PERPETUA, Felicity and Companions, saints, martyrs. — The *Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis* recounts the martyrdom of three catechumens—Saturninus, Revocatus, and Saturus—as well as that of a young noblewoman, Perpetua, and her slave, Felicity, which took place in the arena at Carthage on March 7, 203.
During the persecution under Septimius Severus, while Hilarianus was serving as procurator of the proconsular province of Africa following the death of the proconsul Minucius Timinianus, five catechumens were arrested in Thuburbo Minus: Vibia Perpetua, a 22-year-old noblewoman who was married with a nursing infant; Felicity, her slave, who was in the advanced stages of pregnancy; Revocatus; Saturninus; and Secundulus. A few days later, Saturus was added to their number; he had been absent at the time of their arrest and had instructed the others in the faith. While still held in private custody, the five catechumens received baptism, and Perpetua endured the first affectionate assault of her father, the only pagan in her family, who sought to make her apostatize. Transferred to prison, Perpetua had a vision in which she saw a ladder guarded by a great dragon and strewn with all kinds of weapons that hindered and obstructed the ascent. Overcoming the dragon, she climbed and found herself in a most beautiful place; she understood that they would soon suffer martyrdom. Once again, Perpetua’s father attempted to sway her, and he renewed his pleas a third time during the public interrogation in the forum. Despite her immense love for her father and her sorrow at his distress, she remained steadfast in her faith. The trial concluded with a sentence to be exposed to wild beasts during the games celebrating the anniversary of the emperor Geta; in the meantime, they were returned to prison.
Perpetua then received a revelation that her younger brother, Dinocrates, who had died at the age of seven from a facial tumor, was happy in heaven. A few days before the spectacle, the martyrs were transferred to the military prison, where Perpetua had a final vision that confirmed her imminent triumph, while Saturus beheld eternal beatitude in the form of a most radiant and fragrant building set in a beautiful garden. As the day of the spectacle approached, though confident of victory, the martyrs were saddened by Felicity’s absence, for the law forbade the exposure of women in her condition. Together they prayed for her, and three days before the execution, despite being in her eighth month of pregnancy, she gave birth to a daughter. As she suffered the pains of childbirth, a guard mocked her, to which she replied: *«Modo ego patior quod patior; illic autem alius erit in me qui patietur pro me, quia et ego pro illo passura sum.»*
Finally led into the amphitheater—Secundulus had already died in prison—the five were scourged, and Perpetua and Felicity were exposed to a savage cow, while Saturus, Revocatus, and Saturninus were subjected to the bites of a leopard and a bear. All were then slaughtered before the crowd. The *Passio* also mentions four other martyrs—Jocundus, Saturninus, Artaxius, and Quintus—who had previously perished in the same persecution, from which it has sometimes been erroneously concluded that there were ten martyrs in total.
Chapters 3–10 of the *Passio* are written by Perpetua herself, while chapters 11–13 are in Saturus’s hand. The first and last chapters, that is, the edition of the *Passio*, are most likely the work of Tertullian. The Latin text appears to be the original, while the Greek version is a translation whose authorship, though possibly Tertullian’s, is uncertain. The *Passio* is renowned for its account of visions (the ladder to paradise; the Good Shepherd, etc.) and is also significant for its insights into early Christian ideas on martyrdom. The work was known in the African Church. Tertullian alludes to it (*De anima*, 55.4); Augustine refers to it (*Sermons*, 280; 281–82; *De natura et origine animae*, 1–10, 12, etc.); as do the *Enarrationes in psalmos* (47.13); Pseudo-Augustine (*Sermo*, 394); Quodvultdeus (*Sermo de tempore barbarico*; *Sermo de IV feria*; *Tractatus de natale sanctorum Perpetuae et Felicitatis*); and Pseudo-Fulgentius (*Sermo* 70).