ABSTRACT
Midway through the first book of his History of the Vandal Persecution, Victor of Vita narrates the story of a Vandal master who deemed it appropriate to allow his two Roman slaves, Martinianus and Maxima, to marry (1.30).2 But Maxima was a virgin dedicated to God and she converted her husband to her ascetic lifestyle (1.31). Martinianus in turn converted his three brothers and they all fled to a nearby monastery (1.32). Incensed, the master organized a search for his slaves, who were soon found. He had them tortured, forced the spouses to consummate their union and, worse, rebaptized them (1.33). For Victor, these events were part of a persecution of Nicenes by the Vandals occurring in North Africa.3 In this specific instance, the Vandal master failed to realize that he was now persecuting slaves that belonged to God and no longer his own.4 The master afterward had the Roman slaves tortured daily to coerce them into converting to his Christian Homoean confession, but they were miraculously healed by Christ-doctor, and the Vandal master along with his children suffered death as a divine punishment (1.34-5).5 The master’s widow then
1 Thanks to Andy Merrills, Beth Digeser and Hal Drake, for their comments on earlier versions of this chapter. I am obviously solely responsible for remaining errors and for the opinions expressed here.
