Me31
EaO v.1

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ST. POLYCARP

j£at*tE (ttntrcb Classics.

ST. POLYCARP

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

OiK-rip/iav n_.\uKapiro_ t koi OpSvuv apxizpyos
"Effx< Ka^ arpfKtus ftaprvpi-iis cr-ref/Lvovs.
Anth. Pal. i. 87.

REV. BLOMFIELD JACKSON, M.A.
VICAR OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, MOORFIELDS, F.XAMININC.
CHAPLAIN TO THE ISLSIIOl' OK ST. ALI1ANS.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OI" THE TRACT COMMITTEE.

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New York : E. & J. K. YOUNG & CO.
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CONTENTS

PREFACE

PREFACE 
¦ I. EARLY REFERENCES AND QUOTATIONS
II. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF GENUINENESS OF
EPISTLE TO PHILIPPIANS
III. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF GENUINENESS OF
THE LETTER OF THE SMYRN/EANS
IV. LIFE OF ST. POLYCARP .
V. MSS. AND VERSIONS
VI. SUGGESTED CHRONOLOGY
VII. THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS .
VIII. THE LETTER OF THE SMYRN/EANS .
INDICES .......

VALE

W\p"M tag

PAGE V 7
16
19222527
28
49 75

Tins translation ofthe one extant Letter of St. Polycarp,
and ofthe Letter of the Sinyniieans narrating his martyr
dom, is designed to put within the reach of English
readers in a handy form two of the most valuable of the
classics of the Church. In point of time the Epistle of
Polycarp is one of the writings which come very near to
those of canonical authority. It may with reasonable
probability be placed within some quarter of a century
after the publication of St. John's Gospel, a somewhat
shorter interval separating it from the Epistle of St.
Clement. It appears to have been read in public at least
as late as the time of Jerome, who in his de Viris Illust.
xvii. calls it "valde utilem epistolam qua: usque hodie in
Asi.e conventu legitur." It perhaps hardly deserves the
depreciatory description of being " but a commonplace
echo of the apostolic epistles '' (D.C.B. iv. 424), but it is
distinctly inferior in literary power to the Letters of
Clement and Ignatius. One of the chief reasons why it
is valuable is that it does "echo" canonical writings, and
proves their dissemination and acceptance at the time of
its composition. Unlike the Epistle of Clement, who was
brought up amid Jewish associations, it shows far less
familiarity with Hebrew Literature than with apostolic
writings. Its reproduction of apostolic thought is obvious
in cases where no verbal correspondence can be asserted.
Special attention is called by marked type in this edition
to instances of unquestionable quotation and reference,
and these, if less numerous than those claimed for it in

VI

PREFACE

some quarters, afford a remarkable vindication of Epistles
of St. Paul of which the genuineness has been assailed,
and are quite incompatible with any antagonism between
the supposed rival Johannine school and Pauline school.
The Letter ofthe Smyrn.eans embodies the fullest and
not thc least affecting contemporary narrative of an early
martyrdom. The faith, constancy, and courtesy of the
aged Bishop arc a striking illustration ofthe power work
ing in the Roman world since Pentecost, and gradually
subduing it. With thc exception of the obvious inter
polation or misreading of thc "dove " in Chap. xvi. there
is nothing ofthe grotesquely marvellous which disfigures
some later stories. The placing of the martyrdom under
Antoninus Pius furnishes an illustration of the fact that the
reigns of "good" emperors were not good times for the
Church. Tlie period bel ween a.d. 98 and 180, covering
thc generally beneficent reigns of Trajan, Hadrian,
Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, includes famous
persecutions. The accession of the brutal Commodus
brought relief. So long as Christianity was not a " Religio
Licita " it was always open to a zealous or hostile magis
trate to put unrepealed edicts in force. Bishop Lightfoot
dates the martyrdom of Publius Bishop of Athens (Euseb.
Hist. Ecc. iv. 23), and of Ptolemaeus and Lucius (Justin,
Apol. ii. 2), as well as that of Polycarp and his com
panions, in the reign of Antoninus Pius. The second of
these cases supplies a striking illustration of the state of
things normally obtaining in the empire. Arrest might
come at any moment, without organized and general
persecution. The form of procedure indicates that later
reigns saw no abrogation ofthe principle formulated under
Trajan, that the bare confession of Christianity was held
to be a capital offence irrespectively of any moral offences
included in an accusation.

ST. POLYCARP

1

EARLY REFERENCES TO ST. TOLYCARP AND
HIS MARTYRDOM, AND QUOTATIONS FROM
HIS EPISTLE
I. IGNATIUS, Bishop of Antioch, writing c.
A.D. no:
(a) " I would give my life for you, and for
them whom for God's honour you sent to
Smyrna, from which place I am writing to you,
giving thanks to the Lord, loving Polycarp even
as I love you." — Eph. xxi.
(/3) " The Ephesians from Smyrna, from which
place I am writing to you, salute you. They
are here with me for the glory of God, just as
you are (.'. e. in the persons of their envoys), and
they have in all things refreshed me, together
with Polycarp, Bishop of the Smyrnaeans." —
Mag. xv.

8

ST. POLYCARP

(y) " I salute your holy Bishop and venerable
presbytery and the deacons my fellow servants."
— Smyrn. xii.
(8) " Ignatius to Polycarp, Bishop of the
Church of thc Smyrmcans, . . . hearty grcet-
•uvy — Polyc. J user. etc.
II. The' " Shepherd " of Hermas, c. A.D. 150.
Thc references here are less obvious and direct
than in other authors, but Dr. C. Taylor (Journal
of Philology, xx.) is of opinion that Hermas knew
and used Polycarp's Epistle : e.g. Hermas, Mand.
xii. i. 1, on "bridling" and "fighting lust,''
would appear to be in connection with both
James i. 26 and iii. 2, and Polycarp, Ep. % 5.
Again the remarkable description of " widows "
as an " Altar of God," in connexion with the
charge to " make supplication unceasingly," sug
gests parallels with Hermas, Mand. x. iii. 2;
*Sitn. ii. S. v. 3. 7. and ix. 27.
III. Letter of the Smyrna_ans, c. A.D. 150,
translated herein.
IV Lucian, the witty litterateur of Samosata,
writing c. A.D. 165-1 70. Bishop Lightfoot (Apost.
Fathers II. i. p. 606) enumerates the possible
references to the martyrdom of Polycarp in the
satire on the Death of Peregrinus, who com
mitted suicide at the Olympic Games of AD.
165 Salient points are (i) the lighting of the

BISHOP OK SMYRNA 9
pyre with torches and fagots, (ii) the stripping
off the clothes, (iii) the prayer on the pyre, (iv;
the comparison with a baking, and (v) the eager
ness of the crowd for relics.
V Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, f c. A.D. 200.
(a) Adv. Har. iii- 3 . cf- Euseb. Hist. Ecc. iv.
14 " Polycarp too, who was not only instructed
by Apostles, and had been the companion of
many that had seen thc Christ, but had also
been appointed for Asia by Apostles as Bishop
of the Church in Smyrna. We ourselves have
seen him in our early manhood, for he long sur
vived and departed this life at a great age, after
a glorious and most splendid martyrdom. He
constantly taught what he had learned from
the Apostles, what the Church hands down, and
what alone is true."
In the continuation of this passage, Irensus
refers to the visit of Polycarp to Rome to confer
with Anicetus, who was Bishop of Rome c. A.D.
153-155- "There are those," he adds, "who
have heard him tell how John, the disciple of thc
Lord, when he went to take a bath in Ephesus,
and saw Cerinthus within, rushed away from
the bath without bathing, with the words, ' Let
us flee, lest the room should even fall in, for
Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.'
Yea, and Polycarp himself also, when Marcion

io

ST. rOLYCAKP

on one occasion confronted him, and said
' Recognise us,' replied, ' Aye, aye, I recognise
the first-born of Satan.' So great care did the
Apostles and their disciples take not to hold any
communication, even by word, with any of those
who falsify thc truth, as Paul also said, ' A man
that is an heretic, after thc first and second
admonition reject ; knowing that he that is such
is subverted and sinneth, being condemned of
himself.' "
(/3) In thc Letter to Victor (Euseb. H.E. v. 24):
" When the blessed Polycarp sojourned at Rome
in the days of Anicetus, they had some slight
difference with one another, on this and on other
matters. They did not care to have any strife
on this point, and at once made peace. On the
one hand Anicetus was unable to persuade
Polycarp not to observe the customs which he
had always observed with John, the Lord's
disciple, and with the rest of the Apostles in
whose company he had lived. Nor on the other
hand did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe
them, for he urged that he ought to hold to the
practice of the presbyters before him. Under
these circumstances they communicated together,
and in the Church Anicetus yielded the Eucharist 1
to Polycarp, plainly as a mark of respect ; thus
1 i.e. the privilege of offering thc cucharistic sacrifice.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

I I

both parties, the observer and the non-observers,
kept the peace of the whole Church, and so
parted." (y) In the Adv. Hcer. v. 33, § 4, Iren_eus speaks
of Papias (Bishop of Hierapolis, f c. A.D. 140),
"hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp."
(8) In his Letter to Florinus (Euseb. Hist.
Ecc. v. 20) Irenajus writes—" When I was still a
boy, I saw thee in Lower Asia at Polycarp's,
faring splendidly in the imperial court, and en
deavouring to stand well with him. For I
remember the events of that time more clearly
than what is of recent occurrence. The lessons
learned in childhood grow with the growth of
the soul, and become one with it ; and so I am
able to tell even the spot where the blessed
Polycarp used to sit and discourse, his goings
out and his comings in, his manner of life, his
personal appearance, and the public discourses
which he used to give. I remember how he used
to tell of his intercourse with John, and with the
rest of those who had seen the Lord, and how
he recalled and related their words. And such
particulars as he had heard concerning the Lord,
and concerning His mighty works, and concern
ing His teaching, Polycarp, as having derived
them from the eye-witnesses of the life of the
Word, used to tell without exception in harmony

12

ST. POLYCARP

with the Scriptures. To these things by God s
mercy I used to listen with all my might, noting
them down from time to time, if not on paper, in
my heart; and ever by God's grace I faithfully
turn them over and over in my mind. And I
am able to bear witness before God that if any
thing of thc kind (i.e. the heresy previously
referred to) had been heard by that blessed and
apostolic elder he would have cried out, and
stopped his ears, and with his familiar words,
' Oh good God, to what times hast Thou kept
me that I should endure these things/ would
have fled from the spot where he was sitting or
standing when he had heard such words. And
this can be made quite plain from the letters
which he wrote whether to the Churches in his
neighbourhood confirming them, or to certain of
the brethren warning and exhorting them."
(e) In the Adv. Har. iii. 3, 4, Irenaeus writes—
" There is a very sufficient epistle of Polycarp
written to the Philippians in which all who wish
to do so, and care for their salvation, can learn
both the character of his faith and of his preach
ing of the truth."
VI. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, f c. A.D.
195.— Ep. ad Victorem ep. Rom. apud Euseb.
Hist. Ecc. v. 24.
Enumerating the " great lights of Asia, who

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

13

have fallen asleep and shall rise again at the day
of the Lord's coming," Polycrates mentions
" Polycarp, bishop and martyr at Smyrna."
VII. Tertullian, writing, c. A.D. 200, f c. A.D.
240 : " Thus it is that Apostolic Churches hand
down their registers ; as that of the Smyrnseans
recalls Polycarp appointed by John.' Dc
Prcnser. Hceret. xxxii.
VIII. " Acts of Piouius," a martyr at Smyrna,
in the Decian persecution, March 12, A.D. 250 ;
the date being fixed by the names of the
consuls. Ofthe "Acts" two Latin forms of
translation are extant (Bollandists, Feb. 1, and
Ruinart, Acta Sincera, pp. 188, et seg.). "So on
the second day of the sixth month, which is the
IVth before the Ides of March, being a great
Sabbath,1 on the birthday of Polycarp the
martyr, persecution overtook Pionius," etc.
1 March 12 was not a Saturday in a.d. 250. Bishop
Lightfoot considers the reference to the Sabbath an inter
polation, and would "with some confidence" restore the
chronological notice at the close of the Acts of Pionius as
follows : "These things happened when Julius Proculus
Quintilianus was Proconsul [of Asia], in the Consulship
of [Imperator] Gaius Messius Ouintus Trajanus Decius
[Augustus] for the second time, and Vettius Gratus,
according to Roman reckoning on the fourth before the
Ides of March, according to Asiatic reckoning on the
nineteenth day of the sixth month, at the tenth hour,
but, according to the reckoning of us (Christians), etc.,

14

ST. POLYCARP

IX. Eusebius, Bishop of Ctcsarea, f c. A.D. 340.
In his Chronicon, Eusebius writes on the first
year of Trajan (A.D. 98) : " Irenauis states that
the Apostle John lived till the time of Trajan.
After him Papias of Hierapolis and Polycarp,
Bishop of the Province of the Smyrna_ans, were
recognised as his disciples.1' And after thc
seventh year of M. Aurelius (A.D. 167): "Per
secution attacking thc Church, Polycarp under
went martyrdom. His martyrdom is committed
to writing." '
In his Ecc. Hist. iii. 36, 3S ; iv. 14, 15, and v.
5 and 20, there are references to the life and
martyrdom of Polycarp. (Cf. pp. 9, 10, 11.)
X. In the Apostolical Constitutions, of un
certain date, but in parts probably of the fourth
century, there are three probable references to the
Epistle of Polycarp, chap. iv. : "Our widows must
be sober-minded . . . knowing that they are God's
altar" ; viz. in iii. 6 ; iii. 14, and iii. 26.

in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, etc." — Lightfoot
Apost. Fathers, II. i. p. 721.
1 This statement has been the main source of opinion
as to the date of the martyrdom. But it is to be observed
that it is placed not over against, but after, the date.
And there immediately follows a reference to the persecu
tions at Vienne and Lyons in A.D. 177. Eusebius does
not apparently mean to be more definite than that these
martyrdoms happened about this period. Sec p. 73, n.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

15

XI. Also of the latter part of the fourth
century is probably the groundwork, if not the
whole, of the fictitious Life of Polycarp, by
Pionius, which incorporates the Epistle. It was
published by the Bollandists in Latin, and
a Greek Text was edited from a MS. in the
Paris Library by Duchesne in 1S81.
XII. To these maybe added: St. Jerome, c.
A.D. 400, De Viris lllust. xvii.; Socrates, c. A.D.
440, Hist. Ecc. v. 22 ; Sozomen, c. A.D. 455, Hist.
Ecc. vii. 19 ; Theodoret, A.D. 446, Ef. cxlv. ; and,
somewhat later, Antiochus of St. Saba, c. A.D. 6io,
as pointed out by Dr. Cotterill. (Cf. p. 18.)
The evidence of quotation and reference is
therefore strong ; far stronger than can be
adduced for the genuineness of some of the most
generally accepted classics. " To the concurrent
testimony of antiquity," says Bishop Lightfoot
(Apost. Fathers, II. i. p. 582), "there is no dis
sentient voice."

16

ST. POLYCARP

II
INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF THE GENUINENESS
OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS
I. The style and composition are such as
might be expected from a writer of deep personal
piety and of familiarity with the Scriptures of the
Church. II. The position of influence implied is exactly
what might be expected in the case of a favourite
pupil of St. John.
III. There is no trace of anachronism ; of tone
of thought or allusion proper to, or specially
characteristic of, a later date.1
1 An attempt has been made to show that the condem
nation of heresy in § vii. refers to the Docetism of Marcion,
who did not become notorious till the reign of Antoninus
Pius, and was probably a small boy at the date of the
Epistle. But it has been replied (cf. Bishop Lightfoot,
Apost. Fathers, II. i. p. 5S5) that the assumption that
Marcion is aimed at is as improbable as it is gratuitous :
" not only is there nothing specially characteristic of
Marcion in thc heresy or heresies denounced by Polycarp,
but some of thc charges are quite inapplicable to him."

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

17

IV. Opponents of the genuineness of the
Ignatian letters, with the questions touching
which the defence of the Epistle of Polycarp is
closely connected, have attributed both the Ig
natian Letters and the Letter of Polycarp to
one and the same imaginary forger.
Thc refutation of any such theory of common
authorship lies in the fact of thc obvious points
of contrast marking thc two works, a contrast,
as Bishop Lightfoot remarks [/. c. p. 594], " more
striking indeed than we should have expected to
find between two Christian writers who lived at
the same time, and were personally acquainted
with each other." Among these points are :
(a) Scripture. The one short Letter of Poly
carp contains much more quotation of the New
Testament than the seven Letters of Ignatius,
and where Ignatius does show familiarity with
the New Testament it is mainly by allusion and
turn of phrase. On the other hand, some
students would go so far (e. g. Funk, Die Eelitlieit
der Ignatianischen Briefe, p. 34, quoted by Light
foot) as to reckon thirty-five direct quotations
from the New Testament in Polycarp, twenty-
two being from Apostolic Epistles.
(/3) Doctrine. St. Polycarp is rather hortatory
than didactic. In St. Ignatius we have plain
statements as to the Incarnation, the real man-
]_

ST. POLYCARP

hood, and the two natures of the Lord, and the
Sacrament of the Eucharist, as in Eph. vi, xiii.
xx. ; Magn. vii. ; Trail, viii. ; Philad. iv. etc.
Nothing ofthe kind occurs in Polycarp.
(y) The Church and Church Organisation.
St. Ignatius is strong on the unity of the Church
and the Episcopate. St. Polycarp is silent as to
unity, and only implies the Episcopate in his
salutation, " Polycarp and the Presbyters with
him." V. In the Journal of Philology, vol. xix. pp.
241-285, Dr. Cotterill argued that Antiochus,
monk of Santa Saba, early in the seventh century,
whose Homilies (Migne, Greek Fathers, lxxxix.)
contain portions of the Epistle, was probably
himself the author of the Epistle of Polycarp.
This novel theory has been elaborately refuted
by Dr. C. Taylor, Master of St. John's College,
Cambridge, in the Journal of Philology, vol. xx.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

19

III

INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF THE GENUINENESS
OF THE LETTER OF THE SMYRN/EANS ON
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. POLYCARP
THE narrative professes to be that of contem
poraries and eye-witnesses. Do the contents of
the document afford indications that it was the
composition of a later date, more or less fabulous
and legendary? The grounds on which some
critics x have given an affirmative answer to this
challenge are :
I. The miraculous element. Look, it has been
said, at the dove (§ xvi.) issuing from the wound
in the side, and at the flames (§ xv.) refusing to
consume. What of the fragrance floating from
the pyre? On these points see notes to the
sections referred to.
II. Apparent anachronisms, e.g, thc reverence
paid to martyrs and their relics. On this too see
1 e.g. Keim, who would place its date as late as
a.d. 260-2S2 (Aus dan Urchristcnthuni, p. 130).

20

ST. POLYCARP

note on § xvii., and observe with Bishop Light
foot, how only " half a century later Tertullian
uses language which shows that the ceremonial
commemoration of the dead was far more
developed than as here represented." — Dc Coron.
iii. III. The use of the phrase " Catholic Church,"
supposed to indicate a later date than A.D. 155.
Why ? liven if thc word be genuine in § xvi.
Where Polycarp is described in the Common
Text as "Bishop of the Catholic Church in
Smyrna,' and the distinctive title be used to
distinguish the Catholic Church from heretical
sects, why not ? There were already heretical
sects, and there are almost contemporary in
stances of the use of the word Catholic in this
sense (e.g. Clement of Alexandria, Strom, vii. 17).
IV. A subtler objection has been the appar
ently artificial character of the incidents recorded
as parallel to those of the Passion of our Lord.
Attention is specially called to the prediction of
death three days after apprehension (§ v.), to the
name of the officer " Hcrodes '' (§ vi.), to the
treachery of one of the household (§ vi.), to the
apprehension near the city (§§ v., vi.), at night
(§ vii.), as a robber (§ vii.), to the words of
resignation," God's will be done"(§ vii.), and to
the piercing of thc body (§ xvi.).

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

21

But these are all natural and likely circum
stances, and the tendency to group and represent
them as reminders of the Passion of our Lord
was so inevitable in the case of early martyrdoms
as to call for no special remark. Obviously a
fable-monger free to invent might have invented
better coincidences than these. " The most
striking coincidence,1' says Bishop Lightfoot, " is
the name Herodes ; but this name was sufficiently
frequent in Polycarp's time, and there is only a
faint resemblance between the position of the
Smyrnzean captain of police, who takes Polycarp
into custody, and the Galilean King, whose part
in the Passion was confined to insolent mockery,
and who pronounced Jesus innocent of the
charges brought against him. Here again a
fabricator would have secured a better parallel.
We may say generally that the violence of the
parallelism is a guarantee of the accuracy of the
facts." — Bishop Lightfoot, Apost. Fathers, II. i.
613, 614.

22

ST. POLYCARP

IV
LIFE OF ST. POLYCARP
Extant genuine authorities for the life of Poly-
carpus,1 or Polycarp, of Smyrna, are confined to
the passages already cited, and to materials to
be gathered from the Letter of Polycarp and the
Letter of the Smyrnaeans.
The Pionian "Life," referred to on p. 15,1s
plainly unauthentic. It deals largely with" a
fantastic supernaturalism, quotes non-existent
documents, and cannot be relied on. It may,
however, preserve some true traditions. It relates
how Polycarp was a little slave-boy, bought and
brought up by a pious and wealthy widow
named Callisto, who eventually made him her
steward. He was ordained Deacon by Bucolos
(a personage of possible historical character, and
perhaps appointed Bishop of Smyrna by St.
John), Bishop of Smyrna, who loved him as a
1 The name Polycarpus, Uo\vKap-n-os, = fruitful, pro
ductive. Cf. Hom. Od. vii. 122, xxiv. 221. It was a
common slave's name ; a Graffito at Pompeii advertises
' Polycarpus fugit.'

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

23

son. That he wrote " many " treatises, sermons
and letters, all destroyed by his persecutors
about the time of the martyrdom, is improbable,
for his extant Epistle gives no indications of
practice in literary composition. But it may
well have been one among several.1
The representation that he was a man of
property is corroborated by the mention of the
slave lads in the Letter of the Smyrna_ans (§ vi.),
and by the probability that the homestead where
he was arrested, and where he offered hospitality
to the imperial officers, was his own (§§ vi., vii.).
Was Polycarp a married man ? This has
been both asserted and denied on equally in
sufficient evidence. Ignatius in his Letter to
Polycarp (§ v.) has been supposed to urge any
one professing virginity to beware of arrogance,
lest by acquiring greater fame than the Bishop he
be ifso facto defiled ; and so to imply that thc
Bishop was not a celibate. But the true render
ing of the passage is almost certainly not " if he
become known beyond the Bishop " but " if it
become known," i. e. if the profession of virginity
go beyond the ears of the Bishop. Again, the
fact that Alee is saluted in the Letter of Ignatius
to Polycarp (§ viii.) and in that to the Smyrn_eans
(§ xiii.) is manifestly a slender support for the
conjecture that she was Polycarp's wife. But as
1 Cf. Euseb. Hist. Ecc. v. 20, quoted on p. 1 2.

24

ST. POLYCARP

the marriage of the clergy was not yet seriously
objected to in the second century either in East
or West, there is no reason why Polycarp may
not have lived in wedlock.
Of friendship with other Saints there is little
to be said. His most famous contemporaries
were Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch,
and Papias of the Phrygian Hierapolis. The
first died long before Polycarp's visit to Rome,
and it is not likely that these two great fathers
ever met, but Polycarp shows himself familiar
with Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians.
The statement of Irenaeus (Adv. Hccr. v. 33, § 4)
that Papias was a " scholar of John and a com
panion of Polycarp " may be only an inference
of the writer, but whatever may have been the
earlier associations, it is unlikely that Polycarpand
Papias, living only some hundred-and-fifty miles
apart, should not have been in communication.
St. Polycarp is commemorated on January 26
in the Roman, Spanish, and German Calendars,
probably from a confusion in Western Calendars
between the great saint and two others of the
same name. His name does not appear in the
Sarum, Scottish, and old English lists. In the
menology of Basil and in the Byzantine Calendar,
as in the ancient Syriac martyrology of c. A.D.
350, it marks Feb. 23.1
1 Cf. note on the Letter ofthe Sn.yrn.eans, xxi. p. 73.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

25

V
MSS. AND VERSIONS >
(i) Of the Epistle of Polycarp.
r. MSS. Thc main authorities are :
Vaticanus (V.), eleventh century, containing among
various patristic tracts and sermons the Ignatian
Letters as well as the Epistle of Polycarp.
Ottobonianus (0.), in the Vatican Lib- .

all
. derived from V.

rary, sixteenth century.
3. Florentine (F.), in the Laurentian Lib
rary at Florence, sixteenth century.
4. Parisiensis (P.), sixteenth century.
5. Casanatensis (C), in the Library of the Minerva
at Rome, qy. fifteenth century, containing
Epistles of Polycarp and Barnabas.
6. Barberinus (B.), in the Barberini Library at Rome,
sixteenth century.
7. Neapolitans (N.), a paper MS. of the fifteenth
century, in the National Library at Naples.
b. Versions. The oldest MS. of the Latin Version
is not older than the ninth century. The translation
into Latin is loose and indicative of corruption in the
original. There is no known Syriac version,

26

ST. POLYCARP

(ii) Of the Letter of the Smyrnseans.
a. MSS.
i. Mosquensis (M.), thirteenth century, in the Library
of the Holy Synod at Moscow. Greek.
2. Baroccianus, of thc eleventh century, imperfect :
in thc Bodleian, Greek.
3. Paris, tenth century. Greek.
4. Vindobonensis, twelfth century, at Vienna. Greek.
5. Jerusalem, tenth century. Greek.
b. Versions.
Latin, various. See Harnack, Die Zeitdes Ignatius,
pp. 77, et seq., and Lightfoot, Apost. Fathers, II. iii.
P- 353.
There is a Syriac version in the British Museum,
and a Coptic in the Vatican, both being derived from
Eusebius, and not from the actual Letter.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

27

VI
SUGGESTED CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

.A.I).

Emperor., of Rome.

EvcnK.

Polycarp.

55

Nero Imp.





59

—

—

? Birth.

68

Galba Imp.

Martyrdom of Si.
Paul.

69

Otlio, Vitellius \
Vespasian, Imp. /

—

? Birth. Baptism.

—

70

—

Capture of Jera-

—

salem.
—
79
Titus Imp.
—
—
Si
Domilian Imp.
—
—
96
Nerva Imp.
—
9S
Trajan Imp.
?Ep. of St. Cle
ment.
—
t. 99
—
Death of St. Cle
ment.
Bishop of Smyrna.
e. 100
— .
Death of St. Jolm.
—
t: no
—
Martyrdom of St.
Ignatius.
Ep. to Philippians.
117
Hadrian Imp.
—
—
138
Antoninus Pius
Imp.
—
—
c. 150
Hermas writes the
"Shepherd."
155
—
—
Visit to Rome.
155
—
—
Martyrdom, Feb. 23.
156
—
—
Letter of Smyr-
nceaus.
28

ST. POLYCARP

VII
THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE
PHILIPPIANS
POLYCARP and the Presbyters that arc with
him 1 to the Church of God that is sojourning 2
at Philippi, mercy to you and peace from Al
mighty God and Jesus Christ our Saviour " be
multiplied" (i Pet. i. 2 ; 2 Pet. i. 2 ; Jude 2).
1 The Bishop associates himself with his presbyters.
St. Paul, writing to the same Church some forty-eight years
earlier, salutes the Saints, " with the bishops and deacons,"
"Episcopus" in A.D. 62 being a title used of presbyters ;
by a.d. no it is confined to the "distinguished men"
(Clem. CV.xliv.) who have succeeded the Apostles in the
special functions of ordaining, confirming, and ruling. So
Bishop Lightfoot, " Polycarp evidently writes here as a
bishop in thc later and fuller sense of the title, surrounded
by his Council of presbyters."
2 Sojourning. The Greek word is first so used by St.
Clement (Cor.), and became general. The correlative
substantive paroikia originally meant place of sojourning
for the local Church and bishop, and so was equivalent to
our diocese. Hence through the Latin parochia and the
French paroisse it passed into our parish. The familiar
word will remind dwellers in the " parish " that, like
Abraham (Heb. xi. 9), they "sojourn in a land of
promise." Cf. note on p. 4S.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

29

I. I rejoiced greatly with you in our Lord
Jesus Christ on your receiving the copies l of the
true Love, and escorting on their way, as it fell
to your lot to do,2 thc men enwrapped in their
chains,3 seemly ornament of Saints, in that
they are diadems of them that are truly chosen
by God and by our Lord ; i and because the
firm root of your faith, proclaimed from times of
old,5 abides unto this present time, and " brings
forth fruit '' (Col. i. 6) unto our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Counterfeits, in a good sense : the word mi me ma is
a correlative of that rendered "followers" or "imitators"
in R. V. 1 Cor. iv. 16; Eph. v. 1 ; 1 Thess. i. 6, ii. 14;
Heb. vi. 12, and I Pet. iii. 13.
2 Bishop Lightfoot translates "as befitted you," but
this is not quite the force of the word rightly rendered in
his notes "it pertaineth to you"; it is the word describ
ing the portion of goods that "fell" to the prodigal
(Luke xv. 12).
3 Probably Ignatius, Zosimus, and Rufus (cf. cap. ix.).
4 The red dragon ofthe Apocalypse had seven "diadems"
upon his heads (Rev. xii. 3), and so the beast out of the
sea (Rev. xiii. 1). The Rider on the white horse (Rev.
xix. 12) had on his head many "diadems." The word
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. In Clem.
Hom. xii. 20, Truth is the "diadem" of thc everlasting
Kingdom. Cf. Hermas, Mand. xii. 25, for the " crowning."
"Nothing in this exordium is commonplace" (Taylor).
r' .'. c. from thc earliest days of the spread of thc Gospel.
-Cf. Phil. iv. 15, and chap. vii. p. 39. "This excellent
summary of faith," /. e. Acts xvi. 31, "we find also but with
a very little paraphrase propounded as sufficient by St.

3o

ST. POLYCARP

Who endured to come so far as to death for our
sins, Whom God raised, " having loosed the pains of
death " (Acts ii. 24), in " whom, not having seen,
ye " trust " with joy unspeakable and full of glory"
(1 Pet. i. 8). Into this joy many long to enter,
knowing that x " by grace ye are saved," " not of
works " (Eph. ii. 5, 8, 9), but by God's will through
Jesus Christ.
II. Therefore "Gird up" your "loins" (1 Pet.
i. 13) and " serve " God " in fear " (Ps. ii. 1 1) and
truth ; leave the vain talking 2 and the error of
the many ; " trust in God Who raised " our Lord
Jesus Christ "from the dead, and gave Him glory"
(1 Pet. i. 21) and a Throne on His right hand ;
to Whom were subjected all things in heaven
and on earth s ; Whom " everything that hath
breath " 4 (Ps. cl. 6) serves ; Who is coming as
" Judge of quick and dead " (Acts x. 42) ; Whose
blood God will require of them that disobey
Him. But He that raised Him from the dead

Polycarp in that excellent epistle of his to the Philip
pians." — Jer. Taylor, Duct. Dub. ii. 3, § 67.
1 Bishop Lightfoot points out that by this phrase Poly
carp seems to introduce quotations. Cf. chapters iv. v. vi.
2 The original is rendered in 1 Tim. i. 6 in A. V. " vain
jangling," and in R. V. as above.
:l Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 28 ; Phil. ii. 10, and iii. 21.
1 Cf. r Kings xv. 29, LXX.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

31

will raise us also,1 if we do His will and walk
in His commandments, and love what He
loved, holding off from all unrighteousness,
covetousness, love of money,2 backbiting, false
witness, " not rendering evil for evil or railing for
railing " (1 Pet. iii. 9), or cuff3 for cuff, or curse
for curse, remembering what thc Lord said,
teaching "Judge not, that ye be not judged"
(Matt. vii. 1); forgive and it shall be forgiven
unto you ; be ye merciful, that ye be shewn
mercy ; i " With what measure ye mete it shall be
measured to you again '' (Matt. vii. 2) ; and
" Blessed are the poor " (Matt. v. 3) and they that
are being "persecuted for righteousness sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of God"5 (Matt. v. 10).
III. Not, brethren, in concession to my own

1 Cf. 2 Cor. iv. 14.
2 The original occurs in the New Testament only in
1 Tim. vi. 10.
3 The original (ypavOos) is a late word fovfst, and so a
blow with the fist.
4 These charges do not verbally tally with the canoni
cal gospels, but convey thc sense of Malt. vi. 14, and Luke
vi. 36, though the word rendered " merciful " is not the
same as Polycarp's. They may preserve sayings not
recorded in Scripture.
5 In Matt. v. 10 our Lord uses the perfect tense, Blessed
are ihey which Aavr been persecuted, as in Revised Ver
sion. The blessing comes after the faithful endurance of
persecution. Polycarp's present tense conveys his thought

32 ST. POLYCARr
inclination, but because you challenged me,1 am
I writing to you concerning righteousness. For
neither have I nor has any other like me ability to
follow hard on the wisdom 2 of the blessed and
glorious Paul, who, when he had come among you,
in thc presence of them of that time,3 taught ac
curately and constantly the word of truth4 and,
when absent/' wrote to you letters," into which if
you examine carefully you will be enabled to be

of a blessing even in persecution. Observe the omission
of " in spirit " after " poor," and the substitution of " God "
for " heaven " as in Luke vi. 20. " In selecting these two
beatitudes Polycarp is guided by the fact that to these
two alone the promise of the kingdom of heaven is
attached" (Bishop Lightfoot).
1 Polycarp would have been too modest to exhort the
Philippians had they not asked for his exhortation. The
reading irpot-treKaktoadi, challenged, is supported by the
Latin provocastis, and is unobjectionable Greek. There
is MS. authority for irpoivriKaKiaaBi, literally, bespattered
with mud, or reproached, a dubious grammatical form.
-1 The Philippians have a p.e-eminent counsellor in
St. Paul. Cf. 2 Pet. iii. 15.
i.e. A.t>. 52.
¦' Lit. thc word concerning truth ; i. e. the true doctrine.
"• Cf. 2 Cor. x. 1.
0 The plural may indicate an impression on Polycarp's
part that the Philippians were in possession of more than
one letter from St. Paul addressed to their Church. But
the use of the plural to designate a single letter is not
infrequent, e.g Eurip. I. A. in.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

33

built up into the faith given to you, "which is
the Mother of us all " 1 (Gal. iv. 26), with hope fol
lowing after, and love towards God and Christ
and our neighbour going before.2 For if any one
be surrounded by, and occupied in,3 these, he
hath fulfilled (Rom. xiii. 8 and Gal. v. 14) the
commandment of righteousness. For he that
hath love is far from all sin.4
IV. Now love of money is thc beginning of
all difficulties.5 Knowing ° then that " we brought
nothing into the world" and "neither can we carry
anything out" (1 Tim. vi. 7), let us arm our
selves with " the arms of righteousness"7 (2 Cor. vi.
7), and teach ourselves first to walk in the
1 The coincidence may be merely verbal and fortuitous.
Jacobson, Lightfoot and others quote The Martyrdom of
fustin, % iv., " Our true Father is thc Christ, and our
mother our faith in Him." Cf. Hermas, Vis. viii. 2-6,
where Faith is mother and ancestress of Virtues.
2 .'. e. before Hope. After Faith comes Hope preceded
by Charity. Faith begets Charity or Love, and Hope
follows. Cf. 1 Thess. i. 3 and Col. i. 4, 5. In 1 Cor. xiii. 13
Charity comes last as being the permanent survivor of the
Great Three.
3 Lit. "be within these." Bishop Lightfoot compares
Plutarch, Vit. Horn. 6, " within," /'. c. " occupied in every
science and art." Cf. Horace's " totus in illis," Sat. i. ix. 1.
4 Cf. Rom. xiii. 10. r' Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 10.
Cf. p. 30, note.
7 Cf. Rom. vi. 13, where our members arc to be "in
struments" or ''weapons' (R. V. marg.) of righteousness.

34

ST. POLYCARP

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

35

commandment of the Lord ; next also your
wives, in the faith given unto them, and in love
and in chastity, cherishing 1 their own husbands
in all truth,2 and loving all men alike in all con-
tinency, to train up their children too in thc
training of thc fear of the Lord. [Let us teach]
thc widows too to be temperate3 concerning the
faith of the Lord, making supplication unceas
ingly for all, being far removed from all calumny,
backbiting, false witness, love of money, and
every evil ; knowing that they are God's Altar,4
1 The original word does not occur in the New
Testament, but is frequent in classical Greek for family
affection. Cf. Clem. Cor. i
2 i. e. with true, faithful affection.
3 " Their religion must not be a frenzy of fanaticism,
but a calm confidence" (Lightfoot). Cf. i Tim. iii. ii
and v. 5.
4 The word in the original, thysiasterion ( = place of
sacrifice, whether bloody or unbloody), is the regular
LXX. and New Testament term for the altar used in
the worship of Jehovah. Its more extended use in the
literature of the Church begins with the famous passage
in Heb. xiii. 10, "we have an altar.'1 Bishop Lightfoot
compares Tertullian ad Ux. i. 7 : " Cum viduam adlegi
in ordinem, nisi univiram, non concedat ; aram enim
Uci mundam proponi oportet." For figurative uses of
the word in the Ignatian letters, see Eph. 5, Mag. 7,
Trail. 7, Rom. 2, and Philad. 4. "They themselves are
thc altar ; their thoughts, words, and deeds, more especi
ally their prayers, arc thc sacrifices offered" (Lightfoot).
Cf. also Introduction, pp. 8, 14.

and that all things are examined to see if there
be blemish in them, and that there is hid from
Him nor thought nor intention nor any of "the
secrets of our heart" (1 Cor. xiv. 25).
V. Knowing1 then that "God is not mocked"
(Gal. vi. 7), we ought to walk worthily of His
commandment and glory.2 In like manner
should the deacons be blameless before His
righteousness, as deacons of God and Christ,
and not of men ; not slanderers, not double-
tongued,3 not lovers of money, continent in all
things, tender-hearted,4 careful, walking accord
ing to the truth of the Lord, Who was made
" deacon " 6 of all. /To Him if we be well pleas
ing in this present world we shall also receive
as our reward the world to come, in accordance
with His promise to us to raise us from the
dead, and because, if our conversation6 be
worthy of Him, " we shall also reign with Him " 7
1 Cf. note on p. 30.
2 Cf. 1 Thess. ii. 12, and Herm. Vis. i. and iii.
3 Bishop Lightfoot prefers "tale-bearers." Cf. 1 Tim.
iii. 1— 13.
4 Cf. Eph. iv. 32, and Hermas, Sim. ix. 24, 2.
5 The paronomasia is lost in the rendering "minister"
or "servant." Cf. Matt. xx. 28, and Mark ix. 35.
0 Phil. i. 27 ; cf. Clem. Cor. 21.
7 St. Paul here seems to have quoted some primitive
hymn or formula. Cf. Alford in loc. 1 Tim. iii. 16 may
be another such citation.

36

ST. POLYCARP

(2 Tim. ii. 12), if indeed we believe. In like
manner let the younger men be blameless in
all things, above everything taking heed for
purity, bridling1 themselves from every evil.
For it is good to be checked from following2
the lusts in the world, for every lust warreth
against the Spirit,3 and "neither fornicators nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind
shall inherit the kingdom of God " (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10),
nor they that do iniquity. Wherefore they are
bound to abstain from all these things, being
subject to the presbyters and deacons 4 as to God
and Christ. And the virgins must walk in a
blameless and pure conscience.
VI. And that the presbyters be tender-
1 Cf. Jas. i. 26, iii. 2.
2 Cf. Gal. v. 7 ; the word rendered " hinder."
3 Cf. 1 John ii. 15, 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 11, and Gal. v. 17.
4 Bishop Lightfoot contrasts Ign. Mag. vi. where the
supreme authority is vested in the Bishop. " Either,
therefore, there was no Bishop at Philippi when Polycarp
wrote, or Polycarp did not think fit to separate his claims to
allegiance from this of the presbyters." Yet if the moral
conduct of the younger men came naturally more imme
diately under thc supervision of the presbyters Polycarp
might as naturally recommend obedience to them ; omis
sion of mention of thc Bishop would tell as little for or
against the presence of a Bishop at Philippi as a similar
admonition in Lite young men of London would prove or
disprove the existence of a Bishop of London.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

I?

hearted,1 compassionate to all, turning home
ward the strayed sheep, visiting all that are
sick, nqt neglecting widow or orphan or poor
man, but providing ever what is good before
God and man,2 abstaining from all wrath, respect
of persons, unjust judgment, being far removed
from all love of money, not quickly believing
anything against any one, not hasty in judg
ment, knowing that wc are all debtors of sin.3
If then we ask of the Lord to forgive us, wc
ought also to forgive.4 For wc are before the "
eyes of the Lord and God, and we must "all
stand before the judgment seatof Christ"5 (Rom. xiv.
10), and give each an account for himself.6 Thus
then let us serve Him with fear and reverence 7 as
He Himself charged us, and the Apostles who
evangelized us 8 and the prophets who preached
beforehand the coming of our Lord, zealous
1 Cf. note on § v. 2 Cf. 2 Cor. viii. 21.
3 "The meaning seems to be, we have contracted
obligations of sin. Cf. Rom. iii. 9" (Lightfoot). The
phrase "knowing that" may indicate a quotation. Cf.
note on p. 30. 4 Cf. Matt. vi. 12, 14, 15.
5 R. V. follows the reading " of God " with the over
whelming support of A, B, C1, D, E, F, G. Polycarp may
rather have in mind 2 Cor. v. 10.
0 Cf. Rom. xiv. 12. 7 Cf. Heb. xii. 28.
8 On the direct instruction of Polycarp by St. John and
his being established by apostolic authority in Smyrna,
see Introduction, p. 11.

33

ST. POLYCARP

for what is good,1 abstaining from things which
make to offend, and from false brethren and
from them that bear thc name of the Lord in
hypocrisy,2 who make vain men to erj\
VII. "For every one that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is anti-Christ " 3
(i John iv. 3). And whosoever confesseth not
the witness of thc Cross is of the devil,4 and
whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord 6 to
. 1 Cf. 1 Pet. iii. 13, R. V, and Tit. ii. 14.
2 Cf. 1 Tim. iv. 2 ; and Hermas, Sim. ix. 13, 2.
3 The verbal difference is so slight that this might be
taken as a direct quotation ; at the same time it will be
remembered that Polycarp was steeped in the verbal
teaching of St. John, and this was no doubt an oft re
peated saying. Belief in the incarnation is the " arti-
culus " not only " stantis vel cadentis ecclesia?," but of
the state of the individual, and this whether its denial
appear in the docetism of the sub-apostolic age, or
in the humanitarianism of the nineteenth century.
4 The witness of the Cross is probably the witness or
testimony borne by the Cross, i. e. the evidence furnished
by the incidents of the Passion. " Perhaps it refers especi
ally to the piercing ofthe side, and the issue of the blood
and water (J ohn xix. 34) as a proof of the reality of Christ's
crucified body" (Lightfoot). Cf. also 1 John iii. 8.
5 The word translated oracles, i.e. logia, occurs four times
in Scripture. In Acts vii. 38 St. Stephen speaks of
Moses receiving "lively oracles," the living words of the
Decalogue. In Rom. iii. 2 tlie Jews are said to have
been entrusted with thc oracles or words of God. In
Heb. v. 12 they "have need that one teach them again

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

39

his own lusts, and says that there is neither
resurrection nor judgment, this man is the first
begotten of Satan.1 Wherefore let us leave thc
vanity2 of thc many, and their false teaching,
and let us turn to the word delivered to us from

the first principles of the oracles of God," and St.
Peter in 1 Pet. iv. 11, writes— "If any speak let it be as
the oracles of God." None of these instances bear out
the restricted meaning which has been attached to the
word by those who understand thc work of Papias men
tioned by Eusebius (Ecc. Hist. iii. 39) to be an exegesis
not of the Gospels but of bare sayings of our Lord, and
has become popularised by the publication in 1 897 of the
fragments of sayings of Jesus discovered at Oxyrhynchus
under the title "Logia." Bishop Lightfoot remarks that
" it was natural that Polycarp, who had conversed with
Apostles and personal disciples of Christ, should, like
Papias, refer to our Lord's discourses as Logia, which
might include oral traditions." But there is no strong
leason for supposing that Logia is not used by Polycarp
in the wider and more general sense of Gospel teaching.
On the usage and meaning of the word cf. my note on
Theodoret, Ecc. Hist., p. 155, and Dr. Salmon's Introduc
tion to thc study of thc New Testament, p. 95, et seq.
1 The expression said by Irena_us to be used by
Polycarp of Marcion (Irena_us, Hier. iii. 3, and Euseb.
Hist. Ecc. iii. 39). Cf. pp. 9, 10.
2 The word occurs in Rom. viii. 20,'Eph. iv. 17, and 2
Pet. ii. 18, and is the Greek ofthe LXX. for the familiar
" Vanity of vanities " of lice, ami has been popularised
in Thackeray's ¦' mataiotcs mutauteton " in the poem
'Vanitas Vanitatum.'

40

ST. POLYCARP

the beginning,1 "watching unto prayer"2 (i Pet.
iv. 7), continuing in fastings, in supplications
asking the all-seeing God3 not to "lead us into
temptation" (Matt. vi. 13; Luke xi. 4), as the
Lord said, " The Spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak " 4 (Matt. xxvi. 41 and Mark xiv. 38).
VIII. Unfailingly then let us continue in our
hope, and in the pledge 5 of our righteousness,
which is Christ Jesus, " Who bare our sins in His
1 i.e. the "faith once delivered to the Saints" of
Jude 3 (cf. chap. i. p. 29). Already the Church is con
fronted with the two notions of development which have
been from time to time among her main difficulties ;
(i) the suggestion from without that the Catholic Faith
is only the development of a legend, (ii) the suggestion
from within that grotesque accretions are the natural
development of healthy growth.
2 Though the present participle is substituted for the
i. Aor. Imperative, and we have a slight variation in the
phrase, this may be reckoned as a quotation. The verb
in the original means to "be sober," and the word
rendered in A. V. " Be ye sober," to be temperate ; R. V.
"Be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto
prayer." 3 Cf. Clem. Cor. §§ lv. and lxiv.
4 Observe the connection in the mind of the writer
between the clause of the Lord's Prayer, and the end
urged for prayer in Matt. xxvi. 41. Cf. Hermas, Vis. iii. 10.
6 Cf. 2 Cor. i. 22 and v. 5, and Eph. i. 14. The original
word arrabon represents the Hebrew of Gen. xxxviii. 17,
18, and passed into Latin as arrabo and arra, meaning a
sum paid down as earnest of the completion of a bargain.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

41

own1 body on the tree" (1 Pet. ii. 24), "Who did
no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth "
(1 Pet. ii. 22), but on our account, that we may
live in Him who endured all things. Let us then
become imitators of His patience, and if we be
suffering on account of His name, let us glorify
Him.2 For this example 3 He appointed for us
through Himself,4 and this was thc profession of
our faith.
IX. I therefore call on you all to obey the
"word of righteousness "(Heb. v. 13) and to practise
all patience. This patience you saw-face to face
not only in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus
and Rufus,6 but also in others of your own
It survives in thc French " arrhes " and the Scotch •• aries."
Christ's victory over sin and death are as it were the
pledge and earnest ofthe victory of redeemed humanity.
1 An infinitcsimally small variation here.
2 Hermas, Sim. ix. 28, 5, "And you who suffer for
His name's sake ought to glorify God ;" and Sim. vi. 3, 6,
" They glorify God in that they were delivered unto me
and suffer no longer anything of the evil." Cf. 1 Pet iv
16. 3 The word in 1 Pet. ii. 21, used only there in the New
Testament. Cf. Clem, ad Cor. v. ad finem.
4 "In His own person," Lightfoot, i.e. by means of
what He was and did.
Cf. Cap. 1. Probably the chained prisoners men
tioned there as escorted by the Philippians on the way to
Rome. It has been conjectured that Zosimus and Rufus
may have been among the Bithynian Christians sent by

42

ST. TOLYCARP

folk,1 and in Paul himself and the rest of the
Apostles. I call upon you as men persuaded that these
did not "run in vain" (Phil. ii. 16) but in faith
and righteousness, and that they are in the place
due to them2 by the side of theLord, Whose suffer
ings they shared.3 For they did not " love this
present world" (2 Tim. iv. 10), but Him Who
on our behalf died, and on our account by4
God 5 was raised.
X. In these things then stand, following the
example ofthe Lord, " steadfast " (1 Cor. xv. 58)
in the faith and " unmovable," " kindly affectioned
one to another with brotherly love " 6 (Rom. xii. 10),
Pliny to Rome. Pliny, Ep. 97, Zahn, Ignatius of Antioch,
p. 292, Lightfoot in loc. "The Rufus of Polycarp is pos
sibly the same who is mentioned in Rom. xvi. 13, and this
latter again may, with some degree of probability, be
identified with the son of Simon of Cyrene (Mark xv. 21);
but the name is not rare " (Lightfoot).
1 On early persecutions at Philippi cf. Phil, i 7, 28,
29, 30.
2 Cf. Clem, ad Cor. v., and for " with the Lord ' Phil.
i 23. 3 Cf. Rom. viii. 17.
4 Here the Greek MSS. fail, and the text is supplied
from Lat. translations and from quotations in Eusebius.
5 Cf. I gnat. Rom. vi.
0 Of course a conjecture, though almost certain con
jecture, of quotation : thc Lat. is " fraternitatis amatores
diligentes invicem."

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

43

partners in the truth, forestalling one another in
the gentleness of the Lord, despising no one.
While you arc able to do good x put it not off,
because "Almsgiving delivereth from death" (Tobit
iv. 10; xii. 9). "All of you be subject one to
another" (1 Pet. v. 5), " having your conversation "
blameless " among the Gentiles, in order that from
your good works" (1 Pet. ii. 12) both you may
receive praise, and your Lord may not be blas
phemed in you. But woe unto him by whom
the name of the Lord is blasphemed. Teach
therefore all men temperance, in which you your
selves have your conversation.
XI. I have been much distressed for Valens,2
who was once upon a time made a Presbyter
among you, that he should be so ignorant ofthe
place3 assigned him. I exhort you therefore
that ye abstain from covetousness, and that ye
be chaste and true. " Abstain from every evil "
(1 Thess. v. 22). How can he who is not able
1 Cf. Prov. iii. 28.
2 " The name Valens seems to have been common at
Philippi. It is found not less than four times on thc
tablets of one Latin inscription at this place. Corp. Insc.
Lat. iii. 633" (Lightfoot).
3 Locus, equivalent to the Greek topos, according to
Lightfoot having the sense of office. Cf. Acts i. 25,
where the better reading is "place of ministry." Wake
renders " the place given him in the Church."

44

ST. POLYCARP

to rule himself in these things preach this
to another? If any man have not abstained
from covetousness he shall be defiled by idolatry
and judged among the Gentiles, who have not
known the judgment of the Lord,1 or do we not
know that "the saints shall judge the world"
(i Cor. vi. 2), as Paul teacheth? Not that I
have perceived or heard of anything of this kind
in you among whom the blessed Paul laboured
and who were in the beginning 2 his " epistles "
(2 Cor. iii. 2). Concerning you he boasts in all
the Churches 3 which alone in those days had
known the Lord : for we had not yet known
Him.4 Deeply, brethren, am I grieved for him
1 Cf. Jer. v. 4.
2 The Latin is " qui estis in principio epistulae ejus.''
But this is almost certainly an error in translating the
vague participial form of the Greek. Cf. Lightfoot in loc.
For " the beginning * in the sense of the earliest days of
the Gospel cf. i. and note. Cf. also Phil. iv. 15.
3 Cf. 2 Thess. i. 4.
4 i.e. Smyrna contained no Christians in A.D. 52, when
thc Church of Philippi was founded, or in A.D. 53, when
the second Thessalonian Letter was written. " A few
years later, however (Rev. ii. S), there was an important
Church there. Probably the conversion of Smyrna, as of
Colossae, was an indirect consequence of St. Paul's long
sojourn at Ephesus. Cf. Acts xix. 10, 26" (Lightfoot). If
we take A.D. 1 55 as the date of Polycarp's martyrdom, his
own reckoning (Pol. Mart, ix.) will give 69 as a date by
which there was a Church in Smyrna.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

45

and for his wife. The Lord grant them genuine
repentance.1 Be ye too, therefore, moderate in
this matter, and "count not" folk of this sort as
"enemies" (2 Thess. iii. 15), but call them back as
weak 2 and wandering members, that you may
keep whole the body of you all,3 for thus doing
ye edify yourselves.
XII. For I am assured that you are well
trained in the Holy Scriptures, and that nothing
has escaped your attention. This has not been
granted to me.4 Only, as is said in these Scrip
tures, " Be ye angry and sin not " (Ps. iv. 4, LXX),
and " Let not the sun go down on your wrath"5
(Eph. iv. 26).
Happy is he who remembers, as I believe you
do. But God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the Eternal High Priest0 Himself,

1 Cf. 2 Tim. ii. 25.
2 Lat. passibilia= Grk. pathcia, applied in a different
sense to Christ in Acts xxvi. 23.
3 Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 26.
4 Polycarp has a modest estimate of his own knowledge
of the Scriptures. Yet his short letter shows considerable
acquaintance with them.
6 Here both Old and New Testaments together are ap
parently quoted as Scripture, though it may be contended
that the term applies only to the verse cited by St. Paul
from the Psalms.
" Cf. Pol. Mart. xiv. and the note ihcrc.

46

ST. POLYCARP

Jesus Christ the Son of God,1 edify you in
faith and truth and in all gentleness and meek
ness ; in forbearance, in long - suffering, in
patience, in purity ; may He grant you part and
lot among His Saints, and to us with you, and
to all under heaven which are ordained to
believe in our Lord and God Jesus Christ, and
in His Father "who raised Him from the dead"
(Gal. i. i; Col. ii. 12). "Pray for all Saints"
(Eph. vi. 18). Pray also for kings and for
powers aud rulers,2 and "for them that perse
cute '' and hate " yon " (Matt. v. 44), and for the
"enemies of the Cross" (Phil. iii. 18), that your
fruit may be manifest in all,3 that ye may be
perfect in Him.
XIII. Both you and Ignatius have written
to me that, if any one go to Syria,4 he is to con-
1 So the Latin Dei filius. Lightfoot, however, gives in
his Greek version the Greek equivalent not of " Son of
God," but of " God," following quotations in Timotheus
/Elurus and Severus of Antioch, and the analogy of the
reading "God was manifest in the flesh" in 1 Tim. iii.
r6 and "the only begotten God" in John i. 18.
2 1 Tim. ii. 1.
3 Cf. John xv. 16 and 1 Tim. iv. 15.
4 " There is no direct charge in ihe letter of Ignatius to
Polycarp that the Smyrna_an messenger should carry the
letter ofthe Philippians to Syria. If, therefore, Polycarp
has used ,i rigidly accurate expression here, it will be
necessary to suppose that Ignatius had written other

BISHOr OF SMYRNA

47

vey the letter also from you. I shall carry out
your wish, if I find a favourable opportunity ;
whether I go myself, or find some one to act the
envoy also for you. The letters 1 of Ignatius
sent to us by him, and all the rest which we had
by us, we have sent to you, as you enjoined.
They are attached to this letter. From them
you will be able to be greatly benefited, for they
embrace faith, patience, and every kind of edifi
cation which regards our Lord. If ye have any
more certain knowledge concerning Ignatius
himself, and those with him, inform us.
XIV. This letter I have written you by
Crescens,2 whom I but now commended to you,
instructions (no longer extant) to Polycarp — probably a
few lines by way of postscript to the letter of the Philip
pians. We may observe, however, (1) that Polycarp does
not separate the instructions of the Philippians from those
of Ignatius, but masses them together ; and (2) that
Ignatius, writing to Polycarp, does charge him generally
to place in the hands of the Sinyrn_ean delegate the
letters of divers Churches which were not able to send
messengers of their own. Polycarp, therefore, writing
loosely, might very naturally infuse thc instructions of
Ignatius into the request of the Philippians, as applying
indirectly to them, though not immediately referring to
them" (Lightfoot).
1 On the use of the plural for a single letter cf. note
on chap. iii. p. 32.
• Crescens may have been amanuensis, carrier, or
both. Forthe name cf. 2 Tim. iv. 10.

48

ST. POLYCARP

and am still commending ; for his conversation
with us was blameless, and so I believe * was his
conversation with you. His sister you shall
have commended to you when she comes to you.
Fare ye well in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
grace, with all yours. Amen.

1 Cf. 2 Tim. i

5-

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

49

VIII

THE LETTER OF THE SMYRN.EANS ON THE
MARTYRDOM OK POLVCAKI'
TllE Church of God sojourning at Smyrna to
thc Church of God sojourning1 at Philomelium,2
and to all the dioceses s of the Holy Catholic
Church4 in every place, mercy and peace and
love of God the Father and of our Lord Jesus
Christ be multiplied.5
1 Cf. the Salutation of the Letter of Polycarp.
2 Identified by Hamilton with the modern Akshehr, a
place in the plain to the north of the range north of thc
Pisidian Antioch. Cf. Ramsay, Hist. Geog. A. M. p. 140.
A Bishop of Philomelium appears at thc Council of Con
stantinople in 381, but between this and the date of the
Letter there is no mention of it in Christian literature.
3 Orig. "parishes." This Lightfoot translates "brother
hoods " and Wake " assemblies." Neither gives the force
of the word, which means " place or condition of sojourn
ing": wherever a Christian Church "sojourned", there
was aparcecia or diocese. Cf. note on Letter of Polycarp,
p. 28.
4 Cf. Ignat. ad Smyrn. viii., which is the earliest dated
document in which the phrase Catholic Church appears.
Cf. p. 20.
¦'' Cf. note on Salutation of ihe Letter of Polycarp. D

5o

ST. POLYCARP

I. We write to you, brethren, the events
which befell them that suffered martyrdom, and
the blessed Polycarp, who, as it were, by his
martyrdom set his seal upon the persecution,1
and put an end to it. For nearly all the pre
ceding events came to pass in order that to
us the Lord might once again give an example of
the martyrdom which resembles the Gospel
story.2 For he waited that he might be betrayed, just
as was the Lord, to the end that we too may
become imitators of Him, regarding not only
what concerns ourselves but also what concerns
our neighbours.3
For it is the part of true and constant love
that a man should wish not only himself, but
also all the brethren, to be saved.
II. Now blessed and noble4 were all the
martyrdoms which took place in accordance
with the will of God ; for we are bound to be
very reverent and to ascribe the power over all
things to God. And who could fail to marvel
1 i. c. thc persecution at Smyrna involving thc death
of Germanicus, Ouintus, nine nameless victims, and
Polycarp. 2 i. e. nearly all the circumstances of Polycarp's appre
hension corresponded with those of the Lord's Passion.
s Cf. Phil. ii. 4.
4 Cf. Clem, ad Cor. v. ; Mart. Ig. ii. and vii.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

5i

at their nobility, their endurance, their love for
their Master? Some were so torn by the
scourges l that the structure of their flesh to the
inner veins and arteries was exposed to view ;
but they endured it, so that even the bystanders
were moved to pity and lamentation. Some
reached such a pitch of noble endurance that
not one of them let cry or groan escape him,
while they showed to us all that tortured as they
were at that time Christ's martyrs were absent
from the flesh 2 ; or rather that standing by their
side their Lord v/as in close converse with them.
So, giving heed to the grace of Christ, they were
despising the torments of the world, redeeming
themselves at the cost of one short season from
everlasting punishment. Cold to them was the
fire of the inhuman tormentors ; for they kept
before their eyes their escape from the fire that
is everlasting and is never quenched, while with
the eyes of thc heart they looked up at the good
things reserved for them that have endured,
which "neither ear hath heard nor eye seen, neither
1 On thc "horribile flagcllum" of Roman torture cf.
Horace, Sat. I. iii. 119. The scourge was occasionally
fatal in its application. The verb translated "torn"
means literally "thoroughly carded." For its use of inT
jurioas violence to the human body cf. Eurip. Supp .
S03. '-' Cf. 2 Cor. v. 6.

52 ST. POLYCARP
have entered into the hearts of man ' (i Cor ii n
slightly varied), but were being shown by the
Lord to those who were now already no longer
men but angels. In like manner they that were f
condemned to the beasts underwent awful pi„J
.Muncnts, being made to lie on prickly shells'
ane buffeted 2 with various other forms of torture,
" the cn<\ th.it, if it were possible, by means of
ther protracted punishment they might be
turned to denial by him who was devising so
many wiles against them—the devil.
HI. But thanks be to God, for He verily
prevailed against all.3 For the right ^
1 Lit. "heralds," or "trumpeters," K,lpv£ being the
Greek name for a mollusc, Lat. the "b'LuumA^
was used as a means of torture. Eusebius in his narrat ve
ll:™z::ni ;;dds th,e cxpianatio11 "heraids <£*/
the sea. Sea-shells, potsherds and the like, appear not
unfrequently as instruments of torture in the accounts o
martyrdoms -.Act S Vincent. 7 ; Act. Tarach. PZefc.
(L_s^r Becte,0p- v-79°,ed- Migne"
xii2 "' ' PCt- iL 2°' as wel1 as ' Cor. iv. n, and 2 Cor.
J So Lightfoot, in accordance with the Latin "Gratia
domino nostro Jesu Christo qui contra omnes fidus servor-
um suorum defensor adsistit," and correcting the Greek
ov* not into oiv, «verily.' An alternative reading would
be to make the devil t^ subject of prevail, and to render
for he did not prevail against all ; i. e. he only prevailed
against one, Quintus turned renegade.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

53

Germanicus x by means of his endurance, turned
their cowardice into courage. With signal dis
tinction did he fight against the beasts. While
the Proconsul,2 wishful to persuade him, was
urging him to have compassion on his youth,
in his eagerness to be released thc sooner from
their unrighteous and careless mode of life he
used force to tlie wild beast and pulled it on
himself. Now it was on this that all the multi
tude, amazed at the noble conduct of the
Godbeloved and Godfearing race of the Chris
tians, shouted out, "Away with the Atheists.
Let search be made for Polycarp."
IV. But one of them, Quintus by name, a
Phrygian,3 lately arrived from his native
1 He is traditionally "the boy" Germanicus, cf. Euse
bius (Hist. Ecc. iv. 155), and Lightfoot, " the brave youth."
I do not know of any authority for this except the phrase
of Eusebius ; for the word i/Xncia, the term in the text of
the original for that which Germanicus should pitv, ren
dered by Lightfoot youth, might as well mean old a«e,
and is so used of Polycarp himself in chap. vii. The
Latin represents it by a-tas, which is equally indeterminate,
but more likely to stand for age than for youth.
2 For the official title of Acts xiii. 7, 8, 12 ; xix. 38, cr.
chap, xxi., where the name is given as Statins Quadratus.
3 The Phrygians were proverbially cowardsT So Ter
tullian, rfc Anim. xx. " Comici Phrygas timidos illudunt,"
and the proverb "more cowardly than a Phrygian hare."
Strab. I. ii. 30.

54

ST. POLYCARP

province, when he saw the beasts, was afraid.
It was he who had forced both himself and cer
tain others to come forward of their own accord
After very earnest entreaty he had been per
suaded by the Proconsul to take the oath and
offer incense. Now, brethren, we do not com
mend those who surrender themselves, for not
such is thc teaching ofthe Gospel.1
V. Now the most admirable Polycarp so soon
as he heard [that he was being sought for] at
first showed no dismay, but wished to remain in
town. The majority, however, prevailed on him
to withdraw. And withdraw he did, to a little
estate 2 not far from the city. There he spent
his time with a few companions, occupied night
and day in nothing but prayer for all men, and
for the Churches throughout the world,3 as indeed
1 Cf. Matt. x. 23 ; Johnvii. 30 ; viii. 59 ; x. 39. Lightfdot
quotes Zahn, " A communi prisca. ecclesias sententia Ter-
tullianus recessit cum fugiendum in persecutione non esse
studeret demonstrare." Tertullian's view was that our
Lord made only a special concession for special times
(de Fuga, 4). On the general opinion ofthe early Church
cf. Greg. Naz. Orat. i.; and Athanasius, Apol. de Fuga.
2 Probably his own property. The natural inference
from the narrative is that the property and slaves were
his own. "This supposition at all events agrees with
the old story that he possessed considerable property"
(Lightfoot). :' Cf. Pol. ad Philip, vi.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

SS

was his constant habit. And while praying
he fell into a trance three days before his
apprehension, and he saw his pillows being
burned by fire. And he turned and said to
them that were with him, " I must needs be
burned alive."
VI. Now his pursuers were persistent, so he
shifted his quarters to another farm. Then
straightway the pursuers arrived on the spot
and, on failing to find him, they seized two slave-
boys. One of these confessed under torture ;
for indeed it was impossible for him to evade
pursuit, since they that betrayed him were of
his own household. And the head of the
police,1 who, as it befell, bore the same name
[as'our Lord's judge], being called Herod, made
haste to bring him into the stadium, in order
that he might be made a partner of Christ, and
so fulfil his own appointed lot, and that his
betrayers might undergo the punishment of
Judas himself.
VII. Accordingly, having the lad with them,
on Friday at about supper-time forth sallied
1 Or "Peace magistrate," eipi7i'apx"c- ' The title appears
frequently in inscriptions. Vide Lightfoot in loc, who
says, "in some respects 'the High-Sheriff' would be a
nearer equivalent. Our phrase 'Justice of thc Peace'
is analogous." Cf. ' Friedensrichtcr' and ' Juge de Paix.'

56

ST. POLYCARP

constables x and mounted men, with their usual
equipment, hurrying as though "against a thief"
(Matt. xxvi. 55). Late in the day they came
up together and found him in a cottage lying in
an upper room. It was within his power to go
away thence to another place, but he refused to
do so, saying, "God's will be done."2 So, on
hearing of their arrival, he came clown and con
versed with them, they all the while wondering
at his age and his constancy, and at there being
so much ado about the arrest of such an old
man. Upon this he gave orders for something
to be served for them to eat and drink, at that
hour, as much as they would. He besought
them withal to give him an hour that he might
pray freely; and on their granting him this
boon he stood up 3 and prayed, being so full of

1 The word eiwypXTai or dtwyptirat, literally "pursuers,"'
had passed into a technical term for a kind of police.
So in Amm. MarceU., xxvii. 9 : " Semiermibus quos
diocmitas appellant." They were under thc orders of
thc eircnarch or justice of the peace. Cf. Lightfoot in loc,
2 Cf. Acts xxi. 14; Matt. vi. 10, xxvi. 42; Luke xxii.
42. 3 The original is a passive participle = " on being set
up." Cf. the Pharisee in Luke xviii. 11, where a formal
posture seems to be contrasted with the simpler " stand
ing" of the Publican. It is used of our Lord in Luke
xviii. 40, and of Zaccheus in Luke xix. 8.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

57

thc grace of God, that for the space of two hours
he could not hold his peace, while the hearers
were smitten with amazement, and many were
sorry that they had come after so venerable an
old man. i
VIII. After remembering all, both small and
great, high and low, who had ever been brought
into communication with him, and all the
Catholic Church throughout the world, at last
he brought his prayer to an end. The time had
come for him to depart. They set him on an
ass1 and brought him into the city, it being a
high Sabbath.2 He was met by the eirenarch
Herodes, and by his father, Nicetes,3 who shifted
him into their carriage,4 and tried to per
suade him as they sate by his side, urging,
" Why, what harm is there in saying Caesar is

1 Possibly a detail recorded because it helped to bear
out the idea of the martyrdom " according to the
Gospel." 2 Cf. note on Chap. xxi. p. 72.
1 "The name occurs more than once in the inscriptions
at Smyrna, and in the neighbourhood. Corp. Inscr.
Crcce. 3148, 3359- As it is not a common name until a
later date, this fact is not without its' value" (Light
foot). 4 Kapovxa — Lat. carruca, a conveyance of ceremony,
used on State occasions. Cf. Suet. Nero, 30, on Nero's
luxurious progresses.

58

ST. POLYCARP

Lord,1 and sacrificing,2 and thc rest of it, and so
saving thyself?" At first he made no reply,
but, as they were persistent, he said, " I do not
intend to do what you advise me." On their
failing to persuade him they began to use
terrible language and to drag him hurriedly
down, so that as he was getting down from thc
carriage he grazed his shin. Without turning
back, as though he had suffered no hurt, he
fared on with speed, and was conducted to the
stadium, where there was so great a tumult that
it was impossible for any one to be heard.
IX. Now as Polycarp was entering into the
stadium, there came a voice to him from heaven,
" Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." 3 The
i So in the Greek MSS. Eusebius has the vocative
" Lord Ca_sar," which is followed by Wake, and so the
Latin. Of course there was a sense in which Cffisar
might be called Lord with propriety, as Tertullian, Apol.
xxxiv " Dicam plane imperatorem dominum, sed more
communi, sed quando non cogor ut Dominum Dei vice
dicam," and Donata in the " Passion of the Sci l.tan
martyrs " (A.r, i3o), " Honour to Ca_sar as Ca,s ar but fear
to God " The singular number here and m Chap. ix. is in
favour of the martyrdom happening under the sole sove-
"f Te offe riSS^his use of the word illusti.tes
the fact that «. in Greek, like "sacrifice" m Enghsh,
does not necessarily mean "kill.' . .,/¦„„,
3 Cf. josh. i. 6, 7,9- The incident is cited by Lightfoot

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

59

speaker indeed no one saw, but the voice was
heard by those of our friends who were present.
Then he was dragged forward, and great was
the din of them that heard that Polycarp was
arrested. So he was brought before thc Pro
consul,1 who asked him if he were the man him
self? He assented, and the Proconsul tried to
persuade him, urging, " Have respect to thine
old age," and the rest of it, according to the
customary form, "Swear by the genius2 of
Cssar ; repent ; say, ' Away with the Atheists !
Then Polycarp looked with a serious counten-

as a further item in the Gospel parallel. But the voice
in Iohn xii. 28 was for the assurance of the bystanders,
not for the encouragement of the Sufferer. The voice in
the text is hardly miraculous. The words were such as
might naturally have been used by any brave Christian
present, and in the deafening disturbance kept up by the
crowd might easily be thought to come "from heaven.
1 Cf. note on chap. iii. P- 53- . .
2 On this common deification of the reigning Cresar,
cf the Baetic inscription quoted by Lightfoot from Cor/.
Inscr. Lat. ii. 1963, 1964. "Per Jovem et Divom
Augustum et Divom Claudium et Divom Vespasianum
Augustum et Divom Titum Augustum et gnu um Im-
ficratoris Domitiani Augusti Deosque Penates, also Sic
eorum numen vocant, ad imagines supplicant, gemum,
id est claemonem ejus, implorant," Minuc. Fenx, xxix.;
and Origen, C. Celsum, viii. 65 : "We do not swear by
the genius of the Emperor."

6o

ST. POLYCARP

ance on the multitude of lawless heathen gathered
in the stadium, and he beckoned with his hand,
and looked up to heaven with a groan and said,
" Away with the Atheists." The Proconsul con
tinued insisting and saying, " Swear, and I release
thee; revile the Christ." And Polycarp said,
" Eighty and six years have I served Him, and
He hath done mc no wrong: how then can I
blaspheme my King Who saved me?"1
X. The Proconsul continuing to persist, and
to urge, "Swear by the genius of Caesar," he
answered, " If thou vainly fanciest that I would
1 swear by the genius of Caesar,' as thou sayest,
pretending that thou art ignorant who I am,
1 No certain inference can be drawn from this passage
as to the precise age of Polycarp. The Saint must mean
to reckon his service from his Baptism, and how near
this was to his birth we do not know. St. Jerome in his
Life of Hilarion (§ xiv.) makes Hilarion, aged seventy-
nine (§ xliv.), exclaim, " Egredere anima mea ; quid
dubitas ? Septuaginta prope annis servisti Christo, et
mortem times?" He was then about ten years old at
his baptism. If Polycarp was a slave, and not the child
of Christian parents, baptism at about the same age
might be probable in his case ; and this is precisely
the tradition enshrined in the Life by Pionius. The
little lad bought by the devout lady Callisto, at the
Ephesian Gate of Smyrna, may well have been about
ten, and would no doubt have been soon after baptized
(Vit. Pion. iii.). But this would make him 95 or 96 at
his death.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

6l

^iear plainly that I am a Christian. And if
thou art willing to learn the doctrine of Christi
anity, appoint a day,1 and grant me a hearing."
The Proconsul said, "Persuade the people."2
Polycarp then said, "Thee, indeed, I should
have deemed worthy of argument, for we have
been taught to render to authorities and powers
ordained by God, -honour as is meet,1' so long
as it does us no harm, but I deem not yon
multitude worthy of my making my defence to
them."4 XI. The Proconsul said, " I have wild beasts ;
if thou wilt not change thy mind I will throw
thee to them." Then he said, "Bid them be
brought : change of mind from better to worse is
not a change that we arc allowed ; but to change
from wrong to right is good." Then again said
thc Proconsul to him, " As thou despisest the
1 Cf the Latin " diem dicere," to grant a trial, and
1 Cor. iv. 3, where " man's judgment " is literally " man's
day." _ ,
2 "It is not clear with what motive the Proconsul
says this ; whether (1) like Pilate, with a sincere desire
to release the prisoner, or (2) as an excuse for his
execution, knowing such an appeal to be useless
(Lightfoot). 3 Cf. Rom. xiii. 1, and 1 Pet. ii. 13.
» On the uselessness of pleading to ihe mob cf. Matt.
vii. 6.

62

ST, POLYCARP

beasts, unless thou change thy mind, I make thee
to be destroyed by fire." Then Polycarp : " Thou
threatenest the fire that burns for a season, and
after a little while is quenched ; for thou art
ignorant of the fire of the judgment tp come,
and of everlasting punishment reserved for the
ungodly. But for what art thou waiting?
Bring what thou wilt."
XII. While speaking these words and many
more he was filled with courage and gladness:
his face grew full of grace, so that not only did
it not fall, agitated at all that was being said
to him, but on the contrary the Proconsul was
amazed, and sent his own crier to make procla
mation in the middle of the stadium thrice,
" Polycarp has confessed himself to be a
Christian.'' No sooner was this proclaimed by
the crier than the whole multitude, both of
Gentiles and of Jews l dwelling at Smyrna, with
ungovernable rage and a loud voice began to
shout — " This is the teacher of Asia, the father
of the Christians, the destroyer of our Gods, the
man who teaches many not to sacrifice nor even
to worship." With these words they kept up their
shout and continued asking Philip the Asiarch 2
1 On Jews at Smyrna cf. Rev. ii. 8, and, on their activity
in persecuting Christians, Euseb. Hist. Ecc. v. 16.
' "The Asiarch was the head of the confederation of

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

63

to let loose a lion at Polycarp. " But," said he,
" that is no longer in my power : the sports are
over." 1 Thereupon it was their pleasure to yell
with one accord that he should burn Polycarp
alive. For thc [prediction] of the vision about
his pillow must needs be fulfilled, on the
occasion of his seeing it burning while he was at
prayer, and turning round and saying prophet
ically to his faithful friends, " I must needs be
burnt alive."

the principal cities of thc Roman province of Asia. As
such he was thc chief priest of Asia and president of the
games." " Under the Roman government the principal
cities of the several provinces were united together in
confederations for certain religious and civil purposes
called commune Bithyniae, Cilicia., Galatia?, Pamphylias,
elc. The presiding officers of these unions bore the titles
Bithyniarch, Galatarch, etc." ."In six at least of the
cities comprised in the commune Asia (Smyrna, Ephesus,
Pergamum, Sardes, Philadelphia and Cyzicus) periodical
festivals and games were held under the auspices of the
confederation" (Lightfoot). The plural in Acts xix. 31
may be explained either (1) by the theory that retired
Asiarchs retained the honorary title, or (2) that the title
may have been given to the chief priests of the imperial
worship in the cities of the confederation. See a full
discussion of the whole subject in Lightfoot's Appendix
on the Asiarchate, Apost. Fathers, II. iii. p. 404.
1 The word Kw-qyiaia, = lit. dog drives, corresponds with
the Latin venationes, and includes all fights with beasts
in thc circus, either with or without dogs.

H

ST. POLYCARP

XIII. This then was no sooner said than done,
the mob in a moment getting together logs and
fagots from the workshops and baths, the Jews
as usual showing themselves specially zealous in
thc work. When the pyre had been made ready,
Polycarp took off all his upper garments, and
untied his girdle. He endeavoured also to take
off his shoes, though he had never been in the
habit of doing this, because every one of the
faithful was eager to be the first to touch his
bare body. For his good life's sake he had been
treated with every honour even before his head
was white. Forthwith then all the gear adapted
for the pyre was put about him. They were on
the point of fastening him with nails, but he
said, " Let me be as I am : He that gave me
power to abide the fire will grant me too without
your making me fast with nails to abide un
troubled 1 at the pyre."
XIV. So they did not nail him, but they
bound him to [the stake]. He put his hands
behind him and was bound, like a goodly ram
out of a great flock for an offering, a whole burnt
1 The word of the Moscow MS., ucicvXtos, means liter
ally unflayed or unmangled. The cognate verb mv\\u =
fiay, had come to mean bore, vex, trouble : so in St.
Mark v. 35 it is the word for " why troublest thou the
Master?''

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

65

offering made ready and acceptable to God.
Then he looked up to heaven and said, "0
Lord God Almighty, Father of Thy beloved and
blessed Son Jesus Christ, by Whose means we
have received our knowledge of Thee, God of
Angels and Powers and of all creation and of
the whole race of the just who live before Thy
face, I bless Thee in that Thou hast deemed
me worthy of this clay and hour ; that I might
take a portion in the number of the martyrs in
the cup of Christ, to the resurrection of eternal
life1 both of soul and body in the incorruption of
the Holy Ghost. Among these may I to-day be
welcome 2 before Thy face as a fat and accept
able sacrifice as Thou didst prepare and manifest
beforehand and didst bring about its fulfilment,
Thou the faithful and true God. For this cause,
yet and for all things I praise Thee, I bless
Thee,3 I glorify Thee through the everlasting

1 Cf. John v. 29.
2 The word in the original denotes more than mere
reception or acceptance. In Demosthenes 13 17, 6, and
Plat. Legg. 708. A., it = to receive into citizenship. It
almost always implies to receive favourably. It is St.
Luke's .word (xv. 2) for receiveth sinners, and St. Paul's
(Romans xvi. 2) for the welcome asked for Phcebe and
for Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 29).
3 Cf. thc Gloria in Excelsis. K

66

ST. POLYCARP

and heavenly- High Priest1 Jesus Christ Thy
beloved Son, through Whom to Thee with Him
and with the Holy Ghost be glory now and for
the ages to come. Amen."2
XV. When he had offered up his Amen and
completed his prayer the firemen kindled the
fire. A great flame flashed out, and wc to
whom it was granted to see saw a marvel ; and
wc moreover were preserved to the end that
we might tell to the rest the tidings of what
came to pass. The fire made the appearance of
a vaulted roof,3 like a ship's sail filling out
with the wind, and it walled a.bout the body of
the martyr in a ring. There was it in the midst,
not like flesh burning, but like a loaf baking,
or like gold and silver being fired in a furnace.
1 Cf. Pol. ad Phil. xii. and Heb. passim for the pre
sentation of our Lord as the great High Priest. In Clem.
ad Cor. He is the High Priest of our oblations.
'L On the form of the Doxology, cf. St. Basil, de Sp. Scto.
xxvii. 3 Cf. the account of the death of Savonarola ( Villari,
ii. 302). " A blast of wind diverted the fire for some time
from the three bodies;" and of Bishop Hooper (Foxe,
Acts and Monuments): "The wind having full strength
in that place (it was a cold and lowering morning) it
blew the flame from him, so that he was in a manner no
more but touched by the fire." So of St. Agnes it was
related that when on the pyre she was unharmed by the
divided flames. (Act. Sanct. Boll. ii. 716.)

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

67

Moreover we were aware of a fragrance as great
as of frankincense or some other of the precious
spices breathing forth [its perfume].1
XVI. In the end, when the wicked ones had
seen that his body could not be consumed by
the fire they commanded an executioner to come
up to him and to drive in a dagger. When he
had so done there came out [a dove2 and] abund-
1 " This phenomenon, however we • rriay explain it,
whether from the fragrance of the wood or in some other
way, meets us constantly." Cf. A. Harnack in Zeitschr.
f. Kirchengesch. ii. p. 291. Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, II.
i. p. 615.
2 " These words ' dove and ' are wanting not only in
all the extant Greek MSS , and in the Latin of Rufinus
and in the Syriac Version, but also in writers like
Nicephorus, a borrower from Eusebius, who omits them "
(Lightfoot). Probably the words were added by the
author of the spurious Pionian biography, or by some
other late editor. The idea of a dove personifying thc
ascending soul of the sufferer was familiar to the legendary
martyrologist, and finds one of its most famous expres
sions in the lines of Prudentius (t c. 410) on the martyrdom
of St. Eulalia— " Flamma crepans volat in faciem,
Perque comas vegetata caput
Occupat, exsuperatque apicem :
Virgo, cito cupiens obitum,
Appetit et bibit ore rogum.
Emicat inde columba repcns,
Martyris os nive candidior
Visa relinquerc, ct astta sequi :

68

ST. POLYCARP

ance of blood so that it put out the fire, and all
the multitude marvelled at the mighty difference
between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom
one was this man, the most admirable Polycarp,
who in our times was an apostolic and prophetic
teacher, bishop of the Holy x Church in Smyrna ;
for every word which he uttered from his mouth
was accomplished and will be accomplished.

Spiritus hic crat Eulalia_
Lacteolus, celer, innocuus." Pcristcph. iii. i©6.
It may be that the words -atpwripa. k-ai, i.e. "a dove and"
got into the text by a not unnatural corruption. If the
Smyrna_an scribe wrote EEHAO _.N_IEPlCTEPNA_IAH90C ,
i.e. "There came out about the breast abundance," it is
obvious that this might easily have become E3HA0E-
NUEPlCTEPAKAIIIAH@OC, i. e. " There came out a dove
and abundance." The most ingenious suggestion, adopted
by Zahn, Funk, and Lagarde, is that of Bishop Ch.
Wordsworth (App. C. to his Hippolytus, pp. 318, 319)
that the original was ESHAeENnEPlCTYPAKAiiAHOoC,
.'. c. " There came out about the haft abundance." The
objection is that arvpat,, the Greek for the spike at the
butt-end of a spear (Xen. Hell. vi. 2-19), is not known
to mean the haft or hilt of a sword or dagger. Bishop
Lightfoot inclines to the belief that the words "dove
and" were "deliberately added by the spurious Pionius"
(Ap. Fathers, II. i. pp. 606-643).
1 The common reading is Catholic Church. Bishop
Lightfoot is of opinion that the MS. authority is strongly
in favour of Holy. Cf. Int. p. 20.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

69

XVII. But when the jealous, envious evil one,
the adversary of the race of the righteous, saw
both the majesty of his martyrdom and his
blameless conversation from the beginning, and
that he was crowned with the crown of incor
ruption and had carried off a prize which could
not be gainsaid, he contrived that not even his
poor body should be taken up by us, though
many were desirous so to do and to come into
communion with his most holy flesh.1 So he
prompted Nicetes, father of Herodes and brother
of Alee,2 to entreat the magistrate not to grant
his body, lest, as he said, we should forsake the
Crucified, and begin to worship this man. This
was done at the prompting and persistence of
1 i. e. " by gathering together about his grave for the
purpose of common worship " (Lightfoot). This may be
the germ of the sentiment which finds a more distinct
expression in St. Basil's Homily on thc Forty Martyrs
of Sebaste (Hom. xix.) : " The afflicted flees to the
Forty ; the joyous hurries to them ; the former that
he may find relief from his troubles, the latter that his
blessings may be preserved . . . Let your supplications
be made with the martyrs." The idea is not as the
Jesuit annotator Gamier writes, " invocantur martyres ; "
it is the fellowship rather than the intercession of the
saints which is sought, and this a fellowship localised at
their graves. Cf. my note on St. Basil in Nicene and
Post-nicene Fathers (Proleg. p. lxxi.).
2 Cf. Ig. Smyr. xiii., Pol. viii., and p. 23. She was
presumably a Christian.

7o

ST. POLYCARP

the Jews. They moreover watched, when we
were about to try to take him out of the fire,
ignorant that it will never at any time be
possible for us to abandon the Christ,— Who
blameless on behalf of sinners, suffered for the
salvation of the whole world of them that are
bemg saved,— and to worship some other. Him
m that He is Son of God, we adore i ; the martyrs'
as disciples and imitators of the Lord we rever
ence2 as they deserve on account oftheir unsur
passable good will to theirown King and Teacher
With them may it be granted to us to be made
sharers alike of lot and of learning !
XVIII. When the centurion saw the oppo
sition raised by the Jews, he put him in the
midst, and, as their custom is, burned him. So
we afterwards took up his bones, more valuable
than precious stones, and finer than fine gold,
and laid them where it was fitting.3 There the
Lord will permit us, as shall be possible to us, to
assemble ourselves together in joy and gladness,
and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom,
The place is not revealed for prudence' sake. The
Letter of Polycrates, Bp. of Ephesus, writing about a d
190, quoted in Euseb. Hist. Eccl. v. 24, indicates that he
knew of the grave at Smyrna. (W/_i,n._ = hath been
laid in his Koipnrr,pwv, cemetery, or sleeping-place. Cf. Jer
de Vir. Iltust. xiv. " cubat.")

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

71

alike in memory of them that have fought
before, _md for the training and preparation* of
them that are to fight hereafter.1
XIX. Thus it befell the blessed Polycarp, who
was martyred with them that came from Phila
delphia, himself and eleven others, in Smyrna,
and is himself alone held in all men's memory,'
so that even among the heathen is he everywhere
spoken of, as one who was not merely an illus
trious teacher, but also a conspicuous martyr.
His martyrdom all men are eager to copy, in
that it came to pass according to the gospel of
Christ. Through his patience he overcame the
unrighteous ruler, and thus received 2 the crown
of incorruption. Rejoicing with Apostles and
all just men, he glorifies our Almighty God and
Father, and blesses our Lord Jesus Christ,
Saviour of our souls, and Helmsman of our
bodies, and Shepherd of the Catholic Church
throughout the world.
XX. You did indeed request that the circum
stances might be narrated to you more fully.
We have, however, for the present, sent you con
cise information through our brother Marcian.
On becoming acquainted with these events, send
1 Cf. Tert. de Cor. iii. " Wc make offerings for the dead
on a yearly day for a birthday."
a The word is the same as that in Gal. iv. 5, " received
as his due." It is so used in Xen. Anal,, vii. 7, 14.

72

ST. POLYCARP

on our letter to brethren also beyond, that they
may glorify the Lord who makes choice of His
own servants. Now unto Him that is able by
His grace and gift to bring us all into His
heavenly kingdom, through His only-begotten
Son, Jesus Christ, be glory, honour, might,
majesty, for ever. Salute all the saints. They
that are with us, and Euarestus, who wrote the
letter, with his whole house, salute you.1
XXI. The blessed Polycarp was martyred on
the second day of the first part of the month
Xanthicus, on the seventh day before the
Kalends of March,2 at thc eighth hour,3 on a
great Sabbath.4 He was apprehended by Herodes
1 "The name Euarestus occurs three times in Smyrn_ean
inscriptions . . . The only Bishop of Rome bearing this
name is said to have been a Palestinian Jew, but the
tradition has no value."— Lightfoot in loc.
- i. e. Feb. 23. The second day of the sixth month is
confirmed by the Acts of Pionius ; cf. note on p. 13.
3 Either 8 a.m., counting from midnight ; or 2 p.m.
counting from 6 a.m. The former is the more probable.
4 Cf. chap. viii. " The mention of the ' Great Sabbath '
accords with the statement in the document itself;
and, so far as it goes, is an indication of the same
authorship." — Lightfoot. The great Sabbath in the
Church was the Saturday between Good Friday and
Easter (cf. Chrysost. Op. v. p. 525). The great Sabbath
in later Jewish nomenclature was the Sabbath preceding
the Passover. In the text "a" great Sabbath may be
any Saturday connected with a great Jewish anniversary.

BISHOP OF SMYRNA

73

in the Chief Priestship 1 of Philip of Tralles, in
the proconsulship of Statius Quadratus,2 but in
the reign of the eternal King, Jesus Christ ; to
Whom be honour, glory, dominion through the
eternal from generation to generation. Amen.
XXII. (1) We bid you God-speed, brethren,
while you are walking by thc word of Jesus
Christ, according to the Gospel, with Whom be
glory to God for the salvation of His holy elect ;
even as the blessed Polycarp testified.3 Be it
ours to be found in His footsteps in the Kingdom
of Jesus Christ.
(2) This was transcribed by Gaius from the
(writings) of Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp,
who also lived with Irena_us.

The martyrdom moreover occurred during a heathen festi
val. Bishop Lightfoot suggests the games of the Asiatic
Confederation (koii/i_ ' kalag), in his exhaustive discussion
of the whole subject, in Apost. Fathers, Part ii. vol. i.
1 Asiarch and High Priest indicate the same office.
Caius Julius Philippus of Tralles is mentioned in an
Olympian inscription as Asiarch in a.d. 149. The office
may have been held for several years, or more than once.
2 The assignment of the martyrdom to a.d. 155
depends mainly on the correctness of the year of the
proconsulship of Quadratus, accepted by .Lightfoot, on the
authority of Waddington's chronology of Aristides ; i. e.
A.n. 154, 155. This fixes the Feb. 23 as the Feb. 23 in
155, in which year it fell on a Saturday. But the evidence
is not conclusive. Cf. also Dr. Salmon in D. C. Biography,
'v- P- 43°- '' Or suffered martyrdom.

74'

ST. TOLYCA*kp

(3) I Socrates in Corinth, from the copy of
Gaius, have written it. Grace be with all.
(4) I again Pionius from the previous copy
have written it. I searched it out in consequence
of a revelation, for the blessed Polycarp showed
it me in a revelation, as I shall declare in the
sequel. I gathered it together now it was nearly
worn out with age, that I too may be gathered
together by thc Lord Jesus Christ with His elect
into His heavenly kingdom, to Whom be glory
with Father and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.
Amen.1
1 These supplementary chapters obviously fall into three
divisions, probably distinct in age and authorship. (1)
The chronological appendix in Chapter xxi. This is
accepted by Bishop Lightfoot as part of the original
letter, containing as it does historical references, of which
the veracity has received remarkable vindication from
recent archaeological discovery. (2) Commendatory post
script (xxii. 1). This second postscript is omitted in the
Moscow manuscript, and in the Latin version. It is
however accepted by Bishop Lightfoot as probably
genuine, there being nothing in the words themselves
suggestive of a later date. " May not this postscript," he
suggests, "have been an appendix added by the Philo-
melian Church when they forwarded copies of the letter,
as they were charged to do, to churches more distant
from Smyrna than themselves?" — Apost. Fathers, Parts
ii. iii. p. 638. (3) (xxii. 2, 3, 4.)— This account of trans
mission and transcription may probably be referred to the
spurious Pionius.

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL
PASSAGES IN THE EPISTLE

Ps. ii. 11

. Chap

. 11

Gal. v. 14

11

iu

,, cl. 6 . .

>>

II

,, vi- 7 •

11

v

„ iv. 4

¦ ,1

XII

Eph. ii. 5, S, 9

• n

1

Prov. iii. 28 .

11

x

,, iv. 26

¦ u

Xll

Jer. v. 4 . .

1 1

XI

,, vi. 18.

¦ • 31

XII

Tobit iv. 10 ; xii. 9

• II

X

Phil. ii. 10.

II

St. Malt. v. 3 .

• II

II

,, ii. 16.

1 1

IX

,, v. 10 .

• ,1

II

,, iii. iS

• 3 1

XII

v. 44 .

1 II

XII

,, iii. 21

1

II

vi. 12.

11

VI

Col. i. 6

• 1,

I

vi. 13-

II

VII

I. Thc_s. v. 22

• 1 1

XI

,, vii. 1, 2

11

II

II. Thess. i. 4

XI

,, xxvi. 41

II

VII

iii. 1

5

XI

St. Mark ix. 35 .

II

V

I. Tim. ii. 1

11

XII

„ xiv. 38

II

VII

„ iv. 15 .

1 1

XII

St. Luke xi. 4 .

».

VII

„ vi. 7 .

1 1

IV

St. John xv. 16 .

1)

XII

II. Tim. ii. 12

• 11

V

Acts ii. 24 .

11

I

,, iv. 10

1 1

IX

,, x. 42 .

II

II

Heb. v. 13

1 1

IX

Rom. xii. 10

} y

X

I. John iii. S .

11

VII

,, xiii. 8

II

in

,, iv. 3

• 1 1

VII

,, xiv. 10 .

II

VI

I. Tel. i, 2

1 1

1

I. Cor. vi. 2

I)

XI

,, i. S .

11

I

„ vi. 9, 10

II

v

,. i- 13 •

ij

II

„ xiv. 25 .

) 1

IV

, i. 21

11

,, xv. 58 .

II

X

, ii.- 12 .

11

X

II. Cor. iii. 2 .

J I

XI

„ ii. 22 .

1 1

VIII

„ iv. 14 .

1 I

II

11 ii- 24 •

1 1

VIII

vi. 7 .

11

IV

., 111. 9 .

11

It

Gal. i. 1. . . .

1 1

XII

„ iv. 7 .

i-

VII

,, iv. 26 . . .

1 1

III

>. >• 5 •

i -

\

GENERAL INDEX

Agnes, St., 65
Alee, 23, 69
Alford, D&in, 34
Ammianus Marcellinus, 56
Anicetus, Bp. of Rome, 9, 10
Antiochus, monk, iS
Antoninus Pius, 16
Apostolical Constitutions, 14
Aristides, 73
" Arrabo," word, 40
Asiarch, 62, 73
&(T[CV\TOS, 64
Athanasius, St., 54
Brctic inscription, 59
Basil, menology of, 24
Basil, St., 66, 69
Beda, 52
Bollandists, 13, 14
Bucolos, Bp., 22
Calendars, 24
Callisto, 22, 60
Carruca, 57
" Catholic Church," phrase, 20,
49
Cerinthus, 9
Chronological table, 27
Chrysostom, Archbp. 72
Clement of Alexandria, Bp. , 20
Clement of Rome, St., 28, 29,
34, 40, 41, 42, 50
Cotterill, 18
Crescens, 47
Demosthenes, 65
"Diem Dicere," 61
Aioi-y/i.Tijs, 55

Duchesne, 15
EiprjvopxoSi 55
Epaphroditus, 65
Euarestus, 72
Euripides, 32, 51
Eusebius, 14, 23, 39, 53, 58, 62,
67,70
Florinus, 11
Foxe, 66
Funk, 17, 68
Gains, 73, 74
Gamier, 69
Germanicus, 50, 53
Gregory of Naziauzus, St., 54
Harnack, 67
Hermas, 8, 29, 33, 35, 38, 40, 41
Herodes, 20, 21, 57, 69, 73
Hilarion, 60
Homer, 22
Hooper, Bp., 66
Horace. 33, 51
Ignatius, St., 7, 17, 18, 23, 24,
29, 41, 42, 46, 49
Irena.ii!,, 9, 14, 24, 39, 73
Jacobson, Bp., 33
Jerome, St., 15, 60, 70
John, St., 9, n, 14, 16, 22, 24,
37,33
Justin Martyr, St., 23
Keim, 19
Kuvqy4(ria, 6$

78

INDEX

Lagarde, 68
Lightfoot, Bp., 8, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33,
34, 35, 36". 37. 3*. 39.41. 43,
44, 46, 52. 53. 54. 55. 57, 5^.
59, 63, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74
"Logia," 38
Lucian, S
Manuscripts, 25
Marcian, 71
Marcion, 9, 16, 39
Marcus Aurelius, 14
Minucius Felix, 59
Nicephorits, 67
Nicetes, 57, 69
Olympic games, 8
Origen, 59
Papias, II, 14, 24, 39
Parish, the word, 2S
Hapoinia, 2S
Paul, St., 10
Peregrinus, 8 -
Philip of Tralles, 73
Philomelium, 49
Phcebe, 65
Phrygian cowardice, 53
Pionius, 13, 14, 60, 68
Plato, 65
riiny, 42
Plutarch, 33
Polycarp, meaning of name, 22
referred to by Ignatius, 7, S
by Hennas, 8 ; by Lucian, 8
by Irena_us, 9, 10, 11; by
Polycrates, 12; by Tertullian,
13 ; in "Acts of Pionius," 13 ;
by Eusebius, 14 ; silent on
Church Organisation, 18 ;
Pionian Life of, 20 j Epistle
of, 28 [70
Polycrates, Bp. of Ephesus, 12,

Pompeii, 22
Prudentius, 67
Quintus, 50, 53
Rufus, 29, 41
Ruinart, 13
Sabbath, a high, 57, 72
Salmon, Dr., 39, 73
Savonarola, 66
Scillitan martyrs, 58
Severus of Antioch, 46
Shells, used for torturing, 52
Shepherd of Hermas, 8
Socrates, 15
Sozomen, 15
Statius Quadratus, 53, 73
Strabo, 53
Suetonius, 57
Taylor, Dr. C, 8, 18, 29
Taylor, Bp. Jeremy, 30
Tertullian, 13, 20, 34, 53, 54, 71
Thackeray, 39
Theodoret, 15, 39
fliieic, 58
Timotheus _EIurus; 46
Trajan, 14
Valens, 43
Venatio, 63
Versions, 25
Victor, Bp. of Rome, 10
Vienne and Lyons, martyrs of, 14
Villari, 66
Waddington, W. H., 73
Wake, Archbp., 43, 58
Wordsworth, Bp. Ch., 68
Xenophon, 68, 71
Zahn, 42, 54, 68
Zosimus, 29, 41

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