The Early Martyr Narratives: Neither Authentic Accounts nor Forgeries

By Caroline Crews

Éric Rebillard, The Early Martyr Narratives: Neither Authentic Accounts nor Forgeries, (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020; 192 pages; $59.95).

Instead of seeking an imaginary version of a text, Rebillard proposes that scholars look to narrative cues—like their inclusion of corroborating documents—to recognize that narratives develop a complicity with the audience. That is, the audience could recognize the fictitious elements of the narrative without disbelieving the larger story about the martyrs. Early martyr texts, Rebillard contends, should be seen not as factual representations of the persecution of Christians, but as textual productions in a larger context of Christian writings.

In Chapter 1, “The Earliest Narratives and Their Reception,” Rebillard uses new criteria to consider three Greek and two Latin martyr narratives as the “earliest” (Greek: Martyrdom of Pionius, Martyrdom of Polycarp, and fragments of the Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne; Latin: Life of Cyprian and Passion of Perpetua, Felicity, and Their Companions). Making fresh observations about these martyr narratives and their influence on other narratives, Rebillard demonstrates that they need not have been composed at the same time as the narrative setting, despite the common assumption to the contrary.

In Chapter 2, “Martyr Narratives and Court Recordings,” Rebillard challenges the notion that martyrdom narratives utilize court protocols, or records of interrogations. As Rebillard observes, this text form seems to have been briefly used after the Great Persecution (mid-3^rd century CE) to participate in debates of this period, particularly over the authority of visions, women, and martyrs. Instead of arguing whether martyr texts relied upon authentic court protocols, Rebillard recommends that scholars appreciate the function and meaning of widespread patterns in many of the narratives, patterns to which he returns in Chapter 4.

In Chapter 3, “From Forgeries to Living Texts,” Rebillard examines recensions of martyr narratives to argue that these narratives should be viewed as “living texts,” not as “forgeries.” Although variation among manuscripts has often been dismissed as scribal errors or adulterations, Rebillard notes, there is no single author because there is no single text nor version of the text. Every variation among a text’s manuscripts reflects a fluidity to the text, changing to suit a new performance of the story. “Forgery” is simply inapplicable to martyr texts because, in his view, that term should apply to texts representing a single act by a single postulated author. Critical editions of texts have facilitated the misconception that martyr texts have a single author, as Rebillard explains using specific terms: critical editions present a seemingly original text, despite the editing that has harmonized multiple “Items” (i.e., texts as they appear in their manuscripts) housing “Manifestations” of different “Expressions” (e.g., recensions) of the abstract “Work.” Rather than editing multiple versions of a text into one hypothetical and idealized version, therefore, Rebillard recommends publishing a synopsis of different Items, an example of which he includes as Appendix B. By acknowledging the fluidity of texts, scholars can consider the audience’s potential response to the text and the text’s impact on that audience, as Rebillard does in the following chapter.

In Chapter 4, “History, Fiction, Document, Testimony,” Rebillard critiques the assigning of martyrdom narratives to modern genre categories, whose boundaries limit intertextual dialogue. As Rebillard demonstrates, an audience does not need an explicit contract with the writer deeming a work to be fiction to understand that a work may have fictitious elements. Fiction might be signaled through the use and recognition of topoi, or phrases and narrative devices linked to the larger martyrdom discourse. For example, the inclusion of documents—like the court protocols discussed in Chapter 2—into a narrative should be seen as part of the narration, not as markers of authenticity. These narrative devices function as recognizable topoi for the audience to recall similar martyr narratives, fostering a relationship of complicity with the audience to accept the story of the martyrs as true despite some fictitious components.

Rebillard’s book should be commended as a refreshing approach to studying martyrdom literature and early Christianity, more generally. Not only does Rebillard challenge many assumptions about the narratives’ goals and functions, but he also outlines constructive paths forward. His work aligns with material philology, which discourages an over-dependence upon critical editions of texts and advocates instead for closer examinations of the material remains of a text. But he also pushes the conversations of material philology forward: although scholars cannot do away with misleading editions of texts, they can make synopses to reflect the fluidity of a text. Although this strategy is a helpful suggestion, it may not be feasible nor accessible, especially for people with visual impairments. Rebillard’s example of a synopsis for the Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs presents six different Items of the Work, italicizing or bolding the differences so that viewers can see the variations. Other designations—like inserted symbols—may be a better way to demonstrate differences for those using screen-readers, which typically do not inflect font variation. This approach, however, still requires judgment from editors to prioritize certain Items over others as better Manifestations of an Expression. For texts with extensive manuscript evidence—like the 89 known Acts of Perpetua and Felicity manuscripts—it is simply unfeasible to determine which Items should be considered worthy of synopsis. The efficacy of synopses aside, Rebillard has compellingly drawn attention to more fruitful questions about textual transmission and audience, rather than a non-existent original text and hypothetical author. The Early Martyr Narratives is recommended not just for those interested in early Christian martyrdom literature, but also for those interested in narratology, textual production, and material philology.

Caroline Crews is a PhD Candidate in the Ancient Mediterranean Religions track at UT Austin’s Department of Religious Studies. Her dissertation, “Fluidity in Perpetuam: The Compositional Process of the Perpetua and Felicity Tradition,” considers the textual production, transmission, and reception of the Perpetua and Felicity tradition in Late Antique North Africa.