Viri mirantur facilius quam imitantur: Passio Perpetuae in the Literature of Ancient Church (Tertullian, acta martyrum, and Augustine) (original) (raw)

The paper examines the reception of the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis in early Christian literature and refers to the subsequent manipulations of this text. The Passio Perpetuae, though highly venerated in the early Church, contained a number of innovative and -- in the context of Antique and early Christian society -- potentially subversive features. These novel features were felt to undermine the existing social order and hierarchy, and it was necessary to “explain them away” in order to make the text more compliant with traditional and generally accepted social values. This very point of view was often taken into account, when later authors refer to the text. The paper tries to illuminate, how the Passio Perpetuae is presented in the later literary tradition (Tertullian, martyr acts, and Augustine), and how this narrative is re-shaped in order to fit later authors’ intentions.