Presenters: Maegan, Phillip, Hannah, Kris O., Laura, Kate, Kevin, Steve Jezewski, Aaron, Kristen H., Nathan, Jon M., Josh
Each of the three groups should take 8-10 minutes each so that there is time for questions.
NOTE: If you do not know to which group you belong, make sure to touch base with your colleagues.
NOTE 2: Remember that the handout I gave you last week has a bit of chronology and information for the "persecutions" of Christians. Please be aware of chronology in your presentations.
Group 1: Analytical questions (I suggest dividing yourselves into (at least) two groups)
If you have different or additional questions you would prefer to explore, please feel free to do so.
A. What similarites do you see in the anxieties about Christians and the anxieties about the Bacchanalian worshippers several hundred years earlier? What differences are there? What do the similarities and differences suggest to you about Roman attitudes toward new religions? Do the differences reflect the particular characteristics of each religious aberration, or perhaps of the historical circumstances in which each make its appearance, or both?
B. Explore the Edicts of Toleration, the Certificate of Sacrifice, and the way Christians can avoid punishment demonstrated in Pliny and the Martyrdom of Perpetua. What do they suggest about pagan Roman religion? about the importance of religion to the stability of the empire? Consider also what you know about the emperor and divinity (and its change over time).
Group 2: Right brain exploration of the Martyrdom of Perpetua
Explore Perpetua's martyrdom. You might ponder the incompatability of Christianity with stability in a religiously devout pagan empire. You might ponder what service marytrdom provides to Christianity or to individual Christians that would encourage them to seek it out. What role does the method of Perpetua's death suggest about advertising the punishment of Christians?
These are just some ideas so that the drama does not just illustrate events but considers their significance. You do not have to deal with all or any of them if you have other historically important questions to consider.
