDOM. 
 
 73 
 
 Pater vero iactans infantem in collum eius et ipse cum matre et 
 marito tenentes manus eius et flentes osculabantur dicentes : “Miserere 
 nostri, filia, et vive nobiscum.” At ilia prospiciens infantem eosque 
 repellens dixit: “Recedite a me operarii iniquitatis, quia non novi vos. 
 Non enim potero maiores et meliores vos facere quam deum qui me ad 
 hanc gloriam perducere dignatus est.” 
 
 Videns vero proconsul eorum perseverantiam, data sententia Satu- 
 rum, Saturninum et Revocatum flagellis caesos, et Perpetuam et 
 Felicitatem exalapatas in carcerem recipi praecepit ut in Caesaris 
 natale bestiis mitterentur. 
 
 Et cum essent in carcere iterum vidit visionem Perpetua Aegyptium 
 quemdam horridum et nigrum iacentem et volutantem se sub pedibus 
 eorum, retulitque sanctis fratribus et commartyribus suis. At illi 
 intelligentes, gratias egerunt domino, qui, prostrato inimico generis 
 humani, eos laude martyrii dignos habuerit. 
 
 Contristantibus vero iis de Felicitate quod esset praegnans in 
 mensibus octo, statuerunt unanimiter pro ea precem ad Dominum 
 fundere. Et dum orarent subito enixa est vivum. Quidam vero 
 de custodibus dixit ad earn : “ Quid factura es cum veneris in 
 amphitheatrum quae talibus detineris tormentis ? ” 
 
 Felicitas respondit : “ Hie ego crucior, ibi vero pro me Dominus 
 patietur.” 
 
 Facto itaque die natali Caesaris concursus ingens fiebat populi in 
 amphitheatrum ad spectaculum eorum. 
 
 Procedente vero proconsule eos ad amphitheatrum perduci praecepit. 
 Euntibus vero eis sequebatur Felicitas quae ex sanguine carnis ad 
 salutem sanguinis ducebatur et de obstetrice ad gladium et de lavatione 
 post partum balnei sanguinis effusione meruit delavari. 
 
 Adclamante vero turba positi sunt in medio amphitheatri nudi, 
 ligatis post tergum manibus, et dimissis bestiis diversis, Saturus et 
 Perpetua a leonibus sunt devorati. Saturninus vero ab ursis erutus 
 gladio est percussus. Revocatus vero et Felicitas a leopardis gloriosum 
 agonem impleverunt. 
 
 Horum ergo famosissimorum et beatissimorum Martyrum, sanctissimi 
 fratres, qui passi sunt sub Yaleriano et G-allieno imperatoribus apud 
 Africam in Civitate Zabarbitanorum sub Minutio proconsule die nona- 
 rum Martiarum fideliter memoriis communicantes actus eorum in ecclesia 
 ad edificationem legite, precantes Dei misericordiam ut orationibus 
 eorum et omnium sanctorum nostri misereatur, atque participes eorum 
 efficere dignetur in gloriam et laudem nominis sui quod est benedictum 
 in saecula saeculorum. Amen. 
 
 H. 
 
 G 
 
Catnfrrfoge : 
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.