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In imperial Rome, a sorcerer wins the crowd’s wonder—and an apostle challenges what they believe.
The Acts of Peter and Simon is an early Christian legend about rival wonder-workers in Rome. Simon Magus claims divine power and gathers admirers among the powerful. Peter arrives to confront him and strengthen the small Christian community. According to the tale, their struggle becomes a public contest of wonders, with Emperor Nero watching and the believers’ confidence at stake.
The story sets talking animals and astonishing miracles beside questions about faith, deception, and the pull of spectacle. Can a crowd tell spiritual authority from a dazzling display? Written by an unknown author, this apocryphal narrative stands outside the New Testament. Read it as a window into early Christian storytelling, rather than a firm historical record of Peter’s life.
What you’ll discover
- Rivals before Rome Follow Peter and Simon as their competing claims draw the attention of crowds and rulers.
- Wonders that unsettle Encounter a speaking dog and a revived smoked fish within the tale’s imaginative world.
- The lure of spectacle Explore how dazzling displays shape belief when Simon wins admiration among Rome’s powerful.
- A community under strain Meet Roman believers who look to Peter for guidance as Simon’s fame shakes their confidence.
- Beyond the biblical account Discover how later storytellers expand Simon’s brief biblical appearance into an extended rivalry with Peter.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who enjoy early Christian legends, the history of Rome and the apostles, or stories of rival wonder-workers. If you want a firm historical record of Peter's life, you may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A story from the early apostolic tradition
- Simon Magus grows from a Bible figure into a rival
- Peter follows Simon to Rome
- How the tale was read and why it stands outside the Bible
Who’s who
- PeterThe apostle who comes to Rome to oppose Simon, strengthen the believers and show the power he serves.
- Simon MagusA sorcerer who claims divine power, wins admiration in Rome and challenges Peter before the people.
- NeroThe Roman emperor who watches the contest and holds power over everyone involved.
- The Roman believersThe small Christian community in Rome, shaken by Simon's fame and in need of Peter's guidance.
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The Acts of Peter and Simon
by Attributed to Leucius Charinus· 180
Peter confronts a sorcerer claiming divine power in Rome.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A story from the early apostolic tradition
The tale of Peter and Simon comes from the apocryphal Acts, a body of writing that grew up in the second century and after. These books tell of the travels, miracles and deaths of the apostles, filling in what the New Testament leaves unsaid. The oldest well-known form is the Acts of Peter, first written in Greek. Scholars usually place it in the late second century, though they differ on exactly where.
Much of the Greek is lost. A long Latin version survives in a manuscript kept at Vercelli in Italy, and that copy is much later than the original. Other Latin tellings, in which Peter and Paul appear together, were made in later centuries. They share the same basic conflict but differ in their details.
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What is the Acts of Peter and Simon about?
It is an early Christian legend about Peter's conflict with the sorcerer Simon Magus in Rome. The two men compete in wonders before crowds and the emperor, and the story presents Peter's power as true and Simon's as false.
Who was Simon Magus?
Simon Magus is a magician who appears in Acts chapter eight in the Bible, where he tries to buy the apostles' power. Later Christian writers made him a symbol of false teaching and a rival of Peter.
Is the Acts of Peter and Simon a true story?
Scholars treat it as legend. It was written generations after Peter's time by an unknown author. It reflects what early Christians believed and told, and it is not a reliable historical record of events.
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