Antiochus informs the emperor Hadrian that a newly-arrived woman, Sapienta, and her three daughters threaten the peace of the state by urging the people to abandon their traditional religious rituals and embrace Christianity. Antiochus complains that Sapienta has been so successful in her proselytizing that many wives will no longer eat or sleep with their husbands.
At Hadrian's order, Antiochus brings Sapienta and her daughters before the emperor, who is impressed with their beauty and nobility. At first, Hadrian speaks gently, asking for their names. Sapienta informs him that her own name means "Wisdom" and that the three daughters are named Fides (Faith), Spes (Hope), and Karitas (Charity). Sapienta gives the girls' ages (12, 10, and 8) in mathematical riddles which puzzle Hadrian and make him appear foolish. When the emperor can make no sense of the riddles, Sapienta turns them into praise of God for His scientific design which makes such mathematics possible.
Hadrian demands that Sapienta deny her Christian faith and make obeisance to the gods. When she refuses, he orders the four women to be confined in prison for three days to allow them time to reconsider. While in prison, Sapienta comforts and encourages her daughters, urging them to bring her joy by winning the palm of martyrdom and becoming virgin brides of Christ.
When the three days have passed, they are once again brought before the emperor. When Sapienta still refuses to yield to Hadrian's demands, Antiochus urges Hadrian to have the daughters killed as a punishment to Sapienta. When Fides is ordered to offer libations to Diana, she not only refuses to obey but also insults the emperor for stupidly making such a demand. She is whipped, but feels no pain. The nipples of her breasts are cut off, but only milk instead of blood flows from her body. She is unharmed by the heat of a fiery grill and jumps willingly into the cauldron of boiling wax prepared for her torture. When these tortures fail, Hadrian orders that her head be cut off. Before her death, she kisses her mother and sisters goodbye and encourages them to follow her example in order to win eternal joy.
Spes also refuses to honor the gods. She is beaten and torn with instruments of torture but, like Fides, feels no pain. As her flesh tears, it releases the perfume of heaven. When she is placed in the boiling cauldron, it bursts, killing the servants; yet Spes in unharmed. Before her head is cut off, she kisses her mother and sister, encouraging them to follow her example as she follows the example of Fides.
Because Karitas is so young, Hadrian asks only that she repeat the words "Great Diana" in order to be spared. When she refuses, he orders her to be placed in a fiery furnace for three days. After the three days pass, Antiochus brings Hadrian the news that the furnace burst, killing 5,000 men. Karitas, however, was unharmed by the flames and played in the smoke, accompanied by three young men who appeared in the furnace with her. Realizing that only beheading will take her life, Hadrian orders that Karitas be killed like her sisters.
Some Christian women accompany Sapienta to the place three miles outside of the town where she has chosen to bury her daughters. They remain nearby, anticipating God's answer to her prayer that she be allowed to die when her prayer is finished and to join in heavenly bliss with her daughters.
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The Dramas of Hrotswitha of Gandersheim
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