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Audiobook edition · 1 h 29 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 48 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 48 pagesAbout this book
What happens when a woman's new faith puts her household, her safety, and her place in the world at risk?
In The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca, an anonymous early Christian tale, Paul arrives in Spain and Xanthippe listens. She is the wife of Probus, a man of standing, and her choice to embrace Paul's teaching unsettles life at home. The story places a woman's spiritual choices at the heart of an apostolic adventure.
The second part follows Xanthippe's sister Polyxena, taken far from home and searching for safety among strangers and apostles. Along her road she meets Andrew and Rebecca, a young Jewish woman who offers shelter. Outside the New Testament, this tale explores devotion, danger, and kinship through women's lives, with miraculous rescues forming part of its religious storytelling.
What you’ll discover
- A household unsettled Follow Xanthippe as her response to Paul's teaching brings new demands into her home.
- A sister in danger Travel with Polyxena as she seeks safety without letting go of her faith.
- Shelter and spiritual kinship Meet Rebecca, whose encounter with Polyxena draws her into a Christian circle.
- Apostles along the road Discover how Paul and Andrew connect these women's stories to the wider Christian mission.
- Beyond the New Testament Explore an apocryphal tale that gives women central roles in religious adventure.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like adventure stories from the ancient world, tales of apostles and miracles, or the voices of women in early Christian writing.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A servant's longing brings Paul's word to Spain
- Xanthippe risks everything for baptism by night
- Probus follows his wife, and Polyxena dreams of a dragon
- Polyxena is carried off across the sea
- A lioness, an apostle and a captive at the well
- Faith is tested, and the women act for themselves
- Marriage, virginity and the fear of being taken
- Dreams, prayers and a chain of apostles
Who’s who
- XanthippeA wealthy wife in Spain who longs for Paul's teaching and risks her household to be baptized.
- PolyxenaXanthippe's beautiful younger sister, carried off across the sea, who prays to keep her faith and her freedom.
- RebeccaA captive girl of Israel, sold three times, who meets Polyxena at a well and hopes to be free.
- ProbusXanthippe's husband, a leading man in Spain who begins as an idolater and is troubled by his wife's change.
- PaulThe apostle who comes from Rome to Spain, teaches, baptizes and shields the women through prayer.
- AndrewAn apostle who meets Polyxena on a road, baptizes her and Rebecca and sends them on their way.
- PhilipAn apostle in Greece who shelters Polyxena after her storm-tossed voyage and trusts that her trials will help others.
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The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca
by Anonymous · 250
A sleepless wife in Spain, a kidnapped sister and a lioness that speaks lead three women toward Paul.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readEspañol
Excellent
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In short
Picture a wife in Spain who cannot sleep, cannot eat and will not say why. Her husband offers her anything, and she asks only to sleep apart from him for one night.
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A servant's longing brings Paul's word to Spain
In Rome, a servant of a Spanish ruler hears Paul preach. He must hurry home with his master's letters, so he cannot drink his fill of the teaching. Back in Spain he grows thin and sick, and he cannot speak of it, because his master, Probus, is an idolater.
Probus asks what pain his physician cannot heal. The servant answers in a riddle. The healer he needs is in Rome, and the cure is a new name, oil and water. He is describing baptism as a medicine. Probus's wife, Xanthippe, overhears and asks for the name of the physician. As the servant answers, the idols in the house begin to shake and fall.
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A sleepless wife in Spain, a kidnapped sister and a lioness that speaks lead three women toward Paul.
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Details
- First published
- 250
- Language
- Español
- Listening time
- 1 h 29 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 48 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 48 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 76 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 76 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-xanthippe-polyxena-and-rebecca.
The acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-xanthippe-polyxena-and-rebecca (Original work published ca. 250)
The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-xanthippe-polyxena-and-rebecca.
@book{anonymous2026acts,
title = {The Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-xanthippe-polyxena-and-rebecca},
note = {First published ca. 250}
}
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What is the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena about?
It tells how Xanthippe, a wife in Spain, hears of Paul and seeks baptism, and how her sister Polyxena is kidnapped and wanders among apostles in Greece. Rebecca, a captive girl, joins her. Dreams, demons and a lioness shape the plot.
Who are Xanthippe, Polyxena and Rebecca?
Xanthippe is the wife of Probus, a leading man in Spain. Polyxena is her younger sister. Rebecca is a captive Jewish girl who meets Polyxena at a well in Greece and is baptized with her by Andrew.
When was the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena written?
Scholars generally date it between the late third and early fifth centuries. It is an anonymous Greek text, kept in a single manuscript at the Escorial in Spain, and belongs to the apocryphal Acts.
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