Book excerpt: A young Roman woman living in Africa in 203 CE was confronted with a dilemma. Should she renounce her faith and save her life? Or should she affirm it and endure a gruesome death, mauled by wild animals before a cheering crowd of thousands? This young woman, Perpetua, chose to persevere, and this book tells her story, much of it from her own remarkable prison diary. The account transports readers to another, much earlier age, but it also asks us to consider what we would die for - and indeed, what we are living for today.