REA
Critical Acclaim for
“This book is groundbreaking and innovative. Jennifer A. Rea and Liz Clarke combine irst-rate historical scholarship with stunning graphics in order to cast new light
on Perpetua’s journey. This contemporary graphic novel captures the essence of
ancient martyr as super-heroine, remaining true to the original author’s intent
while challenging modern interpreters.”
“Perpetua’s Journey represents a fresh approach to the study of the Passio Perpetuae
et Felicitatis: by including graphic art alongside critical commentary, it offers modern
readers a new experience of the text.”
L. STEPHANIE COBB
THOMAS MCGINN
interests focus on legendary igures from antiquity
and in modern science iction and fantasy. She is the
author of Legendary Rome: Myths, Monuments, and
Memory on the Palatine and Capitoline (2008).
LIZ CLARKE is a professional illustrator based
in Cape Town, South Africa.
“Perpetua’s Journey is a timely and impressive work of scholarship and creativity.
The introduction, translation, and other supporting materials are detailed, accessible, and balanced, and the graphic representation brings an immediacy—and a
new set of questions—to one of antiquity’s most fascinating survivals.”
ISABEL MOREIRA
1
University of Utah
ISBN 978-0-19-023871-1
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4
COVER ILLUSTRATION LIZ CLARKE
Florida State University
“This engaging book presents students with a new and bold interpretation of the
Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, a text that has both inspired and troubled readers
for generations. Its use of the graphic medium does far more than illustrate the
story—it provides an aesthetic interpretation of Perpetua’s world and brings vividness
to the thoughts and actions of a courageous group of Carthaginian Christians.
Perpetua’s Journey offers much of interest to those familiar with the text, and
opens up to new audiences a work that, in modern times, has been largely the hidden
delight of scholars.”
www.oup.com/us/he
COVER DESIGN TODD S. WILLIAMS
Vanderbilt University
GRAPHIC HISTORY SERIES
JENNIFER A. REA is Associate Professor
of Classics at the University of Florida. Her research
University of Richmond
“Comprehensive, innovative, and engaging, Perpetua’s Journey is notable above all for
the immediacy and interest of its graphic content. The book will open up study of the
Passio to a broader range of readers than ever before, fostering a more active, serious,
and sustained engagement with this singular document and its historical context.”
JESSICA CLARK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
University of La Verne
PERPETUA’S JOURNEY
JONATHAN REED
CLARKE
Perpetua’s Journey occupies a
space between the many works designed
primarily for specialists and advanced
scholars, who already know a great deal
about Perpetua and the history of the
Roman Empire, and lives of saints that
are intended for general readers. Perpetua’s
Journey is unique because it combines both
sequential art and historical and social
commentary, and it places Perpetua’s
diary in the context of life in Roman
North Africa in 203 CE.
PERPETUA’S JOURNEY
and
woman. Vibia Perpetua was a young
mother who lived in Roman Africa and,
at the age of twenty-two, chose to publicly
proclaim her Christian faith. She died as
a result of her actions, though she did not
die alone; she was part of a group of Christian
martyrs, including several slaves, who
were placed in prison and then executed
in Carthage during the birthday celebrations
of Emperor Septimius Severus’s son in 203
CE. Perpetua’s diary contains her account
of the days leading up to her martyrdom.
PERPETUA’S
JOURNEY
FAITH, GENDER, & POWER
IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
“
This is a terriic new
resource for stimulating
minds and bringing the
past vividly to life.
The Passio Perpetuae et
Felicitatis is already an
amazing story; in the
hands of Rea and Clarke,
this new edition brings
the past to life for a new
”
generation of readers.
JENNIFER A. REA
LIZ CLARKE
NICOLA DENZEY-LEWIS
Brown University
and
A graphic history set in Roman
Africa in 203 CE that examines
issues of power, gender, and
religion in the ancient world
through the story of the Christian
martyr Perpetua.
GRAPHIC
HISTORY
SERIES
E
xamining issues of power, gender,
and religion in the ancient world,
Perpetua’s Journey: Faith, Gender,
& Power in the Roman Empire
is a graphic history set in Roman
Africa in 203 CE that tells the story of the
Christian martyr Perpetua.
The Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et
Felicitatis, also known as The Passion
of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, is the irst
extant diary authored by a Christian
continued on back lap
Critical Acclaim for
PERPETUA’S JOURNEY
PERPETUA’S
JOURNEY
FAITH, GENDER, & POWER
IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
JENNIFER A. REA
LIZ CLARKE
and