Perpetua was an early Christian martyr who died in Roman Carthage in 203 CE. She has attracted great interest for her narrative written in prison just before she went to her death in the amphitheater. Her story is steeped in mystery, and every aspect of her life and death has generated much controversy.

Barbara K. Gold is Edward North Professor and Chair of Classics at Hamilton College. She is the editor of Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome, author of Literary Patronage in Greece and Rome, and co-editor of Sex and Gender in Medieval and Renaissance Texts: The Latin Tradition and Roman Dining.

• Preface


• Acknowledgements


• Introduction


• Chapter 1: Perpetua's Passio: Text, Authorship, Authenticity


• Chapter 2: And I Became Male: Gender and The Athlete


• Chapter 3: A Matter of Genre and Influence: The Passio and Greco-Roman Pagan and Christian Narratives


• Chapter 4: Carthage: Pagan Culture, Religion, and Society in the Early Empire


• Chapter 5: Carthage: The Early Christian Community


• Chapter 6: Perpetua's Life: Family (Natal and Christian), Education, and Social Status


• Chapter 7: The Conditions of Martyrdom in the Roman Empire


• Chapter 8: The Nachleben of Perpetua: Her Unwitting Legacy


• Bibliography


• Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae Et Felicitatis