There are very few specific studies of individual early Christian women. Any historian attempting to paint an accurate portrait of women in early Christianity is forced to learn to read between the lines. The article demonstrates how such ancient detective work is accomplished and how this work can bear good fruit in terms of fleshing out a more accurate picture of the roles women played in the early church. Two of the earliest examples of women suffering martyrdom for their faith are the tradition involving Peter's wife and the two women deaconesses mentioned by Pliny the Younger in his letter to Emperor Trajan.

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