When Christian was a Bad Word
Barely into the text and the narrator is already forwarding the concept of martyrdom as being inextricably linked with Christianity. A declaration is made of being a Christian and the response is that of having said the worst possible thing imaginable:
At that word, my father in a rage fell upon me, as if he would have pulled my eyes out, and beat me. However, he went away in confusion, seeing me invincible.
Dream Vision
The visions which come to those in dreams in prophetic literature is always ambiguously blended with reality. The line separating mere fights of fancy with faith in the portent of things to come is impossible to delineate. Perhaps this is why the analysis of such dreams usually take on metaphorical aspects rather than strictly literal:
After this I awoke, and found I was not so much to combat with wild beasts as with the devils.
The Joy of Martyrdom
On the one hand, it seems as if joy must absolutely be an essential component in the leading up to martyrdom. Why else go through the sacrifice? On the other hand, the concept of joyfully submitting to certain death hardly seems the place for joy. Maybe it is merely a marketing ploy used only by those who write of the martyrdom of others:
The day of their triumph being come, they went out of the prison to go to the amphitheatre. Joy sparkled in their eyes and appeared in all their gestures and words.
Visions of Grandeur
A tendency also trends among visions to that of the grandeur. Never in these apocalyptic dreams does reality appear as a mere replication of itself. It must reach back into history for allusion and imagery with which to transform into metaphorical meaning:
…a man of prodigious stature and in rich apparel appeared. He had a wand in his hand, like the masters of the gladiators, and a green bough upon which hung golden apples.
The Events of the 7th of March
The narrative tells the story of Perpetua and Felicitous going to meet their mortal destiny secure in their faith. Joy is expressed even in the face of the terror of not just certain death, but horrifically gruesome death. But all in the name of a good cause that is, perhaps, not even intended to be understood as mere metaphor:
Thus, says Saint Austin, did two women, amidst fierce beasts and the swords of gladiators, vanquish the devil and all his fury.
