I G N A 
concurs in that ftatement. In his Chronicle, Eufebius 
places the ordination of Ignatius in the year 69, after the 
death of St- Peter and St. Paul at Rome. Some think, 
however, that Ignatius was ordained by St. Peter, and 
fuppofe that Euodius and Ignatius were both bifhops of 
Antioch at one and the fame time ; the former of the 
Jewifh, and the latter of the Gentile, Chriftians ; and that, 
after the death of Euodius, when the Jewifh converts were 
become better reconciled to the Gentiles., they all united 
■under Ignatius as their bifhop. But, if Ignatius only 
fucceeded Euodius about the year 70, it may reafonably 
be concluded that he was acquainted with feveral of the 
apoftles; and St. Chryfoftom fays, that he converfed fa¬ 
miliarly with them, and was perfectly acquainted with 
their doctrine. He prefided over the church of Antioch 
for upwards of forty years, with admirable diligence, 
prudence, and conftancy, till he was condemned to a 
cruel death in the perfecution under the reign of Trajan. 
With refpeCt to the faff, and manner of his martyrdom, 
there is no difference in opinion among ecclefiaftical hif- 
torians; but they do not agree in fixing the time when it 
took place, and in the fame relation of the circumftances 
■which preceded it. Dupin, Tiliemont, and Cave, place 
it under the year 107 ; while bifhop Pearl'on, bifhop Lloyd, 
Pagi, Le Clerc, and Fabricius, place it under 116. We fhall 
lay before our readers the moft commonly-received ac¬ 
count of the circumftances which preceded the martyr¬ 
dom of Ignatius, as it has been collected from the ACts of 
his martyrdom, the writings of Eufebius, St. Jerome, See. 
About the year 107, the emperor is reprelented to have 
arrived at Antioch, elated with his victories over the 
Scythians and the Daci, to prepare for a war againft the 
Parthians and Armenians. Having entered the city with 
all the pomp and folemnities of a triumph, one of the 
firft objects of his enquiries was concerning the date of 
religion in that place. Finding that the Chriftians were 
numerous there, he ordered that the laws fliould be put 
in force againft them, in the fame manner as in the other 
parts of the empire; and, though he forbade the Chriftians 
to be fought after, yet he directed that they fhould be 
punifhed if convicted. In thefe circumftances Ignatius 
could not expeCt that he fhould be overlooked, and 
thought it more prudent voluntarily to prefent himfelf 
before the emperor, than to flay till he was lent for, and, 
after modeftly avowing his principles, leave the event to 
Providence. It is true, that he exprefled an earned de- 
fire to fuffer for the fake of Chrift, and a great joy at the 
expectation of it ; but it does not appear that he rafhly 
fought or provoked danger. When the emperor faw him, 
he reproached him for daring to tranfgrefs his laws; and 
A long as well as particular converfation \s faid to have 
pafled between them, in which the good bifhop defended 
the innocence and inoffenfivenefs of himfelf and his fel¬ 
low-believers, and explained the principles of his religion, 
maintaining the fuperiority of the God of the Chriftians 
over the objects of pagan worfhip, and his belief of the 
•ultimate triumph of the caufe of Jefus Chrift over every 
fpecies of fuperftition and wickednefs. The freedom 
-with which he avowed his fentiments, and the rel'olution 
which he exprefled of adhering to them, determined Tra¬ 
jan to make him a fignal example of punifhment, in or¬ 
der to deter others from renouncing the Gentile religion. 
He therefore gave orders for his imprifonment, and finally 
pafled fentence upon him, that, fince he w’as incurably 
addicted to fuperftition, he fhould be conducted in bonds 
by foldiers to Rome, and there thrown as a prey to wild 
beads at the amphitheatre. This cruel fentence created 
joy, inftead of terror, in the mind of Ignatius, who in an 
addrefs to God exclaimed, “ I thank thee, O Lord, that 
thou haft condefcended thus perfectly to honour me with 
thy love, and haft thought me worthy with the apoftle 
Paul to be bound with iron chains.” Thefe chains he 
would often cheerfully embrace ; and, having frequently 
prayed for his church, and recommended it to the divine 
gare and providence, he was delivered into the hands of 
VOL. X, No. 72 ». 
TIUS, 829 
his keepers, who were appointed to convey him to the 
place of execution. 
Ignatius’s guard confifted of ten foldiers, who con¬ 
ducted him on foot to Seleucia, a fea-port town in Syria, 
about fixteen miles from Antioch, whence, Paul and Bar¬ 
nabas had embarked for Cyprus. From this place they 
went by fea to Smyrna, in Ionia ; where, for the fees 
which were bellowed upon them, his brutal keepers per¬ 
mitted him to vifit Polycarp, the bifhop of that place ; to 
receive himfelf the vifits of the clergy of the Afiatic 
churches in that country, who encouraged him to a firm 
and final perfeverance in his glorious caufe ; and alfo to 
write letters to different churches, for their inftruCtion 
and eftablifhment in the faith. One of thefe letters was 
to the Chriftians at Rome, in which he acquainted them 
with his fituation, and his pafiionate defire not to be hin¬ 
dered in that courl'e of martyrdom which he was now haf- 
tening to accomplifh. At length his guard became impa¬ 
tient of any longer ftay at Smyrna, and proceeded with 
him by fea to Troas, a noted city of the leffer Phrygia, 
and not far from the ruins of ancient Troy, where he had 
the fatisfaCtion of hearing that the perfecution had ceafed 
in the church of Antioch. At this place his conductors, 
for the lake of the money which they received from him 
and his vifitors, permitted meflengers who were deputed 
by different churches to pay their refpeCts to him, and'al¬ 
lowed of his further epiftolary correfpondence with his 
friends ; but, notwithftanding this dearly-purchafed in¬ 
dulgence, they ufed him at the fame time cruelly and 
barbaroufly. Of this behaviour he complains in his Enti¬ 
tle to the Romans : “ From Syria even to Rome,” fays 
he, “ both by fea and land, I fight with beafts; night and 
day I am chained to ten leopards, forming my military- 
guard, who, the kinder I am to them, are the more cruel 
and fierce to me.” 
From Troas they failed to Neapolis, a maritime town 
of Macedonia, and thence to Philippi, a Roman colony, 
where they were received with all imaginable kindnefs 
and courtefy. Hence they proceeded on foot through 
Macedonia and Epirus, till they came to Epidamnum, a 
city of Dalmatia; where they again embarked, and, after 
failing through the Adriatic, and touching at Rhegium 
and Puteoli, arrived at the ftation for the Roman navy 
near Oltia, at the mouth of the Tyber, about fixteen miles 
from Rome. The Chriftians of that city, who had been 
daily expecting his arrival, came out to meet and enter¬ 
tain him with affectionate refpeCt mingled with the deepeft 
forrow, on account of the cruel death which awaited 
him ; but he was firm and undaunted, and rejoiced that 
he was fio nearly approaching to the end of his race, and 
to the moment when he fhould bear teftimony to the 
truth of the religion of Chrift with his blood. When, 
forne of them intimated, that pofiibly the populace might 
be difluaded from defiring his death, he exprefled a pious 
indignation, entreating them to throw no obftacles in his 
way, nor to take any meafures that might hinder him* 
now that he was haitening to his crown. The interval 
which took place between the time when he was delivered 
to the prefect of the city, and his martyrdom, he fpent 
with his brethren in prayers for the peace and profperity 
of the church, and for the prevalence of mutual love and 
charity among its members. That his punifhment might 
be the more pompous and public, one of their folemn 
feftivals, the Saturnalia, was fixed upon for its execution; 
when it was their cultom to entertain the people with the 
bloody conflicts of gladiators, and the hunting of and 
fighting with wild beafts. Accordingly, on the 20th of 
December, he was brought out into the amphitheatre; 
and the hungry lions, being let loofe upon him, quickly 
made him their prey, leaving no remains but a few of the 
•hardeft of his bones. Thefe were afterwaj-ds collected by- 
two deacons, who had been the companions of his jour¬ 
ney, and tranfported by them to Antioch, where they 
were honourably interred. 
Not long after the martyrdom of this apoftolica! father, 
jo B • Polycarp* 
