Martyrdom and Rome (Wiles Lectures) <\/a> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=leithartcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0521465397\")
) cites an article by Louis Robert to explain Perpetua\u2019s vision at her martyrdom. She saw \u201ca man of enormous height, whose head rises above the very top of the amphitheater itself, and whose clothes show purple garments not only falling from his two shoulders but also spread over his chest. This huge figure has shoes embroidered in gold and silver, and he carries a wand like a judge at an athletic competition or a display of gladiators.\u201d <\/p>\n Robert explains that the figure is an agonothetes <\/em> , the head of the munera <\/em> but also argues that the figure is also Christ, \u201cChrist the giver of competitions, Christ the provider of spectacles that serve the will of God.\u201d Bowersock suggests that the martyrs conceived of their deaths as \u201ca kind of public entertainment offered by God to communities where it takes place as some kind of far more edifying transmutation of the traditional games . . . . the early martyrs see God or Christ himself as the agent of their martyrdom.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GW Bowersock ( Martyrdom and Rome (Wiles Lectures) ) cites an article by Louis Robert to explain Perpetua\u2019s vision at her martyrdom. She saw \u201ca man of enormous height, whose head rises above the very top of the amphitheater itself, and whose clothes show purple garments not only falling from his two shoulders but also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n
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