Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas
... Introduction Perpetua and Felicitas as catechumens were martyred in Carthage, North Africa, in 203. It seems that their story, The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, is simply revealing the solid religion life as the representative resistance against the god of Rome. ... Eventually, Perpetua and Felicitas were emphasizing the religious, political, and social transformation through their martyrdom To do this, I, first of all, would like to descript the historical context of Rome under the time of the emperor Septimius Severus, in order to find out the clue providing some reasons of persecution at that time. ... Historical context In the description of Perpetua¡¯s and Felicitas¡¯s Martyrdom, what definitely revealed to us is that they were persecuted under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, because they rejected to be dissuaded joining Christian movement. ... However, the major issue in the document of martyrdom is enlightening the detailed reason of persecution. ... First, we can observe the rejection of Perpetua about the dissuasion of her father in the chapter 1 and 3 of the document which is the diary in prison. ... Through the tool, Christianity, Perpetua was simply rejecting her family system but the vertical system between generations, regarded as the important element at that time. Furthermore, we can see the relationship between Perpetua and Felicitas not as the host and slave but as the company. ... Here, we need the exploration about more questions; why Perpetua and Felitatis rejected the existing social and political authority, and what the reason of abrupt growth of Christianity was. ... (Add footnote) Probably, these inclusive language was the symbol fascinating to save both of themselves, Perpetua as the victim of patriarchal system and Felitatis who was the slave as the victim of existing social oppression. ... The cry of Perpetua and Felicitatis with martyrdom is reflecting the resistance against the political and social oppressor.