At once brave and athletic, virtuous and modest, female martyrs in the second and third centuries were depicted as self-possessed gladiators and athletes who the same time exhibited the quintessentially "womanly" qualities of modesty, fertility, and beauty. L. Stephanie Cobb explores the double embodiment of "male" and "female" gender ideals in these figures, connecting them to Greco-Roman virtues and the construction of Christian group identities.

Martyrologies strategically place martyrs-male and female alike-as virile combatants in the masculine environment of the amphitheater. They also illustrate masculinity through the language of justice, resistance to persuasion, and-more subtly but most effectively-the juxtaposition of "unmanly" individuals (usually slaves, the old, or the young) with those at the height of male maturity and accomplishment (such as the governor or the proconsul). Imbuing female martyrs with the same strengths as their male counterparts served a vital function in Christian communities. Faced with the possibility of persecution, Christians sought to inspire worshippers to be manly, yet within the community itself, traditional gender roles were maintained. Christian women needed to be braver than pagan and Jewish men, yet they were also expected to be womanly in relation to the men of their own communities. Cobb's investigation reveals how gendered language in early Christian martyrologies was used to lay claim to social power.