Fokusthemen
Publikationen
Services
Autorinnen/Autoren
Verlag
Shop
LEXIA
Zeitschriften
SachbuchLOKISemaphor
Osteraktion: Bis zum 30.4.2025 von 20% Rabatt auf folgende Produkte profitieren. Code: NEST25
Perpetua

Perpetua

The Woman, the Martyr

Inhalt

An intimate and human portrait of Perpetua, a third-century woman author who was idealized as a Christian martyr
 
On March 7, 203, in the monumental amphitheater at Carthage, Vibia Perpetua was one of five Christians who met their deaths after refusing to venerate the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and his son. Perpetua stood out from the other four, and in fact from all the other martyrs of her era and before: she was an aristocratic married woman with an infant son, and she is the first female prose author whose work survives.
 
Offering a probing new translation of Perpetua’s extraordinary prison diary and situating the life behind that diary within the turbulent late Roman Empire, Sarah Ruden tells the story of Perpetua’s remarkable feat of self-invention as a martyr. As she builds on Perpetua’s own words and integrates them into their religious and historical contexts, Ruden shines a light on Perpetua’s disarming candidness, her brashness, and her naïvété. In contrast to traditional portrayals of the saint as a brave but submissive young woman, we encounter a complex individual who flaunts a vivid public persona as a martyr while at the same time navigating the emotions of a mother, daughter, sister, and friend approaching death.

Bibliografische Angaben

Oktober 2025, ca. 208 Seiten, Ancient Lives, Englisch
University Presses
978-0-300-27371-7

Schlagworte

Weitere Titel der Reihe: Ancient Lives

Alle anzeigen

Weitere Titel zum Thema