290 THE PASSION OF
judge thee." At thisthe people,exasperated,demanded that
they should be tormentedwith scourgesas they passedalong
the rank of the venatores.1And they indeed rejoicedthat
they shouldhave incurredany one of theirLord'spassions.
2. But He who had said,"Ask, and ye shallreceive,"1
gave tothem when they asked,thatdeathwhich each one had
wished for. For when at any time theyhad been discoursing
among themselvesabouttheirwish in respectof theirmartyr
dom, Saturninus indeed had professedthat he wished that
he might be thrown toallthe beasts; doubtlessthathe might
wear a more gloriouscrown. Therefore in the beginning
of theexhibition,he and Revocatus made trialof the leopard,
and moreover upon the scaffoldthey were harassed,by the
bear. Saturus,however,held nothingin greaterabomination
than a bear; but he imagined that he would be put an end
to with one biteof a leopard. Therefore,when a wild boar
was supplied,itwas the huntsman ratherwho had supplied
that boar who was gored by that same beast,and died the
day afterthe shows. Saturus only was drawn out; and
when he had been bound on the floornear to a bear,the
bear would not come forth from his den. And so Saturus
forthe secondtime isrecalledunhurt.
3. Moreover, for the young women the devilprepared a
very fiercecow,providedespeciallyforthatpurpose contrary
to custom,rivallingtheirsex alsoin thatof the beasts. And
so,strippedand clothedwith nets,they were led forth. The
populaceshuddered as theysaw one young woman of delicate
frame, and another with breastsstilldropping from her
recent childbirth. So, being recalled,they are unbound.8
Perpetua is firstled in. She was tossed,and fellon her
loins; and when she saw her tunic torn from her side,she
drew itover her as a veilfor her middle,rathermindful of
her modesty than her suffering.Then she was calledfor
1A row of men drawnup to scourgethem as theypassedalong,— a
punishmentprobablysimilartowhatiscalled" runningthegauntlet."
2Johnxvi.24.
* Itarevocat®discinguntur.Dean Milman prefersreadingthis,
" Thusrecalled,theyarecladinlooserobes."