Lane McVicker
Goodrich
History 101-Western Civilization
26 November 2012 Analysis of The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas There have been many written records discovered since the period of the Roman Empire, and even earlier, though a vast majority of those discovered have been written by men. Documents written by women were incredibly rare, especially taking into account the time period and the role women were appointed for many centuries. One of the very few surviving texts written by women was from a martyr named Perpetua. She was a young women who documented her own struggles, as well as the struggles of another woman and acquaintance named Felicitas. She recorded their fight and strong efforts of living out their faith, expecting a child, as well as their days in prison that led up to her death. Perpetua's diary-like inscriptions of her personal life is now very important and useful in obtaining a glimpse into what it might have been like for women of this era, as well as what her goal was in trying to persuade her audience. The manner in which Perpetua documents the events that lead to her death ostensibly hint at what her purpose in documenting her time was in the first place. Perpetua's calm and collected nature of writing is meant to motivate other Christians at this time to proclaim and stand firm in their Christian beliefs. The Roman Empire, reigning for nearly five hundred years and through the life of Christ, played a significant role in the establishment of Christianity in the later years of the empire. Before Christianity was installed as the official religion, it was mocked and dismissed by many. The Roman Empire, for hundreds of years, never swayed in their religious beliefs. The Romans had a highly sophisticated, developed religious system of worshipping the Roman gods so on the other hand, the minority who followed Christ, or practiced