Building this Site
This is a collaborative site created by the students in Dr. Schroeder's Introduction to the Digital Humanities course at the University of the Pacific in Fall, 2015.
We identified a number of questions and themes related to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. These questions and themes, listed below, drive the creation of Collections and Exhibits.
Themes
faith/faithful/devotion
faith exceeding personal will
dying for what you believe in
sacrifice
religion
women
the sovereign power of God
martyrs embracing suffering as necessity or duty
brotherhood
motherhood
status of women during the time
visions
slavery
gladiators
Questions
Did martyrs convince others to stick with Catholicism (Christianity)?
Why were Felicity and Perpetua apprehended in the first place?
What did their being women have to do with their martyrdom and the story of their martyrdom? Did this make their story bigger because they are women?
How did they change the norm (mostly men in the arena)?
Can we know more about the lives of the protagonists?
How acceptable was it for people to be martyred?
I want to know more about Felicitas -- family, anything else? (Why don't we know more about Felicitas?)
Why did Perpetua choose death in the end? Why did she want to die?
What translation of the text is this? What is the original language?
Should one's faith obligation exceed one's familial obligation?
Why did Perpetua's father reject her?
How often were Christians martyred?
If Perpetua kept a diary then what do we know about her prior to her imprisonment?
When was this? (More about time and location)