Martyr Inscriptions in North Africa: A Retrospective Introspection

North African Christianity in Late Antiquity had no shortage of martyrs, sectarian conflict, and religious turbulence. Yet as more than one scholar has observed, there is a fascinating discrepancy between the names of martyrs who show up only in the epigraphic evidence, and those who have been identified from an extensive literary tradition, notably Perpetua or Cyprian of Carthage. Such inscriptions are a valuable reminder of the nominal existence of martyrs beyond those sponsored by imperial or episcopal Byzantine figures, albeit while providing innumerable problems for the historian trying to reconstruct a broader picture. In this paper, I first discuss some of the ways in which martyr inscriptions have previously been looked at, including some of the problems and limitations they have offered. In the second part of the paper, I will re-examine a particularly interesting case-study from the 6th/7th century. I hope to show that, although it illustrates some of the same difficulties and assumptions, it may also be interpreted through a few different lenses within the historical context of conquest and continuity.