Saint Peter

Saint Peter was an early follower of Jesus and a leading figure in the first Christian communities. Saint Peter held the title of Pope and apostle. Saint Peter is generally dated to 2 BCE–65.

The New Testament connects him with Jesus’s ministry, denial and restoration, while later tradition associates him with leadership in Jerusalem and martyrdom at Rome. Saint Peter also worked as Pope, apostle, and Patriarch of Antioch. Saint Peter was born in Bethsaida and died in Roma.

Douglas Jackson’s Defender of Rome turns Peter into Nero’s target: Valerius is ordered to identify and seize the Christian leader Petrus, forcing a Roman soldier to choose between imperial obedience and the persecution of a vulnerable community. In Jeanne Blanchet’s Man at the Cross Road, a former Roman executioner encounters Peter and Paul while infiltrating early Christian meetings, so Peter becomes part of the moral challenge to a man haunted by the crucifixion of Jesus. Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis places Peter at the centre of Rome’s Christian community during Nero’s persecution and uses traditions about his final ministry and martyrdom. The Gospel According to Judas revisits Peter as one of the principal disciples whose testimony and reputation shape later memory of Jesus. Doug Peterson’s Fire in the Desert follows the apostolic community after the resurrection, placing Peter among the leaders who carry the movement from Jerusalem into open conflict and mission.