Apocrypha
The Story of Perpetua
Acts of the Martyrs
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Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
The prison diary of a twenty-two-year-old woman with her newborn son in her arms, written up to the eve of her death in the arena at Carthage — one of the oldest texts written by a woman in the Christian world.
Where this text comes from
Carthage, around AD 203, in Latin. The core is attributed to Perpetua herself and to Saturus, with a frame by an editor who narrates the ending. The authenticity of the diary is accepted by most scholars.
Why it is not in the Bible
Never canonical, but it was read in the churches of North Africa on its feast day, to the point that Augustine preached on it and had to remind his hearers it was not Scripture.
What you will find
- The argument with her father, who comes back to the prison again and again begging her to give in — the most human scene in the text.
- The four visions: the ladder set with weapons, her dead brother, and the contest in which she fights as a man against an Egyptian.
- The practical worry about nursing her son, recorded matter-of-factly while she waits to die.
- Felicity, a pregnant slave, gives birth in prison so that she can be executed with the others.
Frequently asked questions
- Did Perpetua really write this?
- The central section is presented as written by her own hand, and most scholars accept the attribution. If confirmed, it is among the earliest works of female authorship in Christianity.