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Perpetua
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Perpetua

Christian martyr
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Also known as: Vibia Perpetua
Written by
Joyce Ellen Salisbury
Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI. Author of Perpetua's Passion: Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman and The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages.
Joyce Ellen Salisbury
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Article History
Quick Facts
In full:
Vibia Perpetua
Born:
c. 182
Died:
March 7, 203, feast day March 7, Carthage [now a residential suburb of Tunis, Tunisia]

Perpetua (born c. 182—died March 7, 203, feast day March 7, Carthage [now a residential suburb of Tunis, Tunisia]) was a Christian martyr who wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a journal recounting her trial and imprisonment that was continued by a contemporary who described Perpetua’s death in the arena. Both her martyrdom and its account have been highly revered by ancient and modern Christians. Her text is one of the rare surviving documents written by a woman in the ancient world. Carthage in the 2nd century ad had a vibrant Christian community that included the Church Father ...(100 of 359 words)

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