Women in Martyrdom

The Role of Women in Early Christianity,pp. 1-23.
by Jean LaPorte

Published by the Edwin Mellen Press, New York, 1982.
published on our website with the necessary permission

CHAPTER I

Already in the first persecution against the Church of Jerusalem, reported in Acts 8:1-3, women shared with men in suffering. Paul, not yet converted, "laid waste the Church, and entering house after house, dragged off the men and women and committed them to prison."

In July 64, after the great fire of Rome, Nero turned against the Christians the thirst for revenge of the crowd who suspected him and inaugurated the action of imperial power in persecutions. The cruelty against the Christians roused feelings of compassion in people who were hostile to them, and of indignation in Tacitus, the historian who describes the scene:

Covered with the skins of beasts, the Christians were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames. These served to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his gardens for the spectacle. (2)

Clement of Rome, at the end of the first century, comments on the same event:

Associated with these men of holy life (Peter and Paul) is a great multitude of the elect, who because of jealousy have suffered many indignities and tortures and have set a very noble example in our midst. Because of jealousy women were persecuted, who as Danaids and Dircae suffered terrible and impious indignities and thereby safely completed the race of faith and, though weak in body, received a noble reward of honour.(3)

From then on, the story is always the same: Christian women suffer their share in the persecutions. Sometimes they fail to confess or they yield to torture, but so do the men. (4) Sometimes the women show courage and such a sense of the divine that they become examples and leaders among other confessors. (5) Usually they endure the trials as well as men, thus proving that men and women are equal before God and receive the same gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, they do not follow exactly the same patterns. The visions of the women martyrs include feminine aspects: attention to clothing, descriptions of gardens and flowers, distress when their sense of modesty is offended, and concern for people. (6)

It would be interesting to have extensive lists of the names of martyrs, as complete as possible, and statistics. We are left with the table of E. Grapin (7), which lists 120 names of men and 15 of women who died as martyrs according to the records of Eusebius. To these we must add anonymous groups or individuals Eusebius refers to. G. Bardy repeats this figure in his introduction to his French translation of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. (8)

Is it possible to obtain more general figures which do not rely on this source alone? At the end of the second volume of La persecution de Diocletien (Paris 1908), Paul Allard gives a table containing all the names of the martyrs which he mentioned not only in this last work, but also in the three volumes of his Histoire des persecutions (1887-1898). Unfortunately, like many scholars of his age, he is not critical enough and therefore not very reliable. However, in the absence of a more critical list, it seems possible to make some observations. Out of about 950 names of martyrs or confessors, we find 177 women, 170 clergymen, 70 soldiers, and 540 men who were 'ordinary Christians', that is, not members of the clergy or the army. These figures, at least, give proportions which may be correct and enable us to affirm the importance of the blood tribute paid by women to the cause of faith.

Before giving a few samples of women's martyrdoms, a few remarks of general order are necessary to prepare the reader for a correct understanding of the attitude of the Christian martyrs.

If we consider the martyrs of the great period of the persecutions which ended with the Edict of Milan in 313, we can hardly argue that, at least in their motivation, the Christians supported a political or nationalistic cause." But can we say that they stood for a human philosophy, for instance, a kind of Stoicism? (lO) It is more difficult to answer this question. By this time Stoicism had permeated the thought and life of the Greek and Roman world and was part of common or popular philosophy. We can say that the Christians and their martyrs do not betray the ideals of Stoicism. And we must add that, because of this common philosophy and ethics, the gulf between Christianity and the Greek Roman world was bridged, communication was made possible, and Christianity could be given its fair evaluation. (11) Stoicism prized virtue and held as indifferent bodily and external goods. By their courage and their renunciation of the world the Christian martyrs, in spite of the hostility of the populace, won a moral victory over the world and converts to Christianity multiplied, (12) The Stoic respect for heroism in virtue explains why the great ascetics of the fourth century and on, became famous. Examples of courage in the martyrdoms of women are obvious, and do not need to be singled out.

However, regarding the courage of women martyrs, a kind of paradigm is found among the examples from Scripture proposed by Origen in his Exhortation to Martyrdom-that of the mother of the seven Maccabean martyrs. We quote the intervention of the mother exhorting her son to suffer for God, and the comment of Origen:

But she, acting as though she would try to win over her son to his (the king's wishes), mocked the tyrant and gave her son an earnest exhortation to perseverance - so much so that he did not wait for the torture to be inflicted upon him: he anticipated it and challenged the executioners, saying: "Why do you hesitate and delay? We obey the law given by God. We may not obey a commandment that is contrary to the words of God,.." (II Mac. 7:30} Then one could see the mother of so many sons bearing courageously the sufferings and death of her sons, for the hopes she had in God. For the dew of piety and breath of holiness did not allow the fire of a mother's feelings, which inflames many mothers in the presence of most grevious ills, to be kindled within her heart. I think that in view of our present purpose it was most useful to give here this story from the Scriptures. Thus we can see what piety and the love of God, which is stronger than all other loves, can achieve against the most cruel sufferings and the severest tortures. This love of God does not tolerate the co-existence of human weakness, but drives it away as an enemy alien from the whole soul. And this weakness has become powerless in the case of one who can say, The Lord is my strength and my praise (Ps. 117:14), and I can do all things in Him who strengthens me, Christ Jesus Our Lord (Phil. 4:13 and I Tim. 1 :12). (13)

According to Origen, the mother who does not allow the feelings of a mother to be kindled within her heart in the presence of her suffering child has reached the Stoic ideal of apatheia, i.e., the eradication of the passions and the emotional revolt of the heart. But it is even more interesting to observe that her story is given as an example to the candidates to martyrdom, and precisely as a teaching and a pattern from Scripture. Other texts of Scripture are added by Origen. Concerning martyrdom, as in all other duties, a Christian finds his/her motivation in Scripture. The exhortation of the mother in the Book of Maccabees is echoed in Blandina herself who, in spite of her tender age and of her humble condition assumes the role of mother among the martyrs of Lyons.

The martyrs behave according to Scripture. We are far from pure Stoicism. But we are even farther away, at least if we consider the internal aspect of their courage, when we observe them more closely in their trial and listen to their secret. It has been said that a sad saint is not a saint at all, but that is even more true of a martyr. The confessors in the stadium sing psalms and hymns, are happy with their confession, enjoy visions in jail, and encourage each other. They are assured in their faith that, since they are obeying the will of God, God will be with them when their hour has come. Thus they anticipate the delight of living in Paradise with Christ and the saints. If they believed martyrdom to be a human achievement, and not a display of divine power in their own weakness, they could not accept the challenge. The confessors are charismatics by their very confession, and it seems that they endure physical suffering in a state of partial ecstasy. In ecstasy Perpetua did not even remember the cow which had projected her body into the air. Felicitas cried in birthpangs. Answering the jailor who was surprised to see a martyr cry out in pain, she said, "Now it is I who suffer; but then there will be Another by my side who will suffer for me, because it is for Him that I shall be suffering."

The Martyrdom of Blandina

The holy martyrs endured punishments beyond all description, Satan being ambitious that some of the slanders might be admitted by them also. The whole wrath of the populace and of the governor and of the soldiers was directed in excessive measure against Sanctus, a deacon from Vienna, and against Maturus, a very recent convert but a noble warrior, and against Attalus, a Pergamene by race, who had ever been a pillar and a foundation of our Church, and against Blandina, through whom Christ showed how what appears to men worthless and uncomely and despicable is deemed worthy of great glory by God, because of that love toward Him which is manifested in power and not boasted of in mere show. For while we were all afraid for her, and her earthly mistress, who was herself one of the confessing combatants, dreaded lest she should be unable through bodily weakness to make confession, Blandina was filled with such power that she was set free from and contrasted with those who tortured her with every kind of torture in turn from morning to evening, and who confessed that they were conquered, since they had nothing left which they could any longer do to her, and they marvelled at breath remaining in her when her whole body was lacerated and laid open, testifying that one of the tortures by itself was sufficient to end life, let alone so many and such great ones. But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, gained her strength by her confession, finding refreshment and freedom from pain in saying "I am a Christian," and, "We do nothing vile."

Maturus and Sanctus and Blandina and Attalus were led to the beasts in the public place, since for the popular exhibition of heathen cruelty, a day for beast-fighting had been granted directly on our account. Maturus and Sanctus endured the scourgings in procession which are customary on such occasions, and the halings by the beasts, and all else that the maddened populace yelled for and demanded. Finally they were placed on the iron chair on which their bodies were fried. . .

Now Blandina, hanging upon a stake, was exposed as food for the wild beasts that were driven in. And because she seemed to be hanging on a cross, and because of her intense prayers, she inspired great courage in the combatants, who saw in this contest, and with their outward eyes in the form of their sister, Him who was crucified for them, that He might persuade those who believe on Him that all those who suffer for the glory of Christ have an abiding fellowship with the living God. And when none of the beasts would touch her, she was taken down from the stake and sent back again to the prison, being reserved for another contest, in order that, being victorious in many trials, she might make the condemnation of the crooked serpent irrevocable, and encourage the brethren; for she, small and weak and despised as she was, put on Christ, the great and resistless Athlete, and having worsted the adversary in many contests, won through conflicts the wreath of incorruption...

Finally, on the last day of the gladiatorial games, Blandina was again brought forward with a lad of about fifteen, named Ponticus. These two had been brought in each day to witness the punishments of the others, and had been pressed to swear by the idols. And because they remained constant and set them at naught, the populace grew furious, so that they respected neither the youth of the boy nor the sex of the woman; but they made them pass through every form of terrible suffering, and through the whole round of punishments, urging them to swear after each one, but they were unable to effect this. For Ponticus, excited to zeal by his sister, so that even the heathen saw that it was she who encouraged and strengthened him, yielded up his spirit after nobly enduring every punishment. And the blessed Blandina, last of all, like a noble mother who had excited her children to zeal, and sent them forward as conquerors to the King, recapitulated in herself all the conflicts of her children and hastened to them, rejoicing and exulting in her death, like one invited to a bridal feast rather than thrown to the beasts. For after the scourging, after the beasts, after the frying, she was exposed to a bull; and having been many times tossed by the beast, and being no longer sensible of her sufferings on account of her hope and firm hold on the things entrusted to her and her converse with Christ, she also was sacrificed, even the heathen themselves confessing that never yet amongst them had a woman suffered such manifold and great tortures. (15) (Abbreviated text.)

The Passion of Perpetua

In that brief space of time we were baptized; and the Spirit intimated to me that I was not to expect anything else from my baptism but sufferings of the flesh. A few days later we were received into the prison, and I shuddered because I had never experienced such gloom. 0 awful day I fearful heat arising from the crowd and from the jostling of the soldiers! Finally I was racked with anxiety for my infant there. Then Tertius and Pomponius, blessed deacons who were ministering to us, arranged by bribery for us to go forth for a few hours and gain refreshment in a better part of the prison. And so going forth we all were free to attend to ourselves. I suckled ray child , who was already weak from want of nourishment. In my anxiety for him I spoke to my mother and comforted my brother, and entrusted my child to them. And I pined excessively because I saw them pining away because of me. For many days I suffered these anxieties; and I then gained the point that my child should remain with me in the prison. And immediately I gained strength, being relieved from anxiety about the child; and my prison suddenly became to me a palace, so that I preferred to be there rather than anywhere else. . . . I prayed, and this vision was shown to me: I see a brazen ladder of wondrous size reaching up to heaven; narrow, moreover, so that only one could go up it at once, and on its sides every kind of iron instrument fixed —swords, lances, hooks, daggers — so that if one went up carelessly, or not fixing one's attention upwards one would be torn, and the pieces of one's flesh would be left on the iron implements. There was also lying under the ladder a dragon of wondrous size, which laid snares for those climbing it, and frightened them from the ascent. Now Saturus went up first. When he got to the top of the ladder he turned and said to me," Perpetua, I am waiting for you; but take care that that dragon does not bite you." And I said, "In the name of Jesus Christ he shall not hurt me." And the dragon, as if afraid of me, slowly thrust his head underneath the ladder itself; and I trod upon his head as if I were treading on the first step. And I went up and saw a large space of garden, and in the midst a man with white hair sitting, in the garb of a shepherd, tall, milking sheep; and a white-robed host standing round him. And he lifted his head and saw me, and said, "welcome, child;" and he called me and gave me a piece of the cheese which he was making, as it were a small mouthful, which I received with joined hands and ate; and all those around said "amen." And at the sound of the word I awoke, still tasting something sweet. After a few days a rumor ran round that our case was to be heard. Moreover my father came up from the city, worn out with disgust; and he came to break down my faith, saying, "Daughter, pity my grey hairs; pity your father, if I am worthy to be called father by you, if I have brought you up with my own hands to your present comely age, if I have preferred you to all your brothers: do not make me disgraced before men. Behold your brothers; behold your mother and your aunt; look at your son, who cannot live without you. Alter your determination: do not cut us off entirely; for no one of us will ever hold up his head again if anything happens to you." This my father said out of his affection for me, kissing my hands, and throwing himself at my feet, and with tears calling me not 'daughter' but 'lady.' And I was distressed at my father's state, for he alone of my kindred would not rejoice at my martyrdom. So I comforted him, saying, "This will be done on that stage which God has willed: for know that we have not been placed in our own power but in God's." And he left me very sorrowfully On another day, when we were breakfasting, we were suddenly carried off to our trial, and we were taken to the forum. The rumour of it immediately got about the neighbourhood and an immense crowd gathered. We go up into the dock. The others when questioned confessed. Then my turn came. And my father appeared on the spot with my boy, and drew me down from the step, praying to me, "Pity thy child." Then Hilarian the procurator, who at that time was administering the government in place of the proconsul Minucius Timimianus, deceased, said, "Spare thy father's grey hairs; spare thy infant boy. Sacrifice for the safety of the Emperor." And I replied, "I do not sacrifice." "Art thou a Christian?' asked Hilarian; and I said, "I am." And when my father persisted in endeavouring to make me recant, he was ordered down by Hilarian and beaten with a rod. And I felt it as keenly as though I had been struck myself; and I was sorry for his miserable old age.

Then he pronounced sentence against us all, and condemned us to 'the beasts; and we joyfully went down to the prison. Then, because my child had been accustomed to be suckled by me and to remain with me in the prison, I sent Pomponius the deacon immediately to my father for the child, but he refused to give it up. And somehow God willed it that neither the child any longer desired the breasts, nor did they cause me pain; and thus I was spared anxiety about the child and personal discomfort.

On the day before we were to fight, I saw in a vision Pomponius the deacon clothed in a loose white robe, and wearing embroidered shoes. And he said to me, "Perpetua, we are waiting for you; come." And he took my hand, and we began to traverse rough and winding passages . At last with difficulty we arrived panting at the amphitheatre, and he led me into the middle of the arena, and said to me, "Fear not: I will be here with thee and will assist thee." And a certain Egyptian of terrible aspect came forth against me along with his assistants, ready to fight with me. There came also to me comely young men as my assistants and helpers. And I was smoothed down and changed my sex. And they began to rub me down with oil, as is customary for a contest. And I saw that Egyptian opposite rolling in the dust. And a certain man came forth, of wondrous size, whose height was greater than the amphitheatre, wearing a loose purple robe with two broad stripes over the middle of his breast, and embroidered shoes wrought of gold and silver. He carried a rod like a fencing-master, and a green branch on which were golden apples. Calling for silence he said, "This Egyptian, if he conquer her, shall kill her with the sword, but if she conquer him, she shall receive this branch," And he went away. And we approached each other, and begin to exchange blows. He was trying to catch me by the feet, but 1 was striking his face with my heels. And I was borne aloft in the air, and began to strike him as though I were not treading upon the ground. But when I saw we were wasting time I joined my hands and interlocked my fingers. Then I caught him by the head, and he fell on his face and I trampled on his head. And the people began to shout, and my assistants to sing psalms. And I went up to the fencing-master and received the branch. And he gave me a kiss, and said to me, "Daughter, peace be with thee." And I began to walk with glory to the gate Sanavivaria. And I awoke; and I understood that I was destined not to fight with the beasts, but against the devil; but I knew that victory would be mine.

Moreover, the blessed Saturus published this vision of his which he himself wrote out.

"We had suffered," said he, "and had departed from the flesh, and we began to be carried by four angels to the east, not a hand of whom was touching us. And when first freed from the world we saw a great light; and I said to Perpetua, who was by my side,

'This is what the Lord promised to us; we see His promise." And while we were being borne along by the four angels, there was made for us a splendid open space like as it were a pleasure-garden, with rose-trees and all kinds of flowers. The height of the trees was after the manner of cypresses, whose leaves were singing without ceasing. And we traversed on our feet a walk studded with violets, where we found Jocundus and Saturninus and Artaxius, who were burnt alive in the same persecution, and Quintus, who had as a martyr died in prison; and we were asking them where they were, when the other angels said to us, 'Come first and enter, and salute the Lord.'

"And we approached a place, the walls of which were as though they were built of light, and before the door four angels were stationed, who robed those entering with white garments. And we entered in and heard a chorus of voices saying incessantly, 'Holy, holy, holy!' And we saw in that place as it were an old man sitting, with snowy hair but a youthful countenance, whose feet we saw not. And on his right hand and on his left four elders; and behind them many more elders were standing. And entering in with wonder we stood before the throne. And the four angels raised us up, and we kissed him, and with his own hand he passed across our face. And the rest of the elders said to us, 'Let us stand." And we stood and gave the sign of peace. And they said to us, 'Go and play.' And I said to Perpetua, 'You have your desire;' and she said to me, 'Thanks be to God, that, however, happy I was in the flesh, I am happier here now.'

"And we went forth, and we saw before the gates Optatus the bishop on the right hand, and Aspasius the presbyter and doctor on the left, separated and sad. And they threw themselves at our feet and said, 'Reconcile our differences. . ."

Felicitas gave birth in the prison to an eight month child — one of the prison torturers said to her, "What will you, who cry out so much now, do when thrown to the beasts?" ... And she replied, "Now it is I who suffer; but then there will be Another by my side Who will suffer for me, because it is for Him that I shall be suffering." ...

The day of their victory dawned, and they went forth from the prison into the amphitheatre as if to heaven --joyful, and with radiant countenances, trembling, if at all, with joy, not with fear. Perpetua followed with bright step as a bride of Christ, as the darling of God, with the flash of her eyes quelling the gaze of the populace. Felicitas, likewise, rejoicing that she had been safely delivered, so that she could fight with the beasts, passed from one effusion of blood to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, about to be washed after child-birth with a second baptism. And when they were brought to the gate, and were being compelled to put on costumes, the men that of the priests of Saturn, and the women that of devotees of Ceres, her magnificent firmness up to the last fought against this disgrace; for she said, "We have so far come to this willingly, lest our liberty should be taken away; we have pledged our life that we will do no such thing; this is the very bargain we have made with you." Injustice recognized justice: the tribune allowed them to be led in simply in whatever attire they were. Perpetua sang a psalm, already trampling on the head of the Egyptian.

Now for the young women the devil prepared a mad cow, infuriated for that very purpose contrary to custom, wishing to rival their sex with that of the beast. And so they were brought forth, stripped and enclosed in nets. The crowd shuddered, seeing one, a delicate girl, and the other fresh from child-bed with dripping breasts. In such plight they were called back and clothed with loose garments. Perpetua was tossed first and fell on her loins, and sitting up she drew back the tunic, which had been torn from her side, to cover her thigh, mindful of her modesty rather than of her sufferings. This done she tied up her loosened hair; for it was not becoming for a martyr to suffer with dishevelled hair, lest she should seem to be mourning in her glory. So she arose, and when she saw Felicitas tossed, she approached her and gave her her hand and lifted her up. Both stood equally firm, and, the cruelty of the crowd being conquered, they were called back to the gate Sanavivaria. There Perpetua was received by a certain catechumen named Rusticus, who had attached himself to her, and, as if awakening out of sleep (so completely was she in the Spirit and in an ecstasy), she began to look round and, to the utter astonishment of every one, said, "I wonder when we are going to be led forth to that cow." And when she had heard that it had already happened she did not at first believe it, until she saw some marks of the tossing on her body and her dress. Then, having sent for her brother, she addressed him and the catechumen, saying, "Stand fast in the faith and let all love each other; and let not our sufferings be a stumbling-block to you,". .

And when the people demanded that they should be brought into the midst in order that they might feast their eyes on the sight of the sword piercing their bodies, they voluntarily rose up and transferred themselves whither the crowd wished. They had already before this mutually exchanged the kiss, in order to complete the martyrdom by the solemn rite of the peace. The rest were unable to move and received the sword in silence. Saturus, as was natural, since he had first climbed the ladder, was the first to yield his spirit; for he was waiting for Perpetua. And she, in order to taste somewhat of sorrow, was moaning amongst the pierced bones and guided the uncertain hand of the clumsy gladiator to her own throat. Perchance so noble a woman, who was feared by the unclean spirit, could not have otherwise been put to death except she herself wished it.

0 most brave and blessed martyrs 1 0 truly called and elect for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!'" (Abbreviated text.)

Footnotes

(1) Exhortation to Martyrdom LCC 3 p. 23). T.D. Barnes, "Legislation against the Christians," Journal of Religious Studies, 58 (1968): 32-50; H. Fr. von Campenhausen, Die Ides des .4artyriums in der atten Kirche (Gottingen, 1936); M. Lods, Confesseurs et Martyrs: successeurs des prophètes dans Z'Eglise des premiers siècles (Neufchatel, 1958); E. Lohmeyer, "Die Idee des Martyriums im Judentum and Urchristentum " . Zeitung f systematische Theologie, 5 (1927): 232-249; J. Moreau: La persécution du Christianisme dans tEmpire Romain (Paris, 1956) .

(2) Tacitus, Annals XV. 2-8. Translation from J. Stevenson, A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church to A.D. 337 (London,1965), n. 3.

(3)First Epistle to the Corinthians VI. 1-2 (New Eusebius, op. cit., n. 5).

(4)Cyprian, Epistle 21 (CSEL 3, p. 532).

(5) For instance,Passiosanctae Christinae 304 (Africa, Dec. 5). 304 In P. Franchi de Cavalieri, Nueve note agiografiche (Rome, 1902), pp. 23-25.

(6) For instance Passion of Perpetua 20. In A. Robinson, ed., Texts and Studies (Cambridge, 1891), I. 2.

(7) Eusèbe, Histoire Ecclésiastique (Paris, 1905).

(8) Eusèbe, Histoire Ecclésiastique (SCH 4).

(9) However, see W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Studu of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus(New York, 1967 He deals with issues concerning political and national aspects of martyrdom. It might be added, however, that the martyrs themselves were not motivated by political and naation concersn.

(10) L Alton, Stoic and Christian in the Second Century (London, 1906)

(11) For instance, P Brown The World of Late Antiquity: A.D. 150 -750(London, 1971), p. 49-87; Tertulian, Apologeticum 50(CCL 1, p. 171; ANF 3, p. 55); Clement of Alexandria, Prorepticus, Instructor, passim (ANF 2)

(12) Tertullian, ApoLogeticum 59 (CCL 1, p. 171; ANF 3 p. 55; Justin Dialogue with Trypho 2-8 (PG 6, 472-493; ANF 1 pp. 195-198); Tatian, Address to the Greeks 29. 31-33 (PG 6 869-876; ANF 2. pp. 77-78); Theophilus of Antioch, Autolycum I 14 (PG 6, 1045; ANF 2, p. 93; Athenagoras A Plea for the Christians 11 (PG 6, 911; ANY 2, p. 134); See also A. D. Nock, ConversionOxford, 1933.

(13) 0rigen, Exhortation to Martyrdom IV. 23-27.

(14) Mark 13:11.

(15) Epistle of the Galation Churches,in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History V 1. 1. 1-2. 8 (SCH 41, pp. 6-26 Translated by T. H. Bindley in a Robinson, ed., Texts and Studies (Cambridge, 1891), pp. 27-32.

(16) Passion of Perpetua.Translated by T.H. Bindley in Robinson, op. cit. , pp. 61-76.

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