Perpetua and Felicity were martyred at Carthage on March 7, 203, during the persecutions under the Emperor Septimius Severus. The Passio Perpetuae, their passion narrative, is extraordinary: it includes an eyewitness diary written by Perpetua herself, making her the earliest known Christian writer of either sex. Augustine preached on their feast and drew spiritual instruction from their steadfastness.

Traditionally, Perpetua's final trial is described in the redacted portion of the Passio: she and Felicity were forced to face wild animals in the arena before a crowd. A leopard attacked and killed Felicity. Perpetua was attacked by a wild cow and severely wounded; she then directed one of the gladiators' swords to her own throat to hasten death. The accounts emphasize her courage and composure, and traditions speak of heavenly visions she experienced during her ordeal. Some accounts report that the crowd recognized extraordinary spiritual power in her death.

Perpetua was a young married woman of high social standing, probably in her mid-twenties. Felicity was a pregnant slave-woman imprisoned alongside her. They were arrested along with several others (including Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus) during the persecution initiated by Emperor Septimius Severus around 202–203.

The most remarkable source for their death is the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, a martyr account that includes a first-person diary section. This diary is genuinely attributed to Perpetua herself — the earliest extant autobiographical writing by a Christian woman, and among the earliest from any woman in the ancient world. Perpetua recorded her visions during imprisonment, her spiritual preparation for death, and her encounter with her pagan father in her final days. The document is unpolished, emotionally raw, and historically invaluable. A later redactor added a frame narrative describing the final combat in the arena and the deaths of Perpetua and Felicity.

Felicity, eight months pregnant at arrest, gave birth to a daughter in prison on the day before the public games. The sources confirm this fact and the tradition that she was then executed alongside the group.

• Martyr