Christian Ministry in Carthage c.203 C.E.
William Tabbernee
Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa
Introduction
On March 7, 203 C.E., a twenty-two year old upper class married woman named Vibia Perpetua was martyred along with four other catechumens (Revocatus, Felicitas, Saturninus, Secundulus) and their catechist (Saturus) in the amphitheater at Carthage in Roman Africa Proconsularis.(1) The deaths of these martyrs was commemorated annually in Carthage and elsewhere on the anniversary of their martyrdom. The popularity of their cult, especially in Carthage, is abundantly clear from the numerous epigraphic remnants containing their names.(2) These remnants include mosaic medallions,(3) a mural,(4) and, most significantly, a commemorative plaque(5)¯the latter from the basilica majorum which was dedicated to their memory and which most likely contained their relics.(6)
The specific details of the arrest, imprisonment, trial, and execution of Perpetua and her companions were kept alive in the memory of the North-African Christian communities through the public reading of their passio(7) during the liturgy on their "feast days." Sermons about these martyrs were also normally preached on these occasions (e.g., Aug., serm. 280.1, 281a.1; Quodvultdeus, De tempore barbarico 1.5). In addition to information about the martyrs' final days, the passio contains significant data concerning Christian ministry in North Africa c.203.
Carthage or Thuburbo Minus?
Before analyzing the data regarding Christian ministry in the Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, it is necessary to re-examine the data underlying the view that Perpetua and her friends were arrested not in Carthage but in Thuburbo Minus (modern Tebourba), approximately 50km. west of Carthage. Although dismissed by most earlier scholars,(8) the hypothesis has recently been revived. Cornelius van Beek, in his critical edition, declared that the possibility should not be ruled out.(9) Herbert Musurillo, in the introduction to his English translation of van Beek's text, simply states that Vibia Perpetua was "[a] young matron of good family from Thuburbo."(10) Brent Shaw sees "no firm grounds" for rejecting the hypothesis and, in his insightful discussion of the passio, takes it for granted that Perpetua and her companions indeed came from Thuburbo Minus.(11) Joyce Salisbury, although expressing some caution,(12) seems to consider it at least possible,(13) and Jacqueline Amat explicitly declares that, for her, the most likely hypothesis is that the events recorded by the passio commenced at Thuburbo Minus.(14) Amat, nevertheless, also takes it as certain that the catechumens were eventually transported to Carthage, there to be imprisoned, tried, and martyred.(15)
If Perpetua and her companions were really from Thuburbo
Minus though they were imprisoned and martyred at Carthage, some of the
information about ministry contained in their passio could conceivably
relate to Thuburbo Minus rather than to Carthage. Saturus' catechetical
ministry, for example, should, in that case, probably be relegated to Thuburbo
Minus and Optatus (13.1-7), considered bishop of Thuburbo Minus, not Carthage.(16)
The hypothesis that Perpetua and company came from Thuburbo Minus rests on data contained not in the original edition of the passio(17) but inserted into a significantly revised edition. This new edition was probably produced well into the post-Constantinian era but certainly no earlier than the last quarter of the third century as it anachronistically dates the martyrdoms to c.260 "during the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus"(18) instead of to c.203 in the time of Septimius Severus. The new edition deleted the whole of the original preface (1.1-6), thereby simultaneously shortening the time it would take to read the passio publicly(19) and eliminating its "Montanist-like"(20) framing, thus controlling its blatant reversal of the traditional role of women.(21)
The redactor of the revised edition of the passio also added the name of the place where the catechumens were allegedly first apprehended. This detail had not been included in the original, presumably because, as the original edition was produced shortly after the martyrs' death, it was taken for granted that those who read (or heard) the passio already knew the location of the arrest.(22) The contextual references in the original edition point to the arrest, imprisonment, trial, and execution, all having occurred in the same locality--i.e., Carthage.(23)
A careful analysis of the textual transmission of the revised edition of the passio reveals that not even the editor of this new edition tried to convey that Perpetua and her friends were arrested in Thuburbo Minus! The references to Thuburbo Minus appear to have resulted from attempts by later scribes and editors to make sense of the place name actually inserted by the late third- or fourth-century editor. Only one, very late (twelfth-century) extant Latin text(24) of the passio contains the phrase in civitate Turburbitana minore (E2 praem). An earlier (tenth-century) text,(25) from the same family in the stemma codicum proposed by Jacqueline Amat,(26) contains the reading in civitate Tyburtina minore (E1praem.) The only two other extant Latin texts(27) of the passio which give a place name (eleventh- and twelfth-century manuscripts respectively) do so in the form Turbitana (C1 and C2 titulus)--without the designation minore!(28)
Similarly, the text of the Greek manuscript (H)--also twelfth century!--while it contains the equivalent of minore, has to be restored significantly to read "Thuburbo Minus": _jEn povlei Qoub<ou>r<b>itaw'n th/' mikrotevra/ (2.1). The (now lost) edition (b) from which each of the texts mentioned above was derived(29) undoubtedly contained the name Turbitana, rather than Thuburbo Minus, but was amended variously by later scribes linking it, by stages, to Thuburbo Minus. As pointed out over a century ago by J. Armitage Robinson, the name of the Mauretanian town of Turbitana appears to have entered the passio by means of an editor who either mistakenly or, more likely, deliberately combined two martyr traditions.(30) It is possible that the Short Roman Martyrology provides confirmation of this conflation and its subsequent confusion with a town named Thuburbo: Nonis Martii, In Mauritania civitate Turburbitanorum SS. Martyrum Perpetuae et Felicitatis (AASS March 6).(31) In any event, it is clear that the hypothesis that Perpetua and her friends came originally from Thuburbo Minus is untenable. Consequently, any data about ministry contained in manuscripts of the passio which can be traced back to the first edition may be taken to apply to ministry in Carthage c.203.
The Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis
The original edition of the Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitas consists primarily of Perpetua's own account (2.3; cf. 10.15, 14.1) of the circumstances of her "house-arrest" (3.1-4), baptism (3.5), imprisonment (3.4-5.6, 6.6-10.14), trial (6.1-4), and condemnation "to the beasts" (6.5-6; cf. 7.9, 9.2, 10.1). Included in her account are reports of four dream-like visions (4.3-9; 7.4-8; 8.1-4; 10.1-13). According to the editor, Saturus (presumably in prison) also had (a similar type of(32)) vision which he wrote down personally (11.1; cf. 14.1). This vision was appended (11.2-13.8), by the editor of the passio, to Perpetua's report of her visions. The editor also appended his own account of the fate of the martyrs (14.2-21.10), asserting a mandate from Perpetua to do so (16.1; cf. 10.15). The editor framed the whole passio with an introduction (1.1-6), claiming the legitimacy of "new prophecies" and "new visions" (1.5) and a conclusion (21.11) asserting that the "new deeds of heroism" recorded by the passio are no less significant for the church than "those of old" (cf. 1.3-5).
The incidental data contained in the original edition of the passio relating to ministry at Carthage c.203, therefore, comes from three distinct (but not unrelated) sources: (1) Perpetua's own account; (2) Saturus' own account; and (3) the editor's additions.Perpetua's data about ministry in Carthage, c.203
Perpetua herself only explicitly refers to one clerical title in her account. As we shall see, however, she also alludes, by their function, to other clergy as well as people exercising non-ordained ministries enabling us, on the basis of other contemporary data, to supply the title taken for granted by Perpetua.
1. diaconus (deacon)
In prison, Perpetua and her companions were attended
to by two persons named Tertius and Pomponius. Tertius is mentioned only
once, along with Pomponius (2.7), but Pomponius appears twice more in Perpetua's
narrative (6.7; 10.1-4)--the latter occurring in her fourth and final vision.
Perpetua refers to Tertius and Pomponius as benedicti
diaconi (2.7) which, in non-ecclesiastical Latin, simply means "approved
servants." As the prisons of the time left the physical well being of prisoners
to their relatives and friends, the presence of authorized diaconi
to take care of Perpetua and the others is not surprising. Presumably,
they provided the prisoners with their daily meal, the prandium
(6.1). They certainly took messages from the prisoners to their relatives
(6.7). Even their bribing of the military guard to enable Perpetua and
the others to obtain better conditions (2.7) was not unusual, as such bribery
was a common activity in which Christians also participated (cf. Tert.,
fug. 5.5, 12-14; Apollon., apud Eus.,
h.e. 5.18.5; Lucian,
mort. Pereg. 12).
In light of the fact that Perpetua and her companions
were imprisoned because of their allegiance to Christianity (3.5; cf. 2.1),
it may reasonably be assumed that Tertius and Pomponius were not servants
from Perpetua's household but "blessed deacons" in an ecclesiastical sense--performing
their ministry to the prisoners on behalf of the Christian community. The
Carthaginian church had provided for imprisoned "martyrs-designate" at
least since the late second century (Tert., mart. 1.1, 2.7; Lucian,
mort.
Pereg. 13).
That deacons were part of the regular order of ministry
within the Carthaginian church by the time of Perpetua is apparent from
references in two early treatises by Tertullian (bapt. 17.1-2; praescr.
3.5).(33) From these and Tertullian's slightly later
comments about deacons (e.g., fug. 11.1; mon. 11.1), it is
clear that Carthaginian deacons, like bishops and presbyters, were expected
to be monogamous if not celibate, were ordained (not merely "enrolled"
like virgins or widows), were distinguished from the laity by their ordination
and held to a greater degree of accountability. They could baptize catechumens
but only with the express approval of the bishop. Tertullian is silent
about any other liturgical functions performed by deacons. Perhaps, as
members of the lowest rank of the "three-fold" ministry, deacons carried
out whatever duties assigned to them by the bishop,(34)
including taking care of confessors in prisons.
2. doctor (teacher)
In reporting her second vision, Perpetua both introduces and gives some specific information about Saturus when she points out that it was he who afterwards had surrendered himself voluntarily(35)
on our account, since he had instructed us personally
(quia ipse nos aedificaverat) but had not been present with us at
the time we were brought in(36) [to the prison] (4.5).
Although not in A, there is overwhelming manuscript
support for including the clause quia ipse nos aedificaverat in
the critical edition of the text of the passio.(37)
Consequently, it is clear that Saturus had been the person who had instructed
the catechumens in the Christian faith(38) and, therefore,
must be considered their "catechist." The term catechista, borrowed
from the Greek kathcismov~, however, does
not seem to have been used this early--at least not in Carthage (contrast
Hier., ep. 50.1).
In the Carthaginian church, doctor, the ordinary
Latin word for instructor or teacher, appears to have been the normal designation
for someone who instructed catechumens (Tert., praescr. 3.5). In
and of itself, it, like the other "minor offices" such as widow, virgin,
and reader, did not involve ordination(39)--although
the function could be combined with clergy status. Saturus' dream, for
example, contains a person named Aspasius(40) who
is designated presbyter doctor (13.1).(41)
Saturus' own status, apart from that of teacher (doctor), remains
unknowable.
3. propheta/prophetis (prophet/prophetess)
Perpetua's first vision was prompted by her brother's
suggestion that she ask for a vision so that she might be shown whether
her imprisonment would result in suffering or release (4.1). The suggestion
was based on the premise that, as a potential martyr, Perpetua was in a
privileged position and entitled to request such a vision (4.1), a premise
with which Perpetua concurs (4.2). Significantly, her brother addresses
her as Domina soror, literally "Lady sister" (4.1) but figuratively
employing already the honorific domina/dominus commonly applied,
especially in North Africa, to martyrs.(42) Strictly
speaking, until their deaths, "martyrs-designate" were confessors, but
in common parlance, the Latin terms
confessor and martyr,
like their Greek counterparts mavrtu~ and
oJmologhthv~ were used interchangeably.(43)
As a confessor/martyr, Perpetua could "demand" and
receive prophetic visions, considered by the editor of the passio
to be equivalent in authority to the visions of earlier generations of
prophets and prophetesses (1.3-5; 21.11). As we shall see, Saturus' vision
portrays Optatus, the bishop, and Aspasius, the presbyter doctor
appealing to Perpetua and Saturus to settle a dispute between them (13.1-4),
providing an early glimpse into the way in which the North African church
was beginning to struggle with the issue of the authority of confessors
vis-à-vis the authority of the bishop (cf. Tert, mart.
1.6).
Elsewhere, male confessors were frequently promoted
rapidly to the ranks of the clergy, often bypassing normal procedures (e.g.,
see Eus., h.e. 3.20.8, 6.8.7, 6.11.4; Tert., Val. 4.1) or
given quasi-presbyteral status (e.g., see Hipp., Trad. Ap. 10.1;
haer. 9.12.1-13). Cyprian, during the Decian persecution, appointed
two young confessors, Aurelius and Celerinus, as lectors(44)
with presbyteral stipends but deferred their seating with the presbyters
until they had attained greater chronological maturity (Cypr.,
epp.
38-39). That Cyprian felt he had to justify his action to the Carthaginian
clergy and laity suggests that incorporating martyr/confessor into the
ranks of the clergy was not a longstanding practice in the church at Carthage.
There is certainly no evidence for the practice at the time of Perpetua
and Tertullian.
Nor is there any evidence that, in Carthage, the
position of confessor/martyr was itself ever considered a formal ministerial
office.(45) However, by virtue of their confession
and suffering, confessor/martyrs were deemed to have gained a special nearness
to God, potentially (but not automatically) enabling them to speak on behalf
of God--as in the declaration of forgiveness of sins (cf. Tert., mart.
1.6; but contrast
pud. 21)(46) and other prophetic
utterances.
While the terms confessor/martyr and prophet(ess)
are not synonymous in that not all prophets or prophetesses were confessor/martyrs,
confessor/martyrs such as Perpetua and Saturus were considered likely prophet(esse)s.
In addition to the confessor/martyrs among them, either those in prison
or ones subsequently released (e.g., Pristinus: Tert., jej. 12.3),
the Carthaginian church had a number of other prophet(esse)s in its midst
during the first decade of the third century. Tertullian views this as
a normative aspect of ministry, established by Christ himself (Marc.
5.17.16) and open to women as well as men (Marc. 5.8.11).
Tertullian's most detailed description of the role
of prophetesses in the Carthaginian church come from treatises written
after 207/8 (e.g., anim. 9.4; virg. 17.3). Consequently,
the data he presents in those works is often assumed to describe prophetic
ministry in a Montanist (or at least a pro-Montanist) rather than a Catholic
context. As I have argued elsewhere, however, the extant evidence points
to these particular prophetesses belonging to one (or more?) of the six
or seven house churches into which the Carthaginian church was organized
at the time and that they (and others such as Tertullian) considered themselves
to belong to The New Prophecy Movement--but not in a way which formally
separated them from the rest of the Catholic Christian community in Carthage.(47)
4. episcopus (bishop)
Although Perpetua reports that she was baptized (3.5)
during the period between her house arrest (3.1) and her incarceration
in the military prison (3.5), she provides no details of her baptism. At
Carthage, the baptismal liturgy was normally performed by the bishop, although,
as noted already, other clergy such as deacons (and presbyters) could also
baptize with the express permission of the bishop (Tert., bapt.
17.1). Tertullian, while admitting that, theoretically, baptism could even
be administered by a lay person, proper regard for the office of bishop
means that the bishop's sacerdotal function should not be usurped (bapt.
17.2). As Tertullian's De baptismo was undoubtedly the standard
text at Carthage for catechists such as Saturus to use in explaining the
nature and practice of baptism to catechumens such as Perpetua, her baptism
was presumably conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in
Tertullian's treatise. Even if the bishop himself did not personally conduct
the baptism, it must have been conducted (by a presbyter or deacon) by
his express authority. Consequently, at the very least, Perpetua's reference
to her baptism gives indirect, but reliable, information regarding the
existence of the office of bishop (and perhaps also of the office of presbyter)
at Carthage shortly before her death.
Saturus' data about ministry in Carthage, c.203
Brent Shaw points out, correctly, that the style and content of Saturus' account of his own vision differs markedly from that of Perpetua.(48) Contra Shaw,(49) these differences appear to me to validate rather than to question the account's authenticity.(50) However, even if the account is not by Saturus himself, it is certainly at least approximately contemporaneous with the events described in the rest of the passio and hence provides additional primary source material for ministry at Carthage c.203. A complicating factor, of course, is that the whole of Saturus' (or "Saturus'") account consists of a vision, but, as in the case of Perpetua's visions,(51) there is no need to doubt the historicity of the (human) personalities who appear in the vision.(52) Nor should we overlook the significance of data concerning ministry placed in the vision in a celestial rather than a terrestial setting.
1. senior (elder)
In Saturus' vision, Saturus and Perpetua (already
deceased) are transported by four angels to paradise where they are greeted
by other angels and martyrs and then taken to greet "the Lord" (11.2-9).
When Perpetua and Saturus see "the Lord"--an old man with white hair and
a youthful countenance (12.3; cf. Rev 1: 12-16)--he is flanked on his right
and left by four elders (seniores quattuor; 12.4). Behind them stood
several other elders (ceteri seniores complures; 12.4). The total
number of seniores is not given but, as the imagery is, at least
in part, drawn from Revelation 4: 8, the number twenty-four may be presumed.(53)
Irrespective of the exact number of seniores intended, it is clear
from the context that their function is more extensive than that of the
elders portrayed in the Book of Revelation. While both the elders in Revelation
and in Saturus' vision are concerned with worship, the focus of those in
Revelation is on presenting worship to "the one seated on the (central)
throne" (e.g., Rev 4: 1; cf. 4: 10-11; 5: 6-14). The focus of the elders
in Saturus' vision, on the other hand, is on helping Perpetua and Saturus
to worship appropriately. In the vision, after Perpetua and Saturus had
kissed the old man with the youthful face seated on the throne and had
received his blessing (12.5), the elders gave the martyrs some instructions,
clearly reminiscent of minor liturgical directives. The "other" elders(54)
say to Perpetua and Saturus: «Stemus» ("Let us stand";
12.6). This they do and, according to the original edition,(55)
then proceed to "make peace" (et pacem fecimus; 12.6)--no doubt
a reference to "passing the peace."(56) The revised
edition (d), from which both E and
H are derived, expands the elders' words to "Let us stand and
pray" (12.6).(57) The elders(58)
conclude the martyrs' time in the presence of the Lord with the formula:
«Ite et ludite» ("Go and enjoy"; 12.6).(59)
The Greek version captures even more clearly the echoes of liturgical dismissal:
Poreuvesqe kai; caivresqe ("Depart and
be full of joy").(60)
In light of the above, it is apparent that Saturus'
vision combines celestial apocalyptic with earthly/liturgical images of
elders. The enthroned Christ in heaven is surrounded by a council of elders
who perform liturgical functions. This is a mirror image of the bishop
seated on the cathedra surrounded by his council of elders who perform
certain liturgical functions in ecclesia. While some caution must
always be exercised in drawing conclusions from data contained in dreams
and visions, there seems no doubt here that Saturus' vision accurately
reflects the contemporary situation. The church at Carthage contained a
council of seniores who, among other duties, performed some (although
minor) liturgical functions.(61)
It is highly significant that the elders described
in this part of Saturus' vision are invariably called
seniores,
whereas the Latin term presbyter is used to designate Aspasius,
the "presbyter doctor"(13.1).(62) The Greek version
of the passio uses presbuvteroi
and presbuvtero~ respectively, but, of
course, the translator could not draw on two separate Greek words to distinguish
"elders" from "presbyters." Conversely, Latin writers (or speakers) could
(and obviously did) make this distinction by employing the comparative
of senex (i.e., senior) to refer to an "elder" and the loan
word presbyter to refer to a "presbyter." Brent Shaw, in his definitive
article on the subject, has demonstrated convincingly that, in the North
African church, the seniores were lay elders who were clearly distinguished
from ordained presbyteri. The seniores were the older men,
akin to (and frequently identical with) "village (or "community") elders,"
who, because of their wisdom, experience, and reputation were entrusted
with the overall well-being of the church and performed minor liturgical
functions during church services. The
presbyteri, on the other hand,
were the senior clergy, ranked below only the bishop himself, who, as early
"priests," performed sacerdotal and pastoral functions as authorized by
the bishop.(63)
Further evidence for the distinction between seniores
and presbyteri in the church at Carthage at the time of Perpetua
and Saturus comes from Tertullian's Apologeticum, written c.197
or 198. Tertullian explains that, in the Christian community at Carthage,
discipline is taken seriously. Judgment is passed on evil doers and, when
necessary, serious sinners are expelled from the church (apol. 39.1-5).
Those who preside over these disciplinary hearings (cf. pud. 14.16),
according to Tertullian, are approved elders (seniores) who had
acquired their official position (honor) not by wealth (pretium)
but by attestation (testimonium) (apol. 39.5). Tertullian's
use of the term seniores here is significant. Elsewhere, whenever
he wants to refer to Carthaginian presbyters in the sense of ordained clergy,
he uses the word
presbyter/i (bapt. 17.1-2; paen.
9.4; anim. 51.6; cast. 7.6; fug. 11.1; mon.
9.4; pud. 13.7).
Given the distinction between lay elders (seniores) and ordained presbyters (presbyteri) at Carthage, it may well have been the case that Tertullian, at least later in life, was one of these seniores. Although Tertullian himself, on more than one occasion, reveals his lay (non-ordained) status (cast., 7.3; mon. 12.2), indicating that he was not a presbyter or other kind of clergy person, lay status and the office (honor) of senior were not contradictory. Indeed, although the term seniores laici is a modern construct,(64) it emphasizes accurately the inherently lay nature of the office of senior. As I have demonstrated elsewhere, Tertullian had a significant role in recording the visions and oracles communicated to him by the Carthaginian church's contemporary prophet(esse)s (anim. 9.4; virg. 17.3).(65) This recording was done in readiness for testing the authenticity of such prophetic utterances (anim. 9.4), presumably by the council of elders.(66) Although never stated explicitly, it may be presumed that Tertullian participated in the process as a full member of that council rather than its "secretary." If this presumption is correct, it would also explain why Tertullian could write (and speak?) so vehemently against the position held by his bishop on the forgiveness of serious post-baptismal sin (e.g., pud. 1.6; 13.7; 21.5, 17).(67) As one of the seniores, Tertullian would have felt that he had the authority to challenge even the bishop. Shaw's study of the seniores has shown that, in Christian North Africa, these seniores wielded great power. In the absence of the bishop, or when the church was "between bishops," the council of seniores was the recognized locus of ecclesiastical authority. Even when the bishop was present, this council was an alternate form of authority. As this alternate form of authority was rooted in traditional local social authority, it was frequently more effective (especially in the villages, but also in cities such as Carthage) than the official, formal (but external) authority of the bishop.(68)
2. Presbyter (presbyter)
As noted already, Saturus also provides evidence
for the existence of presbyters (presbyteri)--as distinct from seniores--at
Carthage c.203 by recording the appearance of Aspasius, the "presbyter
teacher," in the vision (13.1-8).(69)
3. episcopus (bishop)
Similarly, Saturus' record of his vision also provides explicit evidence (rather than the implicit evidence provided by Perpetua's account(70)) that c.203 the Carthaginian church had an episcopus (bishop) as the head of its formal ministerial structure (13.1-8). The name of this bishop was Optatus (13.1), the earliest Carthaginian bishop whose name has survived. It is not clear when he became bishop nor how long he served. It seems likely, however, that he was the immediate predecessor of Agrippinus (Cypr. Epp., 71.4.1; 73.3.1), but even this is not absolutely certain.(71)
In Saturus' vision, after Perpetua and Saturus had
been dismissed by the seniores (12.6), they saw, before the doors
of the place where they had greeted the Lord, Optatus on the right and
Aspasius on the left, standing "apart and dejected" (separatos et tristes;
13.1). The latter implored the martyrs to reconcile them (13.2), attributing
to them the authority to do so in that they (as a result of their "witness
unto death") were now in paradise--having left their earthly compatriots
behind (13.2). The martyrs themselves, however, were somewhat surprised
at this reversal of traditional ecclesiastical authority and respond: "Are
you not our father (papa) and you our presbyter (presbyter),
why should you fall at our feet?" (13.3). Later in the vision, angels instruct
Optatus and Aspasius to leave the martyrs alone and to settle their disputes
between themselves (13.5). The angels also tell Optatus: "Bring your people
into order, for they come to you as if returning from the circus--and from
competing teams!" («Corrige plebem tuam, quia sic ad te conveniunt
quasi de circo redeuntes et de factionibus certantes»; 13.6).
The specific cause of the dissention within the Christian church at Carthage
at the time is not given. It is not implausible, however, that the factionalism
originated from disagreements between those in house churches like the
one to which Tertullian and some of the prophetesses appear to have belonged(72)
over issues resulting from their increasing allegiance to The New Prophecy
Movement.(73)
Irrespective of whether Saturus himself or someone
in his name composed the report of the vision, it is significant that,
in the vision, the locus of proper ecclesiastical authority is shifted
(with apparent angelic support) from the martyrs to the bishop--no doubt
a move to counter the tendency by some to vest at least some such authority
in confessor/martyrs.
It is noteworthy that, in the context of shifting
the locus of authority back to the bishop, the martyrs address him as papa,
the contemporary familial term for "father"--and, of course, the word later
translated into English as "pope." Presumably, the image being evoked is
that of the bishop as Ipaterfamilias vis-à-vis his people
(the plebs(74)), the choice of papa
rather than pater softens the image and appears to have been a common
designation, at least for Carthaginian bishops. Around 211, Tertullian
uses the term sarcastically, calling the bishop, whose lax views on penitence
he denounced,
benedictus papa (pud. 13.7).
Tertullian's writings contain many references to
the office of bishop (e.g., bapt. 17.2; praescr. 32.1;
Marc.
4.5.2) and the bishop's functions within the church (e.g., bapt.
17.1; jej. 13.3). Included among these functions was the forgiveness,
after appropriate penance, for sins--a function which the later Tertullian
was only prepared to condone for lesser sins (pud. 18.18;
cf. pud. 1.6; 21.7).
The editor's data about ministry in Carthage, c.203
The original editor of the passio names neither individual Carthaginian clergy nor ministerial offices. This editor, however, in those sections of the passio not by Perpetua or Saturus does include some personal comments which allude to (or take for granted) two types of ministry within the church at Carthage c.203.
1. propheta/prophetis (prophet/prophetess)
As noted already, in the introduction and conclusion
of the passio, the editor argues strongly for the validity and relevance
of the prophetic visions of new prophet(esse)s such as Perpetua and Saturus
(1.3-5; 21.11).
2. Lector (lector/reader)
The conclusion of the passio also enjoins
the reading of the passio for the edification of the Church (in
aedificationem Ecclesiae legere debet; 21.11). Given the expense of
producing multiple copies of texts(75) and the low
percentage of literate persons in the early church,(76)
it may be presumed that the public reading of the passio in Carthage
and elsewhere was carried out by lectors. Lectores were responsible
for reading the Gospels and other Christian sacred books during the liturgy.(77)
Frequently, they were entrusted with the physical safekeeping of such books
in their own homes.(78)
By the time of Cyprian, lectores in Carthage
were considered to be part of the lesser clergy (Cypr.,
epp. 38.2.1;
39.4.2). This may well have been the case in c.203. Tertullian,
however, only refers once to the office of lector (praescr.
41.8) in the context of a discussion about the indiscriminate interchange
of lay and ordained status among heretics. David Rankin takes this text
to indicate that Tertullian considers a lector to be the member of a "lay"
office.(79) In either case, it seems clear that, at
least in the early part of the third century, lectores at Carthage
were, at best, "enrolled" rather than ordained.
Conclusion
The Passio sanctorum Perpetuae et Felicitatis does not provide data for all the ministerial offices current at Carthage c.203. For example, it does not mention widows or virgins. We know from Tertullian, however, that both the order of viduae (e.g., ux. 1.7.4-5; cast. 13.2, 13.14; mon. 11.1; pud. 13.7) and that of virgines (e.g., res. 61.6; cf. cast. 13.2, 14) existed in Carthage at the time.(80) Apart from data about these two orders, however, the passio furnishes a clear and comprehensive view of ministry at Carthage c.203.
Ordained, sacerdotal and pastoral ministry was conducted by the official "three-fold" ministry of bishop, presbyters, and deacons--the presbyters and deacons performing their functions at the direction and under the authority of the bishop. Women were not part of this three-fold, ordained ministry. They did, however, perform ministry as prophetesses and, as known from Tertullian, as members of the "minor orders" of widows and virgins. Men also served in "minor orders," such as that of the lectores.
Episkopç ("oversight") in North African churches was not only carried out by episcopi (bishops) but also by elders (seniores), who are not to be confused with presbyters (presbyteri). The seniores were the bearers of traditional local social authority, chosen (or, at least, approved) by the Christian lay community (plebs) to serve on and preside over a council which dealt with disciplinary matters and (at least in Carthage) tested the validity and authenticity of prophetic utterances. Presumably, they were also responsible for the nomination (and appointment) of new bishops. Although there is no direct extant evidence on the matter, it is not inconceivable that the council of seniores was made up of members from each of the several house church groups which comprised the Carthaginian Christian ecclesia and that Tertullian, himself, eventually became one of these seniores. As well as serving on the council of elders, the seniores also appear to have performed minor liturgical (as distinct from sacerdotal) functions within their respective house churches.
The passio also shows that, as a direct consequence of persecution, the Christian community in Carthage (and, no doubt, elsewhere in North Africa) had among its membership confessor/martyrs who comprised a third locus of authority. Deeming them to have a special status because of their suffering on behalf of the faith, at least some within the church considered the insights of confessors/martyrs to have an authority equal to the prophets of old and, therefore, potentially equal to, if not greater than, that of the bishop on particular issues.
From the data provided by the Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, it is clear that the Christian church in Carthage c.203 not only had a three-fold order of ordained ministry but also had a three-fold locus of authority. Only one part, the sacerdotal part, of ecclesiastical episkopç, was invariably exercised by an ordained person: the bishop. The second part, the disciplinary and "testing" part, of episkopç was, in Carthage (and elsewhere in North Africa), invariably exercised by lay elders: the seniores. The third part, the extraordinary, spiritual directive part, was exercised by confessor/martyrs who, even moreso than other prophet(esse)s and visionaries, had a special place of honor in the Christian community. Whereas the utterances of "ordinary" prophet(esse)s had to be "tested" by the council of seniores, the pronouncements of martyrs were taken as validated by their suffering for the faith..
It appears that, on the whole, this tripartite episkopç worked well in that it provided an appropriate system of "checks and balances," preventing ecclesiastical authority denegerating into authoritarianism. Whenever one component of the three-fold structure asserted, or was given, more than its appropriate share of authority, members of one or other of the other components (such as Perpetua or Tertullian) could be relied upon to speak out in order to effect a readjustment of the balance.
In any case, it is evident that the creative tension inherent in the three-fold system of episkopç operative in Carthage c.203 formed the dynamic context for all the acts of Christian ministry (including those performed by people in "minor orders") carried out by Perpetua, Optatus, and friends.
1. 1 For summary of the scholarly discussion regarding issues of the specific date and place of the martyrdoms and for the epigraphic data relating to Perpetua and her companions, see William Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism, NAPS Patristic Monograph Series 16 (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997), 105-17. The most recent monograph on Perpetua is Joyce E. Salisbury's Perpetua's Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman (New York and London: Routledge, 1997).
2. 2 See William Tabbernee, "Montanism and the Cult of the Martyrs in Roman North Africa: The Epigraphic Evidence," http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~chroma, 1-3, 6-7.
3. 3 Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions, 112-15 (IMont 143).
5. 5 Ibid., 105-10, 112, 115-17 (IMont 14).
7. 7 And, later, their acta. The most recent critical edition is Jacqueline Amat, Passion de Perpétue et de Félicité suivi des Actes: Introduction, texte critique, traduction commentaire et index, Sources chrétienne 417 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1996). For the sake of consistency, I have italicized all Latin texts and, where appropriate, substituted v for u. All translations from the passio, acta, or other ancient sources in this paper are my own.
8. 8 For example, J. Armitage Robinson, The Passion of S. Perpetua: Newly edited from the mss. with an Introduction and Notes. Together with an Appendix containing the Original Latin Text of the Scillitan Martyrdom. Texts and Studies I,2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891), 22-26; Adolf Harnack, Die Chronologie der Altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius, Vol. 2 (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1904), 323; Hippolyte Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs et les genres littéraires, 2d ed. (Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1966), 53; Timothy David Barnes, Tertullian: A Historical and Literary Study (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), 72; Georg Schöllgen, Ecclesia Sordida? Zur Frage der socialen Schichtung frühchristlicher Gemeinden am Beispiel Karthagos zur zeit Tertullians. JbAC.E 12 (Münster, Westfalia: Aschendorff, 1984), 197-99.
9. 9 C.J.M.J. van Beek, Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, FP43 (Bonn: Hanstein, 1938), 3-4.
10. 10 Herbert Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs: Introduction Text and Translations (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), xxv-xxvi.
11. 11 Brent D. Shaw, "The Passion of Perpetua," Past & Present 139 (1993): 10 n.28; cf. 3 n.3, 10-11, 25.
12. 12 Salisbury, Perpetua's Passion, 44.
16. 16 See G.W. Clarke, The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage, Vol. 1, ACW 43 (New York: Newman Press, 1984),
158.
17. 17 This edition, incorporating the first-hand accounts of Perpetua and Saturus, was published soon after the events described and before Tertullian wrote De Anima (c.208-11) as he alludes to it in anim. 55.4. The original editor is unlikely to have been Tertullian himself but appears to have been someone within the Carthaginian church sympathetic to the New Prophecy Movement; see Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions, 54-59. Only one extant manuscript (Codex Casinensis 204 MM = Amat A) is derived directly from this original edition; see Amat, Passion, 85, 90.
18. 18 The sole extant manuscript (Codex Hierosolymitanus 1 = Amat H) of a Greek translation attests to this edition, as do most of the manuscripts of the derived Latin acta; see Amat, Passion, 89-90, 98, 272-74, 278, 292.
20. 20 Harnack, Chronologie, 321-23.
21. 21 Shaw, "Passion," 33-45.
22. 22 Schöllgen, Ecclesia Sordida?, 197-98.
24. 24 Codex Einsidlensis 250 (= Amat E2); see Amat, Passion, 88, 90.
25. 25 Codex Sangallensis 577 (= Amat E1); see Amat, Passion, 87, 90.
27. 27 Codex Cottonianus Nero E.I. (= Amat C1) and Codex Oxoniensis Fell 4 (= Amat C2); see Amat, Passion, 85-86, 90.
28. 28 Compare the relevant manuscripts of the primary version of the (derived) acta which read in civitate Turbitanorum (again, without any reference to minore); see Amat, Passion, 278. None is earlier than the tenth century.
29. 29 See the stemma codicum in Amat, Passion, 90.
30. 30 Robinson, Passion, 22-26; cf. Harnack, Chronologie, 323 n.1.
31. 31 Robison, Passion, 23-25, but contrast Amat, Passion, 23 n.1.
32. 32 Compare the use of experrectus sum ("I awoke") in 13.8 with 4.10, 7.9, 8.4, 10.13 where the same expression is used at the conclusion of Perpetua's visions.
33. 33 On the dating of Tertullian's works, see Barnes, Tertullian, 30-36 (updated in the 1985 revised version, 326-29) and David Rankin, Tertullian and the Church (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), xiv-xvii.
34. 34 See also Rankin, Tertullian, 171-72.
35. 35 See William Tabbernee, "Early Montanism and Voluntary Martyrdom," Colloquium 17,2 (1985): 33-44,
especially 41-42.
36. 36 Adducti sumus is changed to adprehensi sumus in two manuscripts; see Amat, Passion, 114. The former, however, makes perfect sense if it is assumed that the reference is to the time the prisoners were taken to prison.
39. 39 See Rankin, Tertullian, 172-74.
41. 41 Rankin (Tertullian, 173), considers that this title may "indicate more his learning than any specific teaching function"--but is Rankin influenced in this judgment by the modern academic use of the title "doctor"?
42. 42 See Clarke, Letters, 317-18 and Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions, 448-49.
43. 43 See Hippolyte Delehaye, "Martyr et confesseur," Analecta Bollandiana 39 (1921): 20-49 and T.W. Manson, "Martyrs and Martyrdom," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 39 (1957): 463-84.
44. 44 On the office of lector, see below.
45. 45 Rankin, Tertullian, 181-83.
46. 46 For the heated debate on this issue in Carthage c.211, see William Tabbernee, "To Pardon or not to Pardon?: North-African Montanism and the Forgiveness of Sins" (Studia Patristica forthcoming), http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~chroma, 1-17.
47. 47 Tabbernee, "To Pardon or not to Pardon?," 6-17.
50. 50 See also Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions, 109.
51. 51 For example, Perpetua's brother Dinocrates (7.4-8; 8.1-4; cf. 7.1) and the deacon Pomponius (10.1-4; cf. 3.7 and 6.7).
52. 52 For example, the martyrs Jucundus, Saturninus, Artaxius, and Quintus (11.8).
53. 53 Four mss. (B, C1, C2, and D) have viginti quattuor instead of quattuor in 12.4, but this would give twenty-four seniores at the right and(?) left of Christ as well as others behind him.
54. 54 Presumably the ones behind the throne (12.4).
55. 55 See Amat, Passion, 148 (critical apparatus).
56. 56 Musurillo (Acts, 121) translates somewhat loosely but undoubtedly correctly: "And we rose and gave the kiss of peace."
57. 57 See Amat, Passion, 148 (Greek text and critical apparatus for Latin text).
58. 58 Perhaps the eight first-mentioned elders.
59. 59 Musurillo (Acts, 121) translates "Go and play." In either case, the injunction was to "have fun in paradise."
60. 60 The restoration Ite et laudate ("Go and praise [the Lord]"), given in Brent D. Shaw, "The Elders of Christian Africa," in Mélanges offerts en homage au révérend pèré Étienne Gareau (Ottawa: Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 1982), 210, seems to me to be unwarranted and unnecessary.
61. 61 See Shaw, "Elders," 209-10.
63. 63 Shaw, "Elders," 207-26. See also W.H.C. Frend, "The seniores laici and the Origins of the Church in North Africa," JThS n.s. 12 (1961): 280-84. The opposite view, however, is taken by Rankin (Tertullian, 139-41).
65. 65 Tabbernee, "To Pardon or not to Pardon?," 7-9.
68. 68 Shaw, "Elders," 207-26; see especially 210-22 and fig. 1 (on p. 221): The Social Organization of Local African Churches.
69. 69 For details, see above.
71. 71 See also Clarke, Letters, 158.
72. 72 See Tabbernee, "To Pardon or not to Pardon?," 5-17.
73. 73 See also Tabbernee, "Remnants of the New Prophecy: Literary and epigraphical sources of the Montanist Movement," Studia Patristica 21 (1989): 5, 7; cf. Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions, 59.
74. 74 On the use of this term for the laity or the congregation, see Rankin, Tertullian, 131-32.
75. 75 See Harry Y. Gamble, Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995), 42-143.
76. 76 Ibid., 1-11, 28-41; Keith Hopkins, "Christian Number and Its Implication," Journal of Early Christian Studies 6,2 (Summer 1998): 185-226, especially 206-13; Tabbernee, "To Pardon or not to Pardon?," 9.