Diane Fruchtman: The Passio of the Sickbed Martyr and Augustine’s Definition of Martyrdom

This paper explores Augustine’s treatment of the “sickbed martyr,” the Christian who suffers illness without the aid of “illicit remedies” (sermo 335D, 3) such as “pagan” amulets or incantations. These martyrs feature in several of Augustine’s sermons (4, 36; 286, 7; 306E, 7-8; 318, 3; 328, 8; and 335D, 3 and 5), serving as examples of God’s many “hidden martyrs” (sermo 306E, 6) and showing Augustine’s audiences some of the avenues by which they might, even after the end of persecution, receive their own crowns of martyrdom. In several instances, Augustine even provides passiones for these martyrs, describing their torments narratively and recounting the words they would say as they reject the proffered palliatives. I argue not only that these passiones demonstrate Augustine’s full rhetorical investment in persuading his audience of their own ability to become martyrs, but that they are a pivotal tool in Augustine’s advocacy for a definition of martyrdom that does not require any physically-inflicted suffering or temporal death.