Comparison Of Perpetua And Theodosius

The Role of Christianity: Perpetua vs Theodosius This essay will show analysis between The Martyrdom of Perpetua and St. Ambrose Humiliates Theodosius the Great. The two texts show how the rise of Christianity in Rome was dealt with in different times. Both exerts show different forms of conversion, a person’s loyalty to their God, and the social punishment that a Christian had to endure during these times.
In 202 CE, a young woman named Perpetua was arrested in Carthage for being a Christian. She was taken and imprisoned along with her young child and brother. In her own words she said there were, “crowed conditioned and rough treatment by the soldiers and the heat was unbearable”. They were seen as the enemy because they didn’t believe
in the same gods as the rest of Rome, and treated accordingly. Perpetua was charged with treason against the state of Rome as well as being forced to endure the social punishment that came with the crime. In the text she write about the hardship of the social punishment that came with her crime. Firstly, her father seemed to have mixed feelings about the situation. In the text he says, “I have the honor to be called father by you,” (Brophy, 190) which shows that he is proud of her. However, soon after he father attempts to “dissuade” her from her faith as she is asked if she is a Christian and answers “I am a Christian,” and her father received a beating from the Romans. I believe this shows that she feels that she is more loyal to her God and her faith that she will not be pressure to lie about her religion, even if it means her father gets hurt. He begs and pleads for her to change her mind for the sake of her own life and her family’s name, but she refuses once more. She stood true to her faith until she was ultimately executed by sword. Hundreds of years in 390 CE, brings the story of a man called Theodosius the Great, the emperor of Thessalonica.
Theodosius was in an anger filled rage and sought vengeance for the death of a Roman governor when he decided to take his sword and murder 7,000 people, these people were the described in a “slaying of innocent and guilty alike,” (Theodoret). Theodosius’ actions lead to the “unjustified catastrophe” (Theodoret). After the murders, Theodosius, a Christian, went to his church to pray. However, he was met by Saint Ambrose who refused to let him in. Ambrose faced Theodosius and said, “How could you lift up in prayer hands steeped in the blood of so unjust a massacre? Depart then, and do not by a second crime add to the guilt of the first” (Theodoret). Ambrose is saying that Theodosius has committed such a horrible crime and Theodosius should not show his face in the house of God after such a crime and asking for forgiveness for such a thing is a crime in itself. Because of this social humiliation, Theodosius flees back to his palace and cries. After thinking about what he had done, he returned to the church where he “now took courage to enter holy church where he prayed neither in a standing, nor in a kneeling posture, but throwing himself upon the ground” (Theodoret). This shows his guilt and personal need for forgiveness as he pleads in prayer. However, I think that if he was loyal to his faith he would never have murdered those people and therefore he was coward compared to Perpetua’s bravery to die for what she believed in, while he begged for forgiveness from the ultimate
crime. The two stories show how Christianity evolved over the years and how it transformed. Perpetua was captured, tortured, mocked, and murdered because of her religion. While Theodosius was able to re-enter his church after killing thousands of people. This shows the beginning of the spread of Christianity. By the time of Theodosius the Great, Christianity was encourage. In fact, Constantine converted Rome to Christianity in decades prior in 312 CE.